It was an historic night for older pitchers as the Yankees sent 43 year old Randy Johnson out to the mound against 41 year old Kenny Rogers.  The Gambler the baseball ball, not the great country singer also named Kenny Rogers, unexpectedly pitched 7.2 shutout innings against the Yankees and the Tigers won 6-0.  Of course, pitchers like him and Jeff Weaver never ever pitched that way for the Yankees, only for other teams.

Anyway, I am keeping the faith and going to say extra prayers and eat extra vitamins tonight.  Go Yankees!

Good luck to the Mets closing out the Dodgers.

Time stops for no one and here goes the Tank's fearless Football picks:

Don't worry Kara (big Gators fan at work), #5 Florida beats #9 LSU.

#7 Texas beats #14 Oklahoma.  (Not to self, one of the Tank's goals is to see the "Red River Rivalry" one of these years.) 

#16 California beats #11 Oregon.

Bills lose to the Bears.

Jets lose a close game at Jacksonville.

The Giants bounce back in a must win game against the Redskins.  They have two weeks to stew over Jeremy Shokey's comments and have hopefully for their sake learned that the game starts in the first quarter, NOT the fourth. 

For the game of the year (so far), the T.O. Bowl in Philly.  While everyone is focusing on T.O. (who'll come up with some good catches and about 70-90+ yards receiving), the main key is going to be how the banged up Eagles secondary contains Terry Glenn who is actually the better receiver.  Yes, T.O. is the better athlete but Glenn is the better receiver. 

 

Most importantly, Rest In Peace, Mr. Buck O'Neil.  Let's hope you finally get into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

 

Posted by The Tank in NY.

 

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How often do you see the following?

The Yankees leave 18 runners on base and lose 4-3 to leave the Stadium with a split against the Tigers.

Jeff Weaver pitches five shutout innings in the Cardinals 2-0 victory at the San Diego Padres.  (Yeah, that freakin' Jeff Weaver who couldn't pitch to save his life with the Yankees while his kid brother Jered pitched lights out for the Angels this season.)

Kenny Lofton waiting for the Dodgers bus to move in center field so he could strike out and not use the bright lights as an excuse for his out strikeouts.

Answer to all of the above: Not often.

Speaking of non-answers, Brooklyn Pete unfortunately didn't file a report as I had hoped.  His fingers were probably numb while sitting in Section 35 near Heaven at Shea.  I don't know if perma-guest Jack had a chance to go to the makeup of Wednesday's rained out game at Yankee Stadium.

Anyway, the Mets take a 2-0 lead over the Dodgers on a night where living legend Ralph Kiner threw out the first pitch at Shea and Tom Glavine turned back the clock with six shutout innings. 

11 victories (6 for the Yankees and 5 for the Mets) closer to my much needed Subway Series closure.

Go Yankees! / Mets! / Twins! (to wear out the As pitchers) / Padres! (so I don't have to talk San Diego Rich off the ledge)!

Posted by The Tank in NY!

Steve and I go through our good luck ritual in meeting at Union Square. A good luck wheat grass shot starts us off on a healthy note. Being contrarians, we take the N at Union Square instead of the 4/5/6 to Grand Central and then transfer to the 7. Unfortunately, we wait a while for the N and I talk Steve out of jumping onto the tracks.

Steve and I took a brief walk down memory lane meeting from last February at Table 1 in Antarctica to today, Game 1 of the NLDS.

Today is about exorcising demons and Steve and I have many, especially when it comes to the Dodgers. The Tank is still emotionally scarred by the 1981 World Series loss to the Dodgers after being up two games to none. Steve is still scarred by the 1988 NLCS. Steve brings along a ticket from a 1981 game against the Dodgers.

After transferring to the R in Queens, the butterlies start growing. Steve has a headache and about to hurl where we entered at Gate B.

After a long wait on line in the 80 plus degree heat, we got to our seats just in time, touch wood.

John "Remember the Maine" works a perfect first after Reyes makes a great catch to start the game.

Beltran works out a two out walk. Delgado singles to center to advance Beltran to third. DW grounds out to second to unfortunately end the first.

Kent singles to center to end the perfect game. J.D. Drew hits a dribbler toward third to advance Kent to second and to get an infield single.

Russell Martin doubles to right field but Kent and Drew are tagged out at home by Lo Duca on a great throw by Shawn Green (as the Tank predicted as we were walking in). I have never seen anything like this. Anderson doubles down third to score Martin. Darn it! Intentional walk to Betemit.

