Yankees lose to Devil Rays!!

[Zele]

2004 Standings, AL East:
TB 1-0
BOS 0-0
TOR 0-0
BAL 0-0
NYY 0-1

[ChristinaB]

I predict that this will be the low point of the Yankees season. Nowhere to go but up /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[andyfox]

Print it this way:

TB 1-0
Balt 0-0
Tor 0-0
Bos 0-0
NY 0-1

and it's exactly the opposite of the way the teams have finished the last six years running.

[Homer]

WTF, the season started? When did this happen?

[daryn]

evidently they are playing 2 "regular season" games in japan

[andyfox]

Apparently, both teams agreed to play in Tokyo, but only if they had some time to shake off their jet-lag between the Japan games and the resumption of their regular season. So the regular season for all other teams will not start until Sunday. Pretty strange.

[Gamblor]

I noticed Toronto didnt move.

*sigh*.

[ThaSaltCracka]

huh notice toronto?
Its the AL east, the only teams that matter are in Beantown and NY. /images/graemlins/grin.gif
FWIW, the AL will be very competitive this year in every division. Toronto should have a good team, as will Baltimore... Tampa can't possibly be worse /images/graemlins/cool.gif
But its all about the West. M's are going all the way, my team is all ready dominating in MVP Baseball 2004, watch out!!!!!! /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Gamblor]

Toronto should have a good team.

as soon as they find a closer.

[ThaSaltCracka]

wasn't escobar their "closer" last year?

[bugstud]

and he's starting in Anaheim now. I really like Speier, and Lopez did the job last year...someone should step up, eventually.

[Gamblor]

Yep Aquilino is the odds-on favourite here.

The whole city is excited, however, about finally having a capable starting rotation, and that's where most of the expectations are.

[ThaSaltCracka]

what about that offense?!?!..... wow, if they have good pitching they will give the big bankrolls a run for their (deep) money

[*Ryan_21*]

[ QUOTE ]
WTF, the season started? When did this happen?

[/ QUOTE ]

This just shows you/me how important baseball has become. I didnt know today was opening day either. Baseball is like whatever man. With all the coke freaks, steriod freaks, and no salary cap freaks, baseball is like the biggest who cares, IMO.

Ryan_21

[ChristinaB]

http://cagle.slate.msn.com/working/040330/lane.gif

[andyfox]

Prior's out 'til May, not a good thing for the Cubbies.

Hey, both teams were leading by three runs in the 8th inning of the game that would have gotten them to the World Series and neither one made it last year. Tell me about Greg Maddux and Curt Schilling all you want, if they didn't make it last year . . .

[andyfox]

I guess it's a long way to go to lose two games.

I was in Japan a few years back when the Cubs played the Mets. The feeling of excitement in the city was palpable. I can only imagine what it was this time with the Yankees and Matsui there, and with Matsui hitting a home run yesterday.

I remember my wife good-naturedly complaining to me about the small portions served in restaurants. And then reading in the paper that Mark Grace said he was spending $500 a day on food because the portions are so small he was ordering two lunches and two dinners.

Interesting place, Tokyo. No street names. An address is by section and block. And the building numbers aren't organized like ours. The first building that was built on the block is #1; the second is #2, whether it happens to be next to it or at the other end of the block or wherever. Not much crime, so the police spend much of their time giving directions to clueless foreign tourists, as well as semi-lost locals.

[DonWaade]

[ QUOTE ]
But its all about the West. M's are going all the way

[/ QUOTE ]

I live and die by Seattle Sports. (I default to Gonzaga or UW in B-ball because the NBA is a joke) So it is with great difficulty that I say this. . . but I am afraid this has to be THE year for the Mariners. I think that they will be looking at a couple rebuilding years after this campaign. So I will start my picketing (hopefully in November not September) for Edgar in the HOF at seasons end.

[ThaSaltCracka]

mark my words, Griffey will be an M again at some point in time this season.

Rebuilding?
only thing they will probably need to replace are a DH(which is easy IMO), a 1B(probably) and one SP(probably). They aren't as young as some teams, but there is more than one year left in the tank before rebuilding happens.

[ QUOTE ]
So I will start my picketing (hopefully in November not September) for Edgar in the HOF at seasons end.

[/ QUOTE ]
Let me know when you start, I will be there with you. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[DonWaade]

[ QUOTE ]
mark my words, Griffey will be an M again at some point in time this season.

Rebuilding?
only thing they will probably need to replace are a DH(which is easy IMO), a 1B(probably) and one SP(probably). They aren't as young as some teams, but there is more than one year left in the tank before rebuilding happens.

[/ QUOTE ]

All of these are good points. I especially agree that Griffey will be back, but I am not sure if I want to see him back. The M's have done so well with a "team first" attitude that Jr might affect that harmony. As for rebuilding, I think as long a Edgar plays, he has a job which could be (curse me for saying this) detrimental. If he does not play, Locke will have to call the Nat'l Gaurd because there is likey to be rioting from Bothel to Tukwila.

