WHAT IS A YANKEE GROUPIE? PART 2

THE MALE FAN



Groupie: enthusiastic fan: an enthusiastic fan or supporter of something.

A lot of positive response from BYB fans and Yankee fans alike who got a kick out of Christy Lee’s piece titled WHAT IS A YANKEE GROUPIE? THE FEMALE FAN from last week. Many asked though, why is it only targeting the women? Let’s be honest, everything Christy laid out is true, many women fall into these 3 categories… The Diva, the Cougar, the SuperFan, but the reality is, men have their own titles and categories. Us Yankee fans are a large community with all different personalities and that’s what makes us great. We’re like the Smurfs, except there are a ton of Smurfettes that want Derek Jeter to themselves. So while there are a ton of Yankee women who fall into say the "Cougar" category at the stadium, men have titles too:

"The Frat Boy": This guy usually stays until the last inning but doesn’t watch a moment of the game. He’s usually starts off wearing his Giambi or Munson jersey, not buttoned, and by the end of the night, it's off. He usually has his hat on backwards and that's usually missing or in his back pocket late in the game too. He walks around the stadium all game razzing non-Yankee fans and getting true Yankee fans pumped. He’s the guy that shouts down attractive rival female fans, but the reality is, he wants to bang them and in his intoxicated mind, he thinks his shouting is flirting with those ladies. Fans with kids at the game usually want to hide their kids from this guy, but they end up letting them watch the comedy unfold. Cops will approach these characters at least once if not more, but because they're Yankee fans, they are usually just told to tone it down. The frat boy usually has a seat but never sits in it, he’s just constantly drinking his $10 beer, walking around and yelling “Let’s go Yankees!” They’re alittle embarrassing, yet a staple in the Stadium and it wouldn’t be the same if they weren’t there.

"The Possum": This is the fan that wants to be "The Frat Boy" so badly, but will instead wear his perfect Yankee cap and talk trash about the crappy opposing teams fans to his friends, but won't razz the same fans he's bitching about because he doesn't want any trouble. Quite simply, he's really there to enjoy the game, but is a wanna be tough guy. He also will have a collared shirt under his nicely pressed pinstriped jersey, usually wearing Mussina or Pettitte.

"The Sign Guy": This fan is always at the stadium and comes equipped with a sharpie and poster paper and always has the American Flag for the 7^th inning that he drapes over 15 fans and shares holding it with a Yankee fan he never met before in his life. It doesn’t matter, they’re both there for the same thing, they’re looking for a Yankee win. He’s the guy that comes up with creative ways to get on camera, making signs that say “I play the Michael Kay drinking game” or uses the Captain from Capt. Crunch cereal as the “K” for when CC pitches. He's the guy that would quickly make a sign that reads "Pedroia, say hello to your mother for me" if his original sign with Ortiz's name didn't apply because of a last minute scratch from the lineup. Bottom line, it's all about topical signage at the stadium for this guy, and he's great at it.

"The Nerd": Yeah, every game has one, the guy who has the radio earplug in his ear, his faded Yankee cap from the 70’s and a stat book keeping track of the game and listening to the radio play by play at a live sporting event. You really have to respect it because there have been times where if the crowd get’s too loud, he will literally turn to the crowd and "shhhhhh" them like they're in a library. It’s always a bizarre scene, but without these guys at the game, it isn’t really a game now, is it?

Let’s Go Yankees!



NOTE: The photos used in this post were not the actual Groupies described... just die hard Yankee fans.



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WHY THE PEN IS WHERE HUGHES BELONGS

(Photo: Getty)
Mark Feinsand has the story first HERE, and I suggested it a few weeks ago in WHY I'D MOVE HUGHES TO THE PEN. It makes sense to put Phil Hughes in the bullpen. No, this isn't a long term decision according to the Yankees, but it is for this Yankees / Red Sox series at least. Then, they'll re-evaluate. To be quite honest, this is a good test, especially if Hughes gets work out of the pen this weekend.

