1504 replies to this topic

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I was fortunate to be a Yankee fan born in 1988. My first full year watching baseball in 1995 with my brother the Yankees had a solid team that fell short. Of course at that age you don't feel any pain or disappointment because "it's just a game." The following year the Yankees won the whole thing. I'll never forget jumping up and down in the living room way past my bed time as Charlie Hayes caught that foul ball to seal the deal. Even in 1997 I didn't feel pain since baseball was still a "fun" thing for me to watch. The next 3 years I would get spoiled beyond belief, blessed with 3 championships that as a young fan I didn't deserve compared to the pain of long Cub or Red Sox fans. I remember the thrill of watching that 1998 team just mow down opponent after opponent, game after game with ease. I remember that 1999 team sweeping the Braves with ease defeating them once again in the World Series. I remember the buzz around school the following year when the Subway Series came and how thrilled I was to still have bragging rights after that series was over.

Then it all came to a crashing halt on November 4, 2001. It was a hard series, a long series. After the horrific events that just happened it was amazing to see all the people rallying around the Yankees. Compared to what happened the month before baseball didn't matter at all. It's a silly game that helps us escape reality. With that said I still wanted the win more than ever and to be honest, in my own fault - I expected it. From watching baseball from age 7 to 12 and seeing my team win 4 times, winning was all I knew. As I said earlier I was spoiled beyond belief. I'll always remember right before Rivera took the mound that ninth inning getting a sick feeling in my stomach. It didn't make sense, Rivera is practically a sure thing, I had no reason to feel ill but I did. Sure enough the game would end in a Yankee lose on a bloop single that still replays in my head. I'll always remember screaming and crying as I walked upstairs from the basement. I'll remember that long sleepless night that ensued. For the first time since I became I fan I was experience real pain as a Yankee fan.

After that the years just seemed to fly by with more pain, except with each one that passed I truly grew to appreciate what I was lucky enough to witness as a kid. 2002 felt like it ended way to soon with an early exit from the playoffs. 2003 gave me one of the best series (ALCS) and games (Game 7 ALCS) that I have ever seen. Unfortunately that series took so much out of the Yankees and they were no match for the Marlins. That series left me more angry than sad, I'll always remember my brother picking me up from my friends house that night and us just screaming the entire way home.

2004 really brought me to my knees. I remember running around the house when the A-Rod trade news broke, feeling that there was no way they weren't going to win the WS. I remember laughing as the Yankees killed the Red Sox in Game 3 of that ALCS. The rest is history. Nothing can ever be worse than that for me as a sports fan. That was my hell.

2005, 2006, and 2007 were similar to 2002 for me. First round exits and big disappointments. Those years didn't so much hurt, after 2004 it was hard to hurt more than that, but they just gave me feelings of hopelessness. Strangely enough I expected 2008 to be a horrible year going in so it wasn't that bad for me. I just tried to enjoy the last year of a stadium that held so many great memories to me.

2009 immediately felt different. After the offseason the Yankees had I expected them to win the World Series. Anything less will be utter failure and bitter disappointment. I have felt that this is the year that closes the chapters on those painful and disappointing years from 2001 to 2008. This is where the Yankees win their 27th championship. Baseball is more than a game for me, somewhere along the line it stopped being fun or enjoyable. However, I appreciate the great things I see in this game a lot more now with that approach.

I guess what I was trying to get at in this entire long post (and thank you for reading it all if you did) is that as a Yankee fan I was extremely fortunate to see more championships in-between 7 and 12 than most people see their team win in a life time. After going through crushing defeats in 2001, 2003, and 2004 and huge disappointments in the other years, I have always known one thing will be true. When the Yankees do eventually win that 27th World Series Title, it will be worth every ounce of pain I have felt. I will appreciate this title more than anything I have ever appreciated in sports. I will count my blessings and thank the sports gods for another title that as a fan I probably don't deserve but will accept with open arms. The sweetness factor of this title will be worth an infinity. I don't want to wait for that title any longer. I don't need to learn anymore lessons to appreciate that title the way I should. Get it done this year Yankees.

No offense intended, if you started watching baseball in 1995 and you've been a Yankee fan all those years, you don't have slightest concept of what "pain" is.

