Marc Anthony sings God Bless America and people are dumb

At the All-Star game Marc Anthony sang “God Bless America”. Probably during the 7th inning stretch, I don’t know since I was watching at a bar with friends and wasn’t really paying attention to anything but the game. I didn’t know he sang it until I read about the racist backlash on twitter. Since then I have watched the below video. I would LOVE for the Yankees to get a tape of this and play it at Yankees Stadium every 7th inning. Pretty hot ……… Where was I?

Oh yes, racist backlash on twitter, specifically people being outraged that a Mexican was singing AMERICA’S SONG at AMERICA’s PASTIME. For more WTF tweets check out Public Shaming. My only complaint is the title refers to baseball fans being super angry which could give some people the impression that all baseball fans are racist, which isn’t true.

Let me think about this, suppose Marc Anthony is Mexican (he’s not), isn’t Mexico in North America? No, it’s in Central America, isn’t that still America? So technically he would be an American if he was Mexican, except he’s not, he was born in NYC. His reply to these stupid comments was, “There’s no one more New York than me. I was honored to be asked to sing.” But he’s of Puerto Rican descent, which doesn’t change anything, even if he had been born in Puerto Rico he would still be considered a citizen of the U.S.

Did these people forget that the U.S. is a country of immigrants? “God Bless America” was written by Irving Berlin, born Israel (or Isadore) Baline who immigrated with his family to New York from Temun Russia in 1888. And America’s game? The Home Run Derby was won by Yoenis Céspedes who is from Cuba, who learned to play baseball in Cuba. The MVP of the All Star Game was Mariano Rivera, who besides being the greatest relief pitcher and closer in baseball is beloved and respected by most people. I’ve even had Red Sox fans (who hate the Yankees) tell me, “Even Red Sox fans respect Mariano”. Mariano Rivera is from Panama, he learned to play baseball in Panama. Cause guess what? Baseball is played in other countries, some close like Cuba and Panama, some far away like Taiwan and Korea.

By the way, this post was written by an American of Spanish descent.

Advertisement

A Giant Mistake

If you are at all interested in baseball and are not living under a rock, you probably know that this year’s All-Star game is being played at Citifield, home of the NY Mets. In honor of this, there are two big apples painted like baseballs in Grand Central Terminal. In case you don’t know, there is a big apple at Citifield.

This is one of them, you see it is decorated with team logos. The interlocking NY may look like the Mets but this apple is covered with NY Giants logos and signs and the other one is dedicated to the Brooklyn Dodgers. I’m a little confused about why they would use these teams, since although they are part of the history of NY baseball, neither team played in Queens or has a connection to the Mets. Except they are all National League teams.

A brief history of baseball in NYC. Baseball was first played in Brooklyn by a minor league team in 1884, by 1890 the National League had come to Brooklyn in the team that eventually settled on the name Dodgers in 1933. Around the term of the century a number of Orioles’ players along with the manager came to Brooklyn when that franchise folded. Charles Ebbets bought the team and built a new ballpark – Ebbets Field – which opened in 1913. The Dodgers played there from 1913-1957. Today there is a housing complex where the ball park used to be.

Across town was the NY Giants, their first game was played in May 1883 at the original Polo Grounds located near Central Park between 110th and 112th Streets. They had to move from that location when the city decided to put a street through the outfield. The next Polo Grounds were built on 8th Avenue between 155th and 157th Street. A housing complex was built on this site, like on Ebbets Field.

Both teams left NYC in 1957, the Dodgers left because Ebbets Field was small and antiquated. The owner of the Dodgers wanted to build a new bigger and better ballpark but couldn’t get city officials to cooperate with finding land for it. The Giants left because they couldn’t compete with the Yankees who played across the river from them. That left NYC without a National League team, an attorney named Bill Shea proposed creating a third major league called the Continental league with an anchor franchise in NYC. MLB agreed to award a franchise to NYC and Shea agreed to shut down the Continental League. This new franchise was the Mets, and for their first two years they played at the Polo Grounds until their ballpark, Shea Stadium, located in Flushing, Queens, was built. So I guess there is a connection to these teams and the Mets, but it is a tenuous one. There is also a big “42” at Citifield and a Dodger museum.

However the real reason I wrote this post was this picture that I took as I was walking around the apple. Oops. So now I am wondering if this mistake was made on the original logo or if it was made when they were painting it on the apple. Something else for me to research, unless you know and want to tell me.

