Whoa! Easy on the Yankees Blog Hog Entries!

You're trying to get back at me with all this Yankees goop, Dear Criss. The world stops for Jeter's birthday?! Can I mention that I have no friends born in the summer? Look at who is an example of a summer person. When's A-Fraud's b-day? I'm soooo curious. Really. Barf, they just mentioned Mariano on t.v. and whatever milestone you were blabbing about just now.

What's with Mike Lowell and the hip problems? I can't even read the story 'cause my stomach gets crazy. And Papelbon OWES Jason Bay for saving him tonight - big time. Who would have thought that Wakefield would be looking better than a few folks (ahem, Paps, Penny).

I thought you were kidding about being excited by soccer. Of course the U.S. lost to Brazil. I mean it's a no brainer. Nothing against the U.S. of A., 'cause we dominate at other stuff - more exciting stuff.

So I saw the opera group Il Divo this weekend. It was really good, and the ladies (of allll ages) dressed their best, if you know what I mean. It was comical in many instances. I mean, I looked like I was gonna work as a restaurant hostess compared to them. They acknowledged Michael and Farrah. Real sad. And what happened to Billy Mays?! I loved that ESPN commercial. All so terrible lately. Let's hope for better days ahead.


Roxy

My photo - a little fuzzy, but my batteries were low and the back-ups weren't working either, so I did my best.

500 & 1

The night in which the Sandman got his third at bat, first walk and first RBI, Mariano Rivera reached new heights when he got his 500th career save! He's only the second person in MLB history to have done so, behind Trevor Hoffman! Insane! And how did he celebrate? The only way Mariano does - by not showing a lot of emotion. Just a nice smile and hugs from all of his teammates.

He did, however, showed a little more than a smile when he was walked by K-Rod in the ninth inning to walk in his first RBI! Classic!

But that's just one of two milestones reached by a Yankee over the weekend. Two nights earlier, Alex Rodriguez got home run No. 564 to move past Reggie Jackson for 11th on the all-time home run list. Even Jackson was there to commemorate such great feat.

And to add icing to the already tasty cake, the Yankees swept the Mets!

Congratulations to Mariano and Alex and the Yankees!. Now, let's play more ball!

Changing sports, have I told you how much I love soccer, Dear Roxy? I watched two great matches over the weekend, one with not such a great outcome.

Let's start with the latter. The USA team lost against hated Brazil in the Confederation Cups final in South Africa. Playing great in the first half, US went up 2-0 against Brazil! 2-0! Too bad they were playing that team. Brazil quickly scored in the second half to cut the margin in half. And before it was over, they had scored 3 goals, breaking millions of US hearts in the process. US played great, but Brazil played better when they needed to. But no one can say US didn't play their hearts out. This US team, the same one that beat the best team in the world - Spain - is one to watch for. I can't wait to see what they do against Mexico in the World Cup qualifiers.

And congratulations to Once Caldas of Manizales for beating Barranquilla's Juniors in Colombia's Apertura Championship, one of two championships played in the country each year! Hopefully America de Cali will win the second one. :)

Where have you been?

-Criss

Photos: Tyler Kepner & Frank Franklin II

Happy Birthday, Derek!

It's that time of the year, Dear Roxy. The time in which the world stops for a minute to wish Derek Jeter a Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday, Derek! May this birthday be as great as the others! Like I know that, right?

The Yankees managed to win last night! Woo-hoo! I haven't said that in a while.

Jeter, Arod and Damon were en fuego last night. And on top of that, ARod tied Reggie Jackson with his 563rd home run, and Mariano Rivera earned his 499th career save!

Futbol/football/soccer rules! I'm totally watching the USA play in Sunday's Confederations Cup final against Brazil. Get on the bus, Rox, it's a real fun one!

Rest in Peace, Michael Jackson.

You were truly a music legend.

-Criss

Photo: Reuters, Tami Chappell

Do-over, Please

SHE'S BACK!

Okay, I don't know if I can handle the pressure of managing this blog alone. No one contradicting me. No one making ridiculous commentary about the Yankees. No one going against everything I like ... It's torture! Welcome back, Dear Criss!

Ouch, Smoltz had a rough start yesterday. Yikes! While he warmed up later in the game, it was kinda too late. I'm not thrilled about losing to the Nationals. But don't worry, I'm not getting ready to trade him or anything. Curty had rough days.

I know this is so old, but did you see how the broken bat caming flying at Nick Green this week and nearly wiped him outta business?!

And do add another home run to Big Papi's and Varitek's stats, please.

Anyway, it's down to Atlanta for us. Trying to hold on to the division lead. I take no comfort in division leads. That's just life with the Sox, you know?

