Eric Chavez and Eric Thames HR.

I attended the game on 8/3 against Seattle. We sat in our usual seats that i bought from a season ticket holder.  Game was good with CC pitching great. The best part for me was the bottom of the 6 with Chavez up with 2 outs. He hit this towering pop up that continued to travel to right field. I kept my eye on the ball but all that kept popping in my head was not to reach over the wall. I didn't want to be that guy who interferes especially when it's the Yankees up.  I took 3 steps over where the seats were empty cause the other two people we went with got up for ice cream. So as the ball started to come down I had no clue Thames was below me. I stuck my glove out underhand  cause it was still towards the front of the wall. The ball hit my glove then I hit Thames' glove. The next thing I knew the ball hit the wall and bounced on the floor. I was so upset I didn't catch it that I didn't see the replay or Thames' reaction. People kept high fiving  me but I told them I didn't get the ball. It then turns out that Thames probably would have caught the ball. Next time Chavez came up, Thames looks over towards me and smiles. He knew I didn't interfere. Hahaha.

From the Seattle Times:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblog/2018844444_move_along_nothing_to_cc_here.html

(Photo by Getty Images)

A couple of points were driven home tonight; C.C. Sabathia is not Aaron Laffey, and the Yankees aren't the Royals or Blue Jays.

Still, Eric Wedge urged his team not to be overly discouraged after they had been stymied by Sabathia in a 6-3 defeat that snapped their seven-game winning streak.

"CC was outstanding, as good as I've seen him,'' said Wedge -- who saw Sabathia win a Cy Young Award as Indians manager in 2007. "He had everything working. I think he beats anybody tonight with what he was throwing out there. We park that, put that away and come out here ready to win a ballgame tomorrow.

"Millwood gave us a chance, kept us in the ballgame. I thought he pitched well again. But CC had the two-seamer working, he was cutting the ball, he had a good fastball and he dropped the breaking ball in there for a strike. He'd drop it in there short when he was ahead in the count for strikeout pitches and when he wanted to, he mixed in his changeup. It was just one of those days."

Asked if he conveyed that message to his team, Wedge said, "I've already done that. Hey, you've got to recognize our guys have been playing good baseball. And they played good baseball tonight. That guy was just real good. And there's going to be games like that. That's all it is."

There was lots of talk after the game about the two-run homer (shown above) by Eric Chavez in the sixth that turned a 2-1 Yankee lead into 4-1 -- a death knell, the way Sabathia was pitching. Everyone agreed that right fielder Eric Thames got messed up by a fan as he leapt to catch the ball. Casper Wells, who grew up a Yankee fan in upstate New York, even invoked the name of Jeffrey Maier (and if you add an "r" and an "n" to his last name, it becomes "Mariner"). But many replays apparently were inconclusive about whether the fan was actually in the field of play. If the ball is over the fence already, it's fair game, I guess.

Here's Thames: "I knew it was going to be right at the wall. I felt I had a good bead on it, I jumped and it was weird, it happened so fast. I saw the gloves kind of going over me and I felt it hit the wall. Then I saw the replay and a fan's glove was right over me and it deflected. But that's part of the game. It's just bad luck. Nothing you can do but fight through that. It came at a bad part of the game. I was fired up because that would have ended the inning and would have been a huge thing for Kevin to keep the club in the ballgame."

Would he have caught it? "For sure."

"It's tough on home run balls like that in parks like this because the fans are so close. They all reach out when it's close t othe wall and you've just got to fight through them and hang with it.

"It hit his (glove), then it hit mine. A game of inches."

Asked if he thought it was interference, Thames said, "It's one of those things ... I don't know. I'm more caught up on the fact we lost. What happened is part of the game. It's not like he reached out and blocked me. We just have to come back tomorrow. If we win tomorrow, we can win the series. That's the next goal."

Here's what Wedge had to say: "I think he thought he had a chance to get it. When he went back over, it hit that kid's glove. He was back over the fence, so nothing we can do about it. It was a great effort by him, it was just one of those home runs you get in this park."

And Kevin Millwood:" I didn't know how good a shot he had at it, until I saw a replay in here. Without the fan, I think he catches it. But he didn't."

Was it interference? "I don't know, it might have been over the wall, or it might have hit the top of the wall. You watch that replay and it's still too tough to call. Without the fan, I think he makes a great play, but...good fan."

And Wells: "It looked like it was in his glove, and there was a fan there. I thought he was going to catch it. He jumped up and he got enough height, it looked like. I guess that's what fans are supposed to do, try to knock it out of his glove. That's what it looked like to me. Kind of like the Orioles playoff game with the Yankees. I remember that one. I grew up as a Yankees fan."

Derek Jeter 2012 or 1999?