Phil Hughes gets mixed reviews by Yankee fans. Many are frustrated and don't believe the hype, others love the Golden Boy and just want him to succeed no matter what. Me? I just feel as though you can't just force the kid to be a starter if he's not. Now, don't misunderstand me; Hughes was huge for us in 2010, winning 18 games, but as many predicted, like Tom Verducci (Read HERE), there would definitely be work load issues for Phil Hughes in 2011. He was right and "dead arm" occurred. Couple that theory with the former Yankee player and manager Bill Masse who thought they babied Phil Hughes when he was down in the minors and we may be onto something. (In Photo: Bill Masse)
Read WAS BILL MASSE RIGHT ABOUT HUGHES? In it, Masse said this about the treatment of Hughes in the minors:

“We get so ridiculous with this dumb pitch count stuff… Somebody came up with a pitch count thing (like) this is going to decide if a kid’s arm is going to be healthy or not. It’s like predicting the weather sometimes. ‘If he throws 66 pitches, he will be fine, but if he throws 81, he is going to get hurt.’ No one can predict that.

The only negative you run into is that he never learns how to pitch when he is tired. He never learns how to pitch when he is a little bit fatigued. I think you run into those problems because he is always fresh. Also, he is never in trouble. He needs to learn how to pitch out of his second or third jam in the seventh inning with two outs and he’s throwing 90 mph instead of 94.”

Look, I don't take myself too seriously, there are plenty of people out there that have their own theories about Phil Hughes, This is mine. Use Phil as you need him, especially this season. Get him back to full strength. Maybe he will be back as a starter. maybe he's a reliever like he's proven for the Yankees in 2009. But what do I know, I'm just a blogger.

Clearly one of the main reasons the Yankees may move Hughes to the pen is because of the 6 man rotation they currently have. CC Sabathia has 16 wins, Freddy Garcia and Ivan Nova have 10 wins each, AJ Burnett has 8 wins, Bartolo Colon has 8 as well. Phil Hughes was out half the season nursing a "Dead arm" issue and has a record of 2-3 with a 6.93 ERA. To me, I say, let him work his way back, build his arm strength and see how he does out of the pen. Why take the others out of the rotation for someone who hasn't earned it.

Look, for all I know in 3 days Girardi may decide to move Nova back down to Scranton after the weekend, but to me, Nova earned his spot, he's done everything asked of the Yankees this year and he's proving himself. Hughes hasn't base it on a mystery illness, bad starts or whatever, bottom line, it's August. And think about this... Feinsand points out if after this weekend. Hughes comes out of the bullpen, Nova could then be put IN the bullpen and then there will be question marks on what to do next with AJ Burnett in his next start. To be honest, we don't need this in my opinion, we need stability in our rotation, it helps with confidence in pitchers. We used to laugh at Mike Mussina because he needed a schedule. He needed to pitch when he was supposed to pitch so he could concentrate on his ritual on throwing days. Maybe he was onto something. In my opinion, right now we need consistency and rhythm, not uncertainty. That's all I'm saying.

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WHY THE YANKEE RUNS KEPT ON COMING

It was a long rain delay last night and when that happens, I always think back to Mike Mussina who just couldn't get things started if it was a long delay because he was always on a schedule and needed to pitch when it was his time and when it was his hour or he just wasn't able to deliver all the time after that. Well, I thought about Freddy Garcia in that situation. How would he be? Fine. Nice...who knew?(Photo: Getty)
Garcia was dominant and it reminds us all of why veterans in rotations can be great. He changed up his pitches and just took over the Bronx last night and the best part was his team got him run support early and I'll take a blow out every night as long as we keep on clicking like that. Freddy went 7 2/3 innings and got his 9th win of the season. Pitching and hitting was terrific last night.
The offense started with Mark Teixeira getting his 27th home run, a nice shot too. At that point it was 2-0 Yankees. Derek Jeter cranked one out last night and also had a beautiful triple late in the game. Jeter had 3 RBI's last night.

The fourth inning the Yankees were able to score 5 runs and bat around. Once again, Eduardo Nunez and Brett Gardner had RBI singles last night. It seems like these guys are always in the game.(Photo: Getty)
Steve Garrison pitched the last inning in his debut. Nice performance, no pressure. It was a good idea by Joe Girardi. He was able to get 2 outs to close out the game.

