HAVE WE SEEN THE LAST OF CC SABATHIA?

I don't want to think about this, but it's a possibility that shouldn't be ignored. We all knew this was going to be CC Sabathia's last season. The end is in sight, but this wasn't the potential ending that I was envisioning. It's pretty much the exact opposite so I am crossing my fingers that Friday night's game wasn't the end.

It sucks, but CC Sabathia is back on the disabled list for the fourth time this season. I'm sure it's not the journey he saw himself on at the beginning of the season. It's not what I saw either. No one thinks that CC is the same pitcher we saw back in 2009. Time gets the best of us all, but he's still an important piece to this team. More than anything, I want to see him go out on his terms and not because he isn't healthy enough to finish what he started.

But just like the New York Post wrote this weekend, there is no guarantee that CC will pitch again. There are no guarantees in life or in baseball but there is always hope. That's one thing I have been telling myself this weekend. I'm not giving up hope. CC doesn't want his last outing to be this past weekend and in pain. Sometimes the body just doesn't cooperate and it just gives out.

I hope that's not what happened this weekend. I want CC to walk off the mound at Yankee stadium feeling good. Derek Jeter got to end his career with a bang by hitting a walk-off single in his final home game. That home run was pretty incredible too. David Cone got an unforgettable out against Mike Piazza in the 2000 World Series to end his career. And what about David Wright? He got to play that one last game at Citi Field before calling it career. His body simply gave out, but at least he got to call it a career at home....and I at least want the same for CC.

Aaron Boone said he won't speculate on what will happen next with CC, read more HERE. CC has done a lot for this team and he's been a warrior, just like Boone said. CC deserves to pitch one last time at Yankee stadium and to leave it all out on the field. I don't want to think about CC walking away from the game without a proper send off.

I want to see CC walk off the mound at Yankee stadium to a sold out crowd and loud cheers. That is the send off he deserves. I want those to be his final moments in a Yankee uniform.

We are pulling for you CC, Friday wasn't the end of your journey. Not yet. That's what I choose to believe.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj

WHO'S GUNNA BE THAT GUY?

Source: USA Today

As we inch closer to the start of the 2019 season, we are in the final stages of reflection on what went wrong for our teams in 2018 and how to fix this before first pitch. One major factor both New York teams lacked was a culture of consistent leadership. In a past article about the rival New York teams, we touched upon the fact that since the retirement of Derek Jeter and David Wright, there has been no clear leader on either team. Quite frankly, in order to have a more successful season, clubhouse morale definitely needs to be boosted. Someone needs to step up to the plate, quite literally, to help ignite this. Who's gunna be that guy for the Yankees and even the Mets this season?!

Source: AP

Injuries to key players such as Clint Frazier, Didi Gregorius, and Aaron Judge definitely brought down morale for Yankees as well as fans last year. But the reaction that the fans gave Judge in September when he was inserted back into the lineup after being on the disabled list for two months, leads me to think that Judge can really be “that guy” for the 2019 season. Judge led the team to within just one win of the World Series in 2017, and ruffled some feathers by playing Yankees’ theme song New York, New York on a boombox through Fenway in 2018. He has definitely demonstrated what it means to be fearless, a good quality for any leader, but he may not be old enough to take the reins as leader officially, yet.

Source: MLB.com

Another concern for Judge, at least from his point of view, is being able to lead while playing, which means staying healthy.  In an interview with The New York Post before the Yankees hosted the Red Sox last season, Judge said, “My biggest thing is to lead by example. When I can’t play I can’t lead by example.” So, health and consistency can certainly thrust Judge to "that guy" status for the Yankees.

Source: NJ.com

Besides Judge, “that guy” signs also point to Red Thunder, Clint Frazier, who definitely gets an award for resilience. After an unfortunate concussion, Frazier ended up losing most of the 2018 season. Luckily for Yankees fans, Frazier has announced in a tweet on December 13, that he has resumed baseball activities.



In an interview with YES network, Frazier said, “I know there is some time to be made back up to go out there and ultimately win that job, but everyone is well deserving. It’s just a matter of who’s probably hot at the time, what are the needs and overall how much we can help the team. I’m pretty confident in what I can do; go out there and play as hard as I can, and try to win that job and help the team.” Maybe with some improvement, we can give him a new nickname that pulls in his gritty, never give up, disposition and this aids in creating a culture of leadership for the team.

