Happy New Year From AB4AR With A Look Back At The Best Play Of 2013

One last look back to 2013 before we officially move forward with 2014.  Hopefully your celebrations were fun and booze-filled.  Wouldn't expect much out of the site today, not with wall-to-wall hockey and BCS games.  But if something newsworthy does happen, I'll try to drag my carcass off the couch to cover it.

P.S.- Never forget.

2013 AB4AR Comment Of The Year

There were more comments this year than I've gotten since I started AB4AR in the summer of '09, but there was one that stood out head and shoulder above the rest.  It came from a post I did on the idea of trading Robbie Cano in February and it captures almost everything I want to see in my comments.  Here it is again, in its full glory:

"THAT'S IT!!!! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!! I've listened attentively to all your pessimistic bullshit all winter and now you've gone over the edge. Maybe you just don't have anything to write about and are wallowing in some kind of self-induced hysteria. But I am up to my neck with your gloomy outlook and all the dire, negative nonsense coming out of your blog this off-season and I've had enough. So, I'm casting off! All this negative energy is really really bad for the brain Brad - and it's no wonder nobody is responding anymore to your rantings. It's just poison. If you were a Cubs or Astros fan, I could see where you would be down and out, but these are the FUCKING NEW YORK YANKEES you're talking about! MY TEAM! GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS!!!! So goodbye for now! There must be some people out there who are looking forward to an exciting season, but you are not one of them. Since October your blog has been bile! I'll check back in with you in a few months when your meds starts kicking in again."

Outstanding.  Just outstanding.  Don't get me wrong, I would prefer that the comments on this site be a little more analytical and I'm always down to engage in a little back-and-forth debate with anybody who takes the time to comment here.  But in terms of just sheer, unbridled emotion, it doesn't get any better than that.  It's got everything: all caps, multiple exclamation points, profanity, insults towards me as a writer and a person.  It's brilliant.  To know that something I wrote elicited an emotional fan response of that nature is absolutely terrific because that's exactly the type of fan and writer I used to be when I started this site.

Shout out to my man James for taking home the first ever AB4AR "Comment of the Year" award.  Your free non-existent AB4AR t-shirt is in the mail.  And everybody else take note, I want more of this next year.  If I'm pissing you off that much, feel free to let me know about it.  I probably won't respond to it as quickly as I would a more calm, rational comment, but I'll at least get a good laugh out of it.

Merry Christmas From AB4AR

I'm already well on my way to a second day of too much awesome food and too much good beer and I hope everybody else is too.  It's a tradition here at AB4AR to play the most underrated Christmas song of all time and I see no reason to break that tradition this year, so I'll keep it short and sweet and wish everybody out there a Merry Christmas and a heartfelt thank you for continuing to read this little blog.  Hopefully we all get some Masahiro Tanaka as a late Christmas gift to bring some last-minute Yankee holiday cheer.  Now take it away, Mr. Garrison.

The Only Thing That Matters About This "Tell-All" A-Rod Book

If you were busy following the important stories about the new player signings or actually doing something constructive with your time yesterday, you might have missed this juicy nugget of gossip about A-Rod.  Apparently he's close to locking up multimillion dollar deal to publish a book that he says will dish all the “full dirt of Major League Baseball’s tactics” against him as part of his suspension.

Al.  Can I call you Al?  If you read this, I need you to know something.  I need you to know that no matter what kind of details you put in this book, the one thing that needs to be confirmed is the story of the centaur painting.  I need to know if that thing exists or not, more than I need to know how big of a scumbag Bud Selig truly is.  I've named this blog after you.  The image of you as a centaur is basically the logo of this site.  I've been one of your biggest supporters since I started AB4AR in '09 and I will continue to be for as long as there's still a chance that you can play.  After all that, I think I deserve to know the truth about the centaur painting.

And if you don't want to do it for me, that's fine.  Then do it for the kids.  And their kids.  And their kids' kids.  Do it so that future generations of Yankee fans don't have to live with the same uncertainty the rest of us live with now.  We all pretty much know the story of how your battle with MLB went down.  What we don't know, and what we need to know, is whether or not you commissioned a painting of yourself as a centaur.  It's the one chapter of the A-Rod Saga that really needs closure.

Never Forget

12 years ago today our nation was rocked by the worst attack against it in history.  Work, social life, baseball rooting allegiances, and everything else took a back seat as we watched our friends, family members, and fellow Americans suffer as a result of the senseless hatred of others.  I don't need to go into the details of my personal connection to the 9/11 tragedy anymore.  Those who've been AB4AR readers for years know the story, and those who are new can find it here.  But I'd be remiss if I didn't write something today to commemorate the tragic events of that day and honor those who were lost.

