WHAT THE F HAPPENED TO DANNY TARTABULL?

I often lose touch with former Yankees only to see them pop up in the news once in a while and I say, "Man, I had no idea that guy was doing that", or, like in the case of Chad Curtis or Mel Hall, (read HERE and HERE) you are just disgusted with their behavior and it's a disgrace to not only humanity, but to the pinstripes too.

I just read this story about Danny Tartabull. I was kind of shocked. TMZ Sports writes:

"Danny Tartabull has finally been captured -- more than 5 years after a warrant was issued for the ex-MLB star's arrest on deadbeat dad charges ... TMZ Sports has learned. 
Oh, and the reason he was caught? DUMBASSERY.

Quick backstory: Officials say the former NY Yankees star -- who played in the MLB from '84 to '97 -- owes more than $275k in unpaid child support stemming back to a 2011 deadbeat dad conviction.

He violated his probation in 2012 and was ordered to surrender and serve 180 days in jail but never turned himself in. A warrant was issued."

Captured? Deadbeat dad? Really? Man oh man, and I thought my buddy's friend's story about his dad almost accidentally hitting Jesse Barfield with his car was nuts.  This one may take the cake.

Sad.

THE 20th ANNIVERSARY OF A BITTERSWEET SEASON

It is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the most recent Yankees dynasty began its incredible ride. The 1994 season was the first season for the Yankees in recent memory when they finished first in their division after a terrible stretch of years where they struggled even to be competitive.

Buck Showalter, in the third season of his tenure as the Yankees manager, was finally realizing success with his rebuilding efforts with the Yankees. Working with GM Gene Michael, they traded for talent like Paul O'Neill and Jim Abbott the year before. They acquired veteran talent like Jimmy Key, Wade Boggs, and Steve Howe through free agency. They also recognized the value in their farm system, developing rookies like Bernie Williams, Scott Kamieniecki, and Gerald Williams.

Jimmy Key was the outstanding ace of the pitching rotation. Through 113 games, he posted a record of 17-4 with a 3.27 ERA. He came in second in the Cy Young voting, and sixth in the A.L. MVP voting. He had 18 quality starts out of 25. He was the most significant contributor to the success of this team.

Paul O’Neill, at age 31, provided the most firepower from the lineup. He led the league with a .359 batting average. He led the team in home runs (21), RBI (83), and tied for the lead in runs scored with Danny Tartabull (68). The team had five everyday players hitting .300 or better, which included Paul O’Neill, Wade Boggs (.342), Don Mattingly (.304), Luis Polonia (.311), and Mike Stanley (.300). All this helped the team come in first in the league in OPS (.836) and second in the league in runs scored (670) and batting average (.290).

It is hard to appreciate, in retrospect, how much excitement this team generated for the fans. New York Yankees baseball had fallen into major disrepute, and the fans stopped coming to the games. Through the second week of August, Yankee Stadium attendance was just less than 1.7 million. To put that in context, this year Yankee Stadium attendance passed 1.7 million in attendance on July 2. Nevertheless, this was the first time that the Yankees would finish first in the division for the first time in 14 years. It was only the second time in those 14 years that they finished with a W/L percentage above .600.

There was also heartbreak that year. In spite of their success, the season tragically ended on August 11 due to the baseball players’ union strike. Compounding the tragedy was the fact that for the first time in a long time, the Yankees were legitimate contenders. They had a division lead of 6.5 games, and were a virtual lock for the playoffs. The AL West leading Texas Rangers were 10 games below .500. Hard to believe, but true. The expected wildcard would have been the Cleveland Indians, against whom the Yankees had swept all nine games. They were 2-4 against the AL Central leading Chicago White Sox, but they had only faced the Jimmy Key once (which the Yankees won) and they drew the bottom of the rotation in both series. A World Series was within their grasp.

As I said earlier, it is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the recent magic started. Despite the strike and the frustration, they proved to themselves and to the world that they had a strong team and they could win. They would eventually win it all in 2 years, and would start the storybook dynasty of the late 90’s. Good times.

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Senior Staff Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!

KEEPING STRAT-O-MATIC ALIVE

I went to my first Strat-O-Matic draft since I was a kid this past weekend.  Let me state for the record, that I don’t know what the producers of TV networks are thinking… there needs to be a reality show based on a group of guys calling each other douchbags and ripping through papers of stats and names from whatever era they choose in an attempt to draft the best team possible in a fantasy world of nerds!  It would be epic... I call dibs, I found the best crew.

Mind you, these guys are regular dudes, but they’ve been doing this for 23 seasons now, the same guys, the same ball busting and the same passion of baseball in their blood.  They love the sport and love to meet up once a year for this draft. It’s too important to miss. The best part is they concentrate on the 80’s, a great era in baseball.  

The draft went about 3 hours, guys like Bret Saberhagen and Rickey Henderson were picked rather quickly. Guys like Tony Pena, Frank Viola and Lou Whitaker  we swiped up later. But more than the players, was the dialog. “Don’t be a douche,” one of the guys yelled in from the kitchen as we looked at the “big board” to figure out what our next picks would be.  