Source: NJ.com

Across the river, I think veteran and former Yankee Todd Frazier can really be an asset to the team. Even though Frazier isn’t the best player statistics-wise, he’s always been a consistent leader on every team he has played for since he joined the ranks of MLB and as a child star for Toms River Little League, winning the World Series back in 1998.  My favorite contribution of Frazier’s, which I know Suzie Pintstripe is still jealous of, is the “salt and pepper” celebration that he introduced to the team. When asked what it meant, Brandon Nimmo said, “We’re just adding a little seasoning to the offense.” The Mets. like the Yankees, definitely need more of this energy in 2019.

Source: ESPN

For now, all we can do is cross our fingers and hope that the 2019 season will be a healthy one for all of our players. With consistent leadership and an optimistic outlook, 2019 can really be New York’s year and "that guy"really becomes a key component to a winning attitude for both teams.

--Missy O'Rourke
BYB Contributor
Twitter: @missy_orourke

RIVAL NEW YORK TEAMS WITH ONE THING IN COMMON

Source: NY Post

Today, this post is authored by my niece, a Class of 2018 rising baseball content developer and marketing specialist. Although we have a love of baseball in common, we root for two different New York teams. In this piece, guest writer Melissa O'Rourke (@missy_orourke) shares her take on this rivalry with a side of leadership and tradition.

For as long as I could remember, baseball has been a big part of family life, especially between my aunt Suzie and me. To be fair, I started off as a Yankees fan. Summers consisted of going to Yankee Stadium, eating all of the ballpark food I could get a hold of, and cheering on Derek Jeter.

Source: New York Post

It was when I went to college that I became a traitor- I became a Mets fan. To make matters worse, going to school in New England leaned me towards the Red Sox as well. If you are a regular reader of Bleeding Yankee Blue, and you follow Suzie Pinstripe's posts, I am sure you know that Suzie was not very happy with me when she saw me donning a Red Sox cap at Fenway Park. We have the occasional, “I’m going to steal your players,” battle, but overall I think she has finally accepted me for who I’ve become. She also has accepted Jacob DeGrom is mine and will forever be mine.

Some of my favorite times with Suzie consist of beer flights, or wine, and watching baseball. One time we even stayed up into the late night watching every game on MLB TV until the West Coast games eventually ended, post game interviewed finished and the network went dark. Although exhausted, we had a great night.

Regardless of my stance, I will always be a New York fan. I was born and raised a New Yorker, so I will always root for the Yankees if they’re not playing the Mets.

One thing that both teams have in common is a lead figure on their team. Statistics aside, David Wright and Derek Jeter are two icons for their respective teams. Both starting and ending their careers with the same organization, they truly made their mark in the most respectable way possible. They drew a huge fan base, lead their teams both on the field and off and gave their whole selves to this game, ending their careers as captains.

Not wanting to leave his team just yet, David Wright has recently announced he will assume the role of Special Advisor to the Mets COO Jeff Wilpon and Brody Van Wagenen.

“I will always be tremendously grateful for the way fans treated me because playing in this city and for this team was a dream come true. I look forward to contributing and taking on the challenges of this new role,” said Wright via Twitter.

Source: Miami Herald

Although not still working with the Yankees, I think it is great Jeter decided to also stay in the baseball world by co-owning the Marlins. He did help close one of he biggest deals in Yankees history with the signing of Giancarlo Stanton at the end of 2017.

The question still looms for both clubs, feeling the absence of their great leaders: Who will be the next captain, perhaps a dying role?

Source: Jim Young-USA TODAY Sports 

Todd Frazier, a former Yankee, is a player I believe has the potential to step up for the Mets. In a recent SNY article, Frazier said he wants to take rookie Peter Alonso under his wing, even requesting for their lockers to be next to each other at spring training. However, I believe he needs to have a better and more consistent 2019 season, with fewer injuries, to be considered for that role.

Source: NJ.com

I am not a Yankees expert, but I know there are veteran players, such as CC Sabathia, who have been on the team for some time and could provide some insight to the younger players. The Yankees are an extremely talented and successful team, but I think what they need is some leadership to really take them to the next level. Perhaps Suzie has some insight on who she thinks will step up on the Yankees?

I am excited to see what happens in 2019 for both the New York teams as pitchers and catchers report in less than five weeks. I would like to thank my aunt for letting me write this piece. Can’t wait for more late, wine filled, baseball nights.

