The New…No, Not New…Yankee Stadium

blobstadiumnewoldts.jpgOK, amigos, that’s it!  Throughout the pregame today, and then after the ballgame on the postgame, I referred to the place the Yankees and Indians played as the “new” Yankee Stadium.  But no more. The final out is in the books for the 1st official game, the 1st official WB Mason Postgame is in the books, too. So, starting tomorrow (pregame at 12:30 p.m., only on YES!), I will refer to it only as Yankee Stadium. Because it is what it is…and I’m just guessin’ here… they aren’t going back to playing any games at the OLD Stadium!

Definition of a Gamer, TV Style  So, I show up to the stadium early, and Kim Jones is already there. John Flaherty shows up a few minutes later.  We all take a little stroll, along with Ken Singleton, in the Great Hall, so we can get a firsthand feel for the place.  It’s great, by the way. You can tell a buddy or best friend… “Dude, (or Dudette), meet me under the Thurman Munson banner.”  Or the Paul O’Neill banner.  Just take your pick of a host of ballplayers. Cool viewing and a great way not to walk around the stadium on your cellphone going, “Where the heck are you?!  No, I DON’T see you?! Oh, really? You’re in your Yankees jersey?!  Well, so are 30,000 other people, Slick!”  Anyway, back to the “gamer” portion of the program… KJ and Flash got in late from Tampa and the road trip… so did Michael Kay and Coney… and all were working on just a few hours’ sleep. Yet, I defy you, if you happened to see the pre or post, or review either, to see vapor trails coming off any of them.  Now, Flash and Kim did mention that they might be slipping into some form of sleep dementia, ever so slightly, during the game.  But, come postgame… Showtime, Baby!  They stepped it up.  True pros.  Same with Coney. You give ’em the ball, even on fumes, they’ll throw it through a brick wall for ya!  That’s a gamer.
Yo, Paulie, What Are You Doing Here?  If Paul O’Neill were any of us, he’d weigh 600 lbs.  That’s just reality. KJ’s blogging about this, too, I believe, but I’m going to Blob about it, because she and I were in the lunchroom at the same time, and I believe in blog revenue sharing…As we’re in line for food in the media lunchroom, Paul O’Neill walks in…it’s a few minutes after 1:09 p.m., also known as “after first pitch.”  I look at Paul and say, “Who’s calling the game today?”  Well, lo and behold, it’s Kay, Singleton and…. oh, I don’t know… what’s his name again… PAUL O’NEILL?!!!!!  We’re on the air and Dude’s in the lunchroom getting some grub!  Took off his headset, left his boothmates behind, walked into the joint and said, FEED ME!  Or at least, show me where to get a plastic plate and some napkins.  So, Paulie eats then.  After I do my Mohegan Sun Sports Bar pop (in which I took a friendly shot at both Flash and Jones!), I return to the YES broadcast booth… and in subsequent interviews during the game, Bernie’s in… the MLB commish is in… and so is the new Archbishop… Paul GLADLY gives up his headset for them…walks off…and as I look to the right by the door, there he is…eating something!  Almost every time!  I’m just telling you… I know he still works out, etc… but can I just grab a bit of whatever incredible genetic composition is in that guy… and duplicate it in a lab?!  For the betterment of Mankind!!!
Musings From the Field Before I Am Re-Caged in the Studio  Musings…that’s what the Blob is all about, isn’t it?  Wherever I go.  After the pregame, I stayed on the field for the opening day ceremonies… one of the great things about Yankees fans is, they just get it… all the Legends come out, they get great applause and cheers…young fans still understand what the Old Timers did… they don’t ignore it, they respect it. You will never see that from any other organization.  A live fly-over by fighter jets will never get old…it’s amazing to see them quietly approach the stadium, then roar across the sky until they quickly disappear.  So awesome. Did you see during the pregame, KJ interviewing Nick Swisher and AJ Burnett gives him a quick smooch as he walks by?  That’s the great thing about live TV… fun stuff happens that you never expect…and it gives you the feeling that these guys like to work hard but have fun, too.  We should all have that attitude, I think.  Work hard, play hard. OK, if anything else comes to mind, I’ll Blob about it tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed the festivities.  Until next time, keep on Blobbin’….