The joke of the day was Danny Tartabull… “No one saw that pick coming,” said one of the guys. Just then, another dude yelled out “Danny Tartabull everybody… DANNY TARTABULL” and laughed hysterically, almost evil, as he clapped his hands together rapidly as if Tartabull walked into the room at that moment there was going to be a throw down.  It was a mock… but that’s what guys do.

There was pizza, beer, wine and a lot of laughs.  Now mind you, I had never met this group.  I went with 2 of my buddies, one of which grew up with this crew, but by the time I walked out of there, I felt like they were my friends too. We had things in common, but Strat-O-Matic brought us together.   Nice guys; blue collar guys, salesmen, lawyers… I even think there was a butcher in there too.  Just a great mix of dudes who came together for the love of baseball…again… 80’s baseball.   

Overall, it was fun, a lot of smiles, until I was leaving and one of the guys who started the whole thing looked at me concerned… “This is too much fun… but I worry about it going away, you know? Strat-O-Matic is dying, man.  We don’t want it to die!”  He was serious, and I got that.  As kids, we all played games like Micro League Baseball and Strat-O-Matic and we all compiled the stats before computers did it for us.  It was a nerd's culture and I’m happy to say I was apart of it, and so were these guys.  It was an outlet for years, a place to go when things in the real world became too much.  You escaped to Micro League Baseball or Strat-O-Matic for a few hours.  

“It won’t die”, I said. Although, I was unsure about my answer.  I mean, in this world of video games and electronics and so many different outlets out there… it could very well die.

Well, I slept on it last night and I decided that I don’t want it to die either.  What I’m going to do is reach out to Strat-O-Matic and see if they need help getting their site more exposure.  Maybe we’ll strike an advertising deal, maybe we’ll cross promote.  Who knows, but I want to help keep Strat-O-Matic alive!

That goes for Micro League too… you remember, right? (Read THE MICRO LEAGUE REDUX IS COMING.) I’m doing my best to try and create an APP to get Micro League downloadable and posted on Bleeding Yankee Blue. I have a good friend who is working on it. This guy may be the smartest computer guy in the country!  Hell, maybe I’ll eventually post a downloadable Micro League link, as well as a Strat-O-Matic link on BYB, so us nerds can keep the traditions going and maybe even introduce it to a new generation.  We need to keep this nerd stuff in the spotlight.

So look, if you like Strat-O-Matic, if you like Micro League Baseball… comment. Tell us what you like most about it.  If you like more than the other, tell us why.   If you have ideas to give Strat-O-Matic more exposure, reach out to me. We want to hear from you. 

Let’s keep these games alive forever… what do you think?

Thank you to all the Bleeding Yankee Blue readers for continued success.  You've made BYB the fasted growing Yankees fan site in the history of Yankees fandom.  Thanks for reading, sharing and enjoying. Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue (Official) on Facebook, just type it in.

WHY THERE'S A POINT TO BYB'S FAN OF THE WEEK

Look, we do it every week. Some fans just take a picture of themselves in Yankee gear at the Stadium, be it in the Bronx or in Tampa and some totally dress up head to toe, in a Yankee uniform, holding a bat, wearing eye black and looking just about as bad ass as Danny Tartabull. The fact is all fans do it in their own personal way. You gotta love it and you gotta respect it. So we challenge you, send the best YOU Fan shot you can. We've been doing this since we started Bleeding Yankee Blue and the turnout has always been great. There are plenty of pictures in the file already and we choose from them every week, but we want more. Once you enter, you're entered.
So what are the rules? Fun. All you need to do is send a picture of yourself in Yankee gear or holding a Bleeding Yankee Blue sign, or doing both. Or even send a picture smiling with a Yankee great. All that stuff qualifies! The most important thing is you need to be creative to get picked. So, if the picture is unique, send it. If it's funny or sexy and you know you got a shot, send it. If you have a great smile or your standing there holding your autographed Bucky Dent bat... I want to post it, but you can't win if you don't enter.Send pictures to Bleednyankeeblu@gmail.com or you can even message me on Facebook or tag me. There is a winner every Sunday night when we do our drawing. Your prize is simple, you'll be on Bleeding Yankee Blue's site all week and the world will know that you're a true Yankee fan... I don't know... I kind of think that's cool.

Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

WHY I'M WAXING NOSTALGIC 1993 STYLE

Like I've told you many times, I am a true Yankee fan, I love the history and the players, Ron Guidry, Don Mattingly, Rickey Henderson... Even Andy Stankiewicz... I'm not kidding.

In 1993 I was almost finished with college and we'd watch the Yankees afternoon games on chairs outside of out apartments and pull the TV out and watch with a bucket of beer. That's how we rolled.
(In Photo: Mike Stanley)
Back then, I edited this video, and I recently just found it, ON VHS. Again, it was 1993 and it was the Showalter era and there were guys on the Yankees that you all remember... Danny Tartabull, Bob Wickman, Steve Farr, Paul O'Neill, Mike Stanley, Bernie Williams, Spike Owen, Wade Boggs, Dion James and of course, Don Mattingly.



I came across the video the other day and realized I needed to post it. Sure, It's not perfect, there's a terrible hum in the audio and the video is alittle muddy, but these are our New York Yankees, in another time. The 1993 Yankees finished in second place that year behind the Toronto Blue Jays. Standing are HERE.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. If you like it, share it and comment. It's kind of fun.

Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.