The End of an Era... Big Al RIP
I've never been very political. While some of my friends, AFOMG included, were off reading up on world news, I often stuck to one of the simpler things in life: sports.
As a result, I don't have the strongest of political views. Ask me who I would vote for in the next presidential election and I'll tell you, very simply, anyone but Hillary Clinton.
Her candidacy is one of the only political topics I'll jump into. I feel strongly that any person who would allow herself to get completely played by her husband in front of the entire world only to stick by him just to further her career belongs in US Weekly, not the White House.
So I'm sorry to go off on a political tangent here, but politics may have met their match today, and Yankees2000 is proud to publicly endorse its favorite politician.
On Sunday, after a long 19 year career, Al Leiter announced that he was retiring from the game. And entering a new game.
Big Al. Man, did I love that guy.
For 7 seasons from 1998-2004 Al toed the rubber at Shea. He was outspoken and fidgety but most importantly, he was just a damn good guy.
He brought so much to the team that we often lose track of how great Al was. In his 7 years at Shea, Al was 95-65 with an ERA well below four.
Despite a subpar 99, Al was a huge part of the great runs of the Mets teams of 1999-2000. While Mike Hampton may have been the ace in 2000, Al was the heart of the pitching staff.
To hear him grunt with every 89 mph cutter almost became comical.
To watch him bang his glove when he made a mistake made you smile.
But most importantly, at the end of each day, Al would give you a quality start. When he was on the mound we felt like we had a chance to win, which as a Mets fan, is not that common a feeling.
So Al is no longer with us. He is giving up baseball to take on the worlds of broadcasting and maybe even politics. He's always been a big Republican advocate in NYC and truth is, I can deal with that.
If Al ever ran for office, I wouldn't care if his plans were to eliminate all bloggers, [Editor's note: and all slightly-overpaid small forwards gutting it out in obscurity in Oakland]. Whatever Big Al wanted I'd be on board.
And more so, if you put together a Leiter/Ventura campaign to take the White House in 2012, I would give up everything I was doing to make it happen.
So Al, farewell. You'll definitely be missed but certainly not be underappreciated.
Speaking of underappreciated, Chip and JJ, much love. [Editor's Note: Big Maciej has always felt a great amount of respect for Sippy Momo Sr., for being an Upper West Side Dad par excellence, what with his desire to spend weekends reading in Connecticut and attending basketball games in unsavory gyms in Harlem and even join his sons' friends at Blondies].
VCD,
SM
As a result, I don't have the strongest of political views. Ask me who I would vote for in the next presidential election and I'll tell you, very simply, anyone but Hillary Clinton.
Her candidacy is one of the only political topics I'll jump into. I feel strongly that any person who would allow herself to get completely played by her husband in front of the entire world only to stick by him just to further her career belongs in US Weekly, not the White House.
So I'm sorry to go off on a political tangent here, but politics may have met their match today, and Yankees2000 is proud to publicly endorse its favorite politician.
On Sunday, after a long 19 year career, Al Leiter announced that he was retiring from the game. And entering a new game.
Big Al. Man, did I love that guy.
For 7 seasons from 1998-2004 Al toed the rubber at Shea. He was outspoken and fidgety but most importantly, he was just a damn good guy.
He brought so much to the team that we often lose track of how great Al was. In his 7 years at Shea, Al was 95-65 with an ERA well below four.
Despite a subpar 99, Al was a huge part of the great runs of the Mets teams of 1999-2000. While Mike Hampton may have been the ace in 2000, Al was the heart of the pitching staff.
To hear him grunt with every 89 mph cutter almost became comical.
To watch him bang his glove when he made a mistake made you smile.
But most importantly, at the end of each day, Al would give you a quality start. When he was on the mound we felt like we had a chance to win, which as a Mets fan, is not that common a feeling.
So Al is no longer with us. He is giving up baseball to take on the worlds of broadcasting and maybe even politics. He's always been a big Republican advocate in NYC and truth is, I can deal with that.
If Al ever ran for office, I wouldn't care if his plans were to eliminate all bloggers, [Editor's note: and all slightly-overpaid small forwards gutting it out in obscurity in Oakland]. Whatever Big Al wanted I'd be on board.
And more so, if you put together a Leiter/Ventura campaign to take the White House in 2012, I would give up everything I was doing to make it happen.
So Al, farewell. You'll definitely be missed but certainly not be underappreciated.
Speaking of underappreciated, Chip and JJ, much love. [Editor's Note: Big Maciej has always felt a great amount of respect for Sippy Momo Sr., for being an Upper West Side Dad par excellence, what with his desire to spend weekends reading in Connecticut and attending basketball games in unsavory gyms in Harlem and even join his sons' friends at Blondies].
VCD,
SM
posted by Sippy Momo at 12:06 AM
1 Comments:
(1) I wonder what Al's ERA would be as a met if you eliminated all of his earned runs from the first inning. I remember thinking that with Al, if you got through the first frame without any damage, you were sitting pretty.
(2) I demand to know what you and Mr. Glass's buddy think of the Bannister-Heilman battle for a 5th starting spot. I'm rooting for Heilman for no good reason, other than that he seems like a good dude who's paid his dues (although I like the fact that Bannister claims that he used his time in the minors to develop other pitches at the expense of his stats -- if true, that's a guy you want on the club).
(3) Sip, as a complete aside, I would like to direct your attention to the fact that no matter where you roam, I doubt that you will ever change your voter regisrtration status away from New York (if you are in fact registered at all). As such, your votes for or against Big Hill will be meaningless and inconsequential, whether you're talking about a N.Y. Senate race, a Democratic primary, or presidential election. Therefore, I recommend that you cease and desist from any contemplation of her political future as it is completely futile and not worth diverting attention away from sports and this blog for even one moment. (However, should you become GM of the Cleveland Indians, and register in OH, the foregoing will no longer hold true, and your opinions on Hillary may in fact become consequential).
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