7/16 NY Yankees 5 vs TB Rays 4 ~ On the first day back, pie

Tonight was the first game for the Yankees after the All-Star game and George Steinbrenner’s death. I will admit I rushed home from work so I wouldn’t miss the pre-game and the tribute to Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard on TV. I not usually this sappy, but when Mo walked up to home plate with two roses, I felt a little catch in my throat. Seeing how much the players cared about and for him was moving.

It was an exciting game too, with Tampa Bay taking the lead early, then back to back homers by Cano and Posada tying the game, another run by Tampa Bay, another home run, this time by Nick Swisher♥ to again tie the game, then in the 9th inning, he got Granderson in for the winning run. Curtis slid across the plate to beat out the throw, Mark was there to congratulate him. A.J. was there with pie for Nick♥, big show off that he is he loved it.

To make the night even better, Texas beat Boston 8-4.

~~and that’s all~~ she wrote

I still don’t ‘get’ the All-Star game

It’s true, I am clueless about a lot of things. I like to think I understand baseball. After all I have been watching it for a long time. I watched it when I was a kid, learning about the game was the only way I could tolerate watching it (my father would yell if we changed the channel, even if he was outside when we did it). I like baseball, even when the games are boring. But I totally don’t get the All-Star game.

During the game I sent a text to a friend, (I sent the text because I didn’t really want the whole world to know, so now I am posting it on here, go figure) “Are All-Star games always this boring?”. It was about 10 times boring then any game I have ever watched before. It makes sense that when the best of the best are playing, you won’t have a lot of runs scored. But with the best of the best, I was thinking it would be a little exciting.

And I still don’t get it. All this hype and pressure and in one afternoon its over. And for what, home field advantage? Do you really need that to win? The Yankees have won 28 games at home. They have also won 28 games on the road. Think on that.

~~and that’s all~~ she wrote

7/11 NY Yankees 8 @ Seattle Mariners 2 ~ Home Run Derby, All-Star, Then Home

The Yankees jumped out early scoring all 8 runs by the 6th inning. So the Mariners may have King Felix, but they don’t have much else. CC Sabathia was the starting pitcher, then Gaudin in the 8th and Moseley in the 9th. CC gave up a run in the 6th and Moseley in the 9th. Marcus Thames hit a 2 run home run in the 5th inning. He was DH which is a relief since he’s not the best fielder.

Another series win by the Yankees.

Just finished watching the Home Run Derby, I only watched it because Nick Swisher was competing. As soon as he was eliminated I turned the channel. It was rather boring I thought.

Tomorrow is the All-Star Game. Winner determines home field advantage in the World Series. The American League has won the last 12 years and are looking for #13. I plan on watching, stay tuned.

~~and that’s all~~ she wrote

7/5 NY Yankees 3 @ Oakland Athletics 1 ~ Good Start, good Mark

Good start to the beginning of the series considering how the Yankees don’t normally do well their first game of a West coast road trip. They scored early, Javy pitched great with great offensive support, 7IP, 3H, 1R. 2 great catches by the two Curtis, diving catching. So a big raspberry to the jerks that say Curtis does not play like a Yankee, I would like to see Johnny Damon make a running diving catch like he did. Then Mark hit a home run in the sixth inning.

Boston lost to Tampa Bay, so now Tampa Bay is in 2nd place, 2 games behind us, Boston is 2.5 games behind us.

I know I was making a big deal about Mark Teixeira being an All-Star, well he’s not going and I am not really upset about it. He has been twice and he is not exactly at the end of his career, so he will have a choice to go again. Besides, this way he can spend some time with his pregnant wife and his kids.

One last thing, vote for Swish to go to the All-Star game, this time I have people agreeing with me! Click on his picture!

6/30 NY Yankees 0 vs Seattle Mariners 7 ~ 3 things

There are 3 things that annoy me, actually, there are many things that annoy me, I am going to tell you what three of them are.

Voting for the All-Star Game
It’s over now and the results will be made public on July 4, during the hour-long 2010 MLB All-Star Game Selection Show. There are many people who say that Mark Teixeira doesn’t deserve to go because he hasn’t been playing like an All-Star. It makes me wonder, what exactly is an All-Star? I’m getting off track here.

Some are saying it has turned into a popularity contest with the most popular players getting the votes, but it seems to me that if that was the case, then there wouldn’t be such a diversity of teams in the players with the most votes. I mean look at the first base vote, the top 3 are Justin Morneau of the Twins, Mark Teixeira of the Yankees and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. They were ranked in that order at the final update, on Monday, but voting wasn’t over and Miguel Cabrera was gaining votes faster then the other two. Nick Swisher has over a million followers on Twitter, but as of Monday he still didn’t have enough votes to be in the top 3. Ichiro Suzuki is ahead of him. I saw him play and I have to tell you, I hate him.

