a700hitter

People who are not your Dad might find that reference offensive. If you start calling 50 year old men "pops" to their faces, you might not like the reaction that it elicits.

Was his team better off with him in the lineup, or the backup utility infielder?

Was his back up better than a tired Ripken? I don't think so. Hurt his career? He won an MVP and a World Championship and he's in the Hall of Fame. What more do you want?

Right, and there is nothing wrong with pointing that out. It gives the younger members of the forum some historical perspective about how the game has changed. You need to know how the game has changed if you are going to fairly compare players from different eras.

You are to young to have lived through it, but that was the thinking of the day. I didn't make it up. You know the game also didn't have 1 inning closers then either. It's hard to believe, but things change, and there are pluses and minuses to every change. Not everyone buys into the 1 inning closer concept, but it is the convention of the times.

IMO players then felt more of an obligation to play back then. It had nothing to do with machismo. It's the thing that I admire most about Derek Jeter. He goes out there every day whether he's banged up or not. He doesn't act macho about it. He has a strong sense of obligation to the team. He knows that a Yankee team with a banged up Jeter is better than a Yankee team without Jeter. I am sorry, but I think guys that sit because they have nagging injuries are selfish. Yeah maybe their numbers look better at the end of the year, but their teams would be better off if they played through the injuries, because benches are so thin today that a healthy backup performs well below the level of a dinged up star. What I like about Jeter is that if a Yankee fan pays $50 or $100 for a ticket, he knows that he is going to see Jeter. He doesn't take off day games after night games or sit down against tough pitchers. If you are a Yankee fan and you go to the game, you see Jeter. I don't know how much the fans motivate Jeter to play every day, but that is an old school mentality. When Yaz played, the was no MLB network, MLBTV, or Directv Extra Innings package. Less than half the games were televised. If you were a Sox fan as a kid, Yaz was your hero. If you went to the game and he didn't play, you were very disappointed, because you didn't get 24/7 coverage of your team back then. It had nothing to do with machismo. There was no such thing as a Dirt Dog. No one talked about grit. They didn't walk around puffing out there chests. They went out every day for their team mates and for the fans who paid to see them. Stars also stayed in the lineups when they were hurt or playing below par, because an injured Yaz, Mays, Mantle etc. was a threat in the lineup. They would get pitched around on days when they were hurt and the other guys got good pitches to hit. Them being in the lineup made the other guys better. It wasn't about grit. It was about helping your team win. When they were hurt, they slumped so their numbers suffered. That didn't make them less valuable to the team than if they sat out and rested. A hurt Yaz was better than a healthy Joe LaHoud any day of the week. To denigrate those guys by mockingly using the term "grit" etc. is a disservice to them. IMO, those guys were more team oriented than today's players, who are more about their #'s. It has nothing to do with grit, machismo etc. Mantle would cry when he went 0-5 and the team lost. How macho was that?

All wussies by Yaz's standards. He'd be ashamed to show his face around Fenway if he missed as many games in 3 seasons as each of these guys missed this season.

I agree with you. I was shocked by the call. Of course my reaction would be one of happiness and yours would not. Terrible call, but that sack of s*** Fuentes has nothing to complain about. He sucked. He faced some s***** hitters and blew the game.

The ump gave us the game.

You'd really be upset if the Yanks lost tonight.

Baldelli just gave AGon the Shaving Cream and exhausted himself. He'll be unavailable for the remainder of the week.

Orsillo called it an epic battle at Fenway. He might be overstating things a wee bit.

HBP!!!or WP!!!! Please!!!

Holy s***!!! I was sure that the ump would punch him.

He's batting for Kotchman?

Green looks overmatched

HBP!!! or WP!!! Please!!!

Dusty Brown?

WP!!! Please!!!

The .206 hitting Lowrie.

And here comes the Mighty Casey.

Me too.

A 4 hour loss? I hate that.

Neither one can hit.