Photo courtesy of the Mets.com Flushing Flash.  Posted by a happy Tank in NY.

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Monday, August 06, 2007 3:06:23 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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A-Rod became the youngest player at 32 years and eight days to hit his 500th home run yesterday against the Kansas City Royals at the Stadium. 

I hoped to witness it Friday night but glad that he got it out of the way on Saturday and focus on a run to the playoffs. 

Congratulations A-Rod and may you catch up and overtake Barry Bonds ASAP!  God Speed!

Posted by a grateful Tank.

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Sunday, August 05, 2007 9:31:42 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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A-Rod is going for 500 home runs in the Tank's latest visit to the Stadium Friday night against the Kansas City Royals.  He has been stuck at 499 home runs since July 25.  A family sitting near me hopes that A-Rod hits #500 to them.

He grounded  out in his first attempt so they'll have to wait a while longer.     

Cano hit a solo shot with two out in the second inning to right field.  Yankees 1 - Royals 0.
                  
Royals tied it at 1 in the top of the third.

Jeter walked with two outs in the third.  A-Rod doesn't hit a home run in his second at bat but he doubles and Jeter advances to third.  Matsui grounds out to first to end the third.
                                    
Duncan singled to center.  Cano also singled to center.  Phillips' bunt advances the runners to second and third.  Molina hits a sacrifice fly to left field.  Duncan tags third and goes home.  Yankees retake the
lead 2-1.  Damon hits a ground rule double to third.  Cano scores and the Yankees lead 3-1.  Cabrera grounds out to short to end the inning.  At the end of four, Yankees lead 3-1.

The natives are getting restless in the fifth as A-Rod is walked with one out.    

Dotel gets the hook after he walked Cano on four pitches to start the bottom of the sixth.  Ryan Braun relieves him.  Philips singles to left.  Molina bunt goes to the pitcher who throws to third to force out
Cano.  Damon walks to load the bases.  Cabrera's hit goes off Braun's foot into the stands.  It is scored a double and the Yankees take a 5-1 lead.  Jeter is walked and the bases are loaded for A-Rod.  A-Rod flies out to right but Damon tags and scores.  The Yankees lead 6-1.  Matsui flies out to end the sixth. 

After the leadoff man got on in the eighth, Wang is pulled but gets a standing ovation as he walks off the field.  Wang threw 98 pitches giving up one run on seven hits in 7+ innings.  Myers and Vizcaino finished the inning.  I am pictured below with some Taiwanese fans after the game celebrating Wang's win.

Molina grounded out.  Damon got on first on an error.  Cabrera singles.  Jeter hits to second and KC tries to turn two but the ball is wild.  As A-Rod comes to the plate with two outs in the eighth, storm clouds roll in, the rain returns to the Boogie Down Bronx as it poured before the game, and the thunder crashes.  Will A-Rod hit his 500th home run off the top of the stadium lights as Redford did in "The Natural"?

The remaining crowd rises to its feet to cheer him on.  "The Natural" theme song goes in my head.  Others around me start making the same reference.  As the crowd grows to a fever pitch, A-Rod flies out to right to end the eighthgame.  Darn it!  But Mariano came in the top of the ninth to get some work in and to insure the Yankees 7-1 victory.

Posted by the Tank reporting live from Yankee Stadium in the Boogie Down Bronx.

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Saturday, August 04, 2007 12:36:02 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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The trade deadline came and went and the Mets' General Manager Omar Minaya did not make a major move. Some Mets fans went ballistic. Just like last year, Omardid not go after a stud pitcher like Barry Zito to improve the Mets in August and September and of course the playoffs. I was very pleased.

As Omar looked for starting pitching as well as bullpen help, he would not include any the young prospects– Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez, or Mike Pelfrey.

Let's face it, the Mets are a combination of youth and veterans. The core of the future: David Wright and Jose Reyes were not even born when I started watching Dwight Gooden at Shea. However, Alou, Green, Delgado, Lo Duca, Pedro and Glavine are all past their prime and at the tail end of large contracts.

