In my long break from the MLBlogosphere, I have thought about many a thing.

Manny Signs With The Dodgers–Finally.

One thing I’m still confused about: Who else was still in the running for Manny’s services? Two years and $45 million was the offer, no one else was still bidding, and they (Manny and Boras) hesitated? This news wasn’t exactly shocking to me that he had finally done the deal.

All Dustin Pedroia’s hair is gone!

Team Puerto Rico!

Of course a huge part of why I’m going for this team is because Bernie Williams is on it. I also love their uniforms. They just look cool to me. I’m also always fascinated by offensive prowess for some reason, or particular depth at one position. Team Puerto Rico’s offense includes Carlos Beltran, Alex Rios, Bernie, Carlos Delgado, Felipe Lopez, Mike Aviles, Pudge, Yadier Molina, and Geovany Soto. Yes, that’s three starting-level Major League catchers. Jorge Posada could have played with them as well. Granted, Puerto Rico’s pitching is not great, with Javier Vazquez, Jonathan Sanchez, and Ian Snell leading the starters and J.C. Romero as likely the best reliever. But I still think they are an awesome team, and tonight they are facing the US in a do-or-die match after being beaten by the following team.

Team Venezuela

If Team Puerto Rico is eliminated, Johan Santana-less Venezuela will be my team. Their offensive prowess is remarkable, a group that includes Magglio Ordonez, Bobby Abreu, Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Guillen, Jose Lopez, Melvin Mora, and Ramon Hernandez. Their pitching, even Santana-free, is nothing to sneeze at with Carlos (update: apparently, not anymore) and Victor Zambrano, Carlos Silva, Felix Hernandez, and of course K-Rod. I also like their uniforms.

My backup backup plan: Team Japan

By the way, does it look like Matsuzaka gained some weight?

I like their uniforms and team colors. They also have Ichiro, which is always a plus for me. This year they also added Kenji Johjima and Kosuke Fukudome, so if Puerto Rico and Venezuela are eliminated, I’ll go for these guys.

Andruw rejects the Yanks–and signs with the Rangers.

This I don’t get. The Yankees are stacked-at the time they invited him to Spring Training, we still had A-Rod available, too. Our centerfield job is a wide-open race, and he might have a chance for real. The man used to be a .260/.270-30-90 guy before he turned 30. So, his explanation was that he wanted a sure contract. It’s not the money, because he’s gonna receive about 35 gazillion dollars over the next couple of years from the Dodgers. With the Yanks he would’ve had a good chance to at least make the roster. But no. He signed for $500,000 with the Rangers over one year. A team with Josh friggin’ Hamilton in center field. And Nelson Cruz in right. And David Murphy in left. And Marlon Byrd, who’s having a monster spring, backing up. Could someone please explain this to me?

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for now. Thanks for reading.

I am sorry to my readers for not blogging lately. I have been tied up with many a thing. First off, now that you all know to call me William, I will tell you why! How very exciting.

I wanted to create an MLBlog, first of all. I did not have an email address, second of all. So, I used my dad’s. Turns out he already had an MLB.com account, under the name neal07. No biggie, just change the name to William or newmexicanyanksfan, right? Wrong. I had it as newmexicanyanksfan, but my computer tripped out severely one day and I had to reset everything. When I came back to MLBlogs, whenever I would change the name back to newmexicanyanksfan, I would log out, then when I would log back on, it would switch back to neal07. So, to clarify, my name is William. My dad’s name is Neal. There. Done. Ha.

Moving on…

A-Rod is gone for 9ish weeks. To be completely honest with all you readers out there, this post is mainly just to let you all know I’m still here. Otherwise I would be looking at possibilities of new third baseman. Or maybe I will now, just to entertain you and myself…

Handsome Cody Ransom:

Okay, so maybe he’s not the most handsome guy in the world, but he’s not so hideous he can’t fit his ridiculous new nickname. He is the frontrunner for the fill-in job for A-Rod. He’s got a little pop, with two 2-homer games last year, and he can play all the infield positions. However, I would not keep him as the starter for an entire year. He’s a very solid backup, and Cashman says that he thinks we can play with what we have. However, I’m still going into possibilities.

Angel Berroa

He’s a natural shortstop, for one thing, and he seemed to be washed up when we invited him to Spring Training. But he’s having a good spring, and he’s the second-best in-house option we have. He’ll likely get some at-bats at the position.

Robinson Cano

This one is fairly interesting, because we would need a temporary second baseman. Cano, of course, is a starter, and he has a very strong arm and plays solid defense, which would be why we would move him there. However, as I said before, he would need a replacement at second. But the current free agent market for second basemen is stronger than it is for third basemen. Ray Durham, Damion Easley, Mark Grudzielanek, D’Angelo Jimenez, the old Yankee Enrique Wilson, and Tadahito Iguchi are all still out there.

 

Mark Teixeira?

Teixeira played third in the minors, and in his first year for the Rangers. I’m sure he’d be willing to make the switch for the good of the team, but the question is, are the Yanks ready to let him make that switch. This would move Nick Swisher to first, which would likely be even better for the lineup than any of the other proposed solutions. Think about it, Yankee fans…

Adrian Beltre, and other trades that aren’t as intriguing:

Beltre does not fit the youth movement the Mariners are trying to pull off, and could be on the market. He, of course, has pop and good defense. An intriguing option, of course, but what would the cost be? And, one must ask, where would he go once A-Rod came back?

Which path do you think the Yankees should take, baseball fans?

Thank you, and I’ll try to post more frequently in the coming weeks. 

My favorite baseball player of all time, Bernie Williams, has reported to the Yankees’ camp to train for the World Baseball Classic, in which he’ll play for Puerto Rico.

