Reliving My Memory of the 2003 ALCS Game 7

Right now MLB Network is airing their 20 Greatest Games series with #6. The game? 2003 ALCS Game 7, the Aaron Boone walk-off game. I'm currently on a bus on my way back from--of all places--Boston so I will be watching it later on Tivo. But while any mention of that game brings a smile to my face, it's about time that I relived the memory of that game on NYaT.

Victory!

I'm not sure there was ever a game in my entire life that had the up-and-down emotion of this game. Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals as a Rangers fan was close (and the recent comeback against the Bruins by the Rangers brought those emotions back in a bid way). But regardless of how emotional this game was, it was so much more emotional for me. I was a sophomore at Brandeis University. Brandeis is in Waltham, Massachusetts, a close suburb of Boston. Many of my school-mates were Red Sox fans and I had just started doing a radio show with Ben W and Jay which was full of Red Sox callers wanting to tell us how the Sawks were going to kick the Yankees butts all over the place.

I decided to go watch Game 7 with a mixed group of people. Mixed as in some Yankees fans, some Red Sox fans and some agnostics. I stayed about 30 minutes as the Yankees early hole left the Red Sox fans arrogant and ready to celebrate. If the Yankees were going to do go down in 2003, I was going to be sitting in Jay and my room watching it sans "Red Sox Nation".

As soon as Jay and I got back to our room, the tide starting turning. I paced around the room as the Yankees slowly ate away at the Red Sox lead and when Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in, Jay and I were hopeful for the first time all night. There was a chance. We couldn't sit, we couldn't stand still...we could hardly even watch.

And then Jorge Posada's hit fell and we went nuts. Like nuts-nuts. Like the type of nuts that make your college neighbors really mad at you.

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Almost Opening Day...

The weather outside in New York doesn't show it but we're really, really close to opening day. I love this time of year when rosters are finalized, teams leave Florida and the anticipation of the season is right around the corner. The greatest part about opening day is that every team starts with the same chance to win the World Series. Sure, I don't think the Pirates or the Royals really have any shot, but as the Giants proved last year, you never really know. So here's to hope, optimism, Spring and Opening Day!

And now a baseball joke for you (H/T Lauren): A Yankees fan, a Mets fan, and a Red Sox fan are climbing a mountain and arguing about who loves his team more. The Mets fan insists he is the most loyal. ''This is for the Mets'', he yells, and jumps off the mountain. Not to be outdone, the Yankees fan is next to profess his love for his team. He yells "This is for the Yankees!!!"...and pushes the Red Sox fan off the mountain.

Hot Stove Coal: Retreads Are Never the Answer

I'm sorry that my blogging has been so sporadic. I started a new day job and its duties have had me neglecting my blogging duties. And I was going to be okay with that until I heard this clip of Mike Francesca blowing up at a caller and then saw Michael Kay sitting in full Rangers gear at Madison Square Garden last night. If there was ever a signal that I needed to get back into the blogging game it would be seeing the two New York sports talk blowhards back in my life.

Colon shouldn't be more than a stop-gap for the Yanks(LoHud)

I also wanted to talk about the 2011 Yankees--a rag-tag bunch of characters if I ever saw one. Sure there's the Core Three and A-Rod and CC. But as Spring has gone on, I've seen Yankee fans get excited by the likes of Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, and Mark Prior. It's as American as apple pie to root for comeback stories. We love the guy who rises out of the ashes for one more shot at glory. It's why we go to the theaters to see so many Rocky movies. It's why we the best sports stories always seems to be ones of redemption.

The problem is that we try too hard at times to make something out of nothing, especially when it has to do with baseball retreads (AKA has-beens, washed up, and finished). Sure, there's the odd guy who can have a huge rebound and find his way back to his glory days. But with steroid testing in place, those guys seem to be one in a million. I'm not talking about guys who just needed a change of venue to realize their true potential like David Ortiz, Paul O'Neill, Tim Wakefield or Shane Victorino. And I'm not talking about guys who had a down year or an injury and found a way back the next year. I'm talking about guys whose careers were shot only to find success again. It's just not happening as much as people think.

To prove my point, the Yankees have to look no further than Boston where the Red Sox draw optimisim each Spring from their fans on the retreads they try to revive the careers of. Yankee fans bemoan that their General Manager is no Theo Epstein only to find out that there was a reason these guys were available for so cheap. How much did we hear about Jeremy Hermida, Rocco Baldelli, Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Paul Byrd, Eric Gagne and Wade Miller and how much did they produce? Did you remember that the Red Sox had Bartolo Colon in 2008 or that Freddy Garcia was on the Mets Spring roster before being released? David Wells and David Cone both wore the Red Sox jerseys at some point towards the end of their careers.