They say time heals all wounds and there's been a lot of time to heal from the events of that day 12 years ago.  But some wounds never heal, some losses can never be forgotten, and many lives will never be the same.  The pain from that day still lingers, and it's remembering the heroes and the sacrifice of so many on that day that helps the healing continue and reminds us all what it means to be an American and live in this country.  There's plenty that people find wrong with this country these days and sometimes it's easy to forget about all that it gets right.  Use today to remember that.  Tell someone you love them, hug somebody you haven't hugged in a while, find a fire fighter or police officer and shake his or her hand, be thankful for all the freedoms you have as a citizen of the United States.  And never forget all those we lost.

Another Slight AB4AR Expansion

Despite some of the rumors that have been suggested in the past few weeks, this is not to announce that I'm discontinuing the blog, adding writers to the blog, or even that I'm pregnant.  It's none of that.  As far as AB4AR goes, nothing is changing.  The blog is staying right here, I'll continue to write for it every day, and hopefully continue to pretend to be a half-decent Yankee blogger.  This announcement comes instead as another slight extension to the AB4AR market share in the Yankosphere.

Starting today, the IIATMS and TYA blogs will merge and become one.  And as a part of the TYA family, I will be joining in that merger.  If you're a regular reader of those blogs, you've probably noticed that both sites have had some personnel changes recently and that Stacey Gotsulias has taken over as the leader of IIATMS.  The decision was made to merge both sites to make up for the personnel changes and create a megablog that combines, in my 100% honest opinion, the greatest collection of Yankee bloggers on the planet.  And somehow they decided that giving me the 9:30 AM slot there was a wise decision, so that's my new gig as part of the super merger.  Fools!  If only they knew...

Between the regular staffs of both sites and the collection of familiar veteran bloggers that will pop in from time to time, there isn't another Yankee blog out there that boasts the depth and the talent of the new IIATMS/TYA, and in all honesty I'm just glad to be a part of it.  And I wanted to let everybody here know to check me out over there and check out the site because it's going to kick ass.  I'll be writing the same type of stuff you've come to know and hate love here on the new site.  Some of it you'll have read here already, but some of it you won't have, so you owe it to yourself to become a regular reader of the new IIATMS/TYA to keep up with my nonsense.

Happy Holidays From AB4AR

As you've probably figured out by now, there's not going to be a whole lot of blog activity over the Christmas holiday from AB4AR.  There isn't a whole lot going on in Yankeeland right now that necessitates posts going up, and I could really use the short break to recharge the batteries, finish my Christmas shopping, and spend some time with family and friends, as I'm sure everyone else could too.

So allow me to use this post to wish everyone a merry Christmas, happy Kwanzaa, happy Boxing Day, and a joyous Festivus if that's what you celebrate.  It's my sincerest wish that each and every AB4AR reader out there has a great holiday, gets everything that was on his or her wish list, and enjoys as much good food and drink as your bodies will allow.  There won't be anymore posts today or tomorrow, unless something absolutely earth-shattering happens, but AB4AR will pick back up first thing on Wednesday, December 26th to start picking through the rest of the offseason task list and starting preparing for AB4AR Prospect Week and the unveiling of the AB4AR Top 30 after the new year.

So happy holidays, everybody.  Hope you all have a great one and I'll see ya Wednesday.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody

Today I'm thankful that I have a ton of great food to eat, a ton of great beer to drink, and my family and best friend to share it all with.  I certainly hope that's the case for everybody else out there as well because Thanksgiving is hands down the best holiday and it's not even close.  It's the Mariano Rivera of holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.  May your celebration today be safe, fun, and filled with good memories.

Everybody Alright Out There?

I went with the longer sentimental version of this post over at TYA this morning, but now that I'm back in the swing of things here I had to reach out to the AB4ARmy too.

I chalked the whole "Frankenstorm" thing up to typical media hype and really didn't expect things to be that bad when the hurricane hit over the past few days, but when I finally got the chance to check in and see what was going on yesterday afternoon was legitimately shocked.  Sides of buildings blowing off, massive flooding, parts of the Jersey Shore pretty much getting wiped off the map; that's some pretty heavy shit.  My friends and family that I've talked to back home are all safe and sound right now and just waiting for the power to come back on, and I hope that's the case for everybody else out there.

Looking at the site traffic from yesterday it certainly appears as though a lot of people out there have power and were using the internet as a way to pass the time.  So if you do and you're using AB4AR as part of that time passing strategy while you wait for the rain to stop, the wind to die down, and the waters to recede, I thank you for that.  I hope you're all safe and dry, I hope everybody has enough food and water, and I hope I can be a small part of getting things back to normal for everyone now that the storm has passed and I'm back to my regular writing routine.

Looking Ahead To The AB4AR Offseason

(Best believe we're going to keep the Horse talk to a minimum this offseason)

The players may be well on their way to cleaning out their lockers, making their golf plans, and setting the rest of their offseason schedules.  But at AB4AR, we aren't doing any of that, because...