Back to the Blob

With the game on My9 last night, I got a chance to chill and watch from home.  Just hangin’ in the basement @ Casa de Blob, watching AJ Burnett deal on my big screen, which is the exact same size as the new HD screen at Yankee Stadium…59 feet by 101 feet…yeah, right Bob!  But throwin’ down a brick oven pepperoni pizza was the right call!  Milk was a bad choice…that’s why I didn’t have any.  Enjoyed listening to Kay, Cone and Flaherty work the game…and I loved it when Michael made a comment comparing Flash to a gladiator…I texted Flash that he’s like Russell Crowe in Gladiator…MAXIMUS!  MAXIMUS!  Listen, if you’re gonna be compared to a gladiator, THAT’S the gladiator I want to be!

Another reason why Kim Jones is so awesome  I read this in the comments section of KJ’s latest blog:

“Kim, congrats for the top-10 debut in the MLBlogs Latest Leaders, our
regular rankings of tens of thousands of baseball blogs by page views.
Enjoying your posts!”

I was ranked 23rd….with a bullet.

PS  What’s with all the grilled chicken they eat in the booth?  Mix in a double chili cheeseburger once in a while, you health freaks!  Haha.

Another reason why Jackie Robinson is so awesome  I was looking at our Toyota Text Poll for today’s game and it asked:  Besides breaking baseball’s color barrier, which is Jackie Robinson’s great accomplishment?  Rookie of the Year in 1947?  Winning NL MVP 2 years later?  Leading the Dodgers to 6 World Series appearances?  Or being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962?  And I think my vote goes to winning Rookie of the Year…here’s why and I’m going to make my case drawing a very odd but hopefully understandable comparison.  Going into this season, many wondered aloud how Alex Rodriguez would handle all the distractions of his off-season admittance of using performance enhancing drugs while with the Rangers…plus the book that’s coming out on him next month…plus whatever personal life stuff crops up from time to time….etc, etc, etc.  And people said it might finally break him.  Now, compare that to what Robinson endured…the absolute hatred, bigotry…not only from fans but from his fellow players…the taunts and comments he heard at every single ballgame, every day, maybe almost every waking moment of his life at that point…yet Robinson not only kept quiet and never fought back…he played SO WELL that, even when it would have probably been easier for voters to just vote for somebody else that year, they realized…no matter the color of his skin…Jackie Robinson had played at such a high level that there was no way THEY COULDN’T vote him Rookie of the Year!  And he played at that high level despite all the turmoil swirling around him.  That speaks volumes about the man.  Now, I’m interested in your thoughts and the results of the poll.  

Youve Never Seen That?!

I said that exact thing to 2 people this week…Don’t know if you know this, but before the pregame starts, Kim Jones and I usually chat a bit, just to make sure we’re on the same page, make sure she can hear me and vice versa, and to double check the mikes, etc.  So, tonight, she mentions that she can do with a little less cowbell, because the Rays’ fans go crazy shaking their cowbells.  Well, of course, what’s the line I’m gonna lay on her?!  “Kim, I gotta have more cowbell!”  That’s the key line from the great SNL skit featuring Will Ferrell as Gene Frenkle of Blue Oyster Cult, smacking his cowbell much to the dismay of his bandmates, and much to the delight of record producer Bruce Dickinson (Christopher Walken).  Well, it seems that KJ is one of the 5 or so people left in the world who hasn’t seen that!  I tried to explain it to her, but I think she glazed over midway through.  I hope she’ll search it on YouTube (or just click the video link below).  Enjoy the magic, Kim.

The other time took place a couple nights ago…I threw out a line from the movie Groundhog Day and our resident writer/researcher/web sensation Glenn Giangrande, who’s also the voice of our Just for Men Hold of the Day on the pregame, told me….no, admitted to me…that he’d never seen the movie Groundhog Day!  Who hasn’t seen that, except Glenn?!  I can’t count the number of times, when a day seems the same as another, I either say or I’ve heard others say, “It’s like Groundhog’s Day”, and everyone knows what that means!  So, right now, I’m issuing a Blob challenge to Glenn…Go rent and watch Groundhog Day or I’ll go out in the parking lot and let the air out of your tires!  I’m just kidding…I wouldn’t do that…I’d get somebody else to do it.