One hot topic here in NY is the hot bat of Derek Jeter.  Even though it is early in the season his numbers are among the elite.  He is batting  .420 with a .442 on-base percentage and a .642 slugging percentage as of today.  Only Matt Kemp of the Dodgers and David Ortiz of the Red Sox have a higher average than Jeter.  Now, I mentioned that it is early in the season but you still have to be impressed with his numbers.  Kemp is starting his “prime seasons” and is 11 years younger than Jeter.  Ortiz who is 36 is also hitting like Jeter but unlike Jeter only plays one side of the ball.  I am not being bias since I’m a Jeter fan and a Yankees fan but a lot of you will agree with me that the DH role takes a less toll on your body than playing the field for nine innings.

It hard to imagine Jeter keeping up this pace for 162 games but for fun, if  he did, he  would have 300 hits, 40 HRs, 130 RBIs and 140 Runs at the end of the season.  That would be astonishing.  Unfortunately every hot bat start to cool down but for Jeter he is sustaining a very good average. Every since Jeter hit his 3000^th hit he is averaging .346.  That would have won him the batting title last year.  Miguel Cabrera won with an average of .344.

Let’s see if he continues this rampage.  He has a 15 game hit streak going, currently ranked 19^th in the all-time hit list, and fielding shortstop like the younger Jeter.

Whats your take?

Baseball 2012

So as we start the new season, there are so many things to discuss.  Not only with the Yankees but all over the league.Spring training started off as it usually does.  All the hype,  new acquisitions, and trades that occurred before spring. 
Bryce Harper

Lets start with all the hype.  Number one is Bryce Harper.  I guess he is good for his age but it was a good call by the Nationals not to bring him up yet. This spring, Harper appeared in nine games with the Nationals and  hitting .269 (7-26) with no runs and striking out 10 times.  I know it’s a small amount to judge him on but it is what it is.  Once he matures more this guy will be a WOW type of player.

Johan Santana

The Mets and Johan both need a break.  A good break that is.  Johan signed with the Mets for 6 years for $137.5 million.  Unfortunately for both it hasn't been good  years so far.  He is owed $24 million this season, which is 26% of the team's payroll. Next year he is guaranteed $25.5 million.  There is a vesting option for 2014 at $25 million that will require Santana to pitch 215 innings the season before.  If not, he will get $5.5 million as a  buyout.  He last pitched in Sept. of 2010.  The Mets have not had an ace like Santana since and with all the financial woes the Mets are having, they need a good return of investment.  For this to be a win-win situation, Santana needs to be the anchor of the pitching rotation so that the Mets will somewhat be a respectable team.  In order for the Mets to have elite players wanting to come and play for this New York team, they need to start winning. Santana plays a big part of that.  As for him, if he wants to get another lucrative final contract, he needs to be that Cy Young type of pitcher that he was.

Chipper Jones

He has announced his retirement at the end of the season.  Jones has been one of those  players that have class, loyality and skills.  He has only played for one team.  This age of baseball there are only a rare few who have started and finish their careers with one team.  In my opinion, Jones is a first ballot Hall of Famer.  Problem is that I do not get to vote and Jones falls short of the "requirements" needed.

He is short 385 hits from 3000 and 54 homeruns from 500. So unless they see something else or believe that he is a Hall of Famer, it may take him a bit longer to get in.

Finally Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder

With these two coming to the American league, the AL just got tougher. Both teams are predicted to win their division but I think the tigers are the favorites. The addition of Fielder to an already potent team makes the difference. As a die hard yankees fan, I always predict the yankees to win it all but as a baseball guy, I think it could be the Tigers.

2011 Yankees Universe Special Event

So as a member of the Yankees Universe Fan Club, we were invited to attend a special event.  The special event is a meet and greet with some previous Yankees players from the past.  It was a pretty good event which included field level seats in the outfield.  So for all you fans out there who are members or thinking about joining let me give you a detailed description of our day...

So the event was scheduled for Aug 23, 2011 at 2:30pm.  Now if your from the tri-state area, you'll also know that this was the day of the earthquake.  My wife and I did not feel anything.  Maybe it was because we may have been on the GWB or maybe we were just excited.  Anyway we arrived at around 2-2:15pm. After parking we cross the street and see this long,long,long line. It was from gate 6 to gate number 4.  So if you frequent at the stadium, you realize how long that is.  The line did start moving at exactly 2:30 but moved along slowly.




















We got to the gate around 3:30 received our tickets and passes.  As your walking in, you start to see tables set up with players.  They stated that we should stop at each table take pictures and get autographs.

The first person we met was John Flaherty.  He seemed pretty nice and chatted with people during the signing and pictures.

