I Don't Like The Yankees So Much

If you google "reasons to hate the Yankees," over 4.5 million results show up. I don't have that many reasons to hate them, but as a lifelong Orioles fan...there are a few things about the Yankees that burn my ass!

#1 $200 Million payroll:

OK, we all know they spend more $$ than everyone else...big deal. $134 million more than the O's. I'd take the O's young and inexpensive talent over the Yankees old and declining roster any day!

#2 They win all the time:

This is a false statement. Mike Mussina pitched in New York the past 8 years, he has the same amount of World Series rings as I do. They had a dynasty from 96-2000. For the 25 years sandwiching that era...C*&K.



#3 The Fans

First of all, they all look like this guy.

Yankee fans don't like each other, let alone any other teams fans. They invade Camden Yards when the Yanks come to Baltimore. Yelling for Deerrrricckkk Jettterrr and Mariiiiianno Riiiverra. My favorite Yankees fans? The Japanese Matsui fans that don't speak English.
Look, you can go to almost any bar or store anywhere in America and see a Yankee hat or jersey. It's no big deal. There may be 2 guys in said bar or store with Yankee hats and they won't even acknowledge each other, because it's common place. But if your wearing an O's hat in Tampa, and another guy walks in the bar wearing the same hat...that's a kinship. You have a bond.



#2 Jeffrey Maier

Let's face it O's fans, baseball is full of curses...we have the Jeffrey Maier curse. Little prick.

#1 They score hot chicks

Why wouldn't they? They all have $100 million dollar contracts. Whether it's Jeter banging Minka Kelly...or for that matter nearly every girl from my Sweet 16 Hot Chick contest, or A-Rod tapping Kate Hudson and Madonna (it would have been more impressive for Craig Nettles to bang out Madonna, she was hotter back then.) But wait, it doesn't stop there, Jorge Posada (operation Dumbo drop) has a hot wife, CC Sabathia (weighs 330) is doing well for himself, and AJ Burnett's wife is smokin! I'm sure it doesn't stop there, hell...I bet Craig Nettles wife is still hot.

Karen Burnett (Maryland girl)

And for the record, if you google "reasons to hate the Orioles," you only get 190,000 results. We win.

Cheers and Hail

July 7: Happy Birthdays

On a daily basis, Fatpickled recognizes the birthdays of the men who have played, and currently play for, my favorite teams. The Redskins, Orioles, Wizards, and Terps.

Happy birthday Michael Westbrook. Michael spent 7 seasons in Washington, as an underachieving 4th overall pick. Mostly known for sucker punching Stephen Davis, Westbrook did have a decent season in 1999. That year he hooked up with Brad Johnson 65 times for 1,191 yards and 9 TD's. The following year he blew out his ACL and was gone for good the year after. His final career numbers were not hateful, 324-4,112-26, but fall far short of Joey Galloway's, who was chosen 4 spots later (Steve Mcnair was drafted directly in front of Westbrook, RIP.)
Since retiring, Westbrook has fought in some weird MMA fights. The best thing that I can remember about Michael was his 40 yard TD reception against the Cardinals in 1997. It was the first game ever at the former Jack Kent Cooke stadium. The reception came in overtime and was a beautiful diving grab. I nearly hit my head on the ceiling jumping up and down. Happy 37th Michael.

Happy birthday Ralph Sampson. The Virginia native closed out his NBA career with the Bullets during the 1991-92 season. He lasted just 10 games, averaging 2.2 pts and 3.0 rebounds for a team that won just 25 games. Of course we all know that Sampson was one of the greatest college players of all-time, a 4 time All-American and 3 time AP Player of the year at UVA. He won the NBA Rookie of the year award, and was a good NBA player before his knees betrayed him. After retirement he's had a tough time, with several brushes with the law. But it's all good today, as Sampson turns 49.

July 6: Happy Birthdays

On a daily basis, Fatpickled recognizes the birthdays of the men who have played, and currently play for, my favorite teams. The Redskins, Orioles, Wizards, and Terps.


Happy birthday Joe Jacoby. The former offensive tackle for the Washington Redskins hits the big Five-O today. Born July 6, 1959, Joe played 13 years in the NFL, all with the Redskins. A 4 time Pro Bowler and 2 time All-Pro, Joe has 3 Super Bowl rings. An original member of the Hogs, he's destined to one day be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. An added bonus, he's now an Assistant Coach at my Alma mater.


Happy birthday Alvin Harper. Alvin Harper was the Brandon Lloyd of his day. Norv Turner loved to bring in ex-Cowboys during his tenure, and Harper was brought in to "stretch the field."
He stretched it all right. 1 time for 52 yds, and then for good measure he caught another pass for 12 yards. That's right. 2 catches for 64 yds in 12 awful games that 97' season. Happy 41st Mr. Harper, thanks for nothing.



Happy birthday Todd Husak. Drafted by the Skins in 2000, Husak appeared in one NFL game going 2-2 for negative 2 yards...how does that happen? He bounced around some training camps/practice squads and NFL Europe, but never became the next Gus Frerotte. He now broadcast Stanford football games. Happy 31st Todd.



Happy birthday Brian Bass. The current Orioles middle reliever was born 27 years ago today. Brian is currently 4-2 with a 4.62 ERA this season.



Happy birthday Norm Charlton. The former "nasty boy" spent one half of a season going 2-1 with a 6.94 ERA before the Orioles released him after the all-star break in 1998.

Cheers and Hail

Orioles Midseason: Magic Or Tragic?

Halfway thru the 2009 season the Orioles are definitely a work in progress. Having shown signs of improvement, they still finished the first half at 36-45...and with a firm grip on last place in the AL East. Their record also placed them 24Th out of 30 MLB teams. But, it hasn't been all bad...let's take a look at the first half, the positives (Orioles Magic) and the negatives (Orioles Tragic.)

