Sometimes, if it gushes, it leads. Here's what a renowned hobo had to say about "Rose" yesterday:

Last night, I bought it and read it before going to sleep...when I finally rested, I dreamed I was the size of a brownstone, with NYC tap water running through my veins. When I woke up I had 26 girlfriends and spoke 17 dialects of English. CHECK IT OUT!


Very soon I will be ordering a bunch of my own book and will be making them available for direct purchase from the author. And although it probably reduces the value -- much like getting my 1972 Topps Steve Garvey high-number baseball card signed did -- but you will be given that opportunity.


I have posted nearly one quarter of the stories on Wattpad, so if you're one of those people who needs a bigger sample size, here's your chance. Click here: http://www.wattpad.com/user/BrianMazo to read and become a fan.


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Behind the huge left arm of CC Sabathia the Yankees took the rubber game against the Rays in the Bronx last night. Had Roberston not blown the save on Wednesday night the Yanks could have swept their main division rivals. We are already feeling what life after Mo will be like and nobody likes it.


Last night, Girardi went to Rafael Soriano to close it out in the ninth. Both he and D-Rob had thrown a two nights in a row and the skipper likes to avoid three in a row. He made the decision to go with former Rays closer Soriano and he closed out the game, earning his first save of 2012 although he gave up a run in the 9th. Final 5-3 Yanks.


I am having a terribly good time watching the Red Sox disintegrate again, proving that September of 2011 was no fluke; it was just the tip of the iceberg of more bad times to come for the Nation. At least booing Beckett has become the favorite past time of those disgruntled in Beantown, taking Bobby V off the hook for the moment.


Sorry to be brief today, but it's a gorgeous day to have off and I am about to go read someone else's book while you (hopefully) read mine.

Catching my first Twinkies game tonight at Target. I'll be rooting for them to beat the Jays; the home team needs all the support it can get.

Cheers,

Brian

A day after earning his first save of the 2012 campaign, David Robertson blew one last night against division rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays, at the big ballpark in the Bronx. Now, unlike the night before when the bats did some work and left D-Rob with some breathing room, he had but a 1-0 lead that starter Phelps and the bullpen delivered to him in the 9th. Robbie, who hadn't given up a run all season, finally had that bad outing and when Girardi finally had to yank him, it was 4-1 and the way the Bombers have not been living up to that moniker, the end was inevitable.

But if Robertson has learned anything from learning from the master, Mariano Rivera, it's to turn the page and short-circuit your memory. The substitute Yankee closer is not going to make things easy like Mo did -- but there's nary been a closer who can; he can't fill Rivera's shoes, per se, but he can get the job done.

Meanwhile, a blood clot was discovered in Mo's  injured leg and it may have been there for some time, so there's some sense that this was a blessing in disguise in that it was discovered and is being treated. As soon as all the swelling, etc. goes down, then the surgery to repair the torn ACL can commence and then Mo can begin his recovery toward that goal of taking back his closer job in 2013.

But for now, this again does give the Yanks a free look at what the pen will be without Mo at the back end. As long as the team doesn't fall too far behind the Rays, this could be as good an exploration into what life will eventually be like for Girardi calling the shots out of the pen.

Gardner, who's been playing a few rehab games, could be back in a matter of days and then will be a boon to the Yankee lineup. I've been beating this drum, but the team had been missing the amazing pitch-taking abilities of both Gardy and Swish. Swisher has returned to the lineup and the outfield which has already paid dividends, but that will only get better when the full 1-9 is on the field and healthy.

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"Rose" has some people saying some real nice things about it this past week:

My friend Brian wrote this fun romp of a book - a series of short stories about women...because if there is one thing Brian Mazo knows about it is women...and words, and together, this is what you get!. Buy it now.


As someone who rarely ventures away from non-fiction, I am thoroughly grateful to have indulged in this quick, riveting read. Whether you're trying to get the girl or get rid of the girl (or boy for that matter) you just might learn a trick or two while being fully entertained. Mazo is quick to turn a phrase, twist a plot and tug at your heartstrings. This book is a perfect balance of what a collection of short stories should be. Only wish there were more letters in the alphabet..


If you want to read what they're talking about with such lovely praise, go here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SABVQC/ref=tag_dpp_yt_edpp_rt

Thanks,
Brian

A few days into the era of what it will eventually feel like not to have Mariano Rivera coming out of the Yankee bullpen to close a game has been easy so far: there has yet to be a save situation. The Yanks, who'd been looking more like the Giants the last week when it comes to hit, came alive yesterday hanging double digits on the Royals. Phil Hughes pitched well with the big league staked to him, earning the victory in the 10-4 win.