Your team has the resources to go buy whomever it wants, whenever it wants, and has a sex appeal that only the Dodgers can compete with. Players everywhere dream of what it would be like to wear the pinstripes. Heaven forbid the Yankees make the kind of mistake(s) that would cripple other teams' payrolls and flexibility? No problem...just hose it off and go buy someone else. I'm not begrudging them doing this, BTW...the Yankees aren't doing a single thing wrong...they're operating within the rules of MLB and they're paying a luxury tax for doing so. The game needs a cap with a ceiling AND a floor (at least the Yankees use their resources, unlike some other teams who barely even try...that's why the game desperately needs a cap with a hard floor), but that's a debate for another day.

"Pain"?! C'mon man! Your team is practically a lock to make the playoffs every single year, and that's something you shouldn't take lightly. MLB is not like the NHL, where making the postseason season after season isn't nearly as difficult as it is in MLB. The regular season has almost become kind of a preseason for you. Even though recent postseasons haven't worked out for you, and yeah, some of them have been tough, you're still going to the dance, season after season after season, with the lone exception of last season of course.

You want to know about pain? Try being a Mets fan. Our team is an embarrassment on and off the field, and from the ownership to the front office. Regardless of how fans feel about your team's spending the cash, at least when your team senses an opportunity they'll go all the way...unlike my team. Your team plays every season with one goal and one goal only...to win the World Series. My team plays for "meaningful games in September"...which we got in 2007 and 2008, and they sure were meaningful in the worst possible way. The Yankees have had their share of dark days (I graduated high school the year you were born, and the late 80s-early 90s Yankees were as much laughingstocks then as the Mets are now), but their best days far far FAR outweigh the embarrassing ones. I just hope you appreciate how lucky you are and what you've got. As much as you think you might know what "pain" is in a baseball sense, trust me...you don't. Count your blessings.

[westcoastdevfan]

You annoying Mets fans whine and complain all the time. You want to know what pain is? How about listening to you whine all the time. It's down right excruciating!

END THE DROUGHT! GO YANKEES!

Edited by westcoastdevfan, 03 November 2009 - 10:39 AM.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

I was fortunate to be a Yankee fan born in 1988. My first full year watching baseball in 1995 with my brother the Yankees had a solid team that fell short...

This is so riduclous, it's borderline parody. Other teams fans' read posts like these and that is why they hate the yankees and their fans. Your sense of entitlement is insulting. Most teams are happy to even make the postseason.

[Beezer34]

In sports, pain isn't only measured by quality of loses.. but **Quantity as such . **Quantity of years invested in each corresponding team the fan roots for. `Example; If you're 40 years old, and you're comparing yourself to a 20 year old... no matter what team.. no matter what sport... you've felt more "pain" than them. **Quantity of Championships. I'm a Devils fan, a Jets fan, and a Yankees fan. (in that order) The frail team at first glance is Gang Green. Now CR, you've seen some heartbreakers with the Metro's, that I give you. But none of them trump that of the Jets. At the end of the day, you've seen your lovable-loser bunch win a Championship.. I have not. The Mets also (as bad as they've been) have more Championships than the Jets. **Quantity of teams you root for that are 'superior' -vs- 'inferior'. Listed on your interests CR.. you have the Patriots before the Mets, and being on a Devils forum you (obviously) hold them dear to your heart aswell. Since 1995 (between Superbowls & Stanley Cups) you've seen your football & hockey teams make it all the way to the finals a total of 9 times in a 14 year span. You've also seen 6 Championships combined between the two likewise. I doubt you'll find many bleeding hearts out there willing to toast your baseball-teams-torment, while all the while seeing such success outside the diamond. The counsel you gave 'fiesty of: "I hope you appreciate how lucky you are in what you've got." can be easily thrown back at you regarding the Devils\Patriots.