The Tank really has to go to the Men's Room plus to give the Mets good luck, touch wood. It unfortunately doesn't work.

Carlos Delgado hits a "Mike Piazzaesque home run" (after September 11 per Steve) to the top of the TV camera stand with one out in the fourth. Floyd follows with a bomb to right field near the HIP sign. Mets take a 2-1 lead. Green swings at ball four on a 3-1 count and then strikes out to end the inning.

Betemit singles to open the fifth. D-Lowe sacrifice bunts him to first. With Maine coming up second in the next inning, Bradford and Feliciano are warming up in the bullpen. Furcal works a full count and walks. Feliciano comes in to relieve Maine who throws 80 pitches and to pitch to Kenny Lofton. Steve and I are skeptical because Lofton struckout twice against Maine. "Remember the Maine!" Willie and you should have kept him in the game. Lofton thankfully strikes out against Feliciano. Willie brings in Bradford to pitch to Nomar. Steve asks who is going to pitch the sixth and seventh. Nomar grounds out to Reyes who throws to Valentin at second to end the fifth.

Taking after the Tank, Steve goes to the Men's Room to hopefully inspire the Mets to score more runs. No Mrs. Wright Shirt for Kathleen is found either.

Valentin grounds out on the first pitch to Nomar. D-Lowe is only at 68 pitches. "Increase the pitch count, increase the peace" is one of the Tank's trademarks phrases. Michael Tucker pinch hits for Bradford and works a full count. Reyes strikes out.

Mota gets Kent to ground out to open the sixth. Drew struck out. Mota strikes out Martin to end the sixth.

Lo Duca leads off to open the top of the sixth. A man to our left says to hit it "like a 19 year old" and Lo Duca singles to left. (Steve nor the Tank condone violence against women but are happy with the hit.). Delgado singles to right and Lo Duca advances to third. "Brass Monkey" blares out while the pitching coach comes out to the mound to stall while the bullpen starts to warm. DW comes up and doubles to right on D-Lowe's 90th pitch while LoDuca and Delgado score to increase the Mets lead to 4-1. DW advances to third on the throw home. After Floyd is intentionally walked, D-Lowe is pulled for Hendrickson with one out and runners on first and third to the tune of Queens' classic "Another One Bites the Dust". Ace Frehey's "New York Groove" comes on while Pedro is acknowledged by the crowd. Shawn Green strikes out. Jose Valentin is HBP and the bases are now loaded with Mota coming to bat. Mota flies out to right.

Anderson bunts in between second and first to beat out the throw. Betemit hits to Valentin in the hole. Valentin throws to Reyes who gets his legs cut out by Anderson. Anderson advances to third and Betemit is safe at first. Julio Lugo pinch hits. On 0-2, Mota throws a "bounce pass" to Lo Duca according to the "witty" man on our left. Lugo is out looking. Furcal singles in a run to make it 4-2. Steve hopes Lofton strikes out again but he flies out to right. Nomar is up with two outs. Nomar doubles on a 1-2 count to left to tie the game at 4. Darn it! It takes the air out of the sails of the crowd. Kent strikes out to end the inning.

Michael Almonte sings "God Bless America" during the Seventh Inning Stretch.

The Tank takes a restroom break to inspire the Mets. Penne inexplicably starts the inning. Reyes walks, Lo Duca flies out, Reyes steals second. Beltran walks. Delgado singles Reyes home and Beltran to third. David Wright doubles to right to score Beltran. Floyd strikes out. Delgado grounds out to first. Mets 6 - Dodgers 4.

Heilman gets one, two, three in the top of the eighth.

The Tank leads the crowd in Neil Diamond's classic "Sweet Caroline" which is also the XM Satellite Radio Eighth Inning song. Steve says it is also his sister's song.

Reyes singles with two outs. Lo Duca singles on a 3-1 count to advance Reyes to third. Beltran fouls off several pitches and works a walk to load the bases. Carlos Delgado is 4 for 4 coming into the AB. Steve hopes he goes 5-5 like Jeter last night. No shift, whoa! Delgado stikes out on 2-2. Darn it!

The young couple in between me and the "witty man" leaves their seats but the Tank ensures they don't leave Shea to give the Mets bad luck.

Metallica's "Enter Sandman" comes on as the Mets closer Billy Wagner warms up.