By the way, I'd rather watch golf alllll day on t.v. than watch soccer. Zzzzz.

Roxy

AP photo

Oy vey

Talk about a blog hog, Dear Roxy. I think you forgot to mention the Pats while I was out though. I'm taking a laptop next time I leave the State/States.

I watched a few Yankee games in Colombia, Rox. Apparently they're huge everywhere. I watched the Yankees-Mets game in which ARod popped "out" with two runners on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth... well, it wasn't a pop out as the Mets second baseman dropped the ball and the Yankees won! That was fun. Now, no need to remind me about the Red Sox, Marlins and every team in between. I'm aware. Thanks!

You know what else is huge in Colombia? Soccer! Or as the rest of the world likes to call it - futbol/football. I watched lots of it. I forget how much I like it. But none of that MLS stuff - that's kiddie stuff. I'm talking about International games: USA-Italy, Italy-Serbia, countries vs countries, etc. Now, that's fun!

Lakers who?

-Criss

Really Blog Hogging, What's the Deal?

Okay, Dear Criss. I'm calling you tomorrow because I need to know what the deal is with where you are! I mean it's fun taking over with all Red Sox, all day, but I sorta feel guilty now. I mean, maybe you're just moping over the Yankees' losses to the Marlins. Or maybe you're exhausted like A-Fraud.

So it was memory lane this weekend with Derek Lowe coming back. Sorta sad. Now, I must confess that I said a few things about Nick Green to my television that I'm not proud of, but the truth is, nobody was playing great defense yesterday, so why did I have to blame poor Nick? Well, I'm terribly sorry, because he came through with a walk-off homerun (I saw you, too, Papi) to save the looong day and prove the doubters (me and me) wrong. Now tell me, does he look like Doug Flutie and Rick Springfield or what?

Roxy


Nick: AP photo
Rick at mike: Boston Globe
Rick at drums: AP photo

Super Duper Blog Hog: Good Times Never Seemed So Good

Um, we need to discuss your vacation schedule, Dear Criss. I'm not sure you had all these days approved by Sporting Gals management. Well, let's see. We're playing the Marlins, and I was very worried about Penny pitching. Who knew I had to worry about Lester. Hello?! So there's a rain delay for what feels like the fifth hour, and I just know that when I wake up, they're gonna say the game was called. Sox are down by one. No way we lose 2-1 on a possible series sweep with Lester pitching against the Marlins. OH MY GOSH!!! And does Lowell have a soft spot for them? He sure hasn't been playing well against them.

But Fenway got it's 500th sold-out game. Bobby Orr was busting out of the scoreboard, everyone was singing "Sweet Caroline" a little louder, there were rainbows and pony rides - okay, maybe not the last two. You get the picture.

Sammy Sosa's in the news (again) for exactly what you think. And the Lakers won. Zzzzzz.

OH NO!! They just called the game! Waaaaahh.


Roxy



AP photo, Elise Amendola

Super Blog Hog: World Series Match-up?

Two out of three; not bad. Should've been a sweep. Lester was extraordinary again. I mean, wow! We need help with the rest of our pitching staff. Oh my! But let's not look at today's game. The overall weekend was pretty good. What a whirlwind with 13 innings on Friday! We gave Philly - the world champs, may I add - a real good run for their money. I loved it. But tv pumped up the Mets-Yankees game when I really think Sox-Phillies was bigger. Didn't show one game. Just answer this: Who won the World Series in 2008 and 2007? We play the Marlins next, Dear Criss. (Are you back yet?)

Coach Calhoun's in the hospital with several broken ribs, yikes. Stay off the bike.

Roxy


AP photo

Blog Hog: Sweep!

Ah, it's days like these that it's a shame Dear Criss is away, but kinda fun to blog hog at the same time. Hee, hee. Oh, when she reads this ...

You missed the chants of "YOU DO STEROIDS" to your boy A-Roid. The Fenway crowd never disappoints. I thought Penny & Co. would blow this game, and I never feel good when they announce Manny Delcarmen - and for a reason. We almost blew that game. You can't hit A-Fraud and then lose to him. And I know what you will say, "Your boys are dirty." Let me give you a fact: The Yankees have hit my guys nine times during the last games. This is our retaliative third. Consider what I just offered you.

And let me just copy and paste from my last post. BIG PAPI!!! Bring on the curtain calls! Nice job with the home run. Keep on doing that. Get the swagger back. He can totally do this. I'm stickin' with him. Crazy NY security guard at work may try to belittle his accomplishments and those made by the team, but we still beat them with what we got. Why are New York fans so bitter?!

