John Sterling: Truly One of a Kind

Yankees baseball on the radio will never be the same.

That’s because John Sterling, the legendary voice of the team since 1989 announced on Monday he’s retiring from the broadcast booth, effective immediately.

To say this is devastating news is an understatement. I obviously knew this would happen sooner rather than later given the fact he’s about to be 86 and had been severely cutting down on his broadcast schedule, but that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.

Sterling on the radio was the soundtrack to my childhood. I remember being at summer camp in suburban Pennsylvania as a 9-year-old with my transistor radio while everyone else in my cabin was sleeping, hoping the signal would be clear enough on WCBS 880 where I could catch a glimpse of a Sterling call, whether it be a Bernie Williams “Burn Baby Burn”, a Hideki Matsui “Thrilla by Godzilla”, a “Robby Cano… don’t ya know”, a Mark Teixeira “Tex Message” or an iconic “Ballgame Over… Yankees win… Theeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win!” Everyone thought I was crazy, and I probably am, but in an age before social media, my only outlet to getting information about my favorite team at camp was Sterling. And he delivered every time.

In my bedroom in New Jersey, I would mute the TV announcers because I would rather listen to Sterling. After games would end, I would turn on my bedside radio to hear Sterling’s postgame coverage when they replayed his best calls from the game. Whenever I was in the car and got to listen to the team on the radio, I prayed I would get to hear a Yankee home run. And when I did, it was the highlight of the ride. Once Twitter was invented, an account was made called “John Sterling Calls”. There was nothing better.

I had a John Sterling bottle opener where every time you opened a bottle, you would hear his call of a walk-off home run. I also had a cup holder that did the same thing. When the Yankees announced they would be giving away a John Sterling bobblehead on the day of my cousins’ wedding in 2022, I got a ticket, picked up the bobblehead, left the Stadium and went straight to the wedding.

I don’t know if the rest of my lifetime there will be another announcer as synonymous to the identity of a team as Sterling. He called every single Yankees game from 1989 until July of 2019, a span of 5,060 consecutive games without a single day off. He called every pitch of Mariano Rivera’s career and every single at-bat of Derek Jeter’s career. There literally isn’t another person who exists that can say that.

Sterling had his flaws. He would lead you to believe Giancarlo Stanton hit a ball to the moon, only for it to be either caught on the warning track or foul. I had friends and family members who despised him, mocked him for his home run calls. None of the criticism phased him. He never changed for anything or anyone. He always stuck to being himself. How could you not have the ultimate respect for that?

It’s truly the end of an era for the Yankees. The radio broadcasts will continue with other announcers. And much like how Bob Sheppard will always be the voice of Yankee Stadium, John Sterling, to me, will always be the voice of the Yankees.

Here’s to retirement, John. There will never be anyone else like you ever again.

 

Fantasy Football Injustice: How I got screwed over $1200

Damar Hamlin collapsing on the football field was one of the scariest moments in NFL history. An NFL player making a routine tackle, standing up and then going completely limp after going into cardiac arrest.

The event was so traumatic that both the Bengals and Bills agreed the game should not continue. Thankfully, Hamlin survived that night and has made remarkable progress in his recovery.

The other layer to this story is how Fantasy Football commissioners should handle their leagues if that Monday night game was set to determine who claims first place.

Here was the situation in my league entering that Monday night game in Cincinnati:

As you can see, “Mike’s Primo Team” led by 27.76 points with Tee Higgins remaining. My team, “Drive For 28”, had Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase remaining and was projected to win by a narrow margin. Keep in mind the payout scenario in this league. First place receives $1500, while second place gets just $300, a massive difference.

Next, there was a text exchange involving me, Mike from “Mike’s Primo Team” and the commissioner, Jacob:

This is only a portion of the conversation, but you sort of get the gist here. I asked Mike what he thinks is a fair way to decide who wins. He replied “Want to do 50/50?”. I agreed and thought everything was settled.

Then 2 days later, the commissioner replied saying he will have a ruling Monday, January 9th at 5pm (which never happened by the way). I was surprised by this because Mike and I agreed each splitting $900 was fair, if the commissioner was so insistent on not using stats from another Bengals game.

I then stayed silent awaiting a ruling until this past Friday, when I texted the commissioner suggesting that since we don’t have a ruling yet, let’s use the stats for Burrow, Chase and Higgins from the Divisional Round game against the Bills, the same opponent as the Week 17 canceled game, to decide the winner. Here’s how that exchange played out:

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I texted the newly crowned winner, Mike, and this is how that conversation went:

As you can see, no response. Mike took the money and ran. Just like that, after 2 days of silence, I lost.