Final Score: Yankees 10 - Mariners 3. The Yankees are now 20 games over .500. Not too shabby.

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WHY GAME 7 OF THE 2003 ALCS IS THE GREATEST GAME EVER

Not too long ago, the Major League Baseball Network finished their countdown of the 20 greatest games ever played from 1961until now. Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS between our Yankees against the hated Red Sox came in at number six. In my opinion that is five spots too high.

First of all, this is Yankees verses the Red Sox in game 7. Who ever won obviously goes to the World Series for crying out loud. This was a rollercoaster ride of a series with emotions high from first pitch game 1 to Aaron Boone's final blast in game 7. Remember, game 3 of that series was Pedro Martinez throwing Don Zimmer to the ground after Manny Ramirez tried to charge the mound when Roger Clemens threw one up in the zone. Also remember it came nowhere near Manny's head. It was a heated series.In case you were wondering what games were ahead of this game you can check the list HERE. There were some great games ahead of this game, but they fail in comparison to game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. None of those games had the intense rivalry of Yankees and Red Sox. Remember, the Red Sox still hadn't won a World Series since 1918, and the Yankees wanted to squeeze at least one more championship in their dynasty run that started in 1996. I hate to admit it, but at that time, it would have been monumental in the city of Boston if the Red Sox had won that game 7 and advanced to play the upstart Florida Marlins in the World Series. For some weird reason, if you forgot what exactly happened in that game, here's a quick recap:
(photo: AP)
It was a rematch on the mound from game 3. Roger Clemens for the Yanks and Pedro Martinez for the Sox. Clemens had a rough outing as he lasted three plus innings, allowing homers to Kevin Millar and Trot Nixon, and thus the Yanks fell behind 4-0. But, an unsung hero in that game was Mike Mussina who made his first career relief appearence ever. (Photo: AP)
He got a huge double play from Johnny Damon to get out of the fourth, and he pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth inning to keep the Yanks in the game. Then DH, Jason Giambi, who was batting seventh, did his part to keep the Yankees in the game as he homered off of Pedro Martinez twice--one in the fifth and another in the seventh.The Sox added one more in the top of the eighth on a David Ortiz solo shot off of David "Boomer" Wells. But, come the bottom half, the wheels came off the bus for Pedro and the Red Sox. After a one out double by Derek Jeter and an RBI single slashed down the right field line by Bernie Williams, Red Sox manager Grady Little came out to the mound to talk to his ace right hander who was about to face Hideki Matsui. With lefty reliever Alan Embree and righty Mike Timlin warm in the Sox bullpen Little stuck with his 14 game winner. The move backfired and Matusi slashed a ground rule double to bring advance Bernie Williams to third. After getting Nick Johnson to lead off the inning, Pedro Martinez still hadn't recorded an out. Next came Jorge Posada. Still convinced his ace would get out of it, Little stuck with Pedro once again. And once again he failed. Posada blooped a double in front of Johnny Damon in center to send home Williams and Matsui, and the game was knotted at five. Little finally pulled Pedro and Embree and Timlin got out of further damage.

The Yankees and Red Sox traded zeros from the top of the ninth until the bottom of the 11th. Extra innings here we are and another hero in this game was Mariano Rivera. Mo once again came up big in the playoffs as he pitched three scoreless innings. But, come the bottom of the 11th, they didn't need him for the 12. Boston brought in knuckleballer Tim Wakefield to face third baseman Aaron Boone. Boone came on earlier in the game as a defensive replacement for Enrique Wilson. And on the first pitch he saw, Boone blasted a knuckleball placed on a tee by Wakefield deep in the left field seats. It was pandamonium in the Bronx that night as Boone was the hero for the Yankees, and sent the Red Sox home once again.

I mean, how could that not be the greatest game of all time? I know it wasn't in the World Series, but in my opinion, this was the biggest Yankees/Red Sox game ever. This was game 7, a chance to play in the Fall Classic. This is the greatest rivalry in sports and no other rivalry in any sport at any level compares to that of Yankees vs. Red Sox.