Happy Easter!

4:20pm  30 minutes later and I’m walkin’ on sunshine, oh yeah…even if the weather’s still brutal in KC…the mid-7th inning cutin went much better, as the Yankees took the lead…it’s all ebb and flow, ebb and flow…Time to watch the bullpen go to work and get ready for the postgame…Happy Easter!

3:50pm  I just did it again…walked up to the set before any outs were made in the bottom of the 4th…the Royals rally for 2 runs to take the lead…I really have to re-think my mid-game, cut-in philosophy.  That steady rain in Kansas City does not look like any fun at all.

Hope you’re enjoying a great day with family or friends…or both.  Good start for the Yankees again today, thanks to the blindingly blurry legs of Brett Gardner.  Did you see him steal second base?  Some guys take a quick peek toward the plate while they’re racing to the bag.  Brett just keeps his head turned to the left, like he’s watching his favorite sitcom while running.  Kinda reminds me of that one commercial where the sprinter’s legs are going a million miles a minute, and he’s talking to the camera and texting at the same time!  Challenge  I want to take Gardner on in a footrace…here’s the challenge…a race all the way around the bases…Gardner has to start at home plate and run all the way around.  Meanwhile, I will run from home to first while eating a double chocolate donut and balancing a super XL cup o’ joe.  I think I could BARELY beat him…but if I were to drop a small chunk o’ donut on the way, I’d probably stop to pick it up, even if it’s covered in chalk (what I call…powdered sugar coating), and the door would be open for him to beat me.  Body Double  Do you ever play that game where you see somebody that kinda looks like somebody, so you draw the comparison?  Well, this might be a stretch, but check out the dugout shots on YES of Royals manager Trey Hillman…a brief glimpse, especially of the eye area, looks like it could be Christian Bale in some kind of movie makeup…like it’s Christian Bale playing the role of Trey Hillman.  Let me know…is that a stretch?

Saturday Nights Alright for Writin

8:40pm

If you get the chance, read Kim Jones’ blog…and, yes, it’s true…I did say her earrings looked like monster truck rims!  We have a lotta fun chatting before she and I go on the air… a few other things I noticed during the game…Cone saying he was at a Waffle House at 5:00am… no doubt…Flash saying he had a salad, chicken breast and “a couple glasses of water”… the salad and chicken, I’m buyin’…the water…not so much.

Gotta keep Nick the Quick Swisher in the lineup, the way he’s swinging the bat…but do a little predicting with me…it’s righthander Gil Meche in Sunday’s finale…does Swisher go back to RF and knock Nady out…does he spell Tex again at 1st and let him rest his wrist a little more…or does Swish DH and let Matsui have an early day off?  Interesting…

Don’t know if I’ll have time to Blob anymore tonight the way this game’s moving, so here’s the answer to the Hershey’s Miniature pop quiz…The most often sought Miniature out of the bowl is….(drum roll)…Krackel!  That little red-wrapped combo of chocolate and rice krispie fuels the engine of a lot o folks around here.  Blob on…
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Sitting here in my office…preppin’ for the pregame, watching The Masters, Blobbin’…  I have to add a footnote to my Blob yesterday re: my son and The Masters.  yankeegirl224 was so nice in congratulating me and my wife on the birth of our son. I’m just not sure if she missed the one little line that said that was back in 1990!  That lil’ whippersnapper just turned 19 years old!  But thank you yankeegirl224, for your kindness… and for Blobbin’.

Is this a diet plan?  Whenever I’m in my office working on the show, I’m tempted to eat things that I probably shouldn’t eat. For example, on the table in front of my sofa, there are are regular M&Ms, peanut M&Ms, small Reese’s peanut butter cups and a bowl with those awesome little Hershey’s Miniatures. Restraint would tell me to enjoy a couple then step away from the table. But I tear through about 12 of ’em and I end up wondering how all those little wrappers ended up in my trash can. But whenever baseball season rolls around, I have a new plan. I keep myself busy with bags o’ sunflower seeds… and not just any seeds, but David seeds… they’re the best, in my opinion. So here I sit, crackin’ and spittin’, crackin’ and spittin’… and I ask you: is this a sensible alternative?  Or am I gonna blow up from all the salt?! If I do, be glad you’re sitting on THAT side of the camera!

