An Open Letter

To Johnny Damon (1 for 9), Derek Jeter (1 for 8), Robinson Cano (1 for 7), Hideki Matsui (0 for 7), Jorge Posada (0 for 7) and A-Rod (0 for 6):

When is a Baby not a Baby?

As I watched my almost-thirteen-month-old climb up a set of stairs today (which she did for the first time while I was at work), I was struck by how non-baby like she is. She's got a full head of hair with curls in the back, she was wearing jeans, she is really communicating with us...at what point is she no longer "Baby Bud" and "Little Girl Bud?"

Some thoughts, none of which I really like:

• When she walks
• When she speaks sentences. (Or, when she asks a question)
• When she says 'no'
• When she releases her first album
• When she is 1 (or 2, or some other chronological milestone)
• When she starts school

Any thoughts? (And, if she is no longer "Baby Bud", is it fair for me to still be "Newdaddy"?)

Oh, and when is a Yankee Fan not a Yankee Fan? Tonight? Here's my question: who do you root for in the Red Sox - Angels series? With the terrible track record (not to mention post-season track record) the Yankees have against the Angels, we'd probably rather see Boston next week than L.A. Also, if the Yankees and Red Sox meet up in the ALCS, we can avenge the tragic events of 2004.

On the other hand, what self-respecting Yankee Fan roots for the Red Sox under any circumstances? Plus, and I hate myself for saying this, what if the ALCS is New York/Boston, and it turns into a trainwreck-a-la-'04? Yikes.

Finally, and I'll write more about this in the coming weeks, the Newfamily is moving! The move is going to be in a few weeks. Don't worry Garden State, we're staying within the Jersey borders...however, Bud and her accessories take up a tremendous amount of space...and we need space.

BOOOYAHH!!!

(I know, it's loser talk not to post the AL East Champion T-Shirt as the Yanks are not out of the running yet. But, given the respective records of Cleveland and Los Angeles, I'd rather get the wild card, as I think the Yanks have a much better chance against the Indians. See, for example, 2002 and 2005).

How SWEEP it is!!!

I don't know what it is, but something in me wants to post THIS picture:

Strange, huh? Don't you just love August baseball? I know, "but the Yanks are still 5 games out of the AL East." To that I say: before the A-Rod "Ha" incident, they were 14 1/2 out. Some might consider that a pretty sizable collapse of the first place team (whose name is escaping me at the moment).

2090!

Yankees 9, Detroit 3, Bad Parents 2

With Newgrandma and Newgrandpa watching Bud, Newmommy and I climbed to Row N of the Tier Reserved section of Yankees Stadium yesterday, and watched the Bombers silence the Tigers 9-3. While Wang's pitching was uneventful, the young tag-team of Joba & Edwar pitched 3 perfect innings.
What made this victory so sweet was that the big "L" went to Bonderman. You remember Bonderman, right? More good news as we were leaving Yankee Stadium: the California, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Los Angeles of Anaheim....well, the West Coast Not Red Sox won, bringing the Yankees to within four of the AL East Crown. Stupid Seattle had to win and ruin my perfect day. Stupid day-ruiner.

Which brings me to Tier Reserved Row M, seats to two of the worst parents I have ever seen. Mr. & Mrs. Row M (and extended family) brought their adorable little three-year-old girl to see the game. Definitely a point in their favor. But, as an impartial ump...these parents are 0-1 in parenting in my book (big strikeout, definitely not 'looking'):

Strike One: letting the kid stand on her fold-down seat without supervision, leading to the inevitable fall and the even-more-inevitable giant bruise between the eyes.

Strike Two: waiting 1 1/3 innings to get up and get ice for the developing welt.

Strike Three: trying to carry out the kid in one hand, beer in the other.

The parents' combined beer total equaled the number of runs scored by the Yankees. That may have been acceptable in May, but not today.

P.S. Thank you Angels. You can stop winning now.

I'm Going to Have to Kick My Own Ass

We found out over the weekend that friends of ours are pregnant. Well, actually the woman of the couple is the pregnant one, but pregnancy is pretty rough on the men too, so I guess I can credit them both with the pregnancy. Anyway, we got on the subject of current movies and, as a new father, I haven't had many movie-going opportunities recently. But that is no excuse for what I said..."Get your movies in now!" Have I forgotten what it was like being a soon-to-be-newdaddy...all the unsolicited advice? The minute the words left my mouth I cringed that I had said that...and Newmommy was quick to call me out on it. Man, I love this chick.

In other news, this morning when Newmommy and I opened Bud's door, she was sitting up in her crib, talking to her stuffed animals. She turns and looks at us as if to say "What are you looking at?" Bud sits up on her own now, I guess.

In other other news, I have recaptured my winning Yankees-game attendance record, improving last night to 3-2. I'm beating Clemens!

No Joy in Mudville

Today we (me, Newmommy, Newaunt, and Newgrandma) took Newgrandpa to the Yankees game as his father's day present and, oh how I wish I got him a tie....or cufflinks....or allowed him to use this day to get a colonoscopy- it would have been much more pleasant.

In case you're not scoring at home: 7-0 Oakland. Our one moment of glory was a Johnny Damon hit in the sixth: the only Yankee hit of the game. We did not bring Bud to the game, but, if we did, she would have made it longer than the Yankee's starting pitcher: Kei Igawa. The highlights of the game surrounded fans catching foul balls (there were some great catches, by the way). This puts my season to 2-2.

That team needs to undergo some major personnel changes if we're ever going to rebuild the dynasty of the late '90s.