Sports Propaganda New York Yankees Mariano Rivera Limited Edition Screen-Print

• Hand Made Screen-Print Limited Edition of 250.
• Printed 100% Cotton Archival Paper.
• Signed and Editioned by Artist.

$79.99

Highland Mint New York Yankees Mariano Rivera 500th Career Save 24KT Gold Coin Marquee Photo Mint

• The Highland Mint presents this Limited Edition Mariano Rivera Marquee Photo Mint commemorating his 500th Career Save.
• The frame measures 18″x22″ with 3″ wide molding and featured in triple matting is an 8″x10″ photo of Mariano pitching in the actual 500th Save game as well as two more (2) 3″x 5″ photos from the game.
• Limited Edition of only 500 and Officially Licensed by MLB and MLBPA.

$149.99

While I was looking for articles for my weekly coffee news round up on my other blog, Daily Shot Of Coffee, I came across this story, Damon cuts caffeine, back in lineup: Outfielder hopeful that less coffee will help ‘fluttering eyes.’

Last Thursday, when the Yankees were playing their rivals the Boston Red Sox, a Yankees outfielder, Johnny Damon fumbled and dropped a routine popup. Damon has been under performing in the field, at bat and this error in the outfield was a perfect example of it. Luckily, the Red Sox weren’t able to take advantage of the error, but they did go on to beat the Yankees.

Not really, the kind of story you’d expect to find when researching coffee news, but Damon and the Yankees are blaming his subpar performance on the poor, defenseless coffee he drinks. He only drinks three coffees or energy drinks to get him going, but the Yankees medical staff have ordered him to cut back on his caffeine intake. He’s been complaining that his eyes fluttering and they think caffeine might be the cause.

I hope it works, but on Saturday he had a caffeine headache and went 0-4 (which, is very bad) in the Yankees loss to their other rival, the New York Mets. If he doesn’t show some improvement today, I think he should start drinking more coffee.

—

AP Photo

However, that’s not always an option, especially if they live a couple of thousand miles away from each other an Yankee Stadium. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t get him something Yankee related.

Yankee Stadium: Baseball’s Cathedral DVD (With Collectable Ticket & Coin)

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched this DVD. I’ve even had non-Yankee fans say it was moving. If your father has ever been to a game at Yankee stadium, he’ll love this DVD.

Baseball’s epicenter sits at 161st Street and River Avenue in the Bronx, New York. For more than 80 years, fans and ballplayers have congregated on sultry summer days and chilly October nights to witness history. They cheer their hearts out, realize their dreams and heal their souls in this ultimate baseball cathedral. Yankee Stadium has meant so much to so many, and Yankees players and fans will enjoy one final season in the House That Ruth Built before making their way to the new Yankee Stadium in 2009.

Yankee Stadium: Baseball’s Cathedral will celebrate the entire spectrum that makes this ballpark the most talked about sports structure in the entire world. Contains an exclusive 85-Year Yankee Stadium Commemorative Ticket with Yankee Coin.

But this for $25 at Amazon.
Remembering Yankee Stadium Hardcover Book

I received this book as Christmas present last year and it was one of my favorite gifts that I received. Flipping through this book and looking at the amazing pictures brought back a lot of good memories.

Diamonds aren’t forever. After the 2008 season, the seemingly immortal “House That Ruth Built” will shut its gates forever—to be replaced by a brand-new stadium just a homer’s length away. As if anything could ever replace Yankee Stadium in the hearts and memories of New York Yankees’ fans.

Memories are what this book is about. From the moment it opened on April 18, 1923, Yankee Stadium was a phenomenon: It was more than double the size of any ballpark at the time. And what was happening on the field was just as phenomenal. In the third inning of that opening-day game, Babe Ruth hit the home run he deemed the most satisfying of his career. That fall, the stadium hosted the first of the many World Series games that would be played there over the ensuing 85 years.

And that, of course, was just the beginning. Remembering Yankee Stadium brilliantly and beautifully documents the stadium’s entire career through a decade-by-decade account, a priceless collection of historical photographs, and, most movingly, the vivid, first-person reminiscences of the people to whom this “citadel of sport” has meant so much: entertainers and politicians, broadcasters and sportswriters, players and fans. No Yankees fan—no baseball fan—will be able to resist this incredible book.

On Sale At Amazon For Less Than $30.

New York Yankees #1 Dad T-Shirt

Instead of getting him that #1 Dad Coffee Mug, get him the Yankee t-shirt.

Buy from the MLB Shop for $19.99.

New York Yankees General Manger Series Watch By Game Time

If you want to get something your father can wear, but you don’t want to get him a tie, check out this watch. It’s got some style and something that any father would be proud to wear on their wrist.

• Officially licensed team logo embossed in 23k gold
• 23k Gold accents on stainless steel case and bracelet
• Rotating bezel ring
• Miyota Quartz movement

Buy from the MLB Shop For $119.99.

New York Yankees Silk Tie

If you feel like you have to get him a tie, this is the only tie that is acceptable.

$39.99 at the MLB Shop.

If you noticed that I haven’t been so active over here it’s because I’ve been very busy with Daily Shot Of Coffee.

However when I saw this coffee mug set, I knew that I was going to have to blog about it over here.

I ended up on Amazon and came across more than a few mugs with the Yankee logo, but this set with a travel mug and a regular coffee cup caught my attention. It’s sitting in my online shopping cart right now and depending on the score of tonight’s game, I’ll have to get it.

Buy this New York Yankees Coffee Mug Set.

I’m going to try to start blogging here on a weekly basis again, but right now no promises.

My father got to watch Roger Maris.

I have the steroids era.

One by one, the heroes and legends that I admired have fallen off their pedestals.

Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa battled back and forth in 1998 for the home run title. I was glued to my television screen watching them beat the Roger Marris’s record of 61 home runs. Then in 2005, I was watching television again, but this time they were testifying in front of congress about steroids.

Roger Clemens led my beloved Yankees past the Mets in the 2000 World Series. In 2008, accusations that he used performance enhancing drugs in 2000 surfacned.

Alex Rodriguez was on pace to beat Barry Bonds for the most career home runs. He was going to be the player that didn’t need steroids to do it. Then after 553 home runs, we find out that he was using steroids.

Now, it’s Manny Ramirez who’s suspended for fifty games for using a banned substance.

They all had their denials – I didn’t know it was banned, I didn’t know I what I was injecting into my body – but their statements just make them look more dirty. They sound just as bad as the politicians that have been caught cheating on their wives and taking bribes.

But, we know we’re being lied to. We know a lot, if not most of the baseball players in the past ten or twenty years were using steroids. We may not want to believe it, but the evidence keeps growing.

There’s a good chance that there’s players that are using human growth hormones and other performance enhancing drugs today.

Of course, the owners, the teams and Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig should step up to the plate and perform stricter testing, find out who is really juiced and ban them for life.

My only question is “who’s next?”

I’m not the only one that is suspicious of every player that has stepped on to the field in the last twenty years.

It’s not going to stop me from going to the games or rooting for the Yankees every night on television, but what am I going to tell my grand kids? I got to see the greatest cheaters ever?

After his first month of play, it’s no surprise that there’s a grassroots campaign to get Nick Swisher on to the All Star team.

He already has All Star numbers. In the first month of the season, he knocked out seven home runs, had 19 RBI’s, hit .300, had an OPS of 1.090 and an OBP of .427. What else can you ask for?

And this is all coming from a guy who was supposed to be sitting on the beach this season.

But it’s not just his numbers. Swisher is already a fan favorite because he’s a throwback player that’s always hustling and working hard. Plus, he has a positive attitude, always looking to do whatever it takes to make the team win.

In Tampa, he pitched one inning of relief against the Rays. He allowed only one hit, let up a walk and then retired the next three batters to end the inning. He’s the only player on the Yankees with a 0.00 ERA.

So, here’s what you need to do…

Visit the All Star Voting page and write him in. Don’t forget to vote for the other Yankees while you’re there. You can get all crazy and vote up to 25 times.

Then join the Vote Swisher group on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, then tell all your friends.

For more information, visit VoteSwisher.Com

Just spotted some amazing photos of opening day at the new Yankee Stadium at Stiletto Sports. I’m very jealous, I would’ve loved to go to the first day. That’ll be something to tell the grand kids, even if the Yankees lost big time, I’m sure there were some great memories made that day.

I still miss the old Stadium, but the new one is beginning to grow on me. I’m starting to plan a trip New York to see my friends, family and most importantly the new Stadium.

Here’s a look at some of the blog posts from the Yankees universe that caught my attention this week. Pretty much everything is about the new stadium.

Firsties: Bronx Banter Blog has (lots) photos and review of the new stadium. I found myself looking at the pictures over and over, just taking it all in. It’s not the old stadium that I know and love, but it is growing on me.

Along the same lines, the Chuck Knoblog had more photos and more of a review in his My Stadium Experience story.

Also, from the new stadium, Scott Proctor’s Arm had photos and some words about the new Monument Park in Bones to pick: Monument Park.

How much it all costs: River Avenue Blues has a list of this years salaries. I did the math and it adds up to a whole lot of money. When the Yankees win the world series this year, I can already hear Red Sox fans saying they bought the championship. Whatever!

And the Yankees have to pay for those salaries and the new ballpark some how. Check out On the economics of Yankee Stadium also from River Avenue Blues.

I went to a Spring Training game this year and watched them dominate the 2008 World Series Champions Philadelphia Phillies. Watching that game, I had a feeling that this was going to be the season. This was going to be the year when the Yankees come back and win it all, the 27th World Series. There will be another parade through the Canyon Of Heroes in lower Manhattan this October.

However, a part of me is very nervous. Ever since George Steinbrenner took over the Yankees, they’ve been expected to not just be good, but to win the World Series. But this year, if it’s possible, the expectations are even higher.

The Yankees have always been the team with the target on their back. They’re the team that all of the other teams want to beat. They’re the team that all of the other fans hate. And this year the target is even bigger.

To start with the Yankees spent an amazing amount of money this off season on pitchers C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and first baseman Mark Teixira. The Yankees spent $423.5 million on these guys alone and for the price, I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only one who is expecting those guys to take the team well into October.

I became a Yankee fan in the eighties when the Yankees were pretty much horrible. However, we were all spoiled in the late nineties with all of those championship teams. But the Yankees haven’t won a World Series since 2000. For most teams, that isn’t a long time. But for a Yankee fan, that becomes a lifetime. The pressure is on this year to get well past the first round of playoffs.

Last year, the Yankees didn’t even make it to the playoffs, the first time since 1993. You know the Yankees management/owners are just as hungry for a post season run as any die hard Yankee fan.

The season hasn’t even started yet, but there’s already rumors that manager Joe Girardi isn’t going to be around for long unless the Yankees come out the gate charging. Of course, I was disappointed last season, but it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to give Girardi more of a leash. I know that spring training doesn’t really count for much, but the Yankees did have the best record in the Grapefruit League, that has to count for something.

And of course, you can’t miss the brand new stadium. It looks amazing, but who would really care what it looks like if the Yankees have another mediocre season.

My prediction is that the Yankees are either going to win it all or fail big. The Vegas odds are that the Yankees win the World Series and right now I’ll take that bet.