The Superbowl is arguably the greatest sporting event of the year, especially in a non-Olympic year. This year's matchup may not be as riveting as last year's (Giants vs. Patriots), but it's certainly going to be a close, well-played game.
Last year, I correctly picked the Giants over the Patriots. In fact, to my knowledge, I've picked the correct winner three of the past four years (I picked the Seahawks over the Steelers in 2006, give me a break).
I'm picking Pittsburgh this year, but by a very close margin. I'll go with a final score of 28-24. The Steelers defense is so much better than the Cardinals, and I am confident that they will be able to hold Larry Fitzgerald to sub-godly numbers.
What do you think? Vote on the poll:
You may recall that a few weeks ago I sent out a bunch of TTM (through the mail) autograph requests. I received my first two back in the mail today. Unfortunately, both players did not sign.
The first was Yogi Berra. I had heard that Mr. Berra charges quite a bit ($50) for signature requests through the mail, but I figured that I would give it a shot with a well-written letter. Unfortunately, the cards I sent came back unsigned.
The next was Stan Musial. I was surprised I was unsuccessful with Musial; even though he is a Hall of Famer, I had heard various people say they had received signed cards back.
There are still about six more out there, so hopefully I'll be successful with a few of them!
I often go back and forth in my views on statistical analysis, saber-metrics, and all of that good stuff that guys like Jayson Stark and Bill James love. On the one hand, baseball is a numbers game, and on the other hand, it is the most human of all sports.
For example, we all know the value that Jeter has brought to the number 2 spot in the order over the past 13 years. Even so, statistical analysis shows that Jeter would be more valuable as the number eight or nine hitter. Based on numbers alone, that might be so. But based on the intangibles (getting a runner over, getting a bunt down, etc.), Jeter has proven his worth in the two-hole.
With that, let's move on to analyzing the projected 2009 Opening Day lineup. According to baseballmusings.com's lineup analysis, this would be the most effective lineup for the Yankees:
DH Hideki Matsui
1B Mark Teixeira
C Jorge Posada
3B Alex Rodriguez
LF Johnny Damon
RF Xavier Nady
2B Robinson Cano
CF Melky Cabrera
SS Derek Jeter
Interesting, right?
Obviously, if Joe Girardi put this lineup out there on Opening Day, every blogger, journalist, and critic out there would call for his head. But, again, the stats say this would work best.
I'm thinking the real Opening Day lineup will look something like this:
LF Johnny Damon
SS Derek Jeter
1B Mark Teixeira
3B Alex Rodriguez
DH Hideki Matsui
RF Xavier Nady
C Jorge Posada
2B Robinson Cano
CF Melky Cabrera
The 1-4 slots are pretty well set. The 5-9 spots are up for debate, and there might be some changes in there.
This is just food for thought. As we all know from last year, the Opening Day lineup may only be used a handful of times throughout the year, since there are always injuries, call-ups, and slumps.
No, Alex, it's 14 days.
One year ago today, we Yankee fans took a tough blow to the face. The Mets had officially traded for Johan Santana.
This is what I had to say about it last year:
"Most people say that Cashman was hesitant to sign Santana because the deal would most definitely ensure a hefty, $100 million dollar-plus extension. Well, yes. But it's not my money. Well, maybe a $50 parking fee and a $15 beer would hurt, but a World Series win would soften the blow."
"We had a shot and it flew by. If Santana continues his success while with the Mets, Cashman will never hear the end of it. And maybe that's a good thing."
"The Yankees had to give up virtually nothing in order to obtain Santana. I love Melky and Kennedy, and their potential is sky-high. But Melky hasn't exactly been the anchor of our offense in recent years, and his bat and glove have not exactly been vital to the team compared with other players."
One year later, my view on the Johan Santana deal has wavered only slightly. I still think he is one of the two or three best pitchers in baseball. And I have no doubt in my mind that we would have made the playoffs if we had Johan last year. However, with the signing of CC Sabathia (at the expense of no prospects), Cashman has (somewhat) made up for his error in judgment. Still, I'm not so sure I would pick the tandem of Sabathia, Hughes, and Melky Cabrera over Johan Santana.
Who knew then that one year later, in January 2009, the hot topic would be controversy surrounding Joe Torre? You just can't predict baseball (and that goes for the offseason too).
I saw this stat on tonight's episode of Baseball's Seasons (1968) on the MLB Network:
In 1968, Bob Gibson had an ERA of 1.12. At one point, he gave up one earned run over a span of 65 innings.
Has there ever been a better display of pitching dominance than that? Sure, there have been some amazing pitching feats in the history of the game, but put that into perspective - one earned run in sixty-five innings, by a starting pitcher. Unbelievable.
I doubt we'll see anything like that again in our lifetime.
Check out what I dug up from my room today:
For those that don't remember, this was the scorecard from the 22-0 defeat the Yanks endured against the Indians in August 2004. I was only 13 at the time, but I kept score during every game I watched (and I still do, to this day).
Ah, good times.
This will be the last in our "best hitter of the decade" series. Here are the candidates, and please vote on the poll located at the bottom of this post.
Duke Snider: Hit 40+ home runs from 1953-1957, six seasons with 100+ runs and RBI's.
Stan Musial: 10-time All Star, hit over .310 nine times, seven seasons with 100+ RBI's.
Willie Mays: 1951 ROY, hit 128 home runs from 1954-1956, 20+ steals from 1955-1959.
Mickey Mantle: Won back-to-back MVP's, won the 1956 Triple Crown, five seasons with 30+ home runs.
Gil Hodges: Hit 20+ home runs every year of the decade, 100+ RBI's from 1950-1955.
One year ago today, at exactly 7:56 p.m., The Bronx Insider was launched.
For those of you who don't know the origin of the blog, it's pretty simple: last year, I was sitting in an SAT class with a few of my friends. During a break, we started talking about the Yankees. One of my friends suggested that we start a blog. So we did.
I didn't pick the name, or the server, I was just sent a link and a password by my friend. There were three of us contributing to the site at the time. One year later, I'm the only one left.
I think the reason that I have continued blogging was because it has been a great outlet to share my thoughts and perspectives on the Yankees. Plenty of teenagers start blogs but stop posting after about two weeks because of apathy (me included: three years ago I started a blog and stopped posting after a month). But to say that TBI has lasted a full year is pretty remarkable in my book.
Stay tuned over the next few weeks. I have some podcasts, video chats, and a bunch of season preview posts lined up.
Here's to a fresh start for 2009.
According to every Yankee blog and site out there, the Yankees have officially signed Andrew Eugene Pettitte to a one-year deal worth $5.5 million in guaranteed money and up to a total of $12 million with incentives.
As I have stated numerous times (like here, here, and here), I was hoping that the Yankees would bring back Pettitte for 2009, and they complied with my wishes.
I'm rarely ever right with my predictions (such as when I predicted that Phil Hughes would win 20 games in 2008), but I got this one right. On January 6th, I said, "Somehow, someway, my gut tells me that Pettitte will be pitching for the Yanks next season. He's still a viable starter, and it would do the Yankees good to sign him, even if they have to raise the offer by a few million (heck, that's just pennies to them)."
With the signing of Pettitte, I am officially ready for the 2009 baseball season to begin. The only thing left we need to do is wait.