/obvious sports cliche coming

THERE IS NO OFFSEASON AT AB4AR, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!  WE'RE COVERING YANKEE BASEBALL 25 HOURS A DAY, 8 DAYS A WEEK UP IN THIS PIECE!!!!

Now that we got that out of the way, let me expound upon that idea a bit.  Yes, it's true, there won't be any big offseason breaks for me during the MLB offseason, at least none that I'm planning.  The baseball may be done but there's plenty left to talk and write about over the next 5 months, and I don't plan on missing any of it (unless I end up going to another wedding and miss something really exciting).

We'll start out taking a week or 2 to look back on the 2012 season and all its participants, the good, the bad, and the ugly, before handing out some Major League and Minor League end-of-year awards and putting 2012 to bed.  Then we'll really move the focus towards the offseason; free agent profiles, potential trade targets, payroll talk, building a lineup for 2013, etc..  There will be a few non-serious Offseason Space Filler posts sprinkled in for days when there really isn't anything of value to talk about, and there will be AB4AR Prospect Week and the unveiling of the 2012-2013 edition of the AB4AR Top 30 Prospects list sometime in late December-early January.

And believe me when I say that I'm going to cover the Alex Rodriguez saga only as much as I absolutely need to.  There are some things that will be worth discussing, and if some serious trade possibilities come up those definitely fit the bill, but if you're looking for a place to drag A-Rod through the mud for the next 5 months I suggest you look elsewhere.  There's plenty more to talk about than just how much A-Rod sucks and how the Yankees need to get rid of him, and I intend to make all of that stuff my primary focus this offseason.

Never Forget

Today marks the 11-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks on our country, and as someone whose family has such a close personal connection to the events I'd be remiss if I didn't take a moment to acknowledge today's significance.  I won't go back through and re-hash the details of my personal history, you can find them right here if you're interested.  Instead I'd just like to thank all the people who contributed to the rescue efforts on that day, those who were lucky enough to survive and those who lost their lives.  They're true American heroes and their sacrifice and bravery should never be forgotten.

It's easy to take things for granted in today's world.  I know I'm guilty of it from time to time.  But the freedoms and the rights that we have in this country are a gift, a gift that no person in any other country in the world can say they have, and knowing there are people out there whose job it is to protect those freedoms and those rights are what help make them so special.

There won't be a big concert or celebrity pledge drive on TV tonight, but that doesn't mean this day should be any less important.  At some point today, take a moment to think back on the events that unfolded 11 years ago, and pause to give thanks to those heroes we lost.  Their bravery and their memories should go on forever.

** UPDATE- Friend of the blog Gary Corbett brought this to my attention.  He's participating in the Tunnels to Towers 5K on September 30th to raise money to be donated to police, firefighter, and military personnel whose lives were affected by 9/11.  If you're already involved, good on you.  If you're not and you want to donate, you can do so here.**

AB4AR's 3-Year Anniversary

First off, I have to say that I'm glad I even remembered that today is the anniversary of the start of AB4AR, because I completely missed it last year and didn't even realize I had missed it until about mid-October.  I was that in the zone dumb and so I made doubly sure I didn't botch it again this year.

Now that the full disclosure of my idiocy is out of the way, I can get to what I really want to say.  Three years ago, I finally worked up the courage and the motivation to start a Yankee blog.  I had no idea what I wanted it to be, or how I wanted to cover Yankee baseball, but I knew I wanted to write about the Yankees.  That lack of direction was very clearly reflected in the early days of AB4AR, which are almost embarrassing to read when I go back and look at some of that stuff.  The subtitle on the banner of this site reads "attempting to balance rationality and basic baseball logic with rabid Yankee homerism."  In the early days, that balance was about 20% rationality and basic baseball logic and 80% rabid Yankee homerism.  Today, I'd like to think that balance has shifted to 80% rationality and logic and 20% homerism, and that's what I want the site to be.

I've turned this little site from a place where I could air my grievances with the UConn basketball team to something somewhat legitimate in the Yankee blogosphere.  I've had the opportunity to interact with and work with some of the best Yankee blogs and bloggers out there and that makes me feel good.  I take pride in the fact that this is just a one-man operation that churns out new content almost every day out of the year, and I take pride in the fact that people out there, whether you like and agree with my takes or hate them and think I'm an idiot, take time out of their days to read what I write.  I have absolutely no problem saying that very often I put more time and effort into writing for AB4AR than I do my actual job, so to know there are other Yankee fans and writers out there reading my stuff is awesome.

So to everybody out there who does read, or has read, something on AB4AR, even if it was only one post, thank you.  Thank you from the bottom of my black, sarcastic heart.  It's a pleasure and a privilege to be able to do this, and I'm looking forward to keeping AB4AR going into a 4th year, a 5th year, and hopefully much more than that.