tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Tuesday’s Thoughts

 As I consider when's the last time I had steak & eggs while eating my greek yogurt, here's what's on my mind today:

* If you have never been to an Old Timer's Day at Yankee Stadium you really need to do it.  There is nothing like it in all of sports as you get to see so many former stars once again.  The ovation for Joe Torre and Bernie Williams was very special and of course its always great to see Whitey and Yogi.

* For those who are a little bit younger than me, at one time Old Timer's Day at Yankee Stadium had Yankee Old Timer's and Major League Baseball Old Timer's.  The old Yanks would play the old major league players seeing the likes of Detroit's Al Kaline, Baltimore's Frank Robinson play against Mickey Mantle and Moose Skowron.

* Speaking of those days, as a kid seeing Mantle with Joe Di Maggio on the same field was really special.  Joe D didn't play in the game it was just something to see.  Phil Rizzuto who was on the Yankee broadcast team was also involved and always had great stories to tell during the regularly played game.  And you could only imagine the ovations that Mickey and Joe Di received.

* By the way the Yankees are the only team in the majors that does old timer's day.  That wasn't always the case as I remember it being done by other teams.  Not sure why the other clubs stopped.

* Great piece today in the NY Post by Joel Sherman examining the trade market as we head toward the July 31st trade deadline.  It doesn't appear on the surface that there is a lot out there and according to Sherman the Yankees may feel that if Colon, Hughes and Chavez can come back ready to play that they may be better than anything the Yankees can get in a trade.  If you get a chance check out the article.

* Frank McCourt is filing for bankruptcy and the iconic Los Angeles Dodgers franchise takes another hit.  Bud Selig continues to take the lead in the dumbest dope for a commissioner of any major sport (and that's hard to do since the other 3 are morons) as he now has been placed in a difficult position as a result.  What's more ridiculous and illustrates Selig's utter incompetence is that Mark Cuban is definitely interested in owning an MLB team and Selig reportedly would never allow that to happen.  Selig talks about how McCourt's deal with Fox is not in the best interest of the Dodgers because some of the proceeds would be going to pay off his wife in the divorce, yet he is putting the kibosh to someone who has demonstrated the desire to invest in his team to make it a champion (The Mavericks).

* There are conflicting reports coming out of Tampa pertaining to the Lightning's ability to sign restricted free agent Steven Stamkos.  Some are saying a deal will get done others are saying it won't.  One thing is clear, after Brad Richards, the unrestricted free agent market does not have a lot of top line players making it a good possibility that offer sheets will be flying around to RFA's.

* If you haven't seen Mariano Rivera bust Michael Kay's chops in his interview with Kim Jones you need to see it.  Mo calls Kay a big head because Rivera wanted Kay to introduce him during the Old Timer's Day pre game because he is older than some of the guys that were out there.  Its funny though the good natured Rivera at the end says that he still loves Michael.  I'm glad Mo does because I surely don't.

* The ESPN Sunday Night baseball experience is totally annoying.  Baseball Tonight is nothing more than a group of opinionated wind bags who really know nothing with John Kruk leading the way.  This past Sunday I was really surprised at how bad Barry Larkin was as he seemed to have a difficult time making a clear and concise point.  And the woman who was filling in for Karl Ravitch was terrible.  The other thing that irritated me was that during the play-by-play there was the constant repeating of the same thing over and over again.  If I heard it once I heard a 100 times that Fausto Carmona was pitching for his job and how Madison Baumgartner didn't make it out of the first inning in his last start.

* And finally, the Red Sox play the Phillies tonight in what many are considering to be a preview of this year's World Series.  I'm saying right here on June 28th that the Red Sox are not in the World Series.  And as for the Phillies, don't count the Brewers or Giants out just yet.