So this is the page where I basically get to sound off about both Rickey and the state of the game. Think I'm full of it? Great, let me know. I love to talk baseball. You can reach me here.

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1999 Regular season

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2000 Season

7-19-00 - So Rickey is killing me. He's kick starting the Mariners offense and widening the gap between the M's and the A's. I'm all for Rickey kikcking some butt as long as the rest of the team doesn't. That doesn't seem to be the case though. It seems Rickey might finally want to get serious about 3,000 hits as well as the runs and walks record. And of course, the big news this week concerning Rickey, he passesd Babe Ruth on the all-time hits list. Last night he tied Frankie Frisch as well. It is really cool to hear the names Rickey passes as he continues to hit, score runs and draw walks. This offensive spurt started over the weekend when he was plunked on the elbow during a game against the Padres. He sat out a game or two and now is off and running. The Mariners really need it with A-Rod hurt and out of action for a while. I have seen a couple of stories about the Mariners and next season. As expected, not many of these stories include Rickey staying the in Pacific Northwest. Johnny Damon's name is the most mentioned. It is obvious Rickey is going to need at least one more season to get the records he has set out for. It would be great to see Rickey go back to the A's for one final season to get the three milestones and then retire as the defending World Series champ. Okay, that might be a little wishful thinking on my behalf, but a guy can dream can't he?

Let me broach one more topic if I may, that has reared its ugly head in the past week. Players being idiots. One: Mike Piazza is a great player and I think one of baseball's best role models but Roger Clemens was not throwing at your head. Two: Carl Everett (who I have hated since he ragged on Gil Heredia after he shut out the Red Sox) is an idiot. He should get a 15-game suspension and if his hand is hurt, the suspension should not start until after he is healthy enough to play. Three: The same day Everett acted like an idiot Brady Anderson had a similar event in Baltimore (minus the physcial contact). Do these people realize how stupid and childish they look when they do this? In some cases I am not sure a suspension or fine is in order as the embarrassment of having that footage replayed over and over on every highlight show should be punishment enough. Four: We even had a fight this weekend in Colorado. Brian L. Hunter, you too are an idiot. If you are going to charge the mound, fine. But why did you take a couple of steps, then stop and turn to see if the catcher was going to hold you back? If you're going to go, go. You deserved to get your butt kicked like you did for that. You and Robin Ventura now have something to talk about next time you play the Mets.

One last thing, a question to anybody who has an opinion. I think it is pretty much agreed that Rickey should wear the A's uniform into the Hall of Fame (if you disagree, please let me know why). What uniform would you least like to see Rickey wear into Cooperstown? Please let me know here.

7-15-00 - Wow, it has been a month since I last wrote here, I am sorry I have been so lazy. I have a lot to talk about. First the All-Star game. It was my first chance to be at an All-Star game. Let me tell you there is a lot of work to do for an All-Star game and it was very hectic. All-Star Sunday was lame. Let me get that out of the way. The Celebrity hitting Contest conatined no celebrities. There were a couple of "legends" player-wise, but besides that, who cares? In Boston last year there was Matt Damon and Kevin Costner. Tom Selick has particiapted before. Besides Mark McGrath (and I hate Sugar Ray) I had never heard of any of the celebrities. The Futures game was entertaining and there were some great players, but it was during the day while it was sunny and 95 degrees.

After that though, Monday and Tuesday was great. I have to admit that the Home-Run contest has gotten very stale. Couple that with the fact that McGwire was not there and it could have been a very boring night, but it turned out great. Ofcourse I had a grerat seat so there could have been no homeruns and I would have enjoyed it. Just a note though, when Sammy hit the bomb into the 755 Club Barry Bonds proclaimed it the longest ball ever hit in Turner Field. What? Barry, you've played like 15 games in the park your entire life. Last year during BP Mac hit one over the 755 Club and halway up the scoreboard above it. If the game was being played in PacBell you might be able to say something like that.

As far as the actual game, it was great. It was a good game with some good pitching. By the time it was over I looked at my watch and realized it was over a three hour game and I had hardly noticed. I love the playoffs but I realize how long those games are. This one I never even thought about it. Again, it might have just been because I was there and right in the middle of everything.

