Of the way we were.
Scattered pictures
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were..."
Did you know that it's been only a year since our own Giancarlo Stanton was named MVP of the All-Star Game? Seems a lot longer, doesn't it?
Big G crushed a two-run, 457-foot home run off reliever Tony Gonsolin to win the game, and become the first Yankee to take the game's MVP trophy since Mariano Rivera did it in 2013.
The game, you'll recall, was held in Dodgers Stadium, and Tyler Kepner wrote a column for the Times—remember when the Times had a sports page? were we ever that young?—wondering if this might have been a preview of the World Series.
The Yankees, after all, had the best record in baseball at the time, 64-28, and had just come off a two-game mashing of the Red Sox, in which they beat Boston 14-1 and 13-2, back-to-back. The Yanks were 13 games up on Tampa Bay in the AL East—and 3 games up on the Dodgers for the very best record in the majors.
"Do I ever think about [a Yankees-Dodgers Series]? Absolutely," Giancarlo told Kepner in 2022. "For sure, on paper it's lined up that way for a few years, so now both sides need to take care of business and get it done."
"Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time rewritten every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me would we? Could we?"
In fact, cracks in the Yankees' foundation were already evident. Ma Boone had begun managing the team as if it were late September and all he had to do was keep his team healthy and set up his rotation for the playoffs. In the first game of that Red Sox series, the Yanks tied the score and loaded the bases with none out in the ninth, but Ma didn't pinch-hit or put on a play to getting the winning run in.
Why bother? It was all over but the shouting. Wasn't it?
There were fissures in Giancarlo, too. Yes, he had 24 home runs and 61 ribbies at the All-Star break. But his average had already dropped from .309 to .237 since May 21st, his OPS from .925 to .835.
As it happened, nobody "took care of business." The Yankees barely managed to hang on to the division title, and never got to the World Series.
Stanton hit just 7 homers and drove in 17 runs the rest of the way, finishing at .211 and .759—and that was with playing only 34 of the Yankees' remaining, 72 games. He's been even worse this year.
Can he come back? Can we all? Is it possible???
Take it, Babs.
"Memories may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were."
Well, my moment of hope was just fleeting.
ReplyDeleteIn another example of "nothing is sacred", that total pile of absolute shit, Hal , and his entire staff of inflamed anal tissue, has sold the Yankee uniform to a shoulder patch for a fucking insurance company.
Like this asshole weasel doesn't make enough money, he sold a corner of the uni to an INSURANCE COMPANY !!!!!
Fuck this piece of shit.
I truly hope that he dies.
Little kids get cancer and this pus face lives.
YES, I DO.
P.S, HC66,
ReplyDeleteThanks for including my picture with Babs in your story.
Archie - why didn’t you wear a shirt?
ReplyDeleteRemember when we thought Stanton was a great player?
ReplyDeleteNeither do I.
Informal poll: Will the Yankees' uniforms more resemble the Premier League or Nascar in 20 years.
"Memories" is the only Barbara Streisand song that I can tolerate. Great song, very poignant. When I was learning how to tickle the ivory, I used to play that riff with that interesting little turn in it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't turn on the All Star game yesterday. Didn't watch any tv at all. Instead, I listened to a new discovery that I made: Vanilla Fudge's "Out Through the In Door", a cover album of Led Zeppelin songs. I got it mainly because of the first track, a cover version of "The Immigrant Song". My tastes run very martial, as shown by my favorite part of the song:
How soft your fields so green
Can whisper tales of gore
Of how we calmed the tides of war
We are your overlord
If you're a Led Zeppelin fan, and you like Vanilla Fudge too, you're going to like this one. The only track that is superior to Zep's original is "Moby Dick", the drum solo. The rest is an interesting take on old favorites, a very different take. They took the creative approach and mostly went for completely different arrangements. Since songwriting was Zeppelin's strength, different arrangements can't possibly stand up to the originals. This one is dominated by drums and vocals, with significantly less guitar.
After that, I listened to The Firm's "All the King's Horses" and Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile". That got me pumped up, and I got in a great workout. Took a shower and slept like a baby.
That's how irrelevant the MLB All Star Game has become. I didn't even bother to check the score 'til this morning.
Interesting, Hammer. I'll check it out.
ReplyDeleteArchie, I understand she still speaks highly of you...
...And yeah, the shoulder patch. I knew this was coming when I saw that the Mets and the Padres had them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Archie. HAL is an absolute, unmitigated piece of shit, with no respect for the traditions of this team.
To answer your question, Rufus, yes, in 20 years the uniforms of all major-league teams will ALL look like NASCAR or foreign soccer clubs. And I will have long stopped following the team or the game.
Like so many things in America today, baseball is just another long con. Or maybe a psychological experiment: "Let's see how many of the things you love we can change before you don't care about any of it."
Almost there, as far as I'm concerned.
AA,
ReplyDeleteBabs just kept telling me to take it off.
Last year's first half seems like a dream, one fueled by opium smoke and Ballantine Ale.
ReplyDeleteI had missed the 1960s collapse, just barely, coming to baseball fandom a little bit late. But now I think I at least have an inkling of how it felt.
@ JM, I think this shoulder patch business is even worse than the CBS years. Even in those days, CBS didn't sell out the Yankee uniform to financial concerns. This sounds like the beginning of the end. Other teams might sell their uniforms, but the New York Yankees should never have done it. Things are never going to be the same again.
ReplyDelete🎶It’s the end of the world as we know it…
ReplyDeletebut I don’t feel fine🤮
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Draft Kings field at Bank of America's Yankee Stadium.
ReplyDeletePlease rise and remove your caps for the Blockchain national anthem.