WHY THE FASCINATION WITH STERLING & WALDMAN? COMEDY

I am jealous that I didn't think to do this because I get such a kick out of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Here are some quotes from both of them brought to you by Thebaseblawg from the month of August. Be sure to check it out. Pretty funny stuff.

“You know, Suzyn, I don’t see much difference between home and away in baseball. But thanks for telling me it’s August.” – Sterling, 8/1 @ White Sox

“Here’s Robbie Cano hitting .299. That’s as close as you can get to .300 without hitting .300.” – Sterling, 8/4 @ White Sox

“The 1 and 2 is up and in so the count is 2 and 1.” – Sterling, 8/6 @ Red Sox

“Have you noticed that when Gardner dives back into first he replaces the dirt? Does a little… gardening?” – Waldman, 8/7 @ Red Sox

“That’s why he’s the executive producer: he is texty and sexy.”

– Sterling, referring to their executive producer who had just given them some information, 8/24 v. A’s

“Gardner has been successful on 23 of his last 24 steals. I think that stat is right. If I’m wrong I’m only wrong by one, let’s say.” – Sterling, 8/24 v. A’s

Suzyn: “I don’t think this game will ever end.”

John: “No, I can’t see how it will.”

– 8/25 v. A’s as the game neared its 6^th hour of play

“And Curtis Granderson hits a home run! That’s another grand slam! Or in this case, a Grander-slam!”

– Sterling, 8/25 v. A’s

“I know there are a lot of people in the New York area who still don’t have power and are used to watching on television. Well this is radio – welcome to us.”

– Waldman, 8/29 @ Orioles

“Nick Swisher runs out to the bleachers with his arms open like he’s going to invite everyone to his house for cupcakes.” – Waldman, 8/29 @ Orioles

John: “That gives the Yankees a 5-4 lead!”

Suzyn: “And the biggest moth just flew up here…”

– 8/31 @ Red Sox

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WHY I NEED TO MEET SUZYN WALDMAN

It’s a selfish conquest, but important to me none the less. Yes, it’s true, when I finally complete my mission, I’ll get laughed at, picked on and mocked but I don’t care what anyone says… I have the need to meet Suzyn Waldman. Why? Because believe it or not, she is part of Yankees history.

Waldman has been with the Yankees in the booth with John Sterling since 2005 and to be honest, I never thought much of it. But one thing you need to say about Suzyn Waldman, she’s a staple in the Yankee family and has been for years. She’s been doing sports broadcasting for 20 years, and without her around Yankee Stadium, we may never have ever seen Yogi Berra again. What? Wait… you don’t know what I’m talking about? Let me explain.

Yogi Berra, no doubt was one of the greatest Yankees ever, numerous championships and a Hall of Famer. After Yogi Berra and George Steinbrenner had their falling out in 1985 when Yogi was fired as the Yankees Manager, Yogi was pissed because it wasn’t Steinbrenner himself but the GM who gave Berra the message. Berra swore he’d never step foot in Yankee Stadium again, and didn’t for a long long time.

As the story goes, in 1999, Suzyn Waldman was able to get both George and Yogi together for a "sit down". Some real Tony Soprano stuff. The "sit down" was a huge success and Yogi came back on a huge day at Yankee Stadium honoring Yogi. They did it right, Don Larsen threw out the first pitch to Yogi and in Yankee style; David Cone followed that day pitching his perfect game. Bottom line, that chain of events would have never happened without Suzyn Waldman.

Now, you know my feeling about John Sterling and Suzyn together in the both. It’s manageable in my mind but I’ve never loved the duo. Yes, by now, the 2 of them in the booth is a good team, and many of us grow accustomed to them being there, but, let’s not gloss over it. The moment Roger Clemens was in "George’s box" was the day I said loudly, “I have to meet Suzyn Waldman.” No one in any other lifetime could be that excited about Roger Clemens coming back to the Yankees, including Roger Clemens… except of course for Suzyn Waldman. Yes, her excitement was ridiculous, but it was the passion I loved.