Pop Quiz: I mentioned the awesomeness of Hershey’s Miniatures a moment ago. The candy is for all my friends and co-workers here at the studio to share. So… pop quiz… between regular Hershey’s chocolate, Special Dark chocolate, Mr. Goodbar and Krackel (that’s the way it’s spelled)… which do YOU think goes the fastest? I’ll be back later tonight with a Blob update to let you know.

Diamond and the Rough

Pregame’s over … time to get Blobbin’. No interesting musings from the set tonight, really … a rather quiet night in the studio, despite the fact that we did a little pre-game overtime because of the opening-game ceremony at the New K in KC. Amazing that the Yankees are involved in four season openers this year…Baltimore, KC, next vs. the Rays at the Trop, and then home to open the new stadium. They are also opening a new car wash and a new laundromat in the Bronx.  Not true … I just made that up (could ya guess?!)

I gotta admit, I’m doing a little back and forth between the 2 TVs in my office. Yankees-Royals on the left, and The Masters on the right. The little tourney in Augusta holds a special place in my heart … take ya back to 1990 … I was covering the Masters for the TV station I worked for in West Palm Beach, Fla. We had a bunch of golfers who lived in the PB area that we followed. Anyway, I work from Tuesday to Sunday, and on that Sunday, I find out that I was one of the lucky few media members to win the lottery and get the chance to play Augusta the next day. So, I called my very pregnant wife, who was still about three weeks away from her due date, and mumbled something about having to play the holy mecca of golf.  She understood and she doesn’t even play golf … very cool. I won’t give you the gory details (seven 3-putts, guess I just did), but I did birdie the 9th, and went bogey, par, bogey through Amen Corner. Got home late Monday night and about 19 hours later, my son, Tyler, was born. Timing is everything. It was a very, very, very good week.

Wrappin It Up in Baltimore

4:30pm
Nice to see the Yankees offense come to life and AJ Burnett set the table for his 1st win as a Yankee.  In light of the Nick Adenhart news (if you didn’t hear, he’s the 22-year-old Angels rookie pitcher who was killed in a hit-and-run car accident this morning just hours after making his season debut for Anaheim), I just hope that the Yankees, and everyone else for that matter, remember that at the very heart of things, baseball players play a game that they, and we, should enjoy for what it is.  It’s not life and death.  Wins are important in the baseball scheme of things.  But in the grand scheme of things, enjoying the moment, wearing a smile, being a positive person and trying to spread that vibe to the world means more.  It’s a thought worth remembering when all of us take things too seriously.  And we need to send good thoughts towards the Angels and the Adenhart family.  I hope you enjoyed the game and it’s outcome today.  I hope you enjoy the day and your family even more.
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You learn something new every day … I really believe that, and it’s proven true in the season-opening series vs. the Orioles. And we’ve been schooled by Kim Jones!

First, we learned yesterday that O’s Japanese import Koji Uehara prefers to go by his first name, Koji, as opposed to his last name. .. not uncommon, like Ichiro. And today, we discovered that O’s starter Alfredo Simon wants his last name pronounced like the “Simon” in “Simon Cowell” or “Neil Simon,” if you prefer. The original MLB pronunciation guide referred to him as “See-moan”, with Spanish flair. Let’s hope he’s Simple Simon, as in simple for the Yankees hitters to figure out.

KJ is on fire!

9:00pm
I’ve gotta re-think my 4th inning strategy.  Now, I don’t wanna come across as overly superstitious, but weird things happen when I’m going to the set for the 4th inning cutin, when I do an update from another game.  It always seems that, when I leave my office mid-4th, and head up to the studio, the bottom half of the inning goes on waaaaay too long.  And in the case of tonight’s game, or any road game, that’s not good for the Yankees.  I sit down, plug in, mike up and sit, sit, sit.  Finally, the update.  Not good.  I’m gonna have to change things up, maybe leave my office with one out in the bottom of the 4th.  I know, I’m crazy…wouldn’t be the first time that’s been said!  Check ya later…
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C’mon Blob! Man, I’ve gotta ramp it up … Kim Jones is absolutely crushing me with her new blog. She just fired off a pregame memo, and she says she’s already planning in-game updates … Keeping Up With the Jones?! No kiddin’, KJ!

