Well, Hello Sexy: My Affair With The New Yankee Stadium

(I know this looks long, but it's quick. Just like my ex boyfriend.)

After years of being a Yankees season ticket holder, I was finally priced out. In the new stadium, my seats would not have been as good and now that I've re-located, I can't go to the 40-50 games I used to. I certainly couldn't afford the prices on the secondary market and therefore had resigned myself to watching the first regular season game in the new Yankee Stadium on television.

Then, late Wednesday afternoon, I got an email from a contact I have at Pepsi (the new "official beverage of the New York Yankees") offering me a pair of tickets to the game. Of course I didn't even think twice about it. I'm very easily bought.

So being that I was out of town at the time, I jumped on a bus from DC at 6:45am and began the trek to the new Yankee Stadium. My heart belonged to the original one (my thoughts from the final game are here), and I was holding my judgment on the sexy new lover that had come to claim my affection. I got to the city and jumped on the familiar D train, the same train that carried me to my second home hundreds of times before.

Get Well Soon, Jorge

Much to our Sarah's dismay, Jorge Posada is staring down what could quite possibly be the end of his season.

After missing over a month earlier on in the year with right rotator cuff tendinitis, the veteran New York Yankees catcher landed on the disabled list for the second time in his career (and this season) Monday.

The bad news? Posada could be headed for serious surgery on the injured shoulder, which he uses to do things like throw baseballs. Rehab after surgery would be four to six months, leaving him out for the season.

This kinda sucks for the Yanks, who have seen the 36-year-old backstop hit just .268 with three bombs and 22 RBIs over 51 games this season after signing a four-year, $52.4 million deal this winter.

We'll see what happens after Tuesday's MRI.

[Newsday] | [Zell's Pinstripe Blog] | [Bats] | [River Ave. Blues]

Happy 4th of July

We hope everyone has a relaxing, safe and fun Fourth!

-- Sooze, Lizzy, Sarah & Melissa

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to Sarah, the devoted Cleveland Indians fan, whose dedication to her Tribe at the home opener proved sweet enough to earn 53.8% of the votes to win an MLB.com gift card, along with a sweet BLB t-shirt and cap.

Thanks to all who voted!

[BLB Ballpark Photo Contest]

Okay, Seriously This Time

So, we realize it took two extra days for us to decide on the four finalists for the BLB Ballpark Photo Contest, but it was really difficult. We sincerely apologize for the delay and thank you for your patience. Here they are, in no particular order.

#1. Melissa had many favorites, but ultimately settled on this old school pic of Becky at Wrigley Field from 1983. *Editor's note: Sooze did some detective work and found a recent picture of this life-long Cubbies fan, at Wrigley of course.

The Fab Four

We are at our happiest when at ballgames, and it seems you are, too. We asked you to send us your favorite picture from the ballpark, and we received an over-whelming response. Some were hilarious, some were heart-warming, some were totally inappropriate. But you'll have that, since most of you found us via google search for "babes."

So, we're having a little trouble choosing the pictures we liked best. We're gonna need another day or two. Posted above is a photo of fellow blogger Clare. She gets an A for effort.

Below is Camp Tiger Claw. So hot.


Check back tomorrow for the four finalists to see if you're one of them!

[BLB Ballpark Photo Contest]

That Certainly is a Hot Dog

Just a friendly reminder that we'll be choosing our favorite ballpark photos this Tuesday before handing over the giant responsibility of dubbing the most awesome one to our lovely readers.

The prize for the sweetest pic is a $50 MLB.com gift card, and a BLB t-shirt and cap. So send your photos -- but please not of your body parts. That was sick dude, and I swear to god if I ever find out who you are I'll punch you there -- by Tuesday, June 24th and cross your baseball-loving fingers until Friday, cause those are some badass accolades.

Also, pictures of lone hot dogs -- relish or no -- do not count. Hot dogs cannot wear t-shirts, hats, nor spend gift cards online.

[BLB Ballpark Photo Contest]

CSU Baseball Coach's Pants Are On Fire

Just days after it was announced on the school's athletics site that Chicago State University Baseball Coach Husain Mahmoud will remain the head coach of CSU’s baseball team, the announcement was taken down. Why? Because he's a liar liar pants on fire, that's why.

A tip was emailed by an anonymous alumni alumnus guy who used to go there and forwarded on to us by Brian Foley of The College Baseball Blog. Here is what the anonymous snitch had to say:

I am writing you guys to let you know about Chicago State University (Div. 1 independent) Baseball Coach Husain Mahmoud.

If you click on the article that was put on the CSU website when Mahmoud was hired (link below), it states a number of things that a little bit of research by some people was found to be absolutely false.