Cano doubled his early slow production numbers with a grand slam. A-Rod hit a 3-run shot and Swisher, back in the lineup after "coincidentally" missing those six games that the Yanks' bats floundered, hit a monster solo shot in the DH slot. Gardner is about to start a minor league rehab assignment and is hopefully returned to the lineup and patrolling the outfield.

The Yankee announcers, wonderfully minus Michael Kay for the 4-game series, had been talking about Royals' shortstop, Irving Falu, who at the advanced age of twenty-eight was making his major league debut. The guy had toiled in the Kansas City minor league system for about eight years and, due to an injury, got called up to the Show and made his debut.

And in his first at-bat he lines a legitimate triple - not an Eduardo Nunez-assisted one - into the rightfield corner, easily beating the relay to third base. A-Rod tries to deke the kid that the ball got past him. And I'm watching and it's a May game and not a crucial one and I'm thinking what a douche A-Rod is. Really? The guy triples at home in his first major league at-bat and you try and make him look like a fool? Pretty bush. Al tried to make up for it by going over and presenting the ball to Falu (and I guess that should be something of a thrill if you just look at A-Rod's numbers) by hand, but in my mind: damage done.


Well, I guess I shouldn't have complained about slow book sales in April; they've pretty much ground to a halt this month. Now, I did have lovely company for the weekend and took some time off of actively beating the "Rose" bushes, but I do need to find additional, lucrative means to get the word out and put the book into people's hands.

I thought I had received my first review from someone I didn't know.  I didn't recognize the handle and it said that it was based of a Kindle review. Having just found out that I gave away over two hundred copies of my book via Kindle when they were doing their promotion I surmised it was possible. But, nope-- the really great, 5-star review was put up by a friend, but no matter: a great review is a great review. See, here:


As someone who rarely ventures away from non-fiction, I am thoroughly grateful to have indulged in this quick, riveting read. Whether you're trying to get the girl or get rid of the girl (or boy for that matter) you just might learn a trick or two while being fully entertained. Mazo is quick to turn a phrase, twist a plot and tug at your heartstrings. This book is a perfect balance of what a collection of short stories should be. Only wish there were more letters in the alphabet...


For more information on the book including how to purchase, please go here: https://www.createspace.com/3527985


Thanks,
Brian

It's been a rough few weeks in Yankee-land. Between losing both Michael Pineda and Mariano Rivera to injuries for the entire 2012 season and being closer to the bosox in the bottom of the AL-East. With that in mind, I had a little fun with my piece that will run on Bronx Baseball Daily tomorrow. Here's your advance sneak-peak.

Yankee Promotions 2012: The Fine Line between “Giveaway” and “Throw Away”

When I was a kid I had to beg my Dad to take me to bat day at the original Yankee Stadium. I mean, down on the ground, promise to clean my room, mow the lawn, be nice to Mom kind of begging. These were the days when the South Bronx left a lot to be desired from a safety vantage point on a good day so arming the lot of us probably wasn’t the best idea in the world. My Dad, who grew up in Brooklyn a New York Giants fan, was always loathe to enter “the belly of the beast,” but I finally wore him down.

It is a forever indelible, “priceless” moment when during the game, famed great and late Yankee PA announcer Bob Shepherd, would invite the young fans to all wave their brand new bats in the air. It was a glorious sea of baseball bats. The ensuing pounding of the barrels against the concrete base of the Stadium is a sound etched in my mind’s ear: even at the most raucous of Yankee post-season games no sound can top that of twenty-thousand (give or take) baseball bats beating out a rhythm on the ground.

Raising a Yankee hand-sanitizer key chain (May 8^th) in the air has absolutely none of that appeal to anyone outside of those suffering from OCD. The best sound that may make is when you drop it in the trash can. And how are you going to protect yourself on the D-train with the Yankee stopwatch that was given away on April 29^th?

Now, I understand that Major League baseball is a business and the New York Yankees are one of the  most profitable organizations in the history of sports. I know that promotions with other big businesses are partnerships that are designed to make both companies more money. But the Yankees are also very much about class and giving away garden gnomes, fragranced bracelets and luggage tags belie that valued team stature. That there is a Yankees Halloween Jack o’ Lantern Stencil day on the calendar this season really speaks but one thing to me: someone in the promotions department should get fired.

I don’t think it would have gotten this bad if George Steinbrenner was still alive and calling the shots. I can almost hear him barking, “The New York Yankees do not need to give away aprons to get fans into the park” before summarily dismissing the employee who thought that was a good idea. Giving away “Reggie” bars wasn’t the best idea ever back in the day, especially since the “flying saucer” shape literally made them the perfect chocolate bar to throw, but I would still take that over a packet of tomato seeds .