Now to Rickey. Not a lot to talk about. He got hit on the elbow Thurday night and left the game aginst the Padres. I am so out of the loop with Rickey news now that he is on the other coast. I did see something interesting on ESPN last night though. It was actually during the day when they preview the night's games on the Bottom Line. They give you the pitching match-ups and a quick fact about a player or team involved. For the Seattle-San Diego game the fact was: Sea- Henderson no HR in last 20 games. The hell? What use is this fact? That is like saying Cecil Fielder no SB in last 324 games. Rickey is not there to hit home runs. If he does great, but that is not his job. His job is to get on base and play poor defense. Sure, Rickey has some power, but it is not something that should be counted on. I think we have a Rickey-hater is Bristol, Conn.

6-18-00 - I am mad at ESPN. Baseball Tonight might be my favorite program of all time, but come on guys. Who is producing this show? The A's are in first place, they score 21 runs and are the second hottest team in the American League. I am not asking for them to lead off, I expect the Yankees-Sox game to lead. I would even be okay with the A's in the second or third segment. You teased them twice and them waited until the last seg to show them. Do Marlin-Pirates highlights really warrent coming first? I understand there are not a lot of A's fans out there. But the Expos-Cubs? Even the Mariners-Twins came first. The Mariners are chasing the A's in the closest division race out there. The Mariners and the A's have the second and third best records in the American League. Where is the common sense?

Not a lot of Rickey news coming out. It seems like he is getting every third day or so off. I heard a great story about him the other day. Apparently Rickey was talking to John Olerud the other day and asked him why he always wears the helmet. Olerud told him and Rickey responded with, "I had a team mate last season who always wore one too." That reminds me of when Rickey was with the Yankees and was told to go and see the General Manager (I forget whom it was at that time). Rickey had never heard of him.

I finally voted for the All-Star game. I only voted once this season. After stuffing the ballot box two years ago and doing a my share last year, I decided to vote only once this season. You can go and vote, even though Rickey is listed on the National League ballot, here. Please vote for Jason Giambi in the American League. I like Tino and Thome a lot but come on, Giambi, Frank Thomas and Carlos Delgado the only real candidates at first in the AL. In case your are curious, I did vote for Rickey although that meant I had to leave Barry Bonds off my NL outfield. Vlad and Jim Edmonds were my other two NL outfielders. And please, there is no need to vote for me, I will be there anyway!!!

I know there are a couple of Rickey fans who are getting a chance to see Rickey in person now that he is back in the American League. Let me know how it goes and if you get pictures, please sent them to me. I would love to post them on the page. Bounus points if you are in the picture with him. I only have one with both he and myself and I was in junior high school at the time. I need a new one.

6-10-00 - Well, it looks like Rickey might be starting to get hot. He's actually walking and starting to get some base hits. As of today, his average stands at a respectable .241. He gathered a couple of stolen bases and is setting the table for Edgar Martinez. He missed a game during the week with a stiff neck. He has since returned but we shall see how he responds. There is a big congratualtions in order for Mr. Henderson. The A's announced their All-Century team last week. Not only did Rickey make the team (obviously), but he was also named the A's franchise Player of the Century. I'm all for the results but I think it might be skewed as almost all the voters are much more familiar with Rickey than they are with anybody else who has played for Philadelphia or Kansas City over the last 100 years. A good deal of the 1988-91 teams were represented on the list as well.

As I have mentioned earlier, with Rickey going to the hated Mariners, I have problems rooting for team success for Rickey. The A's are trying to pull ahead in the AL West. Right now the boys in green have a one and a half game lead and are hot. I wonder if Rickey is getting hotter right now since he is more familiar with the National League pitching. If that is the case, let's hope it just gets him warmed up.

Well, I am off to the Red Sox-Braves game. I am really enjoying inter-league play so far. The Yankee games here were great (all be them way too long) as were the Jays games. I am disappointed that once again we miss Pedro here in Atlanta. The Yanks-Mets games are exciting as usual as are the Cubs-Sox and the A's are killing the NL West. Talk to you later.