No 50/50 split, no getting the chance to use stats from Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow. The ultimate deciding factor according to the commissioner was I didn’t have another receiver on my bench to replace Chase, so therefore I lost. If I would have been prepared for this unprecedented scenario, I absolutely would have made sure to have a backup WR. But it was the Fantasy Championship. My team was set. What did I need a backup WR for who was never going to play?

For additional context, if we would have used stats from any of the Bengals games following the Damar Hamlin incident, here’s how the scoring would have gone:

Week 18:

Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase: 35 points

Tee Higgins: 1.7 points

Difference of 33.3 = Drive For 28 wins

Wild Card Game:

Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase: 45 points

Tee Higgins: 9 points

Difference of 36 = Drive For 28 wins

Divisional Round vs Bills:

Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase: 41 points

Tee Higgins: 5.8 points

Difference of 35.2 = Drive For 28 wins

In all 3 of these scenarios, my team wins. But for some reason which I will never understand, the commissioner was unable to make a single compromise and I lost out on $1200. You really can’t make this stuff up.

 

Mets have become MLB’s new Evil Empire

For nearly a century, the New York Yankees have been MLB’s “Evil Empire”. The team everyone hates and wants to beat. And rightly so. After all, they won 26 championships from 1923 through 2009 (but none since then).

That’s now about to change thanks to some major developments in nearby Queens, where Steve Cohen and the Mets are spending money the sport of baseball has simply never seen.

After an overnight shocker that saw the Mets swoop in and sign Carlos Correa to a 12-year deal worth $315 million after his reported 13-year $350 million pact with the Giants fell through, the Amazins’ have now spent just over $806 million this offseason.

Their projected payroll following luxury tax penalties is right around $495 million, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. No team has ever exceeded even $350 million. The Mets are going to shatter that record.

Just this offseason, they’ve made the following moves:

• Carlos Correa: 12 years, $315M
• Brandon Nimmo: 8 years, $162M
• Edwin Díaz: 5 years, $102M
• Justin Verlander: 2 years, $86.6M
• Kodai Senga: 5 years, $75M
• Jose Quintana: 2 years, $26M
• Omar Narvaez: 2 years, $15M
• Adam Ottavino: 2 years, $14.5M
• David Robertson: 1-year, $10M

That was just in the last few months and doesn’t even account for the moves made over the previous offseason where the Mets signed Francisco Lindor to a 10-year $341 million contract and Max Scherzer for 3 years and $130 million. They’re spending so much money, reports suggest the team will lose approximately $200 million this season. That’s chump change for Cohen.

The 2023 Mets are without a doubt the best team money can buy with Pete Alonso at first, Jeff McNeil at second, Lindor at SS, Correa at third, Nimmo in CF, Starling Marte in RF, Mark Cahna (for now) in LF and Narvaez catching.

Their pitching rotation looks like this:

Justin Verlander (projected Hall of Famer)

Max Scherzer (projected Hall of Famer)

Kodai Senga (top Japanese pitching prospect)

Jose Quintana

Carlos Corrasco

Good luck finding a more elite lineup and pitching rotation than that. And Mets fans deserve it. They haven’t won a World Series since 1986, had to deal with decades of frustration with the Wilpons owning the team and multiple Yankee celebrations down the Canyon of Heroes.

Now, with Steve Cohen at the helm doing everything and anything to change that, the Mets are now the top dogs not only in New York, but in all of Major League Baseball.

It’s officially World Series or bust for the Mets. The torch has been passed.

 

Re-signing Aaron Judge not a reason to celebrate

The Yankees did what they had to do.

They avoided catastrophic disaster and ensured Aaron Judge will finish his career as a Yankee, signing him to a 9-year contact worth $360 million. He’ll be the first captain since Jeter and will likely one day have his No. 99 retired in Monument Park.

That’s all well and good. However, this is not a reason to celebrate. All the Yankees have done to this point aside from re-signing Judge and Anthony Rizzo is sign Tommy Kahnle and let Jameson Taillon walk in free agency to sign with the Cubs.

That’s not nearly enough. Brian Cashman and company would be INSANE to run this thing back for another season with the same cast of characters. And the unfortunate reality of the situation is there isn’t much room to maneuver.

