I could be wrong; but, I think the rain delay during the sixth inning helped the Yankees in this one today. The way Johnny Cueto was pitching this afternoon, I like my chances better facing Gary Majewski in the sixth rather than having to hit off Cueto for another frame. And, without those three runs in the sixth, this is a much closer game – and perhaps the end result is different?
In any event, this was a good one to win. Getting swept by the Reds would have been a bummer.
Speaking of bummers, I can’t believe that Kid Griffey got a standing-ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd after he homered in the eighth. He didn’t deserve it.
So, now, it’s an off-day tomorrow, followed by three at the Pirates and then the Mets for four games in three days. Let’s hope the Yankees don’t look past the Buccos. Last season, the Yankees beat up on Pittsburgh, pretty good, for three games at the Stadium (in early June). Some of the Pirates may remember that and they could be pumped for this rematch.
Some post-game video, via SNY’s Geico SportsNite:
17 Responses to “June 22nd vs. The Reds”
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June 22nd, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Looking forward to the games from Pittsburgh. Nice ballpark and a great view from behind the plate. We should have gotten a group together and gone to a game………… or two.
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Know nothing folks populate the Stadium, thus the stupid reaction to sour Griffey, Jr. When will junior grow up? Twenty five years and counting.
June 22nd, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I completely agree with Don here, and maybe this backs up your idea that the Stadium is filled nowadays with non-baseball fans, Steve. No true Yankee fan — at least not one with any real knowledge of the team — would stand for Griffey. Not only did Griffey verbally kill this team, but he helped beat them in the playoffs. And frankly, even if you disregard those things, who cares about Griffey? Kay seems to think it was Griffey Jr. who was the ex-Yankee and not his dad, because he made this out to be some monumental thing.
But seriously, it was sickening that the fans stood for him.
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Be an historically great player hitting a milestone home run (yes, every homer from now on is a milestone) – get booed in Yankee Stadium if there are “real Yankee fans” in attendance. Damn those pretend ones! They don’t remember 1995! They aren’t real fans!
Of course, part of that is that some Yankee fans can’t wrap their minds around the concept that any player could honestly not yearn to be a Yankee. The bastard.
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:40 pm
And let’s remember, too, Steve, that Post article doesn’t have a single quote about Monument Park, or holding his nose. All it can say that Griffey actually said is “my favorite memory is leaving Yankee Stadium.”
Bottom line, boys:
If you are a fan of baseball, if you are a fan of the history of the game, you ought to damn well applaud Ken Griffey when he hits a home run. He’s one of the greatest of all time, he did it without PEDs and if he had stayed healthy, Barry Bonds might not be the only one to break Aaron’s mark.
Boo if you are classless. Cheer if you love the game and the greatest players in the game. Then go back to cheering your team.
Talk about carrying a grudge – Griffey beat the Yanks 13 years ago. He’s said why he would never play for the Yankees, and he’s stuck to it. Get over yourselves.
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Of course, part of that is that some Yankee fans can’t wrap their minds around the concept that any player could honestly not yearn to be a Yankee. The bastard.
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That’s not the problem. The problem is that Griffey has carried a grudge against the Yankees for something that Billy Martin did *25 years* ago!!! That’s a bit much, don’t you think? I don’t think he should be booed, but there’s no need for a standing O, either. If anything, it’s Griffey who should get over himself.
As for him being one of the greatest players of all time, sure. But do you think ARod will ever get a standing O at Fenway, no matter how great he is?
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:24 pm
But do you think ARod will ever get a standing O at Fenway, no matter how great he is?
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So we should be more like Sox fans…
I respectfully and graciously decline.
As for Griffey,
“I’m no different than anybody else. If somebody treated your dad wrong and you had a chance to stick it to them, you’d do the same.”
I agree.
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:18 pm
OnceIWasAYankeeFan – In 2000, David Wells said, about Fenway Park, “When they want someone to push the button, I want to be the guy to blow this place up.”
On July 25, 2003, Wells – then with the Yankees – pitched a solid game against the Sox at Fenway. At that point in his career, he was nearing 200 wins – a nice feat for a LHP. And, he did it without PEDS, etc. (like you state about Griffey).
At that point in Wells’ career, in 2003, he was 40 years old. And, one could have guessed that it may have been the last time Wells would ever pitch at Fenway Park. (It would have been the wrong guess, in the end, but, a valid guess at that time.)
Did the crowd at Fenway give Wells a standing ovation as he left the mound that day in 2003?
I would bet that they did not – and, I can’t blame them if they did not. For me, the Griffey thing now is no different.
You might want to say that the difference is that Griffey is a future HOFer. But, Wells is not that far off from greatness. Compare the career regular season and post-season stats of Wells and Curt Schilling. Are they much different? Not really.
