Who bought the World Series?

Rick Sutcliffe is not the smartest baseball analyst around. This is adequately shown by his recent public drunkenness, but also shown by an article he recently wrote on ESPN.com. The guy does not write based upon facts, but writes based upon beliefs. Though he was a great baseball player, he has some work to do on analyzing baseball (why does the world believe that since you played a sport you must be a good analyst – Charles Barkley and Joe Morgan, case in point). Sutcliffe wrote:

“What people forget is that the Yankees championships' were built through their farm system and the draft. When they were winning World Series titles, starting in 1996, the Yankees were not led by players like Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, Gary Sheffield or Alex Rodriguez, all players who came aboard via free agency. They were led by Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera. All came up in the Yankees' system.”

That is indeed a good point that Jeter, Posada, Williams, and Rivera all came from the Yankees farm system, but was there anyone else in all those years that truly made a difference? No. Those championships were won based upon the free agents and trades who came into the Yankee system. Not only just ‘free agents and trades’ but ‘the best free agents and players available on the market.’ Here is a short list of players that came into the Yankees program to help them ‘buy’ a World Series from 1997 to 2000:

Wade Boggs
David Cone
Tino Martinez
Paul O’Neil
Tim Raines
Cecil Fielder
Jimmy key
Darryl Strawberry
David Wells
Orlando Hernandez
Chuck Knobloch
Chili Davis
Scott Brosius
Mike Stanton
Roger Clemens
Jose Canseco
Glenallen Hill
David Justice
Denny Neagle

There are probably many more that I have neglected to mention….but I think you get the picture - - The Yankees World Championships did not come from their farm system and draft.

Forever Memories Photography

Baseball seems to be handling itself without me blogging about it, so I am going to post some pictures from Forever Memories Photography, that deal with baseball. These pictures are absolutely amazing and caught my eye because of their uniqueness. These are actual photographs that have been manipulated to give it an old time picture feel. Look at the artistic ability and creativity of the photographer. The photographer is Stacey M. Griffin. She is a well-known photographer that specializes in children’s photography; however, she has taken wedding pictures all over the country and is known for her creativity, artistic foresight, and sweet personality. Check out the website at http://www.forevermemoriesphoto.com/. Apparently, she is in high demand but well worth booking a sitting with her….besides, her prices are less expensive than most photographers of her stature and experience.