There were plenty of great games, but this one takes the cake. We salute you Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, and of course Aaron Boone for your key contributions for this monumental win.



--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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WHY MUSSINA MAY BE THE UNLUCKIEST YANKEE EVER

During Mike Mussina's time as a New York Yankee, 2001 to 2008, he had many great memories. He pitched in the must win game 3 of the 2001 ALDS, aka, the "Flip Play" game, in which he pitched seven shutout innings in a 1-0 victory. In game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, he made his first career relief appearance in which he pitched three shutout innings to set up the dramatics in the eighth inning against Pedro Martinez, and the 11th inning with Aaron Boone's walk-off home run. But, during his time with the Yankees, Mike Mussina has had more than his fair share of unlucky fortunes.

Mike Mussina signed with the Yankees from the Baltimore Orioles just after the 2000 season to join a stacked rotation with Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and Orlando Hernandez. Mussina went just 11-15 in 2000 with the Orioles, but had a solid 3.79 ERA. He lead the American League in innings pitched with 237.2, thus earning a six year $88 million deal with the Yanks.
But, the unlucky fortunes started on a Sunday night in September against the Red Sox in his first year with the Yankees. He retired the first 26 batters, and while getting ahead 0-2 against pinch hitter Carl Everett for the final out of a perfect game, Everett blooped the next pitch into left center field, thus ending Moose's perfect game bid.

Another one of Mussina's unlucky fortunes came in 2002. In September, Mussina had five starts left in the season and he was stuck on 16 wins. He went three straight outings without earning a win in which he went eight, seven, and seven innings, respectively, while allowing two, one, and zero earned runs. As a result, he went 0-2, while winning his final two starts of the season putting his total to 18. But, if he would have gotten wins in two of those three previous outings, he would have won 20 games for the first time in his career, something he's only done once, in his final game and season in 2008.

His misfortunes really spanned through his tenure as a Yankee as he did not win a World Series championship either. Like I stated, he came on board in 2000 and retired after the 2008 season ended. In 2009, the Yankees won the World Series. Moose retired 1 year too early.Many can make a very good argument that Mussina should be in the Hall of Fame. I believe he should make the Hall of Fame, but that's a debate for another time. Either way, Mike Mussina, pitched some quality years in New York, but deserved more. Maybe a ring, maybe that perfect game, maybe another 20 win season or a no-hitter. Who knows, one thing is for sure though... he may be the unluckiest Yankee pitcher ever. That being said, we salute you Moose. We salute you.


--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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WHY MOOSE IS COMING BACK

The Yankees made a brilliant move yesterday, they decided to bring Mike Mussina back to the Bronx. He'll be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening day and there's nothing bad about that, in fact, it's going to be electric.

Mussina was never an outspoken Yankee. He was quiet and did his job. Moose never won a ring with the Yankees. It's hard to believe because he was part of some great teams, but year after year, Mussina, who was always quality on the mound, was pushed aside for heavily favored pitchers like Roger Clemens, David Wells, Andy Pettitte, even Chien Ming Wang. Mussina was always there though, and did what needed to be done, never bitching about anything.

Moose never complained EVER... all he wanted was the ball and he wanted the schedule to stay the way it was set up. He wanted to pitch. He didn't like the schedule to change. He didn't want rain, he didn't want to be moved from his rotation spot, he wanted his day and the ball on his day, that's it. For years, it made him successful. Ironically, he was the most effective in his relief appearance the night Boone cranked it out against Wakefield to take us to the World Series in 2003. Of all nights for Moose "not to be in his right frame of mind", that was supposed to be the night...but instead, he shined.
Mike Mussina is probably the most under rated former Yankee pitcher and it's all because he keeps it to himself. Never a big media guy, he did his duty and looked to get out of there.

I'm sure it wasn't just one phone call to Mike's house to get him back to the Bronx, in fact, I'm sure the guy fought them tooth and nail making up excuses on why he didn't need to do come to the Bronx. Can't you just picture it? That would be the Mussina way, wouldn't it? "Don't make a fuss, you guys are fine without me" is probably how it went. But in the end, no one is more thrilled about Mike Mussina coming back to New York than I am. Moose was a gamer, an amazing teammate and a winner.