Orioles Magic:

Adam Jones - Voted to his first All-Star game today, Jones is having a breakout year. He's almost eclipsed his numbers from last year, in every category. He batted .307-12-46 in the first half and played a gold glove centerfield. And he blew bubbles the whole time.

Luke Scott - He has swung a hot bat all year, .296-16-43, despite a stint on the DL.

Markakis, Roberts, & Huff - The big 3 have been as steady as ever. Roberts is tracking 70 extra base hits, Markakis is tracking 108 RBI's and Huff 110 RBI's.

Nolan Reimold - NOLAN! He finally got his chance and he's delivered. 9 HR's in only 45 games. He's got sneaky speed and doesn't seem over matched in any situation.

Brad Bergesen - All he has done is go 5-2 with a 3.53 ERA since being called up. His record would have been better if not for the bullpen letting him down twice. Plus, he's been lights out working with Matt Wieters.

Tragic:

Free Agent Class 2009 - Ryan Freel, Chad Moeller, and Adam Eaton are already gone from the organization. The rest of the class, Koji Uehara, Mark Hendrickson, Ty Wigginton, Cesar Izturis, and Greg Zaun range from disappointing to horribly disappointing.

Cubs prospects turned Orioles prospects - Since taking over the O's, Andy Macphail has made a point of picking up or trading for draft picks that didn't pan out during his tenure with the Cubs. Guess what...they still suck with an Orioles uniform on. I guess there's a reason we got Hill, Montanez, and Pie for next to nothing.

Middle relief - Bass, Hendrickson, Walker, Sarfate, Liz, and Ray have been absolutely horrible.

Melvin Mora - Not sure if it's age or something else?? He went nearly a month without an RBI and has 2 HR's and 9 extra base hits so far.

To Be Determined:

Matt Wieters - The knock on him coming up was that he was not going to be a good defensive catcher...so far he's been great behind the dish. His bat was slow to get going, but it's gotten hot the past couple of weeks. Expect a big 2nd half.

Cheers and Hail

Mr. Romo Comes To Washington

I don't know if wearing horizontal stripes makes you look fat, but it sure makes your tits look big!

Tony Romo visited Washington Redskins territory today, playing in a foursome with Tiger Woods at Tiger's tourney. Thanks to the wonder of Twitter, I was able to get some juicy nuggets via @dcsportsbog and @redskinsblog.

From what I can gather, Redskin's fans were pretty respectful of the game of golf and didn't give Romo too hard of a time. A few boos and some trash talking including a Redskin fan telling Romo to "hit it like it's December." Word is that the biggest applause of the day was not for Tiger, but for Jason Campbell. Very, very nice!

Some folks were complaining that Tiger should have been playing with JC. Tiger didn't play with JC for the same reasons Tiger wouldn't play with me...JC and I are not very good golfers. Plus I'm sure he enjoyed sneaking a peak at Jessica's fun bags all day.

And the best tweet of the day is this gem from Dan Steinberg "True story: Just found a random golf ball iin some rough. Romo must have fumbled it."

(photo via Shutdown Corner)

Cheers and Hail

The Six Degrees Of Fatpickled

Six Degrees of Fatpickled is a rundown of 6 items that I have enjoyed. Make sure you check them out.


The Washington Times have been conducting a countdown of the 20 greatest players in Gary Williams 20 years at Maryland. They confirm what I've said all along, #1 Juan Dixon. (Wash Times)

A Michael Jackson tribute from where else...the Washington Redskins. Play the video in this post and if it doesn't bring a smile to your face get a douche or an enema. (Redskins Blog)

A Billy Mays tribute. Please, please, please watch the Orangle Glo video. "I love beautiful wood, don't you?" (Gunaxin) (via Hot Clicks)

Here's a video from the locker room of the 1982 NFC Champion Washington Redskins...ahh the glory days. (Hogs Haven)



From NESW SPORTS, The Top 10 Sports Movies That Make Men Cry. I personally am ok during most of these except Hoosiers(a small tear, when Hackman tells the team he loves them,) and Field Of Dreams(a big cry, when Costner has a catch with his dad.)




Cheers and Hail

Favorite All-Time Baseball Card: Bill Ripken 89 Fleer

This is one in a series of posts that I am writing about my favorite things. What’s your favorite things? Tell me in the comments section or email me from the main page of the site.

I was 14 years old when I heard about the Bill Ripken error card. Was it real, was it an urban legend? Word on the street was there was a Bill Ripken card out there that had a vulgar word written on it. There was no Internet back then to "google" it. There was no EBay back then to purchase it. All you could do was try to find the card in your local card shop (no chance,) or try to find a picture of it in Beckett magazine (if you could find one.)

I opened many Fleer packs that summer, even got a couple Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards...but no B Rip F&*k Face cards. None to be found at Pete's Card Shop, none at Grandpaw's Attic (the 2 card shops in my hometown in 89.) But, what would I do if I found one anyway? I could only look... at it's height the card was going for $500 bucks.

I eventually purchased the card in 2006 for $7 dollars. It's a mint condition card that I had Billy sign. Eventually, Fleer put out 12 different 1989 Bill Ripken cards, but 1 stood out the most. The mystery surrounding the card and how F&%k Face got on the handle was divulged in this interview with Bill. Yes, on the 20th anniversary of this card, it's still the best out there. It's the error card of all error cards. You can have your cards with pieces of uniforms, bats, and bases...give me F&*k Face.

Apologies to Cal's rookie card, Eddie Murray's rookie card, and all my signed Nick Markakis cards.

Cheers and Hail