After doing some research to verify what was said in the article, a few things were uncovered, quite easily, which make it appear that we fabricated some stuff and was not truthful. Reach your own conclusion, I am just presenting what I have found.

He says he was drafted by the Reds in the 30th round in 1971. The 30th round draft pick by the reds in 1971 was Craig Kleibl, out of Miami.

He says he lead the league in passing in this football league in both 1977 and 1978, even though it appears from the links below that the league folded in 1969, and there wasn't even a league during these years:

He says he was on the Chicago Fire in 1985, even though the Chicago Fire had stopped being a football team before 1985. [Ed. note: the article claims Mahmoud played with the Chicago Fire in 1980 not 1985. The Fire was no longer a team as of 1975, which makes him a fibber either way.]

Well I'll be. But I ask you: Why, in this day and age of the new-fangled innernets do people think they can lie about things like this? I mean, my Match.com profile says I'm 5'10 and 36-24-36. But really I'm only 5'8.

We've reached out to the school's athletic department for comment. We'll keep you posted, but we can only assume their official response will be, "Google? Never heard of it."

Send Us a Pic of Your Hot Self

Would you like to win a gift card to MLB.com? Of course you would. All you have to do is send us a picture of yourself at a ballpark.

State Farm was kind enough to hook us up with a $50 MLB.com gift card (details below) to give away to one lucky BLB reader. To become eligible to win this and other sweet prizes, just send us one picture of you alone, with friends or family, however you roll at a ballpark. The four of us will then pick our favorite photo, submitting it to a BLB poll, where our readers will choose their favorite. The winner will receive the gift card and a badass Babes Love Baseball t-shirt and hat. It's that simple.

You can send those pics to babeslovebaseball@gmail.com. We will choose our faves on Tuesday, June 24th and open the readers poll until that Friday, when we will announce the winner. We can't wait!

The Hook-up: State Farm is working alongside MLB once again with this summer's Call Your Shot consumer promotion, going down at the Home Run Derby during All Star festivities. Fans can enter to win once a day until Tuesday, June 24th at sfCallYourShot.com. The grand prize winner will stand on the field next to the one and only David Ortiz during the derby to call the home run location of a single delivery to Big Papi.

Injured wrists make it pretty tough to swing a bat, so Ortiz will not be participating in the actual Call Your Shot Challenge. There will be a contest between eight other soon-to-be-named hitters and the top 2 will bat in the promotion, giving the fan 2 chances to win the prize.

The winner will also receive an all-expense paid trip for four to the All-Star Game and State arm Home Run Derby, first class hotel accommodations in New York, tickets to a Broadway show, and a MasterCard gift card worth $1,000. Ten more fans will win first place prizes of a $300 MLB.com gift card and 25 second prize winners will get their hands on a $100 MLB.com gift cards.

By the way, last time Sooze entered an MLB sweepstakes, she almost won a date with Alyssa Milano. Instead, she won an autographed Alyssa Milano baseball. (So close.)

[Epic Carnival] | [The 'Ropolitans] | [Walkoff Walk] | [East Coast Bias]

Happy Memorial Day

Pictured above are the boys from Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq, enjoying America's Pastime. The guy at first? That's Jimmy, and we are his #1 fans.

Today we honor our troops, the brave men and women who have fought and died for our freedom, and those who are still fighting today. So before you fire up the grill and drink your case of Schlitz, stop for a moment of silence, and say thank you.

[Center Field] | [Baseball Musings]

Braves Fan Drinks and Dives

Terrible news in Atlanta...a Braves fan died Wednesday after falling 150 feet from the club level at Turner Field.

From the AP:

Alcohol was a factor in the death of a 25-year-old man who fell down a stairwell at Turner Field during the game between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets.

Justin Hayes of Cumming, Ga., suffered head injuries Wednesday night and was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. He fell about 150 feet from the club level to the landing on the field level during the eighth inning.

Not much left to say after that.

Albert Pujols: Menace to Society

Not for those with the weak stomachs... Albert Pujols manages to knock both Padres pitcher Chris Young and catcher Josh Bard out of the game Wednesday night in San Diego.

For the record, I'm a huge fan of Pujols and happen to think he's a classy guy. Both incidences were unpredictable and without malice.

HT to Awful Announcing and the beautiful Jen for the heads up.

Francona vs. Big Papi: Who you got?

It's a classic story. Manager does interview. Player clowns around in the background. Manager threatens to kick player's ass. Even better when the manager is Terry Francona and the player is David Ortiz.

The magic happens at the end of the interview.

I seriously think Francona could take him.