Here’s how the opening day lineup is currently shaking out:

RF Aaron Judge

CF Harrison Bader

1B Anthony Rizzo

DH Giancarlo Stanton

2B Gleyber Torres/DJ LeMahieu

SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa

3B Josh Donaldson

C Jose Trivino

LF Aaron Hicks

Granted, this is assuming Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera and Anthony Volpe don’t win starting jobs out of spring training, the team doesn’t re-sign Andrew Benintendi and no other major trades go down.

Judge, Bader, Rizzo, and to a lesser extent Stanton and LeMahieu are the only guys that get you excited in this lineup. After that, IKF was a debacle last season despite what Aaron Boone tells you and given how much the organization seems to value him, it wouldn’t be a shock if he wound up back as the starting SS to begin the season.

Gleyber Torres has been unable to build on his dominant 2019 season, culminating with him hitting just .176 in the playoffs and driving in 2 runs. He appears to be regressing.

Josh Donaldson couldn’t hit a beach ball in the playoffs either, (or the regular season for that matter) and he’ll be 37 this season. To expect someone at that age to simply turn back the clock is unrealistic and he’s making $21,000,000 this season. Good luck trying to trade that.

Jose Trivino is a great defensive catcher, arguably the best in the game, so you can live with him as your catcher, but the Yankees would be wise to invest in someone who is a legitimate offensive threat.

Then there’s Aaron Hicks. The gift that keeps on giving. He has 3 more years left on his contract. Lucky Yankees.

I don’t know if you remember, but the Yankees were not only swept in the ALCS by the Astros, they were outplayed, overmatched and flat-out embarrassed.

You can’t just run this thing back again and expect a different result. We’ve been there and done that. They can’t accept being outclassed by the Astros year after year after year.

There needs to be more offensive versatility, more guys who can wait for it, put the bat on the ball. More guys who when the lights shine the brightest, rise to the occasion.

Your move, Brian Cashman.

 

The Captain: Episode 7 Recap and Review

Following six episodes of anticipation, we’ve finally reached Derek Jeter’s final home game at Yankee Stadium. Of all the non-playoff games of my lifetime, this is probably the game I wished I attended the most. Instead, I was interning at FOX 25 in Boston.

The game was insane and I don’t use that word lightly. The Yankees led 5-2 entering the top of the 9th inning against the Orioles and there was a lot of uncertainty as to what the Yankees would do for Jeter’s final stadium send-off. Would they have him take the field and then be taken out of the game to a standing ovation? That would have been my best bet just because it would have allowed him to really soak in the crowd, do a lap around the stadium, etc. It would have been very emotional. However, that’s not remotely close to what actually happened.

Then Yankees closer David Robertson proceeded to allow a pair of home runs that improbably tied the game at 5. What happened next was truly storybook. Jeter came up with a runner on 2nd and 1 out with a chance for a walk-off. Before that at-bat, Jeter hadn’t had a walk-off since 2005. It had been nine years. When he came to bat though, there was zero doubt in my mind Jeter would deliver. It’s exactly what he’s been doing his entire career. He lined the very first pitch of the at-bat into right field to score Antoan Richardson as the game-winning run. The entire team then mobbed Jeter as he rounded first base and waiting for him on the field after that were Yankee legends Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Joe Torre. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. What makes that moment even cooler is that three of the best play-by-play announcers in the game were all on the call. Michael Kay had it for the YES Network, Gary Thorne had it for MASN and Bob Costas was broadcasting the game nationally for MLB Network. What a moment. I remember exactly what I tweeted right after. It was something along the lines of “HE’S GOD HE’S GOD HE’S GOD HE’S GOD HE’S GOD” because that’s how crazy it felt. You can’t make this stuff up!

They do give the impression that game was Jeter’s final appearance in the Majors. That wasn’t actually the case since he played the Saturday afternoon game against the Red Sox and in his final at-bat, reached base on an infield single. That probably wasn’t Jeter’s best decision. He shouldn’t have even made the trip to Boston. That fact did not make it into the series.

The episode then showed a montage of Jeter’s greatest moments, which may have been my favorite part of the entire series. They showed everything from his first hit against the Mariners in Seattle in 1995, to him celebrating World Series, participating in All-Star games, basically everything and I could watch that on loop for the rest of my life and be very happy.

We then heard from the GOAT Michael Jordan say that Jeter should be remembered as one of the greatest shortstops to ever play the game. You know if MJ is saying it, then it must be true. Take that all you haters!