I am not too sure about Spiezo or Aurelia and how they will bat. It seems to be the curse of Seattle since Jim Presley decided that he forget how to play, that we cannot have a good hitting Third basemen. Catcher is going to be tough as well as first base. Hopefully no more Pete O'Brian's!! I hope you are right but I am not so sure. . .

[ThaSaltCracka]

I don't think its as dire as you make it out. I like the new GM all ready he seems like a man of action, I don't see him sitting idly like Gillick did.

[DonWaade]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't think its as dire as you make it out. I like the new GM all ready he seems like a man of action, I don't see him sitting idly like Gillick did.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good point. I did not think about that /images/graemlins/blush.gif

[ThaSaltCracka]

we are some stupid marniers fans /images/graemlins/grin.gif
I love it though. We have an awesome park, great fans, great players on and off the field. Plus no curse or battery throwing fans. Does Baseball get any better than this?

[DonWaade]

[ QUOTE ]
we are some stupid marniers fans
I love it though. We have an awesome park, great fans, great players on and off the field. Plus no curse or battery throwing fans. Does Baseball get any better than this?

[/ QUOTE ]

In short: NO

I grew up more acquainted with the MLB than any other sport. It is the best. Period. Is it the most entertaining on TV? Probably not. Live? Nothing is better. The beer is better. The dogs are better. Everything is better at the ballpark.

I love the Mariners. I dont care too much for the Sonics (only because, as I previously stated, the NBA sucks). The Seahawks are great. But nothing beats the oft changing colors of the Mariners.

I live and die by the Mariners. There is nothing more irratating than "fair-weather" fans. One minute it is Anaheim, the next it's the Rams and Lakers. What gives? The BEST fans are the fans that have been through both the good and the bad.(need I remind any M's fanatics of Chuck Cottier or Rene Lachman?) People want to talk sports; give me a Cubs fan or a BoSox fan. Give me a Bengals fan. Don't come as a Cardinals fan because McGwire left Oakland for St Louis. And, IMHO dont come at all if you are a fan of any LA area team.

Stupid fans you say? Loyal fans, says I.

Tha Salt Craker, this is not meant as a knock on you. This is just a tangent and some mindless drivel targeted at fans whose sporting heart bleed different colos every year.

[ThaSaltCracka]

I meant stupid as in rabid. You know what I mean. Basically M's fans crack me up, there are some fairweather fans in Seattle to. But I have always liked them. Them and the....... Yankees!!!
anyways, I was at game 5 in 1995 when they beat NY!!!! That was the best baseball game I have ever seen, the crowd was going crazy for a hour after that game.... I don't think anyone left or sat down for an hour.

you want bandwagon fans. You hit the nail on the head with Rams fans, next is probably Ravens fans, then Anaheim. I hate those fans and that stupid rally monkey. I was so pissed they won two years ago.

[Josh W]

You were at the game?????? I may kill somebody for a ticket stub. Yeah, it was the greatest game in the greatest postseason series ever.

I remember the drag bunts by Cora, then Griffey...then Edgar...

I was watching the game with my Dad, and when E came up, we were like "C'mon Gar, one more double...just one more double"....down the line, and the only question was if Griffey would make it. But as SportsCenter has since reminded us...

It's never iffy if it's Griffey. I loved his interview after the game when he said his only thought was "Please don't have me be at the bottom of the dog pile". He was, but oh well.

Hey, look, I got goosebumps.

As Skippy Nordquist would say, "The year it all began".

Josh

[DonWaade]

Man, I would have given both of my most prized possesions to have been at that game. As it was, I was in San Antonio in some club on my very first weekend liberty from the Army. All of my buds were scouting the abundant "scenery" and I was watching the big screen as Jr. rounded third heading for home. I then looked for the first pay-phone to call home to my brother and dad who I was certain, were watching the game. Josh remembers the dialogue better than anyone, I am sure. But damn, it would have been fantastic to hear Dave Neihaus screaming like he probably was.

Like they said in Brooklyn for so many years: "Wait til next year." Hopefully this year is next year.

[andyfox]

That might have been the greatest series ever played, and I'm talking as a Yankee fan that had to endure his team losing despite a 2 games to love lead.

Newish managers, in their first pressure situation, tend to stay with their aces too long. [See Boston Red Sox, game 7 vs. Yankees last year]. Showalter did it twice in the same game. First, when he stayed with a completely finished David Cone in the 8th, when Cone, knowing he had no fastball, walked in the tying run refusing to throw a fastball with the bases loaded. Showalter then brought in a young, untested Mariano Rivera to finally get the last out. If he trusted Rivera with the score 4-4, why not with the score 4-3?

And then he stayed with Jack McDowell instead of bringing in John Wetteland because he had been hit hard the day before. Idiot.