He seemed to be happy to be there not like the other player mentioned later.  We chatted up a few things.  I asked him if he was calling the game today and he said he was actually off.  Like I said it seemed like wanted to be there.  Would you want to go to your office if you were off??.


After Mr. Flaherty, my wife asked me who was the next guy at the table.  It was hard to tell cause I could not recognize him.  I told my wife that I wasn't sure but we should still get his autograph and take a picture. Can anyone guess who he was?

Finally realized who he was when I read his autograph.  He signed it with number "45".
That's right, Cecil Fielder.  He looked different from the last time I saw him on TV or even the Yankees classic games on YES.  He didn't seem all to happy to be there but he was nice but not as talkative.

Then came the next player.  This was the guy I was excited to meet and take a picture with.  I saw him since we were outside in the heat waiting on line.




















TINO MARTINEZ

 

Tino was really nice.  I told him that it was cool that he hit that homerun during old-timers day. He said that it felt really great to hit one and run around the bases.  I shook hands with him before and left and took this picture.

The last person who was there was Brian Cashman.  I wasn't sure how I felt about this but he to was a nice guy who chats it up.  I wanted to ask him all these questions but I knew he wouldn't answer so I just ask a simple question...Whats next for you?  He just looked at me and smiled.

After Cashman, one of the employees told us what was next.  We can sit in the field level between section 12 and 110 in right field.  So here is my advice.  If you want to try to get more autographs, you are better off trying to get to the front row in section 12.  When we were there David Robertson signed some autographs.  I did not get one cause by the time I went from RF to that side it was already packed.  By the time I got to the bottom he was already done signing.  My plan was to try to get at least one baseball hit or tossed to me.

So while standing in Right Field seats, came close a few times but it was crowded.  I did get a ball tossed to me by Hector Noesi.

Here are some of the autographs I got from that day.

So overall, it was worth the paying for the membership since you get to go to an event and watch a game  plus they give field level seats behind home plate at a different game.

So here is some information you will want.

Parking is a whopping $35 at the parking lot
Get there early so you can be ahead in the line.  Cashman left early and some people only got 2-3 autographs.
Only one food stand is open until the stadium opens at 5pm.
Bring water if its a hot day.  Cause you will be out in the sun while on line.
You are allowed at your sits at 5pm so if your tickets are for left field, start walking towards there so you can try to get a ball from the players before anyone else is there.


Hope this was somewhat informative.

Wow 10 years???

I realized that I have been a Registered Nurse for 10 years now.  Wow 10 years! As I see how far I have come in my career, it amazes me that there are so many things in this field that you are not shown or taught to  you in school.  So for all my friends out there who are new to the nursing world here are few opinions and advices that you will realize one day.

1.  If your doing this for the money, you will realize really quick that you are not paid enough in what you do.  Yeah,  you get overtime if your working in a hospital setting, but still not ENOUGH!  All of my colleagues I graduated with will attest that no matter how many blood transfusions, medications handed out, admissions, suture removals, codes, call bells answered and any other so called "nursing responsibilities" you will not be compensated a salary that you feel is sufficient to what you do.  So if you are in it for the money and you do not enjoy helping people, you will soon find out that nursing may not be for you.

2.  Patients in the book are polite, slight agitated or a bit unpleasant.  Sure most of the time you will have someone who appreciates what you do for them but always remember that for every good patient there are 6 bad ones to follow.  I have dealt with crazy patients that we had to call security every time the call bell rings.  Family drama that you can dragged into just because you end up being off a few days and the other staff does not want to deal with it anymore.  Patients who are "frequent fliers" will try to manipulate you into getting what they want.  As you will see, there are some many other types of patients, just remember that you need to help them so that they can get better and be discharged faster.

3.  Older nurses are not as helpful as they say.  Depending on the nurse, they will pass everything and anything to you so that they do not have to work.  Many believe that just because they have been doing this for so long that they are deserving of this. Don't get me wrong not all older nurses are like this and I'm positive that I will not turn out like this and neither should you.  I have worked with older nurses because I've always been the younger one but I've been lucky to have worked with great nurses. Unfortunately there are a few who are not so great.

4.  In the beginning, always get your Med/Surg, ER, floor experience, or ICU experience.  With this background you get jump into different specialities.  At least do one year of any.  If you start in a speciality area you might be stuck there for the rest of your career.  Always remember that there are so many different specialties and different fields in nursing.

5.  Final advice from this topic is this:  Always remember that you are there for the patients but find a way to leave it behind once you swipe out.  This was difficult for me when I first started.  I always ended up thinking "did I hang this medication, did I do this, did i do that" so I had to find a field in nursing that I loved.