5-21-00 - So I think my bitterness has passed. It was hard to see Rickey go to the M's. I can not root for them, but I will root for Rickey. I am going to root for him to walk, hit and score runs. I'm looking for those final records he is shooting for. Judging from the first three games, he has some sort of motivation to show people he can still play. That's great, I just wish he didn't have to get motivated to show it. The only reason people are doubting it is because of what he did in new York this season. He showed a lot of hustle in his first appearance as a pinch runner scoring from first on a double to lead the Mariners to a late win. The he homers in his first appearance in the line up as a starter. Then to top it off, he homers again to lead off again today. I enjoy it when he homers, but that's not his game. I'd rather just see him put the ball in play and be patient at the plate. It is interesting to see the publics reaction in Seattle to this whole situation. Having spent four years in the state of Washington for scholl (go Cougs!!) I know the feelings there has always been about Rickey there. For almost 20 years he has tormented the Mariners. Despite all he did against them, if Dave Valle every threw Rickey out stealing (depsite the fact Rickey had already stolen two other bases in the same game) all I would hear about was how wonderful Valle and the Mariners were. Now, Rickey is their saviour. People that have never had a good word for him nor even any respect for his game are now hailing him as the catalyst that will lead the Mariners to their first every World Series. I am even getting e-mails from them. Well, I hope he continues to play well, but agian, in the AL West it is Oakland or nothing for me.

I would like to quickly talk about the fight that occurred in the Rays-Mariners game on Saturday. Mark McLamore is an idiot. How many times when a better calls time when the pitcher is in his wind-up does the pitcher end up skipping the ball towards home when he realizes that time has been called? I know I have seen it a thousand times. It happened earlier in the game with Alex Rodriguez at the plate. Yan did not mean to hit McLamore. As soon as Yan let the ball go he turned to center field and yelled in disgust. Then, of course as it seems all major league players do now, McLamore had to prove what a big man he was an charged the mound. And doesn't throwing his batting helmet before he gets there make him even a bigger man? If you're going to fight, go man to man. You throw your helmet and you look like a bigger idiot than you already do by charging the mound. I am so tired of these brawls. We almost had one her in Atlanta today that was just as stupid. Trenidad Hubbard, you are not even hitting .200. If you get hit by a pitch, take your base and shut up!

I am in the process of putting up some more pictures in the galleries including the Mariners pictures I have found already.

5-13-00 - Well, I guess I should say something. I have not been writting anything because I have been too ashamed to admit I have an entire web page dedicated to Rickey. What is there to say about his actions over the past two months? He has not come to play. It appears he finally got what he wanted, out of New York. I just wish it would have some other way than to play himself out of a Mets uniform. Watching the Braves game tonight, they were talking about Rickey and where he might end up. They were talking about Montreal. I think that would serve him right. No television nor radio. How does he expect to catch these records (runs scored, walks and 3,000 hits) when he doesn't come to help the team in any way, shape or form? I have also heard from a friend in the Portland that the Mariners are interested. That might be good. For those that don't know, the M's are my most hated team in sports. With his actions this year I think that might be where he belongs. I was impressed, though, with what Mike Piazza had to say about Rickey after the news broke. He said that Rickey was a great team-mate and he was a big part of the team. He felt no ill-will towards him and mentioned how he is a sure-fire Hall of Famer. Earlier in the day, Rickey yelled at a reporter in the clubhouse for what he wrote about Rickey in The Post. After that Rickey went out on the field for a photo promotion where he posed with fans and joked with them. What is with this guy? I know this whole rant has no structure, but I really don't know what to say. I am half hoping that he just retires before he embarrasses himself more. The word however, is that he should not have a very hard time finding work for the rest of the season. Thanks for your e-mails, hopefully there will be some good things to say here in the near future.

4-14-00 - So we are done with the first week of the season. I am really hoping that the rest of the season is not like what we have already seen. First, on the Rickey front. He has declared that he is not going to speak to the media for the next month because of the way they have covered this whole contract squable. Good. Maybe if he keeps his mouth shut he won't keep embarrassing himself. Now the only place he might keep looking like an idiot would be on the field. Another base running blunder the other night as he was on second and barely made it to third on a double. Luckily, Ventura picked him up with a base hit. It was strange because the same day he made this mistake, Carl Everett made a similar mistake in Boston where he didn't score on a similar play. After the game though, Everett was upset with himself and told the media that he was upset that he took away and rbi from a team mate as well as just not paying attention enough. Rickey showed no such remorse. Maybe it was the little fender-bender he was involved in going to the stadium that caused his lack of attention. He apparently hit his head on the steering wheel because of it. Too bad it didn't knock some sense into him.

