By Rich Bauer
Memorial Day Weekend marks the unofficial start of the summer. Whatever happened to June 21st?
Before I go any further, I want to take a minute to thank all the men and women who have served and are serving in our military to protect our values in this great country of ours.
I have plenty on my mind to share with you so let’s get started.
JUNE is going to be a HUGE MONTH for the Yankees with 28 games over 30 days. 16 on the road , 12 in the Bronx and throw in a West Coast road trip which has not been kind to them over the past few seasons.
The Yanks go into the month 10 games over .500 and if they expect to keep up that pace I say GARY SANCHEZ needs to get hot like he was last August and September.
Our rivals up north have had extended winning streaks this past week. The BOSTON RED SOX had a six game winning streak snapped on Sunday. And TROY TULOWITZKI and JOSH DONALDSON are back in the Blue Jays lineup after injuries. Toronto had won five straight before losing on Sunday. Do not fool yourselves Yankee fans, they are coming after us.
Bet you didn’t know that there are only four teams in all of the Major Leagues that have only used the same five starting pitchers since opening day and the YANKEES are one of them. Detroit, St. Louis and Atlanta are the others. Maybe our starting pitching is not all that bad.
Reviewing the latest MLB STANDINGS I was surprised to see how strong the NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST is with three teams the Rockies, the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers all playing at or near .600 baseball. On the flip side, how bad is the NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST with only the NATIONALS having a winning record?
So now that all the fanfare surrounding the retiring of DEREK JETER’S NUMBER 2 has died down can I ask this question, “Why would he want to buy the Miami Marlins for a BILLION + DOLLARS ?” I know it is one of JETER’S personal goals to own a professional baseball team but the MARLINS are mediocre at best between the lines, they have poor attendance and it is believed they have one of the worst TV and radio deals in the sport. My bet is it is a better real estate deal than a baseball deal with the new stadium. Maybe DJ should call his buddy MJ and discuss in length what it takes to own a professional team. Fans and sponsors do not come out in droves to see owners, they come out to see winners.
I am also glad that all the talk and rhetoric about BASEBALL not having enough action and the game taking too long has passed for now. It does not seem to be hurting in-game attendance when you see key match ups like the CUBS playing the DODGERS in LA in front of 45-50,000 fans and the YANKEES drawing 40K in the BRONX vs. the nondescript OAKLAND A’S. Even in MINNESOTA the TWINS have played the RAYS in front of almost 30K fans the past two games.
I feel the majority of these complainers are the media folks themselves who cover these games. To them to save 5 or 10 minutes a game is a big deal, so they can, what, get home sooner? No doubt watching 28 games in 30 days has its boring moments I’m sure but please stop and remember this is your chosen career. You are there to cover games not to change them.
Well I feel much better now that I was able to get all these thoughts off my chest and now I can get back to my BBQ.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all our readers!
photos: history.com (American flags)
