Tagged: World Series

December 7, 2009

Goodbye, Brian Anthony Bruney

With today’s news that Bruney was traded to the Nationals for a draft pick (please let whoever it is be good), I thought we should give the former Yankee a nice send-off.

He came to us after having been DFA-ed by the Diamondbacks and left by the side of the road somewhere in Arizona.

After a stint in the minors, he arrived in the majors looking downright flabby.

A reliever who was used in several situations, he was impressive but inconsistent and I, for one, got tired of hearing about his “good stuff” because he always seemed to walk the leadoff batter. He decided to go on a diet in the off-season and showed up in Tampa 20 pounds lighter.

He pitched well – so well that he was supposed to be Mo’s 8th inning set-up guy. But then tragedy struck: the same dreaded lisfranc injury that had robbed us of poor Wang.

He avoided surgery and returned to the team, but he was never the same. He tried shaving his head. He tried changing the number on his uniform. He tried biofeedback, acupuncture and psychic intervention. He even tried visiting a faith healer.

(See him standing off to the right, behind the guy in white?) Despite his best efforts, he was relegated to the role of mop-up man.

Frustrated and unhappy, he lashed out at K-Rod after the Mets closer gave one of his “performances” on the mound.

“A tired act” is what Bru called K-Rod’s celebration, verbalizing what most Yankee fans were already thinking. The remark came back to bite Bru the next day while the two teams were warming up on the field.

K-Rod took exception but no punches were thrown, and Bruney eventually apologized.

And now Brian Bruney is gone. Yes, he has become a Nat.

I wish him the best of luck with his new team and urge him to remember the great times he had as a Yankee whenever he gets sad. I mean, he did win the World Series. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

December 6, 2009

Presenting The 2009 She-Fan Awards, Part 7 (The Grand Finale) – UPDATE!

The votes are in and, although it was a close race between Surf Dog, my mother and four-year-old Karissa (I’m laughing as I type this), the winner of the 2009 She-Fan Award for Best Yankee Fan Video is…

***** Bill “Surf Dog” Connell *****

If it ever stops raining here in Santa Barbara, I’ll take the She-Fan Cam over to Bill’s hot dog stand and videotape his acceptance speech. I have no doubt it’ll be a show stopper. Thanks to all who participated!

***

With the Winter Meetings kicking off on Monday and the certainty that Brian Cashman will be giving Yankees bloggers something juicy to write about, it’s time for the seventh and final 2009 She-Fan Award to be handed out to a person who contributed to the Yankees’ joyous season.

Derek Jeter said during the post-parade ceremony at City Hall that it was the fans that made the season special, so it’s only fitting that we turn our attention to the Yankee fan who best embodied the spirit of the pinstripes when captured on the She-Fan Cam this year. The judges have reviewed the nearly 100 videos on YouTube’s SheFanVideos Channel and come up with clips of the the ones we feel are most praiseworthy.

Here, in chronological order, are the nominees for the 2009 She-Fan Award for Best Yankee Fan Video….

– Alphonso Uses Pessimism To Protect Yankees (And Himself) From Disappointment –

On March 5th, during a visit to Tampa for spring training, I had dinner at a very dark restaurant with Alphonso of the Yankees blog “It Is High, It Is Far, It is….caught” and asked for his prediction on the upcoming season. As you’ll see, he was correct about almost nothing, which I found very heartening.

– Lisa Declares Herself Descendent Of Yankees Legend Joe DiMaggio –

On my way out of Steinbrenner Field during the March trip, I met Lisa, a Security Officer for the Yankees. She not only gave patrons excellent directions and handled beer-soaked troublemakers with ease, but announced that she was related to Joe D. Enough said.

– Joyce Intends To Be Buried With Yankees (Sort Of) –

Prior to the March 7th spring training game, I chatted with Joyce, who caught my eye because of all the Yankees pins and medals she was wearing. A Yankee fan for 65 years, she had surprising news to share.

– Michael Picks Yanks To Win World Series Without Being Bribed –

Yes, She-Fan family members are eligible for the award. (Why disqualify them?) On April 1st my husband Michael made a bold prediction about the Yankees’ season. He was not coerced. If he doesn’t want to do or say something, he doesn’t. Trust me.

– Patricia Reads She-Fan’s Tarot Cards And Pronounces Yanks World Champs –

On August 18th, I had my second reading with Santa Barbara tarot card reader Patricia Diorio, whom I had consulted for a New York Times article back in February. Once again, she was extremely encouraging about the Yankees’ chances of winning the World Series.