Wilson Betemit should have been out on strikes but doubles to right. Saenz flies out to center but Wright couldn't handle Beltran's throw to tag Betemit who tagged from second. Furcal strikes out. Steve and I flash the two out with our fingers to the crowd. Steve doesn't want to face Nomar either so we hope Wagner gets Ramon Martinez out. Martinez doubles to right-center. Darn it. The Dodgers pinch run for Martinez. Nomar gets two strikes and the crowd erupts. Nomar fouls off a pitch. A high pitch and a low pitch take it to 2-2. Nomar strikes out and the Mets "Take Care of Business" 6-5.

Steve gets partial Dodger closure as the Tank gets foul ball closure.

From exiting our seats to entering the train station, we held our new sign titled

"Reyes 4 UN
"Secretary General
"SteveandtheTank.com"

to the roar and approval of our fellow Mets fans. Winning games and solving world issues is what Steve and The Tank are all about.

Posted by Steve and the Tank live from Game 1 of the NLDS at Shea.

I blame my late grandfather, Joseph Caramella. He never forgave the Giants and Dodgers for moving out west. He became a Mets fan in 1962 and never looked back. He hated the Yankees with all his heart. He took me to my first Mets game when I was 5 years old in May 1977, before most of the 2006 Mets were born. I remember it like it was yesterday, the Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, I still have the ticket stub.

 

Joseph taught me well. I grew up hating the Yankees and loving the Mets. What else is a boy from Queens suppose to do? I never hated the Dodgers, I did not feel betrayed, it all happened before I was born.

 

Until 18 years ago tonight. The 1988 National League Championship Series started 18 years ago tonight. Gooden vs Hershiser in an amazing pitchers duel. I was working at Shea Stadium and of course worked Games 3, 4, and 5, alongside our recent mystery vendor. Joseph died just before the 1988 season and I was now the carrying the family burden of being the die-heart Mets fan. But Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson defeated the Mets. Now the Dodgers again! Joseph and I need closure.

 

So as The Tank indicated, yes I was on the ledge with the news of Pedro out for the season, then 1/2 of next season, then family problems for Steve Trachsel, then Cliff Floyd’s ankle, then Carlos Beltran’s quad, then El Duque’s calf injury. I did not eat, sleep, shave or go to work for days.

 

The Tank tried everything. Only one thing worked. I went here. I remembered these words, words that still bring a tear to my eye and chills down my spine:

“Behind the bag, it gets through Buckner, here comes Knight and the Mets win it!!”

 

That got me out of bed, shaved, dressed (in my Mr. Met run to Home Plate Tee Shirt) and ready to head to Shea! You Gotta Believe!!!

 

The emotion is why I am a Mets fan! Years of suffering make the winning so much sweeter. The Yankees are all business and pretty boring. They just keep winning and winning. The Mets just mess with your mind. Panic is all part of being a Mets fan, if you can’t handle the panic, the ups and downs, then go root for the Yankees.

 

The Yankees may have 26 rings, but they will never have the Miracle ’69 Mets, Tug McGraw ’73, Mookie Wilson/Bill Buckner ’86 and Robin Ventura’s Grand Slam Single in ’99.

 

The Yankees always win. The Mets sometimes win. But when they do, it is written up in the history books and we all go crazy. Let’s hope that the 2006 NLDS vs the Dodgers is no different! It is NEXT year. I’ve been waiting.

 

Posted by Steve, off the ledge, on his way to Shea Stadium with the Tank for Game 1.

I planned to spend most of tonight's entry talking about Tuesday's Division Series but I had to talk Steve off the ledge after the news of El Duque's calf injury while working out Tuesday at Shea.

What could I say to him? As a close friend, business partner, and fellow Antarcticamaniac, he deserves more than a comforting word. Which motivational tool in the Tank's Arsenal, i.e. Tony Robbins, The Hulkster Hulk Hogan, Matt Foley "Motivational Speaker" (as played by the late great Chris Farley) would I use to talk Steve off the ledge?

All of the above.  Most importantly, the Tank met up with a couple of attractive mid 20 something women, Antonia and Jenna, at this past Saturday's Eric Clapton concert at Madison Square Garden.  Steve and I are big fans of the blues, especially Clapton.  Furthermore, the Tank's love life is usually pretty bluesy and depressing but some nights are better than others and I had some legit material to talk him off the ledge.  Though drinking three plus glasses of wine and counting, Steve promised not to kill himself in order to hear the story while we go to Wednesday's Mets - Dodgers game at Shea.