8-0 and counting against the stinkin' Yankees!


Roxy


AP photo

Here Comes the High Stepper (Papi's the Baseball Gangster)

Who drank the Federerererrrr Kool-Aid, Dear Criss? Barf-ola. "He deserves everything." Get over him. I'm gonna go wear a hat with my initials on it, too, so that I deserve everything. (I'm going to ignore that Tiger has his initials on a cap.)

On to more pleasant things ...

BIG PAPI HIT A HOMERUN in a beautiful blowout of New York. Beckett showed up. Papelbon fell asleep during the game, waiting. Are you still in town to watch this? That makes us 6-0 against you this season. Tomorrow they're showing the game. I feel like they don't show Red Sox games much this year.

Latest campaign: Bring back Alex Cora!

Orlando finally got a win tonight to stay in this thing. So, Coach K. must get all the best seats for all the great NBA games because his players are everywhere. It was cool to see him talking to J.J. Redick today. Can you imagine getting pumped up by your old college coach and legend on game night? Invaluable.

Roxy


Photo: Jim Davis, The Boston Globe

Once Again

Here we are again, Dear Roxy, Yankees-Red Sox series. Hopefully this series will go better than the previous ones against the Sox. The Yankees are, after all, a better team than they were last month. They seem to have it together and hopefully it’ll show. It did in the series against the Rays, a team the Yankees can’t seem to figure out. Let’s see how it all plays out. Go Yankees!

After this series, the Yankees are set to play the Mets in another Subway Series. I can’t believe I’m going to miss it! I’m off for another week, Rox. I hope you remembered.

In basketball news, the Magic are in a lot of trouble, down two, to the Lakers. But now they’re playing at home so you never know what will happen. Hopefully a much needed boost.

Last but not least, congratulations to Roger Federer for dodging an unruly fan to win his 14th Grand Slam trophy! He became only the sixth man in history to win all four majors! He truly deserves it all. Congrats, Roger!

Please don’t take over the blog while I’m gone.

-Criss

Photos: AP; AFP Lionel Bonaventure

We Need More Than Just Lester

How on earth do we lose two to the Rangers? Don't know. It's silly. Lester almost had a perfect game, though. Would have been real nice. Papi had a home run, which hopefully will boost his spirits. I'm still upset over the losses. I'm not feeling the love for Penny. Now we play the stinkin' Yankees. I was at a store today trying something on and the sales person had the nerve to comment on my Red Sox shirt and say go Yankees, etc. Just like a Yankees fan. So much for that commission. Not happening. As luck had it, one of the customers at the register (I was waiting for the other sales person) also commented on my shirt and said she was from Boston. She shared a few words with Yankees gal, backing me up.

So since we've last posted, people have thrown balls at my boys and kicked them. You have some problems yourself with throwing balls (cough, A.J. Burnett). Don't try it with us, okay?

Alright, I have to go because I am running so late tonight. More later. Why is Orlando struggling against L.A.?

Roxy

P.S. The Unit freaks me out. Especially after his stint in NY.


AP photo

Blog Hog: The Big Unit Gets #300

Randy Jackson becomes the 24th pitcher to win 300 games, and at 45 years and 9 months old, the second-oldest 300-game winner ever! Well deserved, Big Unit.

Congratulations, Randy!

-Criss & Roxy

Photo: AP/ Haraz N. Ghanari

Yanks are Back!

While you were busy sleeping until noon and not writing on our blog, the Yankees were busy taking over first place in the division, Dear Roxy. The literal term would be you snooze you lose.

Since then, the Yankees are now tied for first place, but I couldn't be happier on the team's efforts in getting these wins. This is the Yankee team I love.

Sorry to say Jeter's hit streak has ended at 16. I guess you're just going to have to start a new one, Jeet.

And I'm happy to report Teixiera and Cabrera are in the lineup today after an ankle and shoulder injury. Thank goodness. The Yanks need these guys in the lineup to continue their hot streak. And can't forget about Posada being back from the DL!

But Burnett has been suspended for 6 games for throwing high at a Texas player last week. Oy vey!

And A-Rod and Kate Hudson? No comment!

In basketball news, this comes as no surprise but I am rooting for the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals, Rox. You know how I feel about the Lakers; this was and is the logical choice for me. Plus, it's a Florida team, and I believe Van Gundy, Howard and Co. deserve it! Go Magic!

-Criss

PS Thank you so much for my birthday gift, lunch, and company! I had a great time.

PSS No movie nightmares but I could see how someone could. hehe

Photo: Reuters/Ray Stubblebine