As for the rest of the season so far, the number of home runs is getting way out of hand. The scores are way too high and there are just too many long balls. I know I am in the minority, but I would much rather watch a pitchers' battle, where when somebody like Rickey gets on base there is need for a stolen base to get into scoring position, rather than sitting on first waiting for a bomb. Mark Grace had a great article in this weeks Baseball Weekly saying close to the same. These new parks are a big part of the problem. Enron Field in Houston looks great, but it is way too small. There needs to be a better compromise between offense needed to suppossedly draw the fans and fairness to the pitchers. I applaud the Tigers for making Comerica much more of a pitchers park. I think the jury is still out on PacBell as whether or not that will be a launching pad as Enron is. I hope it is not because it looks like a great place to watch a ball game.

As mentioned earlier I got to go to Fenway (my first time) for the Sox home opener against the Twins. The game was great to watch in the park but my favorite part was the day before the game when I got to be down on the field. I didn't really have a lot of work to do on our machines behind home plate, so after that was done I got to walk around the empty ball park. The guy who works for us in Boston also works for the Sox and actually had keys to go everywhere. I got to go in the Green Monster and got to see all the names written on the walls of the scoreboard which was awsome. I got my picture in the dugout which for some reason has become a tradition for me. If I visit a park, I get a picture in the dugout. I walked the outfield and checked out the bull pen and Pesky's pole. Fenway is great and I hope they never tear it down. The whole area is great. Surrounding the park every store is baseball related. The pubs are drenched in Red Sox memorabilia and everybody is wearing Sox hats. It was great. It was such a different and wonderful experience after having been to so many games at Turner Field which is so sanitized and new. I am a traditionalist in almsot every way (except for the DH) in baseball and that is what Boston is about when it comes to baseball. I think it might be the greatest experience I have ever had in baseball. I enjoyed the World Series last year, but this still tops it. Check out my articles section as I have posted some new articles on Rickey I have found. Warning, most of them are rather harsh, but not so much more than I have been here.

4-7-00 - Okay, I am sorry I haven't written for so long. I have been busy at work and had some family issues that took up some time and were frankly more important than Rickey. But here are my thoughts on the season so far. I did get up for both games in Japan. I hated it. Opening day is something baseball fans wait for all winter. If Rickey was not playing there was no way in hell I would have been up at that hour to watch. It was simply baseball's way of trying to squeeze some more money from merchandise sales internationally. Was it really worth it to sell some hats to the Japanese while the people that will be buying tickets, merchandise and other MLB items for the rest of the season slept through the first two games of the new millenium? I think not. Even though I was up for the games I hardly remember anything other than Benny's slam.

Rickey got it last night on Baseball Tonight (the greatest show EVER!!). He's on first, ground ball to second. The shortstop bobbles the throw from second. Rickey is shown trotting down to second. If he would have even been running even half normal speed he would have been there and could have slid and been safe. There would have been runnners at first and second, but instead the shortstop had time to pick the ball up and even attempt a throw to first. ESPN has always been more than fair in terms of Rickey and his playing style, but I have to admit I think they were not harsh enough. He has made comments to the fact that he can't always play his best with his contract statis up in the air as it is because he becomes "distracted." Well, he has certainly been distracted this season so far. Come on Rickey. Be a professional and suck it up. After watching his preformance last night my knee-jerk reaction was to take the site down right then. Last season was so fun watching and following him because he played liked he cared. This season so far has been the exact polar opposite. I don't even care if the Mets win or not right now. The A's have always been and always will be my favorite team and they are a lot more fun to follow so far. I'd like to follow them both.

On a personal note, opening day at Turner was fun. I got to just watch as it was an ESPN game so I didn't have to work. It was great to see Andres go yard. It was disgusting to see the reaction the crowd gave John Rocker as they handed out the NLCS rings prior to first-pitch. Monday I am heading out to see my second home-opener of the year. I am going to Fenway!! I haven't been yet so I am excited to see the Green Monster in person.

Rumor killer: the Rickey for Bobby Higginson deal is off. Steve Phillips said he had it on the table but declined. Let's see if that was a good move or not.