And Missy, let's keep that rivalry alive with another inter-league battle this time at Citi Field, on me! Good slice of life writing with a special connection to leaders all New Yorkers love. Happy Hump Day!

--Missy O'Rourke
BYB Contributor
Twitter: @missy_orourke

TIPPING MY CAP TO A CLASS ACT!

Photo: Getty Images

I don't like the Mets. I never have. But I don't hate them. I don't hate anyone.  When it comes to baseball... I have a true level of respect for these guys that take the field.  I know just how hard it is to get to the major leagues. I also know it's hard as hell to stay there.

In fact, I have had numerous conversations about it with friend Marci Hensley, Ty's mom.  Ty's now on the Otters in Indiana and continuing his dream to play baseball.  No, it's not on a major league stage, but that really doesn't matter. Dreams come true when you have the will and desire to be great... at any level.

Photo: New York Post

Positivity helps in that endeavor. That's why Ty will be successful. And look at a guy like Sonny Gray. The guy's been stinking up the joint with the Yankees right now.  I don't hate him, I understand the struggles. Who knows why he's not consistent, but he's not doing it intentionally.  He's struggling. That's baseball.

Photo: Newsday

Between him stating a few weeks ago that he can be the best starter in baseball and that the Yankees, even though they're losing, are trying to stay upbeat and trying to win games... you can't hate the guy.  It's what baseball players need. Baseball has a long season. If you get down every time you lose a game, what a crappy personality you'd have... you know what I mean? Then you have fans like this... these Debbie Downer morons that can't understand that positivity wins the race.

I honestly have no problem with him having a notion of trying to stay positive in a culture of hate. It shows strength. Relax. It’s just baseball.

— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) September 13, 2018

Whatever. Some folks will never learn.

One guy I love on the Mets was David Wright. A solid player, a good leader and a guy that caught a tough break.  He reminds me a lot of Donnie Baseball for how things went down with him.  Now however, David's about the hang it up.  The New York Times has this...

"Fighting back tears during a news conference on Thursday, Wright said that psychologically he is ready to play but his body is not.

'Physically, the way I feel right now and everything the doctors have told me, there’s not going to be any improvement,' he said, adding that he could not envision playing full time again.

Wright will come off the disabled list and start at third base against the Miami Marlins on Sept. 29, the penultimate game of the season, said Jeff Wilpon, a member of the family that owns the team and its chief operating officer."

And then, Wright will retire.  Not the way he wanted his career to go. Not the way the fans wanted it. I just want to say to Wright that I personally root for you, dude.  You're one of the good ones.  Good luck to you pal.

Photo: Getty Images

On a side note... during one of David's happier and funnier moments, I just had to share this.  This is Mike O'Hara doing his thing on a side gig with the MLB Fan Cave from a few years ago.  O'Hara, David Wright, Jim Breuer... having some fun.




I hope that smile comes back soon David.  The best to you. Good work, O'Hara.

A VISIT TO TOMS RIVER, NJ... SO WHAT?

Source: NY Daily News

As I entered the city limits of Toms River, New Jersey Saturday evening, it hit me like a ton of bricks: We have to sign @FlavaFraz21 aka Todd Frazier or better yet, he has to sign with us.  I visited Frazier's hometown in South Jersey to be a spectator and track mom as my daughter Kate ran in the infamous Toms River Bubble or the John Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex.  It is basically an indoor track where teams from all over the state come together to compete.  Frazier's picture is featured on the entrance of the complex and as I pushed through the revolving doors into the track, I again said to myself, we need to sign him.

During the off season Todd Frazier has made a number of appearances, perhaps making his case that he is a permanent fixture of the Yankee redesign.  He met Mr. Thumbs down last week, he has done additional events for Steiner Sports and he weighed in on the whole Trenton Thunder Pork Roll story this week.

"I've called it pork roll my life big man," Frazier tweeted to the Trenton Thunder, the Yankees Double A team.  The Trenton Thunder then adopted Frazier by including him on their #TeamPorkRoll.  See the series of tweets below:

The point of all of the chatter, have I failed to mention there's a hashtag #bringback29 floating around Twitter, is there are guys who contribute to a team far more than by way of a bat or a glove.  The Toddfather contributes life, something that has been absent since the days of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.  Sure Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez gave us hope, but not necessarily life.  Frazier breathes life and passion into the team along with a never give up attitude, which is something we need as we enter 2018, a critical, must-win season for the Yankees.