And as far as the Yankees $pending goes, let's not pretend we root for the Rays here... the Mets spend alot of money too. Over the last few years, since the Mets started fielding some names: (ie; Santana, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Reyes, Pedro, Sheffield, etc) They've seen tickets sales increase, merchandise increase, and television ratings increase. The Mets are far from the laughing stock they once were. The only reason they weren't competitive this season, is because they were decimated with injury(s). If not for 2 ridiculous chokes, it may have very well been the Mets that went to the World Series back-to-back years.
~In short, if you grew up in Long Island.. and you're a 20 year Mets/Jets/Islander fan.. buddy, you can cry all you want. In fact, I'll even mail you the tissues. Otherwise.. "Pain" can be interpreted anyway a fan FEELS it.

[Hi, I'm VALUE!]

A little off the beaten path, but...

Regardless of how this series pans out, if the rumors are true that Ching Ming Wang has pitched his last game as a Yankee, then it's clear that a new starting pitcher would be needed for next year.

It's also clear that we'd need someone with a high G/F Ratio due to the fact that this stadium does turn fly balls into home runs.

That said, MLBTradeRumors is reporting that Atlanta might look to trade Vazquez or Lowe to get some money flexibility. Neither comes cheap (Lowe at 13.5 MM, Vazquez at 11 MM), but Lowe in particular seemed to have a good G/F Ratio and while Vazquez ratio is bad (0.76) he is a heck of a strikeout pitcher with a good WHIP who had miserable run support this year that tarnished his record. Think either of these guys are worth trading for?

[nmigliore]

That said, MLBTradeRumors is reporting that Atlanta might look to trade Vazquez or Lowe to get some money flexibility. Neither comes cheap (Lowe at 13.5 MM, Vazquez at 11 MM), but Lowe in particular seemed to have a good G/F Ratio and while Vazquez ratio is bad (0.76) he is a heck of a strikeout pitcher with a good WHIP who had miserable run support this year that tarnished his record. Think either of these guys are worth trading for?

I don't think the Yankees want anything to do with Javier Vazquez again, and the Braves are looking to trade him for a starting corner outfielder. Derek Lowe has an awful contract that pays him $15M/year (not sure where you got 13.5M from) through 2012, so the Yankees shouldn't bite unless Atlanta eats quite a bit of that.

Edited by nmigliore, 03 November 2009 - 11:45 AM.

[Jerrydevil]

Boy, this thread took a left turn. Don't panic Yankee fans. As bad as Girardi may have screwed up, the Phils probably don't have the pitching to make him pay.

Born in 1988, eh, feistygoat? I think an old John Candelaria was the Yankee "ace" back then.

Edited by Jerrydevil, 03 November 2009 - 12:06 PM.

[thefiestygoat]

No offense intended, if you started watching baseball in 1995 and you've been a Yankee fan all those years, you don't have slightest concept of what "pain" is.

Your team has the resources to go buy whomever it wants, whenever it wants, and has a sex appeal that only the Dodgers can compete with. Players everywhere dream of what it would be like to wear the pinstripes. Heaven forbid the Yankees make the kind of mistake(s) that would cripple other teams' payrolls and flexibility? No problem...just hose it off and go buy someone else. I'm not begrudging them doing this, BTW...the Yankees aren't doing a single thing wrong...they're operating within the rules of MLB and they're paying a luxury tax for doing so. The game needs a cap with a ceiling AND a floor (at least the Yankees use their resources, unlike some other teams who barely even try...that's why the game desperately needs a cap with a hard floor), but that's a debate for another day.

"Pain"?! C'mon man! Your team is practically a lock to make the playoffs every single year, and that's something you shouldn't take lightly. MLB is not like the NHL, where making the postseason season after season isn't nearly as difficult as it is in MLB. The regular season has almost become kind of a preseason for you. Even though recent postseasons haven't worked out for you, and yeah, some of them have been tough, you're still going to the dance, season after season after season, with the lone exception of last season of course.

You want to know about pain? Try being a Mets fan. Our team is an embarrassment on and off the field, and from the ownership to the front office. Regardless of how fans feel about your team's spending the cash, at least when your team senses an opportunity they'll go all the way...unlike my team. Your team plays every season with one goal and one goal only...to win the World Series. My team plays for "meaningful games in September"...which we got in 2007 and 2008, and they sure were meaningful in the worst possible way. The Yankees have had their share of dark days (I graduated high school the year you were born, and the late 80s-early 90s Yankees were as much laughingstocks then as the Mets are now), but their best days far far FAR outweigh the embarrassing ones. I just hope you appreciate how lucky you are and what you've got. As much as you think you might know what "pain" is in a baseball sense, trust me...you don't. Count your blessings.

I disagree. I do feel I know what real pain is as a Yankee fan. How is watching your team one inning from a championship to lose not painful? How is watching your team get embarrassed in the WS 2 years later not painful? How is watching your team pull the biggest choke job that leads to your most hated rival winning their first WS in 86 years not painful? I'll always remember going to school the next day and out of nowhere seeing all the Yankee haters with their brand new Red Sox merchandise. I'll remember not being able to walk around without someone running up in my face to scream at me about how the Yankees blew it. It's not my fault that I was born in 1988 and missed the dreadful 80's and early 90's. I'm sure those were painful but at the same time more embarrassing since I think its more painful to be so close and lose it all.

I don't think I got my point across clearly in my first post. What I was trying to get at is that I am really appreciative of what I witnessed my team do as a young kid. Now that I have seen them come so close and fail numerous times and felt pain these past 9 years that I didn't feel at all my first couple of years as a fan, I'm really going to be able to appreciate the next WS title a lot more than the ones from when I was a little kid, just because I know how hard it is to get there and win it all. I also do count my blessings to the sports gods. I noted how lucky I was to witness all those titles and how undeserving of it I was.

I understand what you're saying about making the playoffs year in and year out. To me I just want so much more though. I don't feel anything from that.

[thefiestygoat]

This is so riduclous, it's borderline parody. Other teams fans' read posts like these and that is why they hate the yankees and their fans. Your sense of entitlement is insulting. Most teams are happy to even make the postseason.

I don't see where I come across as having any sense of entitlement? The entire point of my post was that I grew up seeing all those championships and having gone through the last 9 years I have seen how fvcking hard it is to win the World Series. Its that I'm really going to appreciate it if the Yankees win another WS in my lifetime. Once again its not my fault I was born in 1988 and really couldn't get into watching games any earlier than 1995. Plus can you blame our fans...our ownership makes it clear the goal isn't to make the playoffs but to win the WS. I don't think its the Yankees right or whatever bullsh!t your going to throw out.

[thefiestygoat]

A little off the beaten path, but...

Regardless of how this series pans out, if the rumors are true that Ching Ming Wang has pitched his last game as a Yankee, then it's clear that a new starting pitcher would be needed for next year.

It's also clear that we'd need someone with a high G/F Ratio due to the fact that this stadium does turn fly balls into home runs.

That said, MLBTradeRumors is reporting that Atlanta might look to trade Vazquez or Lowe to get some money flexibility. Neither comes cheap (Lowe at 13.5 MM, Vazquez at 11 MM), but Lowe in particular seemed to have a good G/F Ratio and while Vazquez ratio is bad (0.76) he is a heck of a strikeout pitcher with a good WHIP who had miserable run support this year that tarnished his record. Think either of these guys are worth trading for?

I wouldn't be shocked if he came back on a minor league deal but I think his career is done. I'm not expecting anything out of him and if he can come back I can be pleasantly surprised. I'm going to worry more about the rotation after this week settles down.

[Kicksave Brodeur!!]

How is watching your team pull the biggest choke job that leads to your most hated rival winning their first WS in 86 years not painful?

Ahhh, good times!

[Jerrydevil]

I get yoir point, feistygoat. But I think you sell yourself short.

I think you could withstand some more pain.

[thefiestygoat]

I'm not stressing right now...the Yankees are going to win this tomorrow. This series ain't going 7.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

In sports, pain isn't only measured by quality of loses.. but **Quantity as such . **Quantity of years invested in each corresponding team the fan roots for. `Example; If you're 40 years old, and you're comparing yourself to a 20 year old... no matter what team.. no matter what sport... you've felt more "pain" than them. **Quantity of Championships. I'm a Devils fan, a Jets fan, and a Yankees fan. (in that order) The frail team at first glance is Gang Green. Now CR, you've seen some heartbreakers with the Metro's, that I give you. But none of them trump that of the Jets. At the end of the day, you've seen your lovable-loser bunch win a Championship.. I have not. The Mets also (as bad as they've been) have more Championships than the Jets. **Quantity of teams you root for that are 'superior' -vs- 'inferior'. Listed on your interests CR.. you have the Patriots before the Mets, and being on a Devils forum you (obviously) hold them dear to your heart aswell. Since 1995 (between Superbowls & Stanley Cups) you've seen your football & hockey teams make it all the way to the finals a total of 9 times in a 14 year span. You've also seen 6 Championships combined between the two likewise. I doubt you'll find many bleeding hearts out there willing to toast your baseball-teams-torment, while all the while seeing such success outside the diamond. The counsel you gave 'fiesty of: "I hope you appreciate how lucky you are in what you've got." can be easily thrown back at you regarding the Devils\Patriots.

And as far as the Yankees $pending goes, let's not pretend we root for the Rays here... the Mets spend alot of money too. Over the last few years, since the Mets started fielding some names: (ie; Santana, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Reyes, Pedro, Sheffield, etc) They've seen tickets sales increase, merchandise increase, and television ratings increase. The Mets are far from the laughing stock they once were. The only reason they weren't competitive this season, is because they were decimated with injury(s). If not for 2 ridiculous chokes, it may have very well been the Mets that went to the World Series back-to-back years.
~In short, if you grew up in Long Island.. and you're a 20 year Mets/Jets/Islander fan.. buddy, you can cry all you want. In fact, I'll even mail you the tissues. Otherwise.. "Pain" can be interpreted anyway a fan FEELS it.

I was speaking only from a baseball point of view, and I didn't list my teams in that order for any particular reason. For me it's the Devils #1 (by a slight margin), then the Mets and Pats an equal second. Of course I appreciate what I've seen regarding the Devils and Pats. Hell, those teams have kept me sane. I've also been watching sports long enough to know that good runs can end at any time, and that before you know it, decades can pass before your team brings home another championship, so anytime I'm lucky enough to see one of my teams win I enjoy it and appreciate the moment to the fullest. Had I known in 1986 what I know in 2009, I would've have enjoyed '86 much more than I did at the time...I was very matter-of-fact about the Mets winning, and mistakenly thought it was the first of many. I also root for each franchise as distinctly separate entities...one has absolutely nothing to do with the others. To me, the fact that the Devils and Pats have been successful doesn't make what goes on with the Mets any less frustrating. And to me, the Jets and Mets are very similar, in what they put their fans through...I can't imagine what it's like to be a fan of both teams.

As for the Mets, I didn't say they don't spend...they do, and so do some other teams. But no one's in the league of the Yankees...just look at the price tag of their infield alone. And like I said, unlike other teams who have to pay for bad contract decisions with limited flexibility, the Yankees just act like the mistake never happened and just spend some more...that's a huge advantage. And like I said, as long as they're fielding teams within the rules of MLB they're not doing anything wrong. I actually have far more respect for the Yankees in that regard than for the owners who simply pocket money that can be used to improve their teams.

You're wrong about the Mets being far from the laughingstock they once were. Just look at the last three seasons: one all-time epic collapse, a second collapse, a once-smug, arrogant and borderline racist GM reduced to stammering quivering protoplasm (Omar now has Mets PR watching him during press conferences so that he doesn't embarrass himself further), an ownership that never seems to have its priorities in place or its finger on the pulse of its fanbase...they actually managed to screw up the inaugural season of the Mets' new building. They increduously thought that Mets fans would rather see Brooklyn Dodger heritage honored throughout the park than that of the team that ACTUALLY PLAYS THERE!

[Triumph]

while it's true that fiestygoat's posts sound entitled, the fact is that getting in/going deeper in the playoffs is going to produce more suffering than being 81-81. i mean, any devils fan should recognize this phenomenon. if you don't make it into the playoffs, you don't get to experience matteau and jagr in 99 and jokinen and jokinen again and so on.

i am here excepting mets fans who have of course had enough suffering for the last three years to last a baseball watching lifetime, so i see why they're upset at such a post.