3-10-00 - I heard a nasty rumor on ESPN.com the other day. When I say nasty, I mean nasty. Rickey Henderson to the Mariners for Brett Tomko. Okay, it does not make sense to trade Rickey as I said before as the Mets don't have anybody that I think is ready to step into the lead off spot or play everyday in left. But the Mariners, yuck. It would fit for them as Brian L. Hunter had the lowest on base percentage of any American League leadoff batter last year. But the Mariners are my most hated team in all of baseball. I would rather he just retire than play in Seattle. Plus I wouldn't get to see him this year. I am just going to hope that this is just a rumor and nothing more. Keep your fingers crossed. There is another rumor going around here (Atlanta) that does not involve Rickey. Actually it involves John Rocker (imagine that). The Braves have their last two exhibition games at Turner Field against the Orioles and the Indians. The rumor circulating is that the Braves will pitch Rocker in both of those games in front of the home fans since his suspension doesn't start until the 3rd of April. That way all the fans can get most of their anger out before the start of the regular season. I think it makes sense, but I hope people harrass him all season. I can't wait until they go to Shea. And finally, speaking of stadiums, I went to check out our machines at Turner Field yesterday and must say it was wonderful to be on a big league field again. I hadn't been there since Game 2 of the World Series. It look much better than it did last season at this point. It has been very warm here for the past two weeks and the grass is brilliant. Three more weeks.

3-6-00 - Yeah, spring training games have begun. Rickey has agreed to go with the team to Japan, though he is still bitching about his usual assortment of issues. He seems to think that he is still on the block, though everybody in the Mets camp is denying that claim. I don't know why they would want to trade him at this point. They have no other lead-off candidate. Melvin Mora is still too young, and Rey Ordenzo can barely hit eighth let alone lead off. There are alot of teams out there looking for a leadoff batter (Cleveland and Oakland to name a few), but there aren't many available. Tony Phillips is the only one that I am aware of that is not in somebody's camp. Mike Lupica ran a column in the New York Post last week saying that the Mets need Rickey despite all of his baggage. He said that Rickey is still one of the best around at leading off. He compared him the Strawberry in the respect that they are both older and have that baggage, but both the Yankees and the Mets keep them around because they can still get the job done.
As far as the defensive issue goes, I am on Bobby V's side on this one. I got a couple of e-mails (thank you by the way) reminding me of the two base runners he threw out in the NLCS last season. Agreed, he threw them out, but the Braves were running on him if the ball was not hit right to him. One of the runners was Eddie Perez (catcher) and the other was Chipper Jones trying to stretch a single in to a double that he had no business even attempting. He has no arm any more. He actually never had much of one to start out with, but that's not his game anyway. I think anything you get out of Rickey in the outfield is just icing. His game is at the plate and on the base paths (obviously). He is a veteran and needs to show some leadership by accepting his role and letting Bobby send somebody else out there in the late inning situations.

2-27-00 - I have to say that I am a little embarrassed about what is going on at Mets camp right now. Rickey is complaining about a couple of things, money, being replaced for defense in the late innings and the trip to Japan. My thoughts are that you signed a contract, deal with it. You are no longer the 32 year-old that could hold-out like that because you were coming off an MVP year. You had a great season last year and people were starting to forget about all of the hold-outs and injuries that have always hounded you. You proved to everybody that you could still play. Unfortunately, making a big stink about all of this coupled with the Bobby Bonilla incident during the playoffs last season, people are back to thinking you are a jerk. You are less than 200 hits away from 3,000. You are the greatest lead-off batter in the history of the game. By now you should have more than enough money to live very comfortably with your family for the rest of your life. You have a couple of goals left to reach in your career (walks and runs scored). Why don't you forget about the money for once and play for pride? Go out and prove to everybody that your .315 average from last season was not a fluke (.241, .248 and .236 averages three seasons prior). Get your butt over to Japan, hustle in the outfield and deal with your salary. Your a free-agent after this year. If you have another season like last year, I am sure you will get plenty.

As for Darryl Strawberry, hey, you're on the Yankees. I am sure we will see you as soon as whatever suspension MLB gives you. Check back here soon for my predictions for the 2000 season.
 
 

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