A SAD DAY! I remember two lives. A friend and a Yankee Legend

By Frank S,

This morning I lost a long time family friend, Oscar Londono. He was a pillar in our congregation and to families all over. His work in the ministry and in changing peoples lives will live on in his family and friends. He passed away from Cancer a horrible ruthless illness that has affected everyone on earth. Even though his family and his friends have the promise that we will see him again as per Rev 21:4 we are truly sad.

Today as well a Yankee Legend the Voice of the Yankees for 50 years, Bob Sheppard past away. The longtime public address announcer, Sheppard will be missed by his friends, his family and the Yankee family.

Today’s blog post is about celebrating the life of these men.

The Captains Birth Day

With Derek Jeter Turning 36 (June 26, 1974) today it reminds me of his debut as a Yankee. May 29 1995. The Yankees lost to the Mariners 8-7, the very next day I was moving to Los Angeles and not coming back. (I was back sooner than I thought)

The lineup that day has some players you would remember if you were a Yankees fan prior to 96. Black Jack was the starting pitcher but it was the bullpen that lost the game. Jeter went 0-5 with a strikeout.

Luis Polonia LF
Wade Boggs 3B
Paul O'Neill RF
Mike Stanley C
Don Mattingly 1B
Dion James DH
Randy Velarde 2B
Bernie Williams CF
Derek Jeter SS

It was not to the very next day that Jete got his first Career hit and he went 2-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

Now at the tender age of 36 Derek starts his birth day with 2834 hits sitting 44th place in all time hits list, ranks 40th all time in runs scored and a career 316 batting avg. 10 All Star Games played, 4 silver slugger awards, 4 gold gloves, add a rookie of the Year and 5 World Series rings. I would say he has been one of the top 10 Yankees of all time.

While DJ is still on this team we should enjoy him and enjoy every year that he is a Yankee.

We will Beat an old Friend this weekend

I have no bad blood towards Joe Torre, The book he wrote was out of anger and he might not admitted or not but that's the reason why him and Cash stop speaking to each other.

After all Cash was one of his biggest supporters and Torre knew better than that, he should have never wrote a "tell all book".

That said this weekend we will beat the Dodgers!

State of the Pinstripes

First let me say that 'Steinbrenner: The Last Lion Of Baseball by Bill Madden is a great book. For all you looking for a gift for your father or brother or best friend. It is a great read!

State of the pinstripes.

This is just me channeling my inner boss, but how the hell is Randy Winn still starting or even on this team. I want him gone!!

Jeter needs to start hitting or take a day off, I wonder if he is hurt lets face it he would not tell the media and does not like anyone to be sympathetic towards him.

Tex and A-rod need to start earning the millions of dollars that they are being paid. The middle of the lineup is killing us.

C H Park needs to start pitching better or get released. We need to bring someone else that wont stink up the joint, and that is not afraid to start throwing strikes.

Another series just another team.

I love Jonathan Tyler Lester he is one of my favorite players in baseball. But as a Yankee fan I cheer for my team above all else. Lester who beat cancer and since 2007 he has battled back to be a great pitcher.

He beat my team today, but despite that the Yankees have won another series. Sitting at 20-9 the Yankees are half game out of first place. The sox are 6.5 half games out and have several more issues than the Yankees.

So when I tell you the Yankees have beat another team it feels like that this year. So far the team that the Yankees have to catch is the Rays. Tampa are the top dogs in the division not the Red Sux Tampa stands atop as the Alfa male not the team from the Bronx and at 21-9 the Yanks need to improve on their road record.

The sox have problems with the lineup, with starting pitching and with bench. But a very smart man once told me, don’t concentrate on what is behind you. Concentrate on the road ahead.

So the Yankees need to worry about, taking one game at the time. They need to focus on finishing the task at hand. Winning this weekend showed baseball that they are a better team and better equipped to catch the Rays.

Arod 586 ties Robinson. You all know my feeling on the homerun record now that we discovered that it is a little tainted….. A little.. Haaa

Girardi gets ejected for the first time this year. He really needed to get ejected at that moment, the call was stupid.

So now the Yankees move to Detroit, minus Andy, Granderson and several players hurt.
Despite all that they are sitting in second place with room for growth. This is going to be a great year for baseball.

Ernie Harwell The VOICE OF BASEBALL

Mr. Harwell when I was a little boy and my father was at work (he worked the night shift) your love for baseball and the call of the game brought years of happiness to my youth and the understanding of a game even at a young age.
If God ever created a Baseball voice it was Ernie Harwell, he called the Tiger games for 42 years.

I remember when I was younger putting on the radio and going through the station finding the Tiger broadcast. I was not a Tigers fan but the way Ernie called a game made it ok to listen to any baseball game. He was the voice of the Tigers and a legend, he could tell a story better than anyone. His description of a game made you believe you were at Tiger stadium,. He was a genius and ahead of his time, and at the age of 92 he left us.
Leaving us with great ALCS and ALDS memories all while telling a story, He will be missed.

10 game over

For the moment the Yankees are 10 games over 500 and in second place. As I say for the moment. The youngsters came alive and through today Cervelli had 3 hits and 2 runs scored, Pena had two RBI and Gardner scored 2 runs. The bottom of the lineup was key in the victory, but they are not the star of the night.

The star of the night was AJ, he won his Fourth victory tonight all while striking out eight batters.

The Yankees starting pitchers have been amazing this year, well all with the exception of Vazquez, Hughes 3-0 1.44 ERA, AJ 4-0 1.99 ERA, Andy 3-0 2.12 ERA and CC 4-1 with a 2.14 ERA. Not even the 1998 record winning team had this great of a start from the starting pitchers.

The Captain

Jeter had another hit he is batting .315, with his double tonight he passed Donny Baseball for 3rd place in doubles in Yankees history with 443 doubles.

Robby Cano

Cano had two more hits to bring him to .376 batting avg. sprinkle a great D play and he is slowly turning into the Yankees MVP.

The Yankees are now 18-8 and are rolling not letting down or seeing ahead towards this weekend when they play Boston.

Girardi after the game said he was impressed with AJ and Cervelli.