Tagged: A.J. Burnett

Perfecto

OK, so the weather in the Bronx isn’t perfect baseball weather, but maybe A.J. Burnett can channel his inner Boomer and get back on the winning track…doesn’t have to be perfect, just the A.J. of his first couple starts.

wells_blob_051709.jpgBy the way, I hope you got the chance to see our feature on the 11th anniversary of David Wells’ perfect game on the Tri-State Ford Pregame.  Big kudos to segment producer EJ Gentile and editor Joe Calo for putting it together…and web wunderkind Joe Auriemma for doing the interview of Boomer…great stuff that really captured the build-up of what turned out to be one of the great moments in modern Yankees history. And I’d forgotten that David Cone actually spoke to Wells late in the game (albeit briefly)…that took some guts!  That must have been a heckuva celebration that night with Coney and Boomer…as David said on the BP show…it was, what he and Wells remembered about it!

Out to Lunch  Once again, pregame producer Bill Boland comes up with a big hit in the clutch.  Between the 2nd and 3rd segments of the pregame today, I asked him what he was doing for lunch…usually, several people in the control room order out…Bill mentioned they were making a special trip to Panera, and the order was yet to be made…I heard him say the words “Sierra Turkey”, and I was in…I don’t even quite know what it is, but I get the feeling it’s gonna be just what the doctor ordered…I’ll let ya know…

DELIGHTFUL!  That’s me summing up in one word the deliciousness that is the Panera Sierra Turkey sandwich…But to get a bit more in-depth, here’s what Boles added when we were talking about it…”the chipotle mayo makes it great…maybe the onions add a bit to it…or the Asiago cheese bread…all of it together, really.”  The combination danced across my palate, almost whispering in a friendly tone…”Bite me”.  No wait, that’s not right.  Let’s just say Boles and I both enjoyed the Sierra Turkey quite a bit.

Its Raining on the Blob

I need some form of new wave light therapy…a mood enhancer…to get me outta this gray-skied, rain-induced funk I’m in…how many others get this way?

Yesterday, I’m all fired up to drive in to work and talk a little Yankees-A’s…next thing I know, I get the call from producer Billy Boles…”Bob, early decision on rainout.  You don’t need to come in.”  So that means…no baseball for me Monday, OR Tuesday (My9 game), OR Wednesday (my one game off this month), OR Thursday (off day for Yanks).  I’m gonna go out of my mind! Is there a list of stuff for me to do around the house? Sure!  But do I really want to get to it?! Of course not!  I love doing the pre and postgames, and when there’s a four-day drought (no weather pun intended), it’s brutal.

But here’s the good news!  Ladies and Gentlemen, in his first appearance of the year, Friday night and Friday night only!…In studio, one of Baltimore’s favorite sons…KEN SINGLETON!!! That’s right, in the most limited of engagements, Kenny will be in studio with me for Friday night’s series opener at Fenway vs. the Red Sox. Can’t wait. Hoping for plenty of Blobbable moments…because let’s be honest…when it’s just me in studio, there’s not as much Blob-worthy material…”Hey, I realized in the C-Block I had lint on my left shoulder and you could see it on camera…in HD!”  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  Unless you want to know the eating habits of Chris, Paul, George, Terry and Quags in the studio?  Because I’d be more than happy to share that with you. Goodness knows Kim Jones and the game crew have quite a foodie following every night!  BTW, I’m thinking of bringing a digital camera to work and taking pics of the studio, guys in the studio, Kenny sitting next to me, etc. Things I see from my vantage point. I could even extend that to the control room, break room, bathrooms…no wait, I don’t need any lawsuits…I’ll stay out of the loos…But if the other pics are of interest to you, let me know and I’ll do it.

This WASN’T on my list  Like KJ, I got sucked into the vortex of Dancing With the Stars last night, since we were rained out…I am not a follower or fan of the show, although I do appreciate the, shall we say, athleticism of the female dancers???…But I knew the wife watches the show, so I figured I’d take one for the team and watch with her. And I lived to Blob about it. By the way, I have never read this anywhere, I’m only making this observation from watching, but does Tom Bergeron despise Samantha Harris? Watch how, when it’s her turn to talk, he kinda drops his mike off to the side with a slight smirk on his face and never really looks directly at her. He sort of looks off to the side of her. I notice this because, when I worked in local TV years ago, we had a male anchor who thought he was far superior to his female co-anchor and they didn’t get along, so when they were on a two-shot together ****-chatting, he’d always look off at the monitor to his right, where she sat, and not directly at her as she was speaking. He’d barely tolerate what she had to say, until it was his turn to speak again. Just sayin’…same thing on DWTS?

A Couple Answers to Your Questions
  From a previous Blob comment…both theduchess and makemeshiver would like me to detail David Cone’s game schedule on The Blob. They want to meet him. Oh, but why? David’s awfully shy, doesn’t get out much and prefers to sit quietly in a small room and read a good book….while drinking chocolate milk or a Fresca…but only when he’s visiting Neptune.  And makemeshiver added this…”Please tell A.J. Burnett his pitching is very sexy”. Absolutely!  Next time I see him, it’s the first thing I’ll say to him…”Hey, AJ, what’s up, Dude?  Your pitching is very sexy!  Uh, wait, no…that’s not me saying that!  Come back here.  That’s makemeshiver.  No, I’m not saying YOU makemeshiver…it part of the Blob.  No, I didn’t say you’re a blob, A.J.  You have a great body.  I mean, wait…it’s clear that you work out.  How much do you bench, Dude?”  You know what?  I think I’ll just tell him to read the Blob.  Have a great day!

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’….