NY SPORTS 24/7

NY YANKEES: WHAT'S WRONG WITH AARON JUDGE? By: Matthew Blittner A tale of two halves. Yankees' slugger Aaron Judge has been both the best player and the worst player in baseball this season. For the first-half of the season, Judge was the runaway AL Rookie-of-the-Year candidate and the presumptive favorite for the AL MVP Award. In the second-half, Judge has been as pitiful as he was last season during his initial call-up to the Majors. A first-half that saw him bat .329 with 30 home runs has given way to a second-half that has seen him hit just five home runs and see his batting average drop all the way to .289. So, what has caused this abrupt drop in performance? Many people have pointed to the so called, "curse of the home run derby," as a reason for Judge's second-half slide. After winning the derby down in Miami, many have speculated that it messed up Judge's swing, thus leading to the awful results we now see. Othe...

NY YANKEES: WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH MASAHIRO TANAKA? By: Matthew Blittner Today, Saturday August 12th, 2017, the New York Yankees announced that once again, presumptive staff ace, Masahiro Tanaka has been placed on the 10-Day DL, this time with right shoulder inflammation. In his fourth season with the Bombers, Tanaka has hit the DL for the third time in his stateside career. A prized pitcher out of Japan, Tanaka came to the Yankees on a 7-year/$155million contract -- signed prior to the 2014 season. With the signing came high expectations and much fanfare.  Initially Tanaka proved he was up to the task of meeting the expectations. He got off to a 12-4 start during the 2014 season, before being shutdown with a partially torn UCL. Normally such an injury requires Tommy John Surgery, but on the advice of his doctors, Tanaka was prescribed rest and given a PRP injection. Six weeks later he was back on a Major League mound. After finishing his rookie campaign ...

NYC SPORTS: MOST UNBELIEVABLE MOMENTS By: Matthew Blittner The City of Champions. The City that never sleeps. Frank Sinatra once sang, "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere." With all the teams that have called New York City home, it's no wonder that the linage of sports moments runs deep. In order to be eligible for the following list the event must have some importance to its' respective sport or team, and MUST have taken place with the geographical limits of New York City. With out any further preamble here is the list from 12 to 1. 12. FAREWELL MARIANO The New York Yankees are the winningest franchise in North American professional sports history. 27 World Titles and counting, have led Yankees' fans to be spoiled by their team's success. One player who was integral to their last five championships was Mariano Rivera. The All-Time Major League saves leader, Rivera was a rock in the Bombers' bullpen for...

MLB: TOP-10 MOST UNBREAKABLE RECORDS By: Matthew Blittner Records are made to be broken. Anybody who has ever been involved with sports at any level knows that records and milestones are always at the forefront in the minds of fans.  There is a certain excitement that is palpable when your favorite player is approaching a well known record, and when they match and surpass it, a huge celebration occurs. Not all records are attainable. Contrary to the saying above, "records are made to be broken," not all records can be had, and when that special player comes along and actually does the unthinkable, it is all the sweeter. Without further ado, here is a list (in no particular order) of the 10 most unbreakable records in Major League Baseball. 1. 511 WINS -- CY YOUNG In today's Major Leagues most starting pitchers don't go beyond six-innings pitched in a given start. With the advent of specialized bullpens starting pitchers don't r...

NY YANKEES: PREDICTING THE 2019 ROSTER By: Matthew Blittner It's time to enter the vortex of the future. With a potentially historic free agent class of 2018-19, MLB is headed for an offseason of craziness. One team that is in prime position to capitalize on this historic class is the New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers have always been big spenders in free agency, and usually have a top-2 payroll in the League. After the past few season, in which the Bomber brass showed fiscal restraint, in order to reset the luxury tax, it will once again be time to spend in the winter of 2018-19. A combination of expiring contracts, and young talent will leave the Yankees with hundreds of millions to spend on whatever player(s) they want. So, who will be on the team during the 2019 season, let's peer into that crystal ball and divine the future. First Base: Greg Bird. I know, I know. Yankees fans are tired of hearing his name. The oft-injured First-Baseman should fin...

NY RANGERS: PREDICTIONS FOR LINES, PAIRINGS, & UNITS By: Matthew Blittner With training camps across the NHL due to open next month, now is a good time to peer into our crystal ball and see the future. We're not looking to far ahead, just to the start of the season and what lines, pairings, and units the Blueshirts will be using on opening night. Many fans like to attempt and divine the future through playing fantasy sports.  Everybody likes to play General Manager for an hour or so, but they have no idea just how hard it is to actually do the job of Jeff Gorton and Co. But that never stops people from trying. So, without further ado, here's an educated estimation of what the Rangers opening night lineup will look like. Forward Lines: Top line: Zuccarello-Zibanejad-Nash Zucc and Zib are a combo that works, as is Zib and Nash. Having these three together is the Rangers' best play-making and goal-scoring dynamic. Second line: K...

BLOOD RIVALS: YANKEES-RED SOX -- A HISTORICAL REVIEW By: Matthew Blittner Rivalry. It's such a strong, intense word. It can be used in any number of circumstances, but is most often used in professional sports. One of the oldest, most intense rivalries is none other than that of the Boston Red Sox versus the New York Yankees. Bean Town vs. the City that never sleeps. The Monster vs. Death Valley. It seems like forever that the Yankees and Red Sox have been feuding with each other, not unlike the Hatfields and the McCoys. Since the dawn of Major League Baseball's American League, there have been two franchises that have gone at it more then any other. I'm of course talking about the Yankees and Red Sox. With the YES Network dubbed, "Rivalry Week," approaching on August 11th, the Yankees will play the Red Sox and their crosstown rival Mets for 10 straight games. As such, this is a perfect opportunity to delve into the history of ...

WHO WILL BE THE NEXT TEAM TO PARADE DOWN THE CANYON OF HEROES? By: Matthew Blittner The city that takes stars and turns them into legends. The city that creates grand elegant names for its' heroes. In New York City we celebrate our teams with the most over-the-top celebrations imaginable. A big city with bigger names and all of that comes to a head in one grand place -- The Canyon of Heroes. The "Canyon" runs along Broadway, from Bowling Green to City Hall Park. The ticker-tape parades that have been held along this route are the stuff of legend and occur whenever one of New York City's professional sports teams wins a championship. Originally these parades were held for returning war heroes -- that's how the Canyon got its' nickname. (*Note-National and International championships like the US Women's Soccer team in 2015 are also celebrated in the Canyon.) The last time the Canyon was used for the championship celebration of a New York C...