I don’t still have the bat, but I do still have a Yankee promotional bottle-opener on my key chain. And yes, there’s an ad for carpet on the back of it, but I can still also fit into my “Yankee Legends” t-shirt that was given out during one of Billy Martin’s managerial terms. It features the former Yankee skipper along with a Mount Rushmore of then-all-living Bomber greats Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra. Going to a Yankee game is a great experience and bringing back a special keepsake from the day can be the stuff from which fantastic memories are made. I just don’t see somebody, thirty years later, turning to their father to reminisce about the day they went to Yankee Stadium and came home with a waterproof beach wallet.

Curtis Granderson Yankee bat day is scheduled for Sunday, May 20^th at the new Yankee Stadium.            

It’s been a tough week in Yankee-land: if you’re looking for something to read for distraction, my first book came out a few weeks ago. For more information, please click here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SABVQC/ref=tag_dpp_yt_edpp_rt

"You want to know the most sure-fire way to make God laugh," the old adage goes, "Tell Him your plans." Now I prefer the far more succinct, "Man plans, God laughs" but it's six of one etc....

And if there were any New York Yankees player since Lou "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth" Gehrig who would get that sentiment, it would be Mariano Rivera. Yesterday afternoon while doing something he loved, something he wouldn't have changed, the greatest closer the game will ever see crashed into the wall at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City shagging flies and tore his ACL. He is lost for the season.

Now, there were plenty of expectations that this was going to be Mo's last season in pinstripes. He had hinted at retirement and he was adamant about going out on top and he did that even if it wasn't his plan. Perhaps it was God's. Rivera is an honest to goodness, God-fearing man. I believe he is also a God-loving man and when he says he will pray on a decision as to whether he wants to even attempt to come back from this injury, I believe him. This is no "I couldn't have done it without Jesus" lip-service kind of ballplayer or kind of man.

And yes, it leaves the Yankees scrambling, but there are options in closers. Brian Cashman, who really didn't want to sign Rafael Soriano in the first place, does have the surly righthander in the bullpen with serious closing qualifications. There's homegrown David Robertson, who has learned at the master's feet and was the potential heir apparent when #42 decided to hang up his spikes and retire that number finally.

But I can't treat this as a tragedy. Tragedy was Thurman Munson crashing his plane. Tragedy was Cory Lidle dying in the same manner. This is awful. It's a shame that such a class act (and to bring up Gehrig and Munson, two of the most class acts the team and the game has seen is no accident) couldn't go out the way he wished and richly deserved. The game goes on. Someone will come running in from the bullpen in the ninth when skipper Joe Girardi taps his right arm. There will be no "Enter Sandman" blasting from the Yankee Stadium PA system. There will be no more foregone conclusions; Mariano Rivera has been as good as a "sure thing" for over fifteen seasons;  something literally unheard of in the hundred-plus years of history of the game.

Mariano Rivera was smiling when he was carted off the field. He was nearly crying when he addressed the media later on. Neither image is how I wish to remember him. I will see him firing that cutter and breaking bats without seemingly breaking a sweat. But this is sad, but again, not tragic. Mo will be able to play with his kids. He will run out onto the field for Old Timer's Day and throw his cutter with a smile on his face. And in five seasons from whenever he announces his retirement he will be inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, possibly even unanimously; I cannot imagine what sportswriter could look himself in the eye and think even for a second that Rivera doesn't deserve enshrinement.

If he never throws another pitch that counts, I will treasure all the times I got to see him close out yet another Yankee win during the regular season wherein he closed out more games than anyone in the history of the game; his post-season record is unassailable. Mariano Rivera is truly one of the great New York Yankees and a class act and was always proud to wear the pinstripes, the only uniform the best should wear.

The Yanks had started the season 0-3 having been swept by division rivals the Tampa Bay Rays. But right after that, they got to play three against division whipping boys, the Baltimore Orioles. Now, at the point the O's were 3-0, having swept the Twins to start the season. But the Twinkies are proving to be baseball's whipping boys seemingly in a concerted effort to show that last season's 99-loss campaign was no fluke. How bad are the Twins? Jered Weaver hurled a no-hitter against them yesterday and official scorers across the country are scrambling to see if it should even count*.

But it was a decidedly different looking Orioles team that arrived in Yankee Stadium this week. They were in first place a month into the season and while nobody anticipates that will last long, they were seemingly doing it with pitching - not the O's strong suit for quite some time - and it was the pitching that did the Yanks in, losing two of three.

And honestly- the Yanks were lucky to take the opening game. The so-called Bronx Bombers scored a whopping three runs over the three game series, dropping them back 3 1/2 games in the AL-East. Now, we're not worried about that, per se. It is early, reinforcements in the way of Andy Pettitte's big left arm are on their way and Cano is going to hit. A-Rod is going to hit. Now, that April is over, Tex is going to hit too.