Edited by Triumph, 03 November 2009 - 12:54 PM.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I disagree. I do feel I know what real pain is as a Yankee fan. How is watching your team one inning from a championship to lose not painful? How is watching your team get embarrassed in the WS 2 years later not painful? How is watching your team pull the biggest choke job that leads to your most hated rival winning their first WS in 86 years not painful? I'll always remember going to school the next day and out of nowhere seeing all the Yankee haters with their brand new Red Sox merchandise. I'll remember not being able to walk around without someone running up in my face to scream at me about how the Yankees blew it. It's not my fault that I was born in 1988 and missed the dreadful 80's and early 90's. I'm sure those were painful but at the same time more embarrassing since I think its more painful to be so close and lose it all.

I don't think I got my point across clearly in my first post. What I was trying to get at is that I am really appreciative of what I witnessed my team do as a young kid. Now that I have seen them come so close and fail numerous times and felt pain these past 9 years that I didn't feel at all my first couple of years as a fan, I'm really going to be able to appreciate the next WS title a lot more than the ones from when I was a little kid, just because I know how hard it is to get there and win it all. I also do count my blessings to the sports gods. I noted how lucky I was to witness all those titles and how undeserving of it I was.

I understand what you're saying about making the playoffs year in and year out. To me I just want so much more though. I don't feel anything from that.

Of course you can't help when you were born, and when you were old enough to start watching. It's not through any fault of your own, but the fact that you think nine years is a long time since last winning a championship shows your lack of perspective on how most teams' fans live...you got to see FOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS! Go look up every other major league team and the last time each of them won a WS. Then look up which ones won four of them (we'll go their last four), and how many years it took them to accomplish the feat. Sorry man, I don't have anything against you at all, but even with the "tough" moments you've endured, a nine-year drought where your team STILL made the playoffs in eight of them doesn't count as some kind of battle test to me.

[nmigliore]

As a Mets fan I would go nuts just to see my team make the playoffs. For Yankees fans that are my age, they have been fortunate - they have witnessed their team being a consistent playoff team for YEARS, let alone witnessing 4 (4!!!!) championships. I would be happy just to see my Mets win 1 championship in my lifetime.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

I don't see where I come across as having any sense of entitlement? The entire point of my post was that I grew up seeing all those championships and having gone through the last 9 years I have seen how fvcking hard it is to win the World Series. Its that I'm really going to appreciate it if the Yankees win another WS in my lifetime. Once again its not my fault I was born in 1988 and really couldn't get into watching games any earlier than 1995. Plus can you blame our fans...our ownership makes it clear the goal isn't to make the playoffs but to win the WS. I don't think its the Yankees right or whatever bullsh!t your going to throw out.

while it's true that fiestygoat's posts sound entitled, the fact is that getting in/going deeper in the playoffs is going to produce more suffering than being 81-81. i mean, any devils fan should recognize this phenomenon. if you don't make it into the playoffs, you don't get to experience matteau and jagr in 99 and jokinen and jokinen again and so on.

i am here excepting mets fans who have of course had enough suffering for the last three years to last a baseball watching lifetime, so i see why they're upset at such a post.

I'm sorry Fiestygoat, you are a fan of your team and have been frustrated by their performance in your lifetime. Your attitude is understandable, I was just annoyed as a Mets fan (as Triumph states) by your position. And whether it's fair or not, it is part of the reason why people hate yankees fans, along with the fact that when they win the world series they will become insufferable (just like red sox fans have been)

[Triumph]

As a Mets fan I would go nuts just to see my team make the playoffs. For Yankees fans that are my age, they have been fortunate - they have witnessed their team being a consistent playoff team for YEARS, let alone witnessing 4 (4!!!!) championships. I would be happy just to see my Mets win 1 championship in my lifetime.

i know i'm gonna get yelled at here, but i think you're between 18-20, right? i don't think a person who is around 9-12 years old can really understand how special it is for one's team to win a championship. i mean 1995 was awesome for me, but i had been a serious devils fan for one year. i really had no idea how huge it was for the devils to sweep the wings.

[overtime98]

As a mets fan I picked the lesser of two evils, yankees we'll win the WS. phuck philly.