Since this is Steve's hour of need and we haven't set up the premium area of our site yet, he'll be the first to hear the Clapton concert details during Wednesday's Mets - Dodgers game.  I plan to share them with you at a later date.

As for the games themselves,

Jeter was 5-5 and Wang pitched great. The Yankees thankfully won 8-4.

The As beat the Twins in a pitchers duel 3-2.

Albert Pujols and the Cardinals upset the Padres 5-1.

Go Mets! / Yankees! / Steve and The Tank!

Posted by The Tank in NY.

 

The matchups are now all set after much anticipation and uncertainty. Without further ado, please find the Tank's picks below: Yankees beat the Tigers in four games though a sweep hopefully happens. Mets beat the Dodgers in four games. Glavine versus Maddux in NLDS Game 2 should be a classic. The As beat the Twins in five games. This is the hardest series to pick because Santana will pitch Games 1 and 5 but in Oakland. The Padres will beat the Cardinals in four games. OK, I am being nice to Pujols and my headhunter buddy in Saint Louis that they'll win one game at home. Go Yankees! / Mets! / Dreaming of a Subway Series! Posted by The Tank in NY. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Will Randy Johnson be able to pitch in the playoffs?  Randy threw lightly on Saturday and is going to be evaluated on Sunday, the day of the Yankees regular season finale against the Blue Jays.
                            
Is CNBC's Maria "Money Honey" Bartiromo the Yankees new secret weapon if Randy Johnson can't pitch due to a herniated disc in his back.  Maria threw out the first pitch, a high changeup, in Saturday's game.  Will she be on the 25 person roster?  Randy threw 41 pitches in a session before the game.  If Randy feels okay tomorrow (God Willing), he'll start in Friday's ALDS Game 3.  If not, Maria is ready to go.
                                                   
Since the Tank has been on every continent, I am the Yankees "Out-of-the-Box" Scout without portfolio.  If you have talent, the Tank will find you.  I am developing a couple of Martians in Area 51.  The Red Sox won't know what hit them.                          

Speaking of the Red Sox, they are neck and neck with the Blue Jays for second place which comes with a small pool of money.  This is a tremendous conflict for the Tank.

Will Derek Jeter win the batting title?  The Twins Joe Mauer sat out Saturday's game so Derek close to within about a point and a half of Mauer after hitting 3-3 on Saturday.

Derek Jeter had a single in his first AB and struck out in the second and at .34516.  Mauer struck out and is down .34556.

Robinson Cano hit a double in the fourth to raise his average .344.  Cano advances to third on a wild pitch.  Jeter unfortunately grounds out to second to get his 97th RBI and close the gap to 4-2.
                   
Bobby "El Como Dulce" ("Just Like Candy") Abreu singles to right.  Posada homers to right to tie the game at 4-4.

Miguel Cairo singles to center.  He steals second as Andy Phillips is up but strikes out to end the inning.

Cano's grounds out to the first base to the pitcher.  Tied at the end of 5.

The Blue Jays scored a run while the Tank looked for a friend who brokers post-season tickets and went to get something to eat.
                      
Jeter grounded out.  Darn it!   Melky Cabrera doubled. Kevin Thompson singled to score Melky and got to second on the air-mailed throw home.                           

Jeter strikes out to end the eighth.  Double darn!  Still tied at 5-5 going into the 9th.

Joe Mauer finished 2-4 and at .347 and will be the first catcher to win the batting title.  Congratulations Joe.

Manager for the Day "Bern Baby Burn" Williams replaces Jeter with Andy Cannizaro.  Jeter gets a standing ovation.  Let's hope he wins the MVP. 
                     
I am trying to educate these people on the ramifications of Kansas City Royals underbelievable comeback from 6-0 to take a 8-7 lead.  Minnesota is winning 4-1.  Go Royals and home of the world's best ribs!  I would rather face Kenny Rogers and the Tigers instead of Johan Santana and the Twins.

Rios singles and Adam Lind hits a two run home run to center to give Toronto a 7-5 win. 
  
Great to be Manager for the Day.  "Bern Baby Bern" Williams comes up with two outs.  Bernie hits a double to right center in front of the Tank.  Phillips strikes out to end the game.  The Yankees lose 7-5.  Does it matter if the Red Sox play in the rain?  They are in third place and it's football season in New England.    

