Yankees - 9
Pirates - 0

History's gonna repeat itself, PSB, just like in '60---the Yanks will win the high-scoring games, but the Bucs will take the series by winning the close ones. The only difference will be that the Yankees probably won't spend 45 years cryin' about this one.

After all, history repeated itself against the O's, with the Pirates taking that series after falling behind. Stay tuned...

Yankees - 7
Pirates - 5

Hope you're still speaking to me, PSB, but the fact is that the Pirates woulda won, 5-4, had the 1B ump not blown the call on what woulda been the game-ending DP. It was a horrible call that gave the Yanks new life; they tied it in the 9th, won it in the 10th.

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by P. Pittsburgh Joe on Jun 16, 2005 ---</FONT></center>

playing in the Bronx?I know those calls are part of the game but man they can make one angry!

Giambi with a walk off I was watching!

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 2 times, lastly by PSBeaty on Jun 17, 2005 ---</FONT></center>

Yep, these game have been in the Bronx.

Yankees - 6
Pirates - 1

Instead of reenacting the 1960 World Series, the teams reenacted the 1927 Series sweep by the Yankees, the one that the Yanks supposedly won when they took batting practice before game 1, according to local legend.

So now with the Bucs having played the Yankees in meaningful games in 1927, 1960, & 2005, their record against the Yanks is 4-10. I guess it's a good thing they bunched all of their wins in 1960.

I would appreciate it if you could beat the Red Sox, but we slipped against Colorado last night. Left 11 on and lost by one run! Baseball can be aggrevating!

<center>Fathers Day & Baseball</center>
What better game for fathers to enjoy with sons (or even daughters!) than baseball? My earliest recollection of Fathers Day & baseball came in 1964, when Jim Bunning, then with the Phillies, pitched a perfect game against the Mets. Today Bunning is a Republican Congressman. After the game, he was asked to be the postgame guest on Kiner's Korner, but declined at first when he was told that he wouldn't be paid for it. I guess he was just practicing being a Republican. He later relented.

I've always taken my kids to ball games & it's a big part of our lives. The pace of the game is such that it lends itself to conversation while it's going on, something that one can't say about, say, a hockey game. I found out more about what was going on with my kids at 3 Rivers Stadium, & now PNC Park, than I did in my own house. My daughter is now 17. When she was a little girl, she could name every Pirate & she wrote them letters. To her, Al Martin was a god, when in fact what he was was the best player on a bad team. Now she's not a fan & doesn't always go to the games with us, but she does make it a point to go once or twice a year now. She has a vague feeling that she's missing out on something good if she doesn't.

I always enjoyed my dad's stories about Joe DiMaggio & Ted Williams. However, with 3 exceptions, he wasn't the type to take his kids to ball games, so I went with my friends & their dads. My dad was from the old school; he was the only one bringing home a paycheck (I gotta be careful here. I'll get in trouble for saying my mom "didn't work", so I'll say she had no job that drew a paycheck) so he felt that entitled him to lay on the couch when he was off. No problem, that's just how it was back then, but I feel we both missed out on something.

Fathers Day 1990 was a bummer. I had my daughter (then 2 yrs old) in the car with me & was pulling into a gas station when the woman pulling in ahead of me ran over a 2-yr-old boy, who died instantly. I grabbed the 1st aid kit from my trunk & ran over to the boy, but the gas station attendant said I was too late. That shook me up, to say the least. I still remember the boy's name & think about that once in a while. There's a boy who won't ever enjoy those days at the ball park, I thought, among other things.

The last 2 Fathers Days at PNC Park were memorable. I got a surprise in 2001 when a co-worker presented me with box seat tickets to the sold-out Fathers Day game between the Pirates & the Indians. Had that been a World Series game, it would be known today as one of the greatest games ever, instead of just a blip in baseball's rich history. It was a classic pitcher's duel between the Pirates' veteran righty Todd Ritchie & the Indians' big rookie lefty C.C. Sabathia. They matched zeroes with each other, Ritchie spotting the ball & mixing his pitches expertly, Sabathia pumping a hard fastball & keeping the batters honest with a good change-up.

It was still scoreless after 8 innings. By now the Indians had a relief pitcher in the game, but Ritchie was still in there & he got a thunderous standing ovation when he left the mound after keeping the Indians off the scoreboard in the top of the 9th. In the home 9th, the Pirates' Brian Giles singled with 2 outs & nobody on. With the next batter, Aramis Ramirez at the plate, Giles took off for 2B when Ramirez lined the ball off the glove of leaping SS Vizquel, the ball dying in shallow LF. The Indians scrambled for the ball while Giles had a good head of steam going into 3B. The crowd rose as one & a buzz went throughout the ball park. Could he score from 1B on a single? Would the 3B coach really wave him home? OMIGOSH! HE'S SENDING HIM! Giles slid into home in a cloud of dust, & on a close play the ump signaled "safe," & the crowd sent a frenzied roar into the hot afternoon sky.