But as I am forced to listen to Michael Kay pontificate on the above, the thing that the Yankee announcers have been missing is the combined force of Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher who are missing from the line-up. First off, losing the two corner outfielders have negatively effected the team with the replacements of Jones, Ibanez and middle-infielder Eduardo Nunez filling in. The Yanks have given up some runs -- both earned and unearned -- directly because of the outfield play of the less-than-super subs.

But, seemingly unreported, it's their effect on the entire line-up and the opposing pitcher that the dual loss of Gardy and Swish that may be the big culprit in the team's sudden ability to score runs and win games. Both Gardner and Swisher take a ton of pitches. They drive up starters pitch counts; they get the Yanks to the other team's bullpen. Now, while the O's pen has been a strong-suit this season - they have the best ERA in the league - you still want to get in there and see what kind of trouble you can wreak.

And their replacements - especially Jones and Nunez - are free-swingers further exacerbating the issue. I don't have the numbers, but if you look it up, I would bet you dollars to dust-bunnies that the overall number of pitches the Yanks' line-up has seen since the two have been inactive would be dramatically down. Gardner is on the DL; he could come off today, but it seems like the Yanks, always cautious, will not be too quick to activate him. Swisher, with a groin pull, is not on the DL; the team thinking that fifteen games was more than his healing would require, but it's left Girardi with a very thin bench. Last night after Chavez left mid-atbat with what was reported by  Girardi's lips read on the YES broadcast as "dizziness." This left back-up catcher, Chris Stewart, on the bench.

I wrote about the Yankee bench last week on BBD and if you want to read that, go here: http://bronxbaseballdaily.com/2012/04/riding-the-pine-the-new-york-yankees-bench-2012/


So, it looks like Amazon is discounting my book today by about four dollars per print edition copy. And while it's better for me if people purchase from the PoD main site, here: https://www.createspace.com/3527985 I would totally understand the need to save a few bucks. So, if $4 is what's been keeping you and my book apart, then by all means go here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SABVQC/ref=tag_dpp_yt_edpp_rt and pick yourself up a copy or two; they make great Mother's Day or Graduation gifts.

Thanks,
Brian

Baseball is a funny game it's oft been said; in that way it replicates life like no other sport (including tennis) or many other pursuits. And while a month of the season is no real barometer, some trends in the National Pastime can't be ignore this season.

The Minnesota Twins, who despite being one of the teams threatened with contraction some seasons back, rebounded with their new, beautiful downtown  Target Field, and have been one of the more dependable, consistent teams who do things right. But last season, due injuries, bad luck and bad play were fortunate not to lose 100 games, but just by the skin of their collective teeth. And while a couple fan favorites (Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel) went elsewhere along with their closer (Joe Nathan) hopes were higher for 2012 with the returns of hopefully healthy M&M Boys Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. The two of them looked great against the Yankees, helping them take two of four at Yankee Stadium, where the Twinkies traditionally can't buy a win. But that's about the highlight of their season. How bad are the Twins in 2012? Division rivals, the Kansas City Royals (who some thought could compete this season) have had a losing streak of 12 games (yes, you read that right) and STILL have yet to win a game at home (0-10) and STILL have a better record than Minnesota.

The Angels who spent a boatload of money bringing in both the #1 free agent player in Albert Pujols and the #1 free agent pitcher taking CJ Wilson from AL-West division rivals, the Texas Rangers. Anaheim spent all that  money not only to compete with the Rangers, but also in an attempt to curry Los Angeles fan favor from the disarrayed Dodgers. But Pujols didn't hit a single homerun in the month of April while in LA, Matt Kemp is making his plan of 50HR/50SB seem like something he could achieve by the All-Star break. The Angels are already 9 games behind the Rangers, who don't show any signs of coming back to the pack.

Less than ten-thousand people showed up for last night's Tampa Rays game. They're one of the more exciting teams in baseball and they're in first place in the mighty AL-East and yet the fans are staying away in droves, much like their state rivals the Miami Marlins and their new downtown park. You can't blame all of it on Ozzie Guillen, their manager, when they're in last in the NL-East a position the Mets thought was their birthright.

Derek Jeter is taking on all doubters and playing like it's still the 1990s, hitting nearly .400 for the month with nearly as many homeruns as he had all of 2011.

Yu Darvish, the $100M pitcher the Rangers imported from Japan may actually be the real deal. He's 4-0 despite a slow, wild start. His first pass through the league is one thing; as the league sees him more it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

Due an injury, the Nationals brought up Bryce Harper this week. The second coming of phenom should take some of the intense scrutiny off pitcher Stephen Strasburg. If the Phillies don't get Chase Utley back and healthy and some hitting, they could get buried in this tough division.

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May sets the sales tally back to zero. What do I need to do put you in a new book today? How about this:
https://www.createspace.com/3527985

Thanks for reading,B.