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Whatever about Griffey.
The best part of the game for me was Edwar. He was unhittable today. The slider is getting better and the fastball was 91.
General Joe is bringing him along slowly. Now he’s a seventh inning guy.
I smell an Okajima in the making.
June 22nd, 2008 at 11:59 pm
And, he did it without PEDS, etc. (like you state about Griffey).
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The PED backlash wasn’t around in 2003. And if there was, it was primarily directed at Bonds.
And 200 wins by a pitcher, while a nice round number, doesn’t compare to a batter hitting 600 HR’s. A big deal rarely is made for a pitcher getting 200 wins. 300, sure, but not 200.
Also, we can probably agree that Red Sox fans are a special bunch, I don’t know why we’re so concerned about their behavior. You hear about how NY fans are supposedly knowledgeable, well knowledgeable fans recognize Griffey’s accomplishments.
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:08 am
RedSoxFan, I’ve had enough of you. It’s pitiful how you come here and preach to us.
Who said he should be booed? No one. I said they shouldn’t have given him a standing ovation for a home run that made a game closer in the eighth inning.
It wasn’t his 600th home run. It was 601. Griffey hates New York because of a childish grudge and he has no connection to this team outside of the fact that his father once played for it. Why would ANY opposing team giving him a standing ovation? It would have been silly anywhere, and it was absurd here.
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:49 am
Yeah, this is really a guy they should stand and cheer. Said Mr. Griffey: “This place has a lot of history. There’s some history they’d like to forget, maybe, like some race around the bases.”
See, RedSoxFan, Griffey hasn’t forgotten about those ‘95 playoffs, either.
He’s one of the biggest douchebags in all of baseball. I’m not surprised you’re a fan.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:28 am
He’s one of the biggest douchebags in all of baseball.
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Hardly. Not even close.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:20 am
Steve,
The Griffey-Wells thing isn’t even close to a valid comparison. I said “historically great” – meaning, one of a handful of the greatest players of all-time. Wells (nor Schilling) remotely qualify.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:47 am
Greatness is in the eye of the beholder. Griffey was great in the 1990’s. For the last eight seasons, he’s been basically a dud. And, when he was great in the 1990’s, it was somewhat helped by playing so many games in the Kingdome. Here’s his HR/PA ratio, per park, where he’s played 30+ games:
Park – HR/PA
SEA-Safeco Fld 0.084
MIN-Metrodome 0.079
TOR-SkyDome 0.073
NYY-Yankee Stad 0.072
LAA-Angel Stad 0.069
LAD-Dodger Stad 0.067
HOU-MinuteMaidPk 0.067
SEA-Kingdome 0.064
CLE-Jacobs Fld 0.062
CIN-Cinergy Fld 0.058
TEX-Rangers Bpk 0.056
CIN-GreatAmer BP 0.055
MIL-Miller Pk 0.052
CHC-Wrigley Fld 0.051
BAL-Camden Yards 0.050
PIT-PNC Pk 0.046
CHW-US Cellular 0.045
MIL-County Stad 0.043
DET-Tiger Stad 0.042
OAK-NetworkAssoc 0.042
KCR-KauffmanStad 0.038
BOS-Fenway Pk 0.026
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:05 am
Come on, Steve, Griffey is one of the greatest of all-time. Has he been less great recently? Yeah. Its called a decline phase. And when he goes in on the first ballot, 95 or 98% vote, no one will mention how much the Kingdome helped his numbers.
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:06 am
Griffey is a first ballot Hall of Famer. for my generation, probably one of the best, if not the best all around player in the game.
ive got no issues with him holding whatever grudge against the yankees he has. on the field, he is a star, and if i were at the game yesterday, or over the weekend, id have cheered for him to.
put personal feelings aside, and you recognize the career.
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:53 am
He does kind of come off like a jerk here and with his recent comments and I don’t like them at all. I probably wouldn’t have cheered him. I wouldn’t have booed him – just would have been quiet.
The reason being that I can’t help but like him in some way because I met him many years ago at the PGA Show when I was younger, when he was in his prime. I spotted him walking down an aisle, looking at a fancy golf cart.
After some seconds of deliberation, I got up the courage to approach him and ask him for an autograph and, though he didn’t say much and we only made brief contacted, if any (I think he may have said “uh huh” in response to my request and then nodded), he tookmy pen and signed the magazine I had and that was really, really, really cool to me at that time.
So, for that reason, I have a hard time holding a lot of this against him, even being the diehard, lifelong Yankees fan that I am.
On the flip side, when I met David Wells when I was a kid, he left me waiting downstairs and said he’d be back. An hour and a half later, I left. So, I’ve always had a tougher time rooting for him.
Patrick