Fast forward to Opening Day 2009 at CitiField. Imagine a line up of Jose Reyes, Carlos Gomez, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Lastings Milledge. The Mets will just keep coming after you, hitter after hitter, running and running. These guys will get on base, pressure the pitching and making things happen.

Bottom Line: Omar Minaya did the right thing. He did not risk the future for some short term relief. Gomez and Milledge will be very cheap and keep the payroll down to get some veterans on the team. I would prefer risking it all with the team we have this year to guarantee the success in the future. I want to watch the Mets be competitive well into my 40s. (I am 35.)

Posted by Steve in New York

Mets Analysis (MLB)

Wednesday, August 01, 2007 7:27:48 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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On Saturday I set out with six friends to attempt the Presidential Traverse in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. The traverse or Prezzie Traverse is a one day hike of about 21 miles and has you summit 9 peaks, most at about 5,000 feet, with an 8,500 elevation gain (and loss) over the day. It starts down on the Dolly Copp road and hikes up the pine link trail to summit Mt. Madison (5366), and then walk along the ridge that will take you over Mt. Adams (5799), then over Mt. Jefferson (5716), Mt. Clay (5583, to be renamed Mt. Reagan?), Mt. Washington (6288), Mt. Monroe (5372), Mt. Franklin (5001), Mt. Eisenhower (4750), and Mt. Pierce (4312).

The Team

Norm-the open source geek

Donna-the trail nazi

Ned & Laura, the ones on a mission

Walter-the saint

Rob-the machine

Warm Up

The trip this weekend took me through 7 states total, or 14% of all 50 states. The states were: New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. On Thursday I drove up with Norm and Donna and Norm took a ride up  Mt. Ascutney in Vermont on his bike while Donna and I hiked out to a hang glider launch pad. On Friday while waiting for the entire team to show up (Walter had to fly in from San Francisco), Norm, Donna, and I hooked up with Ian from Business School and went kayaking down the Androscoggin River-18 miles from a dam in New Hampshire to Bethel Maine. It was a great time despite the harsh sunburn I was foolish to acquire.

The Prezzie Traverse

On Friday we all go to bed by 10pm since we are to get up at 2am to be on the trail by 3am. We get to the trailhead on time and after an attempt to take a "before" photo went array, we get started with our headlamps on. The fun starts right away, we trek right up a hill to gain about 4200 feet in 3.8 miles. We make the whole way to the ridge and then watch the sunrise and attack Mt. Madison. We are all very strong and make it over the mountain and down to the Mt. Madison hut around 7:30am. We all go in and refill our water bottles and take a break. I notice that there are a disproportionate amount of super hot hiker babes in the hut and comment that I want to stay longer. The group calls me a wimp and tells me to move on. (But Norm and Ned agree with me about the pretty girls in the hut.)

So we trek over to Mt. Adams. The sun is shining and the mountain, while steep is an awesome sight. There is huge amount of rock to climb over and you really have to scramble (a lot a 4.0 level scramble). The summit is awesome and you can see Mt. Madison and Mt. Jefferson (our next target).

The hike over to Mt. Jefferson is a slog, I'm starting to get tired already and the bottom of my feet hurt from the downhill on the rock. I complain but Norm tells me to stop being a "Ned". I am also at the back of the bus at this point, but everyone gracefully waits for me. I get up Mt. Jefferson and there is a 15 foot hill at the top to the true summit. I drop my poles and pack (at Norm's suggestion) and trek up and down (and pee on top). When I get down Norm keeps telling me that I did not do the "real hike" since I left my pack for that 15 foot ascent. I tell him to screw himself and claim "entrapment" and he says that he is not a cop, but I say he is the trail cop. I am starting to get lightheaded and even more slow as we approach Mt. Clay.

The hike up Mt. Clay was pretty easy, and I shout out many Reaganisms on the way up for sport. Once were are down there is one thing left before a nice break, Mt. Washington.

Mt. Washington

I tried to climb Mt. Washington a few years ago on Memorial Day. I had to turn back about 1000 feet from the summit due to a white out. Snow in late May, go figure. The world's worst weather has been recorded on top of Mt. Washington and it is the highest peak in the Northeast. There is a cog railway that takes tourists up to the top and Norm jokes when I tell him I may quit at Washington that my ride down is the cog rail. I say that the cog railway is for wimps (a direct jab at Ned and Laura who took it down last year when they were finished for the day.)

Norm has to visit the men's room (a la natural) and I stay behind and we summit together. We see a sign saying that the summit is 1.1 miles and we know it is about 1300 feet gain. Ug. After about 20 minutes of hiking we hit a sign that says .9 miles. We say that THEY LIE! The summit seems to be getting further away as we climb. It starts to rain. The cog rail comes by and blows tons of black smoke at us, mocking us. (Later I learn that you are suppose to moon the tourists on the train, I wish I knew this custom beforehand-now I know for next time.)

We reach the summit around 1pm and Donna is waiting for us on the top, she climbed Mt. Washington earlier that day and was going to do the rest of the day with us. Norm and I go straight to the summit and then to the tourist observatory and restaurant where the gang is waiting for us. Technically we summited first since they went straight to the observatory to get out of the cold and rain.

At this point I was still very lightheaded but knowing my body well I knew I was not dehydrated or sick. (Later I would determine it was the sunburn, since I had the same feelings on Sunday and Monday when I woke up.) I considered walking down Washington with Donna but she wanted to hike a little longer and since I was fine muscle and cardio wise I figured what the heck, so after a chili lunch on top of Mt. Washington I walked down to the Lake of the Clouds hut with the team. Norm promised "no more rocks" and that the southern traverse is "just like the Catskills." He lies.

The Rest of the Peaks

I was slow but the view was awesome upon arrival. It compares to the Italian alps. Donna and I decided to trek down to another path to bail out early but eventually decided to truck on. We went around Mt. Monroe (a shitty president) while the rest of the team went over the top and we waited for them at the bottom. Then we moved on to Mt. Franklin and I was going so slow that Donna was enticing me with snickers bars to move faster. We caught up with the team and later on circled around Mt. Eisenhower while they went to the top and then we all went up Mt. Pierce together. From there it was about 3+ miles to the car but it took us 2.5 hours to get there, finishing up at 9pm, coming out in the dark in headlamps. We treated ourselves to McDonalds (only thing really open) after we got the cars.

Would I do it Again?

Having completed the entire Presidential Traverse and 6 out of the 9 peaks (technically I did not get to the top of Pierce, there was a little run up and run down that I skipped) it was a hell of an accomplishment. In total it was an 18 hour, 21 mile hike. I felt ok the next day, just a little stiffness in my quads. That said, I see no reason to do it all in one day except for pure ego.

I have had other long days, days that were necessary: summiting Mt. Rainier was an 18 hour day-but there is no other way. Climbing the Western Breach on Mt. Kilimanjaro was about a 10 hour day and there is really no other way either. The slog over Kala Pattar into Everest Base Camp was another 12+ hour day, but there is no other paths to take.

So would I do it again?  Honestly after about 12 hours I was not having fun and after about 16 hours I just wanted it to be over. I see no reason to do it all in one day. The only reason to do it in one day is pure ego and at the end of the day shouldn't you enjoy it more? (Also if I tell my friend's I did the Prezzie Traverse, they would say, is that in Washington DC?)

I would do it again, but I would do it over 3 days and that is my advice to anyone. Take the time and enjoy it. The the Presidential Traverse has 3 huts you can stay at. Start where we did (but at a reasonable hour, like 9am) and hike to Madison hut, that will take you about 7 hours. Then stay overnight there (bring earplugs) and then trek to the Lake of the Clouds hut the next day, that will take you about 8-9 hours. Spend the night there and then do the rest of the southerns all in one day, about 7 hours or so.

Was I really left for dead? No, my friends may have talked me into moving on when I was not feeling that well, but it was my call to move on. But I did have fun telling them every hour or so that I was left for dead.

Posted by Steve in New York.

Mountain Climbing

Monday, July 30, 2007 1:40:28 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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