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Filling Out a Lineup Card: Boston Red Sox

As we get closer to opening day and managers have to figure out who is going to fill out their starting lineup, we're going to have a guest post series by Jordan who is going to give his thoughts into the batting order each team will go with this season. Currently Jordan is leaving up in Red Sox territory so it's fitting he starts with the Yankees' heated rivals. As always, let us know what you think in the comments below. Here is his first entry in the series:

Jordan says "The Smurf" should bat 6th in this potent lineup (Boston Herald)

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There has been much debate over the projected Red Sox batting order. Manager Terry Francona has difficult task ahead. With the additions of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, the batting order will look dramatic different. I would expect Tito to break up the lefties as much as possible. My predicted order:

1. Dustin Pedroia (R)
2. Carl Crawford (L)
3. Adrian Gonzalez (L)
4. Kevin Youklis (R)
5. David Ortiz (L)
6. Marco Scutaro (R)
7. J.D. Drew (L)
8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia (S)
9. Jacoby Ellsbury (L)

This line up gives the Red Sox the most advantages. The only back-to-back lefties are the key acquisitions that can both hit lefties. Ellsbury drops from lead off to the ninth spot in the order to create a second leadoff batter when he starts off an inning.

Some may find it odd that Scutaro is batting sixth, but he is needed there to break up Ortiz and Drew, who both can struggle against south paws. If Drew was bumped ahead of Scutaro, opponents could have a lefty come in to face Crawford through Drew. Scutaro is a better option in the sixth spot as opposed to the fourteen lettered, Saltalamacchia due to striking out less.

Alfredo Aceves Continues To Do His Best Ramiro Mendoza Impression

The hope among Yankee fans was that Alfredo Aceves would turn into what Ramiro Mendoza was for the Yankees--a jack-of-all-trades swingman who could excel at any part of the game from starter to closer and every place in between. Mendoza has a certain place in Yankee lore from the late 90s as "El Brujo" worked his magic for four championship teams. For about 2 years, that's exactly what Aceves was as he went 14-1 with a 3.21 ERA (142 ERA+) in 59 games. Those 59 games spanned 126 innings and included 5 starts and 2 saves. His only full season was 2009 and he was certainly one of the reasons the Yankees won the World Series as his 4.31 SO/BB ratio helped to solidify the bullpen for the Yankees.

Yankees fans are hoping that Alfredo Aceves is the new Mole in Boston

But after getting shut down in early May due to back pain and then breaking his collarbone in a bicycle accident during the off-season, the Yankees decided to non-tender Aceves and take a chance that they could resign him on a minor-league contract due to his injury timetable. But instead the Boston Red Sox swept in yesterday and signed Aceves to a major-league contract with the desire to make him a starter--and with an improved injury timetable. At first glance, many wondered whether the Yankees had made a mistake non-tendering Aceves, especially judging by the gaping holes at the back of their rotation.

The Yankees have to hope that Aceves turns into Mendoza one more time, but this time for the Red Sox. The toll on Mendoza's arm from the workload the Yankees gave him worried the Yankees and in 2003 Mendoza signed with the Red Sox. The 31-year-old Mendoza stuck up the join in 2003 with a 6.75 ERA and 1.770 WHIP. When the Red Sox lost to the Yankees in that year's ALCS, Mendoza became known in Boston (especially on sports talk radio station, WEEI) as "The Mole".

Mendoza would improve his numbers greatly in 2004 and got a World Series ring for his efforts but the Red Sox fans would never forgive him. When he came out of the dugout to get his World Series ring on opening day of 2005, he was the only player to get booed. Some of that probably had to do with the fact he had resigned with the Yankees, but the memory of the Yankees dropping off damaged goods in Beantown has not been lost on Red Sox fans.

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Cliff Lee's Wife Unhappy With Yankees Fans, Yankees, Yanks

Cliff Lee's wife, Kristen Lee, is unhappy with how she was treated at Yankee Stadium during the ALCS.  Apparently, several Yankees fans were extremely rude towards her.  Allegations involving spitting, throwing cups of beer, and shouting obscenities have been made.

"The fans did not do good things in my heart," Kristen Lee said, according to the newspaper. "When people are staring at you, and saying horrible things, it's hard not to take it personal."

GIF credit: Barstool Sports

The USA Today reports that Ms. Lee sat in the visitor's section and suggests that this may have been the Rangers' first negotiating tactic as Texas tries to woo Lee from the Yankees this offseason.

Barstool Sports Boston thinks that Kristen's distaste for Yankees fans and New York in general will torpedo the Yankees' chances of signing Lee.  Naturally, Barstool concludes with: "So if Kristin Lee really wants to get payback like I think she does we’re the only option.  Looks like thing just went from bad to worse for Yankee fans.  Cue the duckboats indeed!"

This is such a non-story.  I blame the media.  It's a pretty ridiculous theory to suggest that the Yankees are out of the running because Kristen Lee had an unpleasant experience in Game 3 of the ALCS.

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