Overall nursing is a great field.  You find self achievement, satisfaction, and hopefully happiness in the field.  There are so many more advices that I can tell you but you will experience it yourself.  So just remember this: there is still alot of things you will learn and hopefully you pass it along when you have been a nurse for 10 years.

Any questions or comments?

Autograph Collecting, Memorabilias, and Authentication

I share my thoughts on how to get autographs from players, TTM autographs, and purchasing online.  These are just some of the ways I have obtained most of my collection.  Also the importance of authentication in this hobby.

Lets start off with the old fashion way, in person autographs.  Nowadays, you can go to shows that have current and former athletes who sign for a fee. Some are pretty reasonable prices while others are out of this world.  The more popular and the more rare the more expensive.  Always remember that because if your getting a "to good of a deal", it may not be authentic.

If you're  going to a game always bring something easy for the players to sign. A baseball, ticket stub, picture or even a baseball card.   My favorite autograph obtained was of course Derek Jeter, but I've been lucky a few times to get others.  Here are some of the things I got autographed while at a Yankees game.

I got to ask Jeter for an autograph which is really rare to get one like this.

One small word of advice.  Always use a regular ballpoint pen for autographs on baseballs.













This is now what this ball looks like because I used a sharpie.

As you can see the sharpie tends to run its ink as time goes by.

Johnny Damon I think is one of the nicest guys out there.  He will always try to sign for the fans.

The best way to get these autographs are the following:

-Get to the stadium as early as you can.  Players tend to sign more during warm ups and batting practice then any other time.  They will never sign during a game and rarely sign after.

-Look around and see where the players are entering and leaving the field, I hang out by the dugout because no matter who it is, its the only way back in.

-Be polite when asking.  These guys will not sign if your rude and pushy.

-Never throw anything at them to sign, unless they tell you or made eye contact with them.  You'll lose your chance at an autograph and so will the other people around you.

-Don't be greedy.  They know if they signed something for you already.

-Finally, say thank you.

While I'm sure I will not be selling any of my stuff in the near future at least I can be sure that it was pass authenticity when the time comes.  Here are some places that will authenticate your autographs.

Professional Sports Authenticator

James Spence Authentication

Now the next type is TTM or through the mail autographs.  This aspect of collecting is limited to what you can get signed.  Some guys have a fee or request donations for their charities and some do it for free.

All you need are the following:

-Address of the players ( you can send it to the team address or if your look it up their home address on different website that may provide them).
-Self addressed stamped envelope( so that they can return it to you)
-item to be signed ( usually a baseball card is best. Very simple and cheap to ship).
-and of course the stamp.
Right now, it would probably cost you a total of $1.80 excluding the card you put it.

Always remember that once you ship it, there is a high probability that you will not get it back but there have been occasions where you will be get a nice surprise.




















Best time to send them out is before or during spring training.  Players have more time and less stress during this time.


And finally the most expensive is purchasing online or memorabilia stores.  This is probably the trickier ones if you do not purchase from a reputable place, but if you do purchase always get a COA "certificate of authenticity" from one of the mentioned above.  Always be careful when purchasing from eBay, cause there have been a few sellers who have tried to trick and sell people who do not have knowledge in collecting.  Here is a sample of a "COA"

My favorite website or company is Steiner Sports.  They may be expensive but at least your getting good quality on your purchase.

steinersports.com

Whatever the reason for your collection, personal, investment, buy and sell, make sure you do your research to make sure you are getting what you paid for.

Here are some pics of my personal collection.

Leave a comment  or question.

Derek Jeter 3K and 15 games beyond...

The DEREK JETER 3K documentary by HBO premeires tonight. 

Fifteen games after he became the 28^th player in history to join the 3000 club the hype continues.  As a Jeter fan, I will enjoy seeing this aspect of jeter’s life that he has protected through his 15 year career.   This will further help the sales of every DJ3K product in the market which we will discuss as another topic.  From autograph balls, t-shirts and other apparel things will continue to sell as they continue to market DJ3K.  Here is the link for the documentary.

 Derek Jeter 3K

Now as for his performance on the field since becoming  Mr. 3000 has not really changed.  He’s 14 for his last 55 AB which comes to a .260 batting average.  Everyone was hoping that he starts hitting or at least become a 300 hitter again but doesn’t seem like it. Out of the 14 hits, 3 have been for extra base hits.  He has become more productive with runners in scoring position so that is an upside.  He has 10 RBIs in the last 14 games.  Many Yankees fan will be happy with production like this.  There so much criticism about where he bats, his fielding, lack of production but people need to realize that for a 37 year old shortstop, he’s still being a productive yankee.  As Brian Cashman stated before, Jeter is there BEST option at shortstop. 

For the criticism to stop, he and the Yankees will need to win another World Series with him as a starting shortstop.