Now I am seriously off track, this was not what was annoying me. What was annoying me was people, the ones who think Teixeira doesn’t belong on the All-Star team telling other people to not vote for him. Or saying (when he was in first place) that Yankee fans should be embarrassed that he was in first place because he didn’t ‘deserve’ it. First off, does anybody have the right to tell someone else who they should or shouldn’t vote for? And secondly, the last time I looked, the game of baseball is not just batting, there is this thing called Defense, and Mark Teixeira is excellent at defense. So NO I was not embarrassed, I voted for him. My reasons are that I am a Yankee fan and I am not voting for a player from a rival team. If you say I am missing the point of the All-Star Game I will tell you that you are missing my point. I don’t follow other teams. The only time I see them play is when they play against the Yankees. So I don’t know who on the other team is All-Star quality. Just don’t judge me or call me stupid.

Alex Rodriguez’ march to 600 homers
Alex Rodriguez is, at the time of this post, 5 home runs away from 600. A reporter recently asked if it seemed like nobody cared. The immediate response was to bring up his steroid use when he was with the Texas Rangers and to say, of course nobody cares, his home runs record is ‘tainted’. I for one care, in fact, I’m keeping a count down on my blog, well, actually that is to his 609th which will tie him with Sammy Sosa. Now does anyone really believe that Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds didn’t take steroids? No it was never proven, it was never proven with Alex either, he admitted it. It was in 2003, it was not illegal and he doesn’t take them anymore. Oh and how do I know? He’s Alex Rodriguez! If he takes an aspirin its on the front page of the sports section of every NY newspaper. So quit with the nonsense already and get ready to celebrate Alex’ 600th home run.

Innings limits
This was something I didn’t know about until I really started paying attention to baseball. Some pitchers have innings limits. Usually young pitchers and the belief is that it protects the pitcher from injury. Those who practice it believe that, those who don’t think it does more harm, because it disrupts the rhythm of the player. Nolan Ryan is one of those who doesn’t use them, he never had them so of course no one else needs them. Mr. Ryan, not everyone is you. They point to Phil Hughes, his ‘poor’ performance his last game after being skipped without noticing that he was ‘slipping’ before that. I personally think that he is not a machine, and he was having a bad day. I would rather he be skipped now, then get to the play offs and have him be worn out and unable to pitch. So skip a few starts now, let the boy rest and get strong. I have never been a professional athlete, but I have had an injury and surgery to my shoulder, my physical therapist said that shoulders are the worst joint to work on and heal. It took 18 months for me to even get close to full range of motion, now granted I don’t have the resources available to me that a Major League athlete has, I also am not putting as much stress on my joints as they are either. So I can understand the need for managers to be careful with a new young pitching talent.

Also, to everyone complaining about Girardi and saying he is wrong for what he did, how many Major League teams do you manage? And how many championship rings do you have?

~~and that’s all~~ she wrote

6/1 NY Yankees 3 vs Baltimore Orioles 1 ~ Mark Teixeira is an All-Star

Before anyone jumps on me, this is MY BLOG and I am stating my opinion. Disagree politely, or you’ll pay. 

Some people are upset that Teixeira is in first place in the All-Star voting. They think first place belongs to Justin Morneau of the Twins. One person even said that Yankee fans should be embarrassed that Mark Teixeira is in first place. I took them off my following list. The common complaint is look at their numbers. So I did.

For this season, Mark’s numbers: OBP -> .332, SLG -> .376, AVG -> .215

For this season, JM’s numbers:    OBP -> .489, SLG -> .687, AVG -> .374

So a huge difference, I can see that. But this All-Star game is in July, can Morneau keep up the pace? History suggests no. 

Career average: MT: OBP -> .378, SLG -> .545, AVG -> .290

Career average: JM: OBP -> .350, SLG -> .501, AVG -> .280

Here’s another fact, these averages are over 7 years for both, so they are both about the same age and I would say since the numbers are very close I would say in about the same physical condition. So I would say they are both All-Star material and it depends on if you are a Twins fan or a Yankees fan that determines who too vote for. I’m a Yankee fan so I voted for Teixeira, I hope he stays in first place and I am not embarrassed or ashamed to say so.

~~and that’s all~~ she wrote