– Karissa Roots for Yankees Despite Being Only Four Years Old –

As I was leaving Angel Stadium after the Yankees had just beaten the Angels in Game 4 of the ALCS on October 20th, I heard cheering – really high-pitched cheering. I followed the sound and came upon Karissa, whose father Mark had clearly raised her properly.

– Bill “Surf Dog” Predicts Yankees Win World Series in Six –

Local legend Bill Connell, proprietor of the Surf Dog hot dog stand in Carpinteria and former New Jersey-ite, hoisted his Yankees flag on October 30th and let me videotape him in action. He also gave me his thoughts (and a free hot dog). His prediction of six games made him more accurate than Jimmy Rollins.

– Mother Knows Best –

I couldn’t leave my 92-year-old mom (she’ll be 93 next month) out of this competition, could I? On November 13th, during my trip to New York, I asked her how she was feeling about the Yankees’ big victory. She was thrilled – and very candid.

And now comes the moment of truth…without any interruptions.

kanye west taylor swift video music awards vma 2009 interrupt outburst.jpg

The envelope please.

The winner of the 2009 She-Fan Award for Best Yankee Fan Video is…

***** Oh, Wait! You’re Picking This One! *****

That’s right. You. And you have until Monday at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT to leave a comment with your vote. Good luck to all the nominees. The final gold fan awaits.

December 1, 2009

Presenting The 2009 She-Fan Awards, Part 2

Last night, I handed out the symbolic gold fan to the recipient of the first She-Fan Award, which recognizes a person or persons who contributed to the Yankees winning their 27th World Championship. Yankees players and coaches are ineligible, but beyond that? Anything goes. Congratulations once again to Dr. Marc Phillipon, the winner of the 2009 She-Fan Award for Best Surgeon.

And now, I’d like to move on to the award for the member of an opposing playoff team who most helped the Yankees take home the championship trophy. This award spotlights a player from the Twins, Angels or Phillies who, through bad luck, nerves, a flu bug or just plain ineptitude, gave the Yanks an opportunity to win a playoff baseball game.

The nominees for Best Enemy are…

– Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins

Nathan came in to relieve in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the ALDS and served up a tying homer to A-Rod to send the game into extras.

– Jose Mijares, Minnesota Twins

Mijares surrendered the walk-off homer to Tex in the 11th inning of Game 2 of the ALDS. The Yankees ended up winning that one 4-3 and took a 2-0 lead in the series.

– John Lackey, Los Angeles Angels

In Game 1 of the ALCS, Big John walked Melky twice. The second time he threw the ball away for an error on a botched pickoff move at first.

– Chone Figgins and Erick Aybar, Los Angeles Angels

Yes, it was cold at Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of the ALCS, and Aybar was wearing an Elmer Fudd cap with ear flaps. But he and Figgy let Matsui’s bloop “single” drop between them to put the Yanks up 2-0 in the game.

– Brian Fuentes, Los Angeles Angels

In Game 2 of the ALCS, the Angels’ closer gave up a homer to A-Rod in the bottom of the 11th inning to tie the score at 3-3 and turn the game into an epic battle.

– Maicer Izturis, Los Angeles Angels

The above game ended in pie for the Yankees in the bottom of the 13th when Melky grounded to Izturis, who threw wildly to first and allowed Hairston to score the winning run from second base. The game took 5 hours and 10 minutes and was an instant classic.

– Scott Kazmir, Los Angeles Angels

The lefty not only surrendered four runs in four innings in his start in Game 4 of the ALCS, but while relieving in the eighth inning of Game 6 he committed a throwing error on Melky’s attempted sacrifice, allowing Cano to score and put the Yanks up 4-2.

– Brad Lidge, Philadelphia Phillies

Lidge came in to relieve in the ninth inning of Game 4 with the score tied at 4-4. He lost a nine-pitch at bat when Damon singled and famously stole second and third. He hit Tex with a pitch, and allowed a double to A-Rod and a single to Posada. (No, he wasn’t as sharp as last year.) The Yanks held on to win 7-4.

– Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies

Howard struck out 13 times in the series. Enough said.

– Pedro Martinez, Philadelphia Phillies

Pedro not only gave up a homer to Matsui in Game 2 of the World Series, but he served up another one to Godzilla in Game 6, as well as a two-RBI single. Matsui was definitely Pedro’s daddy.

