Video - Billy Crystal batting at the NY Yankees Game in Tampa

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The mighty Billy Crystal has struck out
Published 3/13/2008 at Big League Stew
For those of you who thought Billy Crystal's run with the Yankees was going to spell the end of baseball as we know it, I have a question for you. That wasn't so bad, was it? Actually, watching Crystal was a lot of fun on an otherwise routine Thursday. Crystal didn't have to wait long get his fantasy on and then get out of the way for the real ballplayers. The soon-to-be-60-year-old comedian led off the bottom of the first inning as the team's designated hitter (not "designated Hebrew," as Crystal himself suggested on Wednesday) and worked the count to 3-1 before striking out against Pittsburgh lefty Paul Maholm. You can find the ...

Billy Crystal Strikes Out (Video)
Published 3/13/2008 by MCCAIN at RightFielders Women in Sports
Here is the video of Billy Crystal at bat for the New York Yankees. He batted first in a spring training Cactus League game in Arizona. To everyone’s surprise, Crystal looked comfortable at the plate. He swaggered into the batting box with a mouthful of chewing tobacco (or was it gum?), tapped his cleats with the bat, and began waving his bat menacingly over the head like someone who has done this before. Actually Billy Crystal has done this before. He played college baseball and has been a lifelong baseball fan. The Yankees are in his blood. He fouled off the 1-0 pitch and surprisingly ran the count to 3-1. The camera cut to Joe Torre who was probably ...

Bill Veeck Would Be Proud
Published 3/13/2008 by Carl Shimkin at Inside Pitch
As managers trot out one prospect after another, and painstakingly analyze the good, the bad, and the ugly of their prospective teams, fans anxiously tap their collective feet, counting down the days until the regular season kicks off. The long and dreary days of spring training can be just as monotonous for fans as it is for veteran players practicing the "wheel" play or hitting the cut off man for the umpteenth time. So, whenever there's a chance to break up the toil with some fun, or manufactured excitement, players and fans alike get a little giddy. Giddy is exactly how many baseball fans felt today when the Yankees squared off ...

Home video: Billy Crystal has a ball
Published 3/14/2008 by Dan Lamothe, Red Sox Monster at Red Sox Monster - MassLive.com
Tell you what: I don't like the headlines I'm seeing so far covering Billy Crystal's foray into New York Yankee pinstripes today . "Crystal strikes out in new career," says the AP . "Billy Crystal takes his swing at midlife crisis," says Newsday . "Retire Crystal, not jersey numbers," sniffs the New Daily News' Daily Blahg . Hello? This was a spring training game that Crystal played in. As long as no one gets hurt or maimed, it didn't matter. And if you watch this home video shot from the stands today, it seems like everyone's having a good time: In fact, ask fans of pretty much any team today what caught their interest first, and I'm ...

Billy Crystal Is Done Now
Published 3/14/2008 by Eamonn Brennan at FanHouse
Filed under: New York, Yankees, AL East, MLB Video If you haven't seen it about a hundred times already, here it is: Billy Crystal's one and only at-bat for the New York Yankees today. The nice thing about the above video is that it's a decent fan capture of the whole event, which is exactly what it is: an event. It's harmless, I know, but I can't help but feel a tinge of anger watching this. How many fans dream of doing exactly this -- taking major league pitches, just one at-bat -- and freaking Billy Crystal gets to do it? Now I'm just ...

In Defense Of Billy Crystal [Billy Crystal]
Published 3/14/2008 by Leitch at Deadspin
We know we're supposed to make fun of Billy Crystal's at-bat for the Yankees yesterday. We know that you expect us to. And certainly Crystal's hardly what passes for cutting edge entertainment anymore; God, was the last time he was funny in a movie really the first City Slickers? (Though he gets some leeway for being so great in Deconstructing Harry. But we digress.) We have seen how almost every columnist writes how Crystal was "embarrassing himself," and how it was some sort of pox on the sanctity of spring training baseball. We think they're just envious. We think it's ...

Detroit Defeat
Published 3/14/2008 by Sturminator at Bob's Blog - Live from Lewisville
Well, I said yesterday on the show that it wasn’t about the final score, it was about looking at the teams and wondering if the Stars had what it took to play the Red Wings straight up. Uh. Not great results again. Yes, a 3-1 lead late in the 2nd Period gave you the distinct impression that the worm had turned. And then, it did. The wrong way. The Red Wings shifted to another gear. And the meltdowns started. A bad turnover. A bad effort from Turco on the opening goal of the 3rd. An inability to stop the bleeding. And another crushed effort in Detroit. The more things change, the more they stay the same. By the ...

Guy Who Wishes He Could Bat for the Yankees Hates Billy Crystal for Batting for the Yankees
Published 3/14/2008 by Albert Bianchi at Dejuiced! Sports News with No Boundaries
I was looking for a video of Billy Crystal’s spring training at-bat so I could break it down. (He has a pretty good eye. I’m impressed that he took three pitches — I’d be swinging wildy at anything. Plus, he made contact! All-in-all, he did a pretty good job.) I found the video. Lucky for you and I, it has a little extra bonus: commentary from a person who may or may not be drunk during the first at-bat. I’ll tell you one thing, his humor is timely. “They’ll bring out call-girls next!” He starts chiming in about the minute mark. Tags: Billy Crystal, New York ...

George Steinbrenner Has Incredible Buying Abilities
Published 3/18/2008 by Ace of Spades at The Play in California
George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees, has soooooo much money. He used that money to buy the New York Yankees, and thought that he could buy himself a championship every year with that money. It worked for awhile in the 20th century, but it's the 21s century now, George...IT AIN'T WORKING!! He bought players like Randy Johnson, Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, and Alex Rodriguez. If he could, he would buy steroids for all of them too. Actually, I'm pretty sure he did. But in the recent years, we have seen that the Yankees are going nowhere. Buying players doesn't seem to work for George anymore. Therefore, he tried to buy players for different ...