The footage of Jeter getting the call to the Hall of Fame was awesome too and the editors did an amazing job blending it in with footage of him being drafted by the Yankees in 1992. Jeter did remind everyone there was one voter who for some reason didn’t think Jeter was Hall of Fame worthy. The worst part about that is the voter is still out there. All I have to say about that is they need to be brought to justice.

The episode then shifts to Jeter turning his attention to taking over the Miami Marlins that coincided with his wife Hannah going through serious health complications during her pregnancies that nearly ended her life. It was pretty shocking to hear.

I was never on board with Jeter getting involved with another organization just because he’s a Yankee through and through and that’s what his legacy should be, not being the latest person to attempt and fail to turn the Marlins franchise around. His first move was trading Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees. At first, I was livid at him for it, but now that enough time has passed I can forgive him. Brian Cashman has made way worse moves.

Jeter did lead them to their first postseason appearance since 2003 in 2020, but shortly before the 2022 season began, he stepped down due to differences of opinion regarding the direction of the franchise. I did think before that Jeter was all-in with the Marlins and in it for the long haul. I was very wrong.

The episode ended with Jeter discussing the death of one of his best friends and former teammates Gerald Williams. Williams died in February of this year and when I saw him being interviewed I was immediately curious if they would acknowledge what happened. I knew they were close, but hearing Williams talk during this made me sad because he came across as such a good dude. RIP Gerald.

Overall, “The Captain” can’t compare to what ESPN created for “The Last Dance” and the OJ Simpson documentary. Those transcended the sports world. Jeter doesn’t nearly have the same national appeal, but I enjoyed reminiscing about my favorite athlete of all-time. Aside from Episode 5, I will absolutely re-watch this series as many times as my heart desires. Well done, Derek.

 

The Capitan: Episode 6 Recap and Review

My prediction (as usual) was wrong. I was so certain every episode of “The Capitan” would start with a look back at Derek Jeter’s final game at Yankee Stadium in 2014. After all, each of the first five episodes started with something surrounding that game. However, Jeter decided to switch it up for episode six and instead began with a look back at the final game at the old Yankee Stadium in 2008.

At the time, I was so naïve about the Yankees wanting to build a new stadium. I was excited about the idea of it, but never imagined the mystique and aura would vanish like it did. I didn’t appreciate the old place like I should have. The phrase “you don’t know what you got til it’s gone” has never rung more true.

It is so cool to see footage from that final game, seeing Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford, ultimate Yankee legends on the field basking in their glory. As the years went on they aged quickly and now, there’s essentially no one left from those iconic Yankee teams from the 1950s and 1960s. I feel lucky to have been able to go to games in the past and seen Joe DiMaggio on the field, even though I was probably too young to truly appreciate what that meant.

I loved hearing how the Bronx natives and the owner of Stan’s (the best bar outside Yankee Stadium) tell their stories of the old place and how unlike the current stadium, you couldn’t see the field from the concourse. It was hidden until you went up the ramp and then saw the greenest grass and the bluest walls one could ever imagine. I believe I was 4 or 5 years old when I attended my first game at the old Yankee Stadium, and that indescribable feeling is something I’ll never forget for as long as I live.

I’m not sure what happened to “Bat Day” at Yankee Stadium, or if they even still have it. When I was a kid though, I marked my calendar for that giveaway each year and got a bat from Jeter, A-Rod and the All-Star Game commemorative one in 2008. That was easily the best giveaway of the season and I wish they wouldn’t limit it (assuming they still have it) to kids 14 and younger. Obviously I understand the idea that a drunk person with a bat in the stands isn’t a great idea, but you can trust me!

The Yankees didn’t win a single World Series from 2001 until 2009 and one of the theories floated out there in this episode is that some of the post-dynasty players couldn’t handle the championship or bust expectations Jeter set in the clubhouse. I’m not saying that’s the reason why the team didn’t win more. It’s just something I never really considered. I do maintain that after the 2001 season, letting Tino Martinez walk was arguably Brian Cashman’s biggest mistake of that period.

Things finally did get back on track in 2009 beginning with the last great Yankee offseason that started with the signings of CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Mark Teixeira. I remember the thinking around the game at that time was that Sabathia didn’t want to come to New York and that he had his sights set on signing with a west coast team. The reason he changed his mind was (money) Cashman apparently talking to him about the role he could have in the locker room building up team chemistry and camaraderie. At least for that season, it worked.

That season got off to a rocky start in Spring Training when A-Rod admitted to using steroids. The best part of the doc to this point is when the camera cuts to Jeter’s reaction and he says “another distraction”. Classic Jeter.