Yanks, you made a smart choice for Opening day, Moose needs a standing "O" again, after all, think about it, the last time we saw him was the last day of his 20th win back in September 2008. It's been a while.

MOOOOOOOOSSSSSEEEEE! We've missed you pal, welcome home.

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WHY I'LL NEVER FORGET OCTOBER 16, 2003

So many memories from that crazy game! I am so glad Aaron Boone ended it in the 11^th for two reasons:

• First, I was hanging with some friends at Rosie O'Grady's Bar in midtown Manhattan and I'm pretty sure I was pushing the individual record for, how many "this-Buds-for-you" I could drink. Catch my drift?

• Second, and most important, we put a dagger in the hearts of the evil Red Sox and Sox Nation as well, that in my lifetime, I may never see that happen so suddenly again.
  

There may be some other great, dramatic wins against the Red Sox in the future, but never duplicated in the drama or pure joy like that night in the Bronx! Sure, the Red Sox humbled us a bit the very next year, but, for some reason, I think a lot of us Yankee fans started seeing the writing on the wall in Game 4 in 2004 knowing that the Sox may be clawing their way back into this thing. Sure enough, as we all know, History was made in 7 games. Honestly, as upset as I was after Game 7 in 2004, I swear, I was still feeling all warm and tingly remember Boone's
blast. I guess it made the pain hurt less.

Obviously, the Boone walk off homer in the 11^th to win it will be the #1 highlight whenever that game is examined, and rightfully so. But there were so many other moments in that game that makes it the greatest Yankee game I've ever watched! Yep, the greatest! To me, it is The Yankee Classic of all Classics.

Remember...this was Clemens vs. Martinez rematch from Game 3. That little old Game 3 where Pedro should have been charged with senior abuse after tossing Don Zimmer to the ground! I just remember anticipating another pitchers duel, but when the Yankees fell behind 4 runs, I have to admit, I was getting a bit nervous.

Remember... Moose came in and threw 3 shutout innings of relief. NOBODY remembers that, but it was huge that night. It was the first time in Mussina's career that he pitched in relief and in this game, coming through the way he did, it's really amazing it isn't talked about more when his career is brought up in discussion. In fact, I bet you if you asked him about highlights in his career, those three innings might be in his top 10.

Remember... Jason Giambi hit two solo homeruns. Those two runs turned out to be huge!

Remember... the eight inning! The moment Grady Little became the new Bill Buckner in Boston, allowing Pedro Martinez to talk him into keeping him in the game. I remember hearing a few of the Boston fans in the bar when Little left Pedro in the game. It was like the grounder under Buckner's legs all over again! Meanwhile, I said, "YES!, Keep him in!" Oh, and, go figure, the Captain is the one who hits the double to get the comeback underway!

Remember... Mariano going 3 innings, and holding Boston. That was just sick! The heart Mo showed to me that night is what legends are made of. Again, after it is all said and done, when we one day look back on the great Mariano Rivera, those three innings will be in the top of my list of his great accomplishments -- and like Mike Mussina, I bet you that it will be on his list as well! And who can forget that image of Mo collapsing on the mound at the end of the game, crying! Can anyone say goose bumps!

Remember... the nail in the Red Sox Nation coffin! In the words of longtime Yankee broadcaster, Charlie Steiner (that was a joke!), "AAARROONN BOOONNEE!"

By the way, I know there are a gazillion videos on You Tube of Boone's homerun. I found this one the other day that just mesmerized me. It's raw, the camera is jumpy, and there are a few times the tape jams up, but where this person was sitting and the raw emotion of what was happening that night in Yankee Stadium is captured perfectly from a fans perspective. Anyway, if you want to watch it here is the link:

P.S. Feel free to let me know where you rank this game in your all time list in the comment box below or hit me on twitter @MikeyBlue2323

--Mikey Blue BYB Senior Writer

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