Deep breath, everyone 
I’m always amazed at how many people go a little kookoo bananas after a season-opening loss. CC’s gonna be fine. So is Tex. I heard somebody say, “There’s a lot of baseball left.” Almost ridiculous to hear after just one game, no? I just wonder how many straight wins it would take for those already putting a toe over the ledge to step back and chill a bit.

Day off? For what?!
Nah, I know why MLB schedules a day off after a season opener, but the day off yesterday was like being on the part of a roller coaster that’s NOT a thrill … like you just go screaming at an 80-degree angle down a track, then level off and coast around a corner … keep the adrenaline flowin’!

By the way, you know what I love to do when I’m on a coaster at a theme park? Find out where the camera is that takes a picture you can buy after the ride’s over. I did that a month or so ago at Aerosmith’s Rockin’ Rollercoaster at Disney. It’s right at the start … 0-70 mph in no time flat, and I make the goofiest or most shocked faces. Just watch the reaction of the people you’re riding with when they see the picture! Priceless. Maybe I’ll do the same thing at the start of the pregame tonight, or maybe not.But now ya know how I get my kicks on a coaster. More later….

Ready, On Set, Go!

The Blob began during the Spring in Tampa, then continued the other night with the opening of the new Yankee Stadium on site….but now, the animal is back in his cage!  I’m on the set Blobbing DURING the pregame show!  I can walk and chew gum at the same time AND I can anchor a show and blog (or Blob)…such a multi-tasker.  Ken Singleton bustin’ out the comedy right out of the gate during my chat with Michael & him, joking that he hurls before every game…that’s just good TV.  Back with more later…  CC  You watching this?  Your teammates are mounting a comeback, trying to pick you up…hang in there.  Meanwhile, I have to find a way to stop eating the M&M’s I have in my office or I’ll have a third chin by the time the postgame rolls around….Yikes.  But having said that, I know people who don’t like chocolate.  How is that possible?!  If you’re allergic, OK, I guess…but otherwise?!!!

First Things First

I got my first look at the new Yankee Stadium last night, and while the most often word used to describe it is “Wow”, I think I’ll channel my man Will Ferrell via James Lipton, by using the word “scrumptrulescent”!  It really is first-class in every way.  I walked the concourses, checked out the food court…and, by the way, don’t be surprised if you don’t always see the stands filled at any given moment…here’s why…it’s now very safe to get up and go get food and bev because, while you’re standing in line, you just turn around and still watch the ballgame!  So I can see more people feeling the freedom to grub up without worrying about missing something or having to watch it on a 19-inch monitor.  Excess?  Excuse me?  You’ve no doubt read a handful of columns about the excess or over-the-top nature of the new stadium.  (Where’s my audio man?  Cue up the “crying baby” track).  Bottom line:  The Yankees are renowned for pouring their $ back into their product.  They do it with the roster because they want to win championships.  Mr. Steinbrenner has always said he does it for the fans, to try and give them a winner.  So why wouldn’t they do the same thing with their new ballpark?  Let me ask you this:  If I give you the choice between staying at a Motel 6 or a Ritz Carlton, where are you checking in?  That’s what I thought.  The Yankees have built their fans a Ritz….check in and enjoy the stay.  Old Times, New Times, Good Times  I’ve had a few friends say how they miss the old place…the nostalgia, all the history there…I get it.  Some of the greatest moments in baseball history took place in the old Yankee Stadium.  But there are plenty of new ones ahead…and even though it was an exhibition game, didn’t you get a little charge of out of Derek Jeter getting the first Yankee hit?  Robbie Cano mashing the first homer?  Enjoy the past, by all means, but embrace the present and future.  Get Me to Monday!  OK, who really LOVES Monday?  Not usually, but with the dawn of a new season, I can’t wait!  Pregame at 3pm on YES, then gametime as the quest for #27 starts fresh.  I’ll have Blobs all day from the set & studio…Until then, keep on Blobbin’….