Once the team got past that, 2009 was an awesome year. You could just tell over the course of the season they were destined to win the World Series. I had similar feelings in 2017 and 2019 which we don’t have to get into here, but nothing was going to stop the ’09 Yankees.

I have no recollection of Jimmy Rollins predicting on “The Tonight Show” that the Phillies would win that World Series in 5 games. They spin it during the episode as a motivating factor for the Yankees, but Rollins was asked a question and gave a playful answer. I don’t view that as bulletin board material.

Cliff Lee dominated Game 1, but the Yankees got back on track starting with Mark Teixeira’s game-tying home run in Game 2 and never really looked back. Remember when pitcher’s used to hit and Andy Pettitte hit a game-tying RBI single in Game 3? Good times. Then there was Johnny Damon in Game 4 stealing 2nd and then racing for 3rd with no one covering. When that play happened live, I had no idea what Damon was doing and was sure he was going to be tagged out. It ended up being the turning point of the series with A-Rod delivering the go-ahead hit two batters later. With all due respect to Hideki Matsui, A-Rod was my MVP of the 2009 World Series and that whole postseason. He was incredible and delivered when it mattered most every time.

It was so pivotal for the Yankees to win a championship with A-Rod. If they didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to show his face in public and there would undoubtedly be a “Curse of A-Rod” floated out there in the media, especially given the fact he was originally supposed to go to the Red Sox and they’ve won four times since then. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

I couldn’t agree with Jeter more when he talked about how the Yankees should have won more than five titles during his time with the team. They absolutely should have won in 2001 if Mariano Rivera makes a clean throw to second base, in 2003 if Jeff Weaver doesn’t blow Game 4, and in 2004 if you know what happens.

I didn’t realize it until this episode, but Jeter despises Cashman. It’s almost criminal that he didn’t obey Jeter’s wishes of keeping negotiations private when he was up for a contract extension following the 2010 season. There was no reason at all for that to get so messy in the media. And for him to tell Jeter he’d rather have Hanley Ramirez and Troy Tulowitzki is a disgrace. This is Derek Jeter we’re talking about.

The episode talks about the death of George Steinbrenner as you would have expected, but why was there zero mention of Bob Sheppard? He’s the greatest public address announcer in sports history and Jeter went out of his way to have a recording of Sheppard introduce him to the plate every at-bat for the rest of his career once he wasn’t healthy enough to continue doing games. I get it if you don’t want to spend 10 minutes on him, but he died six days after Steinbrenner. I don’t understand.

Jeter’s 3,000th hit game was the stuff of legends. There’s no other way to describe it. From the home run off David Price, to Michael Kay’s call, to the whole team rushing out to home plate to congratulate Jeter. It doesn’t get much better than that. Every time I see footage from that game though, all I can think about is my family friend at the time Jason Tornberg who had seats right next to the Yankee dugout and you can see him in literally every clip from that game. I wish that was me.

I found the story about how Jeter met his current wife Hannah to be hard to believe. You don’t just randomly find yourself sitting next to Jeter at a restaurant. That’s not how these things work. And the fact she had no idea who he was is just incomprehensible. He also allegedly met his mother first. Sure, I’ll believe that.

I had no recollection of Jeter hurting his ankle in mid-September of the 2012 season, which was a precursor to when he broke his ankle in Game 1 of the ALCS that year. I always thought it was such a random injury on a routine grounder to short. It all makes sense now. It’s just crazy how that injury was essentially the wake-up call for him that it was time to retire. If Jeter opted to rest for a few days or a week after the original injury, does he play past 2014? The world will never know. It was so shocking to see Jeter go down and not get up. He always got up. I don’t think I’ve ever been so shell shocked watching a sporting event in my life before or since.

After Jeter went down, they lost Game 1 to Detroit. I recall thinking that the series could go either one of two ways. Either they could rally and win or completely fold. They folded, were swept and that was that. It was one of the most non-competitive postseason series the Yankees have ever been in.

I feel awful for players like Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams whose careers were just kicked to the curb once their play fell off. They didn’t get to say their final farewell to the fans and the stadium. All of a sudden, they were no longer on the team. I still don’t quite understand it.

The episode ends with the debate from 2014 and the media wanting the Yankees to move Jeter down in the lineup because he wasn’t the same player he once was. Under no circumstance should Jeter have gone to Joe Girardi and requested to be moved down. That would have been a sign of Jeter giving up, which is something he just doesn’t do. Be better, Buster Olney.

Six episodes down. One more to go!