Source: NJ.com

According to NJ.com, "Frazier is local, he's durable and he won't be nearly as expensive as Mike Moustakas. He'll get a multi-year deal, but if the Mets can structure it more like Jay Bruce's and get him to sign a backloaded deal in the three-year range, the payroll would still be manageable this season."  Frazier has said he had some offers, for which he would be entertaining.  Are the Mets one of those deals?  Would his agent suggest he go to the Mets where he would take a leadership role and an everyday position at third, something the Mets have not had since 2014?  He might.  But should Frazier give up an opportunity to win a championship with Yankees?  Hell no!

Source: MLB.com

Todd Frazier should be offered a contract with options and opportunities to sign a multi-year contract should he meet certain milestones throughout the year.  At the end of the day, Frazier should want to be in a winning lineup versus a lineup where he would be a baby sitters to babies.  "The Mets often need an adult in the room, especially when David Wright isn't around," reported NJ.com.

Source: Getty Images

My visit to Toms River gave me time to reflect on Frazier's contribution to the clubhouse and the lineup and both yield a good amount of benefits and win-wins.  Perhaps Frazier drove around his old digs to reflect on where he came from and will use that gathered information to make the right choice- take a deal with the Yankees and be a champion, something he knows all too well from his early years at the Little League World Series.  Plus, he could have unlimited pork roll this summer.  See what I mean...it's a win-win.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof

YANKEES LOSE FANS BECAUSE JETER RETIRED

Time for alittle Sunday Feature folks, straight from the pages of BYB.

I heard it with my own ears.  My sister confessed to me while down the shore this week, why she stopped watching the Yankees and became a certified Met fan.  She said, deep down, the Yankees just weren't the same without Derek Jeter.  To translate, Jeter's retirement forced some fans to hop over to Queens and join the ranks of the Metropolitans.

I know it sounds crazy, but it's true.  My own niece left the Yankees for the Mets just a short time ago. It down right hurts to see fans leave for what they see as something better.  But in reality, although Derek Jeter spent two decades with us, he should not be the reason you stop liking the Yankees.

To stay in the Citi Field dugout for a moment, David Wright, arguably one of the beloved modern day Met players, said this about Jeter just after he announced he would retire, "I've always been a big Derek Jeter fan for what he has done on the baseball field. I became an even bigger fan after getting to know Derek and learning there is more to this game than what goes on between the lines."

Jeter has given so much to this game but if you are a Yankee fan, you are a Yankee fan.  You don't stop being a Yankee fan or any fan for that matter because a player is traded, or decides move on with the rest of his life off the baseball diamond.  You don't stop being a Yankee fan because they lose too much.  You may get frustrated with the team, but you don't give up and become a Met fan.  You just don't.

Perhaps, Matt Marrone, senior editor at ESPNNewYork.com, brings the ultimate perspective to the idea that fans may have moved on from the Yankees when Jeter retired.

"I was on hand for so many of his greatest moments, I was also sitting in the stands when he had to be carried off the field during the 2012 ALCS, when his ankle finally gave way following one of his most incredible seasons.  Never have I heard such silence in the Bronx. Walking out that night had the aura of a funeral procession, the polar opposite of how Jeter has made Yankees fans feel for nearly 20 years. His absence reverberated like no other Big Apple ballplayer’s I've seen."

Does my sister have a point?  I mean, is Yankee baseball somehow still missing that special something following Jeter's departure more than two years ago?  Yes, of course.  Undeniably, we know he was beloved, respected and a calming presence at short stop for twenty years.  And that void is still there for many.  But, guess what?  As Yankee announcer Michael Kay said so eloquently as Jeter retired, " I literally have taken moments and thought to myself, "What would Derek Jeter do in this situation?" And tried to follow his course."

So what would Derek Jeter do?  Become a Met fan? No way.

Stay with us.  Don't give up on the Yankees.  We will find that magic again.  Just like when Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio retired, we grew more heroic players, like Don Mattingly, Mariano Rivera and yes, Derek Jeter.  Jeter made the game more exciting and powerful to watch, but the game was exciting before he came and will continue to be, long after he is gone.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Senior Staff Writer
BYB Hot Stove Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof