TwitterA Classic Rivalry Renewed
6 Sep 2012
Ask any Yankees’ fan over the age of 30 which team they dislike the most after Boston and I would bet the answer you hear most often is Baltimore. It’s been 15 years since this rivalry mattered and Baltimore’s home park has become Yankee Stadium South, but in the 70′s, 80′s and 90′s, this was a real rivalry.
I remember as a kid watching Tippy Martinez come in to close out the Yankees and every time he did it the announcers would remind the fans that he had once been a Yankee. (Oh for the days when the local broadcasters could actually criticize the team.) It was a good introduction to the realities of the Steinbrenner era back when George was truly in charge. Jay Buhner may have been immortalized in Seinfeld, but I swear that Tippy came up and shut down the Yankees in more big spots than I care to remember.
I remember the night of May 19th, 1998. I went to Fenway with the guy on the other side of this site and as we were in the habit of doing at the time, went across the street after the game to have some additional adult beverages at Jillians, a bar that at the time had the biggest and best TV I had ever seen. That’s where I first saw this highlight. (Jeter and Girardi look young, but Posada and Pettitte look like babies! I still can’t believe the Yankees actually traded for Benitez and allowed him to wear the pinstripes after that.)
Now a new generation will be introduced to Yankees-Orioles games that matter. Four games with first on the line, it’s going to be a great weekend.
Sep 06, 2012 @ 14:33:31
the Straw that stirs the drink…oh, sorry Reggie, I meant Daryl Stawberry.
Did anybody get hurt down on the steps ?
Sep 06, 2012 @ 15:24:07
You mean the straw that stirs the Mets….
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2009/1/23/734217/new-york-mets-a-sports-ill
scroll down
I don’t remember any injuries, just a bunch of suspensions as a result of that.
Sep 06, 2012 @ 15:55:35
that cover with Palmer and Seaver on it was one of my favorites after I started getting SI as a kids.. it was on my wall, I used to cut pictures out of SI and tape them to the wall of my bedroom. Until someone found a few ticks living behind them, then they came down.
Sep 06, 2012 @ 16:42:09
I saved every cover that had a New York athlete. Always loved that one of Gooden on the baseball preview because his arm looked so unusual.
My favorite SI picture was an ad they had in Penn Station showing Gooden delivering a pitch and the tag line was something like
“Want to know what fear feels like at sixty feet, six inches?”
Sep 06, 2012 @ 17:11:58
The Orioles were once one of baseball’s model franchises, especially when it came to developing starters. This lasted from the mid ’60s to the early ’80s. They were always competitive in those years. The ’69-’71 Orioles were a historically great team. They used to have a rabid fan base, but all these years (i.e., ’98-’10) of organizational stupidity have done serious damage to the fan base. It really is a shame, when you think about it.
The wife and I had tickets to see the Yankees at Camden Yards last year, but Hurricane Isabel forced us to change our plans. We have tickets for this Saturday’s game. It will be my first time at Camden. I’m looking forward to it — it looks like a beautiful ballpark. Win or lose, we’re going to eat well — we love crabs.
Sep 06, 2012 @ 17:42:53
Greg
You will love it, it is a great park. My wife and I have gone down at least once almost every year to get some crabs and watch the Yankees play there. I am trying to convince her that we should make a road trip this weekend, but I have been unsuccessful probably because the best crabhouse in Baltimore closed last November.