(Note: I’m not including base-running blunders by Nick Punto, Carlos Gomez, Bobby Abreu, etc. I had to stop somewhere.)

So now, without further ado, the winner of the 2009 She-Fan Award for Best Enemy goes to….

***** Brad Lidge *****

While Pedro Martinez was certainly the sentimental favorite and the duo of Figgins/Aybar sent a message that the Angels were mistake-prone, it was Lidge’s meltdown that allowed the Yanks to take a 3-1 World Series lead on the road and enabled them to close out the series at home in Game 6. Congratulations, Mr. Lidge. Enjoy your award.

P.S. Just wanted to pay my respects to Yankees legend Tommy Henrich. He passed away today at the age of 96. Rest in peace, “old reliable.”

November 27, 2009

My 2009 Thanksgiving Saga

As always, my husband and I went down to LA for Thanksgiving at our friend Rhonda’s house. And as always, she set a beautiful table.

It’s hard to see in the pic I took, but this year her centerpiece was the Daytime Emmy she won for Best Show. (She produces “The Bold and the Beautiful.”) Talk about hardware. I think it weighed more than this.

Speaking of the Yankees, no sooner did I sit down at dinner when Mary Ann, my nemesis from last Thanksgiving, started trashing the boys in pinstripes. I had asked her if she wanted to take back what she’d said last year (“The Yankees can’t hit, pitch or run the bases”) in light of our World Series triumph.

“No,” she said. “I still hate the Yankees. They didn’t win the World Series. They bought it.”

OK, I was ready for that. I did my whole speech consisting of all the arguments I’d rehearsed, many of them suggested by readers of this blog. Nothing made a dent.

“Arte Moreno is a much better owner than the Steinbrenners,” she said.

“How many championships have the Angels won?” I asked with a straight face.

“That’s not relevant,” she said. “The Angels are a better team.”

“But the Yankees beat them,” I reminded her.

“If you spend enough money, you can beat anybody,” she replied.

At this point I wanted to leap across Rhonda’s beautiful table and strangle Mary Ann. Instead, respecting my hostess, I asked her if she wanted to take it outside.

“Sure,” she said. “Why not?”

Here’s the result. I’m not proud of what I did, but I had to stick up for my Yankees.

Yes, that’s me lying in a giant puddle of cranberry sauce. Mary Ann’s son Antonio is sitting in the chair joining his mother in a chant of “Yankees suck.” I wish I could show you the video of the confrontation, but I’d had a glass of champagne and it caused me to inadvertently hit the delete button after I recorded it. Luckily, Mary Ann and I made up before Rhonda took the turkey off the table and we were able to finish dinner without further incident. Except for her Yankee bashing, she’s really a very nice person. And the turkey was exceptionally tasty and perfectly carved.

As luck would have it, there was a new guest at the table this year – an actor named Robert who lives in LA but who was born and raised in New York. He turned out to be a Yankee fan, thank God, and while everybody else was cleaning up in the kitchen, we talked about our favorite team. He told one story that had everybody laughing, especially given the recent news about the White House party crashers.

Here’s Robert. I’m very excited about my assignment with him at the 2010 All-Star Game. You’ll understand after watching the vid. I hope everybody had a Happy Thanksgiving – or, as Robert said, a Happy Yanksgiving. 🙂

Suspects Sought in Armed Robberies at Two Santa Barbara Businesses

Two men flee with cash from Bank of America and Machine Gun Deli

A photo taken from surveillance video shows the suspect in Wednesday’s robbery of the Bank of America at 1096 Coast Village Road in Santa Barbara. (Santa Barbara Police Department courtesy photo)

By Michelle Nelson, Noozhawk Managing Editor | Published on 11.05.2009

Santa Barbara detectives are searching for suspects in armed robberies Wednesday at two local businesses.

At 5 p.m. Wednesday, a male robbed the Bank of America at 1096 Coast Village Road. The suspect entered through the rear doors and approached a female teller, handing her a note demanding cash.

The suspect claimed that he had a handgun and simulated one with his hand. No weapon was seen.

The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect took the cash and ran out the back doors.

He was described as a white male in his mid-50s, 5 feet 5 inches tall with a medium build, gray hair and a gray goatee.

Detectives with the FBI and the Santa Barbara Police Department are conducting a joint investigation.

***

A “white male in his mid-50s with a medium build, gray hair and a gray goatee?” Hello? Sounded like my husband to me. And doesn’t the guy in the surveillance camera photo look like him?