It was also Kids & Dads Run the Bases Day, now a Fathers Day tradition at PNC Park. When I reached home plate, I rubbed my hat in the dirt. I never brushed it off. The dirt is still there, hopefully forever.

On Fathers Day 2004, the Mariners &, more importantly, the Great Ichiro were in town. We sat in RF, above the 21-foot-high Clemente Wall, so we could observe Ichiro going about his business. Pirates P Oliver Perez held Ichiro hitless for his 1st 3 AB's, but it's hard to hold the great hitters down forever. Ichiro batted in the 8th with 2 men on & the Pirates ahead, 2-1, & against the lefty reliever Gonzalez he lined a single into RF
to put the Mariners ahead for good. An unhappy ending, but one never forgets it when one is there in person when the great players rise to the occasion.

After the game, the Pirates held another Kids & Dads Run the Bases promotion, so my boys & I waited in line so we could run the bases. I decided to duplicate the great Maz's home run trot after his homer beat the Yankees in the 1960 World Series. When I rounded 2B, I took off my hat & rotated my arm with my hat in hand & broke into a joyous sprint. My wife asked later what the hell I was doing. There were probably some people there wondering the same thing.

My boys are now 14 & 11 & they still accompany me to the games. The day will come when they'll have other things on their agenda, I'm sure. That's OK, that's life. But you can bet that when they become dads, they'll take their kids to the ball games. Betcha Grandpa will be invited, too.

Happy Fathers Day to all Blunderite dads, & to all your dads, too.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PSBeaty:

I would appreciate it if you could beat the Red Sox<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
They tried, but I'm sorry to report they lost 2 of 3 up in Fenway this past weekend.

I took the day off tomorrow to go to the game between the Pirates & Nationals, where I'll see a couple of your old Orioles heroes---the mgr., Frank Robinson, of course, with his 586 HR's, & 1B coach Don Buford, the toughest batter to double up during the 20th century.

How can anyone who loves baseball not like Frank! THat was a great team, long before i lived in this region, but one I watched regularaly. Buford, Blair and Boog and arguably the best pitching staff ever assembled (three, count em, three 20 game winners in one year). Earl Weaver, one of the most animated head coaches ever (could hold the record for getting thrown out of the game). Of course, Jim Palmer. Jim is the local color commentator for Comcast. He drives me nuts. THe guy won't shut up! He provides so much color that it turns brown, Yuuuch!

The O's are doing good this year but our pitching is beginning to wear thin. Still, a lot of people (myself included) think the Orioles MVP is between Bryan Roberts (gotta love him, plays his heart out on one of the lowest salaries on the team, he will have the entire city of Baltimore on his side of the bargaining table in the off season) and Ray Miller (can the pitching coach win MVP)

You got your job cut out for you, the Nationals are playing good ball!

hey Joe

I was at the park tonight and Brian Roberts got a walk off homerun in the tenth against the Yankees. A plea, vote for the kid for the all star start, he is paid way less then anybody on the Yankee team (almost the least on the Orioles) and he is batting 340. He deserves the vote! Also, Palmeiro tied Jackson for ninthe on the all time homrun list and he is just 10 hits away from 3000, vote for Raffy too!

Roberts had my vote before you posted. I've been watching him all season, & you know what Yogi said: "You can observe a lot just by watching."

You got half of your wish granted, PSB, with Roberts making it.

I was at the game yesterday, saw 2 All-Stars. One hit a grand slam. It was the wrong team, however.

I saw Raffy get his 2996 and 97 hits and his 565 homerun yesterday. He is 3 hits away from joining the 3000/500 club which has only three members now Eddie Murray, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. Not bad company! Should be an All Star?

There should be an honorary spot on the All-Star team for anybody with Raffy's credentials, much like there was (unofficially) for Hank Aaron & Willie Mays late in their careers.

Programming notes:

Tonight, Home Run Derby, 8:00 PM on ESPN.
Tomorrow night, All-Star Game, 8:00 PM on FOX.
All times are Eastern.

I imagine Blunderites will be glued to these events over the next couple days & these boards oughta be pretty dead. See ya later in the week!

PLAY BALL!

Bobby Abreu just put on quite a show; nobody's gonna top that for a while. Man, that guy was in a groove!