On Karma and Good Deeds

Disclaimer: I posted this story on Strike Zones and Endzones also. Just saving you from reading it twice.

So, Thursday night I headed to Nationals Park for the game and thanks to the glory of corporate seats, I had six tickets. Because of changing schedules (and the fact that they were playing the lowly Pirates, I ended up with three extra tickets.

On the way to the game on the Metro, we ran into three baseball fans decked out in Red Sox gear - hats, sweatshirts, the whole nine. As a Yankees fan I was obliged to give them a friendly hard time. We started chatting and it turned out that this was their first time going to the new Nationals Park and they hadn't bought tickets yet. So in a moment of good nature, I handed over my three extra tickets for free and told them to enjoy the game.

Fast forward a few days to Sunday. I was in the car on the way to the Yankees game (I'm a two city girl) and was sitting in a bit of traffic heading into the garage. While we were stopped, the woman in the car in front of mine jumped out and ran back to my window. I rolled down the window, thinking she had a question or was lost, and instead she handed me an extra parking pass she happened to have, saving me the $20 it would have cost me to park in the garage.

Moral of the story...karma exists and Yankees fans aren't all douchebags.

Have an Ice-Cold Slump Buster

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Jorge Posada Out For First Time Ever

Jorge Posada -- Sarah's most favorite player in the whole wide world -- was placed on the 15-day disabled list for the first time in his career Monday, after an MRI revealed a strain in his shoulder.

The 36-year-old New York Yankees catcher, who has caught at least 137 games in each of his past eight seasons, was getting worried that the issue with his shoulder was more serious a matter than he initially thought could be corrected by rest and rehab. This marks the first time since September of 1996 that Posada has not been on the Yankees' active roster.

Jose Molina will now get a shot at the starting backstop duties. To take Posada's spot on the roster, the club recalled Chris Stewart from the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

[NY Times]

Nationals Pick Up a Free Agent

I present you with the newest member of the Washington Nationals...



Full Name: Sam R. Intoxicologist
Born: To party
Birthplace: Washington, DC
Height: Tall enough to stand at the bar
Weight: A few extra beers
Bats: Lefty
Throws: Up

Accomplishments:

- Has completed all 12 steps three times
- Can round the bases without spilling his beer
- Leads the league in doubles...seeing double
- Can steal second, and your keg, with blinding speed
- Leads the team in numerous stats, including BAC, DUI, and DWI

Bonus Fun Fact for the Fans: a google search for "drinking" turns up this.

Losers of the Week

As we all know, the baseball season gives us many reasons to cheer. But just as plentiful are the moments we jeer and the people who make those moments possible.

It will be those zeroes that we'll highlight every Friday in Losers of the Week.

Today's post sponsored by Stolichnaya Vodka. "Stolichnaya: Relieving pain since 1901."



I want to start with an actual conversation heard outside Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night.

Douchbag Red Sox fan to Bronx cop: Hey, aren't there any cops who are Red Sox fans around here?

Bronx cop to douchbag Red Sox fan: Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?


ESPN lands on our list this week for being lame. Blindsiding Miguel Tejada with a copy of his birth certificate is, as Charles Barkley put it, bush league. It's also a cop out for the news they can't break.

"We can't prove he's taking PED's so let prove he's really 33 instead."

Next on our list is baseball announcer Marty Brennaman. Not for his Bob Uecker hair and retirement village tan, but for being a grumpy Cubs fan hater. "They're throwing balls on the field at a baseball game! Degenerates!". If I was a Cubs fan, I'd need to find other ways to entertain myself at a game too.

And speaking of Cubs fans, the creators of these incredibly offensive (yet kinda funny) Cubs shirts round out our list today. Not for making the shirts, because they are quite marketable, but for not selling them on the internet so people can buy them without hiking it out to Wrigley. And that goes double for the Yankee Pope hats.

And now, your baseball zen moment of the week:

Oh How The Red Sox Make Us Laugh

So last night's Yankees/Red Sox game was an ass-kicking. A pounding that I happened to be in attendance for.

Rather than spend an entire post sucking the Yankees' lollipops (cue the "They won a game. Big deal." comments), I'll just provide you with some of the comedic moments the Red Sox so graciously provided for us last night.

Cue the music...

If I could ever love a Red Sox (Sock? Soc? Sok? What's the singular for Red Sox? Oh, Suck. Gotcha.)...

Swing and a foul....and a fall...

Manny being Manny...which is pretty much like Dumb being Dumber...

Many, many thanks to Intentional Foul and Awful Announcing for help in getting these clips. We who are about to laugh salute you.

What???

Aw, shit.