Look, she may not be the greatest color commentator in sports, you may not like her, but you need to respect her. Suzyn Waldman has opened doors and mended friendships that no one even knows about. Do you think it would be easy for our favorite Yankees chick Kimberly Jones to just get a job with the Yankees? Suzyn Waldman’s presence before Kim certainly helped. That’s no slap against Kim Jones, she feels the love and she's incredible at what she does. My point is, Suzyn Waldman is a veteran woman in broadcasting and because of her acceptance, more people opened their eyes, more gave other women a chance. You have to love that.

So yes, it’s true, in a sport driven by men; one woman broke through to take a stand and do her job to the best of her ability and helped with a little Yankee history along the way.

Again, you may not care for her style, you may not love her in the booth, but there is no doubt, you need to respect the job she does because… bottom line… no one does it like Suzyn… Goodness gracious… no one.

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WHY IT'S JUST BASEBALL SUZYN

(Photo: Getty)

So another Yankees/Red Sox Series has come and gone and it seems the Sox had the Yanks number. While the results weren’t what the Yankees were hoping for, at least it was entertaining. The Yankees came into the series having won 7 in a row and Boston was reeling. In the end, Boston took a 2-1 series win and improved to 10-2 against the Yanks this

season.After Friday, nobody would have predicted that. The Yanks pulled out a 3-2 victory even with a sub-par performance by Bartolo Colon. MSG and 1050 ESPN personality Bill Daughtry was quick to point out that the Mets R.A. Dickey pitched a better game in the Mets 4-3 loss to the Braves Friday night. How do you like that? Colon wasn’t great, but he kept his team in the game.

(Photo: Getty)

What’s the saying? You’re only as good as the next day’s starter? Well, Saturday we saw CC Sabathia, who’s having a monster year against everyone except Boston against John Lackey. Let's face it, the Yankees tee off on Lackey more than Adam Scott and his Titlest. Well, Boston got to CC and his struggles against the Sox continued.



Sunday night saw Josh Beckett vs. Freddy Garcia. Clearly Boston had the edge going into the game. Well, the Yanks had the lead and Mo coughed it up and Phil Hughes flat out ate it late.



On paper, the Sox should have destroyed the Yanks on Friday and Sunday. Their stellar offense should’ve lit up the Yanks reclamation projects. And then Saturday should’ve been a walk in the park for the Yanks. But as a despised broadcaster on an unnamed network likes to say, “That’s why they play the game.” This is why I think SABRmetrics is pointless and you should trust your scouts and what your eyes see on the field.

And here's my best impersonation of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on paper:



John Sterling: "This weekend proves it's just baseball... Nobody in their right mind would’ve predicted it. You know Suzyn... Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe said (pause) the 2-1 pitch to Eduardo Nunez... low. The Yanks would have the best record in baseball if they could beat those pesky Red Sox."



Suzyn Waldman: "That’s a great point John.”



John Sterling: "Here’s the 3-1 pitch, swung on, drilled deep to left. It is high. It is FAR. It is…. It’s foul."

In all seriousness though, the 3 things this weekend proved is that baseball is unpredictable, the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is always fun, and the Yankees are playing well despite the injuries this year, except when they play the Sox and that needs to change if a trip to the World Series is in the cards, bottom line.

-- Lem Allen, BYB Freelance Writer

bybcurmudgeon@gmail.com

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WHY IT WAS ONE OF THOSE DAYS IN THE BRONX

Phil Hughes actually looked good today. It made me proud and it made me feel bad that I would even suggest in my post WHY I'D MOVE HUGHES TO THE PEN, that, he should be out of the rotation. Hughes pitched 6 innings, allowed 9 hits but only 2 runs and struck out 3. He pitched against King Felix and it wasn't going to be easy and to tell you the truth, the Yankees did pretty good, until, surprisingly, the bullpen collapsed. Something that we rarely ever hear about. Yes, it's funny, I was listening to Sterling and Waldman and Cory Wade had just come in the game and John was raving about how great the Yankees bullpen was this year. Then of course, Suzyn chimed in reading some stat off of the jumbo tron and suddenly... it all fell apart. The best part for Seattle, was it was their first win in 18 games. The bad news, Hughes didn't want to be the guy to get that loss. Oh well, that's baseball.