Detroit unfortunately ties the game 8-8 but thankfully lose 10-8.
                       
Thank You Royals! / Go Yankees! / Go Mets! / Subway Series Closure! / Closure for the Tank's many issues!

Posted by the Tank live from Yankee Stadium.                                      

Though the Tank has endured his share of injuries (IT Band, back, Achilles, tendonitis, knee, etc) in running eight marathons (ran the NYC Marathon twice) on all seven continents over the past two years, the Tank should take Steve's wise advice and retire.  Even though I am too injured, too heavy, and too crazy to run, I am running November's NYC Marathon on Fred's Team for those who can't -- children with cancer.  At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, doctors and researchers are working on clinical trials that have the potential to increase the survival rates.  In recent years, the overall survival rate of children with cancer has increased from 55% to 70%. 

Though a very worthy cause, I am only about 40 percent of the way there ($1,760 of my $4,500 goal).  I have to raise $2,250 by October 15 to get my uniform for the NYC Marathon and $4,500 by December 15 as to not to have to pay the difference.  Long story even for me and you know how I like to write.

All proceeds go to cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and are 100 percent tax deductible.  Please feel free to share the following fundraising link with friends, family, colleagues, etc.

If you wish to donate offline, please use the following address:

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
P.O. Box 27432
New York, NY 10087-7432
Attn: Fred's Team

Please make the check out to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and write my name, runner ID, and race code (Tomislav Djurdjevich, 999035640, E06MPDNY) in the Notes area of the check.

If you wish to donate by fax or snail mail, please provide a fax number or a snail mail address and I'll send you a donor form.

Whichever way you donate, any and all contributions are greatly appreciated.  Thank you very much! 

Posted by the Tank running the NYC Marathon against cancer.

There are several great races and possibilities going into the final MLB regular season weekend.  Will the Cardinals replace the 1964 Phillies as the biggest collapse ever?  Can the Astros rally to win the NL Central?  The Reds still have a chance.  Can the Phillies get the Wild Card?  Will the Dodgers or the Padres win the NL West?  Will the Tigers or Twins win the AL Central? 

The dust should be settled by the end of the weekend but the Giants may have to fly to Saint Louis on Monday to play the Cardinals in a rain make-up to break a tie.  Will there be another tie to break after that? 

Most importantly, will the Tank be able to get out of work for Game 1 of the NLDS as his manager stated Friday morning: "You need to pray that no one else asks for those days (October 3 or 4) since you did not lock them in."?  The Tank can not lock in his vacation day request because the TV schedule has not yet been set.  The Tank is low on vacation days with the last two vacation days of the year for Game 1 of the NLCS and Game 4 of the World Series, touch wood depending upon the Mets advance.  Keep your fingers crossed for the Tank catching Game 1 of the NLDS with Steve at Shea.

---------

Though the Tank is in full baseball mode, he doesn't want to forget football.  Please find my picks below:

#1 Ohio State beats #13 Iowa in a close game at Iowa City.

#11 Virginia Tech beats #24 Georgia Tech.

Syracuse beats Wyoming.

The Bills lose to the Vikings.

The Jets give the Colts a tough fight but lose and cover the 10 1/2 point spread, 27-17.

The Giants have a bye this week.  Time to lick their wounds.

Posted by an anxious Tank in NY.

After Steve hit the "Panic Button" earlier this evening after Pedro's season ending injury which was announced during the game, the Tank had a brief OMG moment but settled down. The surprising part of the injury is it was the left calf, not the previously injured right calf.

Boston Bob reminded me of the Mets success since June without Pedro. The Mets winning formula is great offense, solid starters (other than Pedro), and one of the best bullpens in baseball. NLDS Game 1 Starter El Duque thankfully had a solid start with nine strikeouts and only earned run this evening and is one of the best post-season pitchers. Tom Glavine is a veteran with lots of playoff experience. Steve Trachsel isn't an ace but is one of the NL leaders in wins. John "Remember the Maine" is young but solid.

The WFAN announcers also discussed the Mets success since June without Pedro.

Steve then settled down after hitting the panic button and now thankfully feels better.

If the Mets are going to go far, they are going to have to rally like they did in June when Pedro went down. Pedro shouldn't be used as a crutch but a lightning rod to rally around.

Voting and Praying for Pedro and the Mets!

Posted by the Tank in NY.