The bottom line today was simple, the Yankees could not hit Hernandez and that's a fact. Plus, the defense wasn't too good. Cano with a botched ball, and a ball thrown away. Granderson had a misplay in the 7th and he lost the ball in the sun later on. It was just one of those days.
The Yankees had 6 hits today, the 2 runs consisted of Derek Jeter's sacrifice fly and Robinson Cano grounded out to short but Granderson, who was on base...scored. Other than that, the Mariners finally came to play today and that's the end, Yankees lost.


Final Score: Mariners 9 - Yankees 2. Next game is Friday verses the Orioles. Good luck Gentlemen, go beat Buck.

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WHY THE YANKS NEED TO BORROW A PAGE FROM ESPN

For far too long, we here in New York, have decided, been told and outright declared that New York City is the center of the Sports Universe. I mean, after all, we have 9 home teams spanning the 4 major sports. It's here that we have 2 all sports-talk radio stations; numerous national sportscasters have regular jobs with these teams. Anybody who’s anybody in sports wants to be here in New York. Hell, New Yorkers are the greatest fans in the world. Knowledgeable, Passionate. As New Yorkers, we deserve the best!!!
Then why is it that as NewYorkers, who follow the most storied franchise in any sport worldwide, do we get a third rate announce team? How is it that in 2010, someone in the Yankees organization can wake up and still sign paychecks for Suzyn Waldman & "the Voce of the New York Yankees" John Sterling?

I am embarrassed as a Yankee fan to have to suffer to the endless rants and utter nonsense spoken by these two. On numerous occasions someone will make “An outstanding play!”, yet it won’t show up on any highlight reel. Why? Because most of the time these are plays that professional athletes SHOULD make. It’s their job, not to mention the fact that these are supposed to be the cream of the crop. AND, let's be real about this, is every play made by our aging shortstop “sensational”?

Or how about the “A-bombs, from A-Rod” that barely clear the fence. When seen on TV, a person with little to no sports knowledge might say some of these balls were lucky to leave the park.

OR how about when Mr. Sterling does his Joe Morgan impression – describes things as fact that don’t actually happen. If a sales person lies to the consumer, wouldn’t people stop buying from that store? But why, in this case, are we forced to suffer? And while we’re at it, didn’t all of the nicknames & catchphrases fall out of style around the same time as Chris “Boomer” (a name he gave to himself) Berman’s hair? By the way, on a side note, in this day of steroids, isn’t the line “Georgie Juiced one” a bit insidious?

How about Ms. Waldman? From back when she was the beat reporter at WFAN until now, as the “color analyst” for the Yanks, she acts as if she is the mother hen and this team of professional athletes is her flock. If I wanted to know what Jonathan Albaladejo had for breakfast I’d interrogate the clubhouse attendant. I DON’T CARE!!! Just tell me what’s happening in the game!!!

I mean if “Roger Clemens sitting in George’s box” is the greatest moment in Suzyn’s career, maybe she needs to find another line of work.

Earlier this season Tino Martinez filled in and it was AWESOME. He didn’t speak a lot (I suppose that’s from his lack of experience behind the mic) but when he did, his insight was fantastic. It was straight baseball, from the mouth of someone who knows what he’s talking about.

Since money seems to be no object, let's go after Dan Shulman. He may be the best radioman I’ve ever heard, in my opinion. Soothing & smooth voice, keeps the stories to a minimum. He lets the game tell the story and doesn’t let nonsensical fluff get in the way. He has a habit of setting up his color analyst and letting them shine, rather than trying to talk over them or prove he’s the man.

It is here, that I implore the Yankees to cut Suzyn and John loose and go find 2 people more capable and competent. As New Yorkers, we deserve the best, now lets hire the best!!

--Lem Allen, BYB Freelance Contributor

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