Tino Martinez also reported, as a coach, there to mostly mentor Mark Teixeira on being a Yankee.

Hopefully this will be remembered as a photo of two great Yankee first basemen together, discussing the position they play (or played, in Tino’s case).

This gets me thinking about Yankee first basemen.

Who was the first Yankees first baseman?

Burt Hart was the first first baseman of the original Baltimore Orioles, who would go on to become the Yankees. He, in his 1-year career, had 64 hits in 206 at-bats and 23 RBIs.

He’s one of the guys in this photo.

Dan McGann manned first for the 1902 O’s. A superbly gifted and popular athlete, McGann’s career was 3 full years old when he hit .316 with 42 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 68 games that year.

After the franchise moved to New York and became the Highlanders, their new first baseman was John Ganzel, who was also their 1904 first sacker. His best year was probably ’03, when he hit .277 and drove in 71 runs with 3 home runs, the first 3 hit by a 1st baseman for the franchise. In ’04, he hit .260 with 6 homers and 48 RBIs.

Hal Chase, who would have likely been in the Hall Of Fame if not for his–um–unsavory–personality, took over the position in 1905 for the Highlanders, and played excellently there until 1913, their first year as the Yankees. In the middle of the year, he up and left, going to the White Sox.

In light of Chase’s departure, John Knight took over the position, after he had spent 1909 to 1911 playing various positions for the Highlanders. In the last year of his career, Knight in 1913 hit .236 with 24 ribbies.

(I couldn’t find any pictures.)

In 1914, Charlie Mullen was the primary first baseman, and he hit .260 with 44 RBIs.

(Couldn’t find any pictures of him, either.)

The first man to be Wally Pipp’d, Wally Pipp, took over first base in 1915. He was really quite a good player, hitting between .280 and .290 most years and driving in 100 runs twice. He was also a very key part of the original Murderer’s Row, which was named that before Ruth or the man who replaced Pipp ever wore Yankee pinstripes.

Then, in 1925, well, you know who took over.

There really isn’t more to say about ol’ Lou.

In 1939, the Iron Horse stepped down, relinquishing his spot for 2,130 games to a somewhat reluctant Babe Dahlgren.

However, in his two years starting at first, Dahlgren hit .239 in his first year and .264 in his second. He had moderate power, putting up 15 and 12 homers, respectively, but nothing close to his predecessor.

In 1941, Johnny Sturm, playing in his only major league season, hit a very disappointing .239 with 3 home runs and 36 RBIs in 524 at-bats.

For the 1942 season, the Yankees found a new first baseman in Buddy Hassett. He hit .284 with 5 homers (a career high) and 48 runners driven home. However, it was his last year in the majors.

Their search for a steady starter at first ended for four years when Nick Etten took over in 1944. His bat was pretty potent, for the first three seasons, putting up a .270-.290 average and hitting 15-20 homers and driving in 100 runners twice. However, his glovework was bad enough that Pirates pitcher Joe Trimble was inspired to say, “Nick Etten’s glove fields better with Nick Etten out of it.” In 1946, though, his average and power dropped, as did his playing time. By ’47, the Yanks were once more looking for a new first sacker.

George McQuinn was that new first baseman in ’47, and he also started at the position in 1948. In ’47, he looked like a real good option there, hitting .304 with 13 homers and 80 RBIs. However, the next year his production dropped precipitously to the tune of a .248 average and 41 RBIs. He retired after that year and the Yankees were once more on the hunt.

Nice portrait.

The Yankees could not find a first sacker for 1949, so Tommy Henrich was moved there. He had his last really good offensive year then, hitting .287 with 24 homers and 85 ribbies.

From 1950 to 1953, Joe Collins, a .270-.280, 15-homer guy, and Hall Of Famer Johnny Mize, a declining slugger, shared first base.

When Mize retired before 1954, it meant job security for Collins at last, right? Wrong. A young first sacker by the name of Bill Skowron immediately burst onto the scene, hitting .340 with 7 homers in 215 at-bats. They platooned for 1955, and the original Moose took over in ’56. Not a handsome fellow, he nonetheless produced at .290 average-20 homer-90 RBI pace until before the 1963 season, when he was traded to the Dodgers.

For the 1963 season, a 22-year old named Joe Pepitone took over first base. He played there until he switched to the outfield for the ’67 and ’68 seasons, then switched back to first for 1969. He had low batting averages, in the .250s mostly, but hit at least 25 homers perennially.

In those two years Pepi was in the outfield, the one and only Mick was playing first, winding down his career.

In 1970, Danny Cater was brought in to play first. He played there for two years, and hit .301 and .276 in his two years with weak power numbers.

 

In 1972, Ron Blomberg, the original DH, took over the spot for a year and hit .268 with 13 homers.

For the 1973 season, Felipe Alou, on the downswing of his career, was the primary first baseman, and he had a disappointing season with a .236 average and 4 home runs.

I know it’s a wee picture, but deal with it.

For the 1974 season, a young first baseman was brought in from the Cleveland Indians. He would develop into a .280-15 homer, lots of RBIs guy, with a knack for clutch hits (including one big one). His name was Chris Chambliss, and he played first for us until before the 1980 season.

In 1980, Bob Watson, who would later become our GM, played first and had a good season, hitting .307 with 13 home runs. However, in the 1981 season, his production dropped off badly and he was not brought back for ’82.

For 1982, the Royals brought in former intimidating Royals slugger John Mayberry to play first. However, he was in the last year of his career, and he hit .209 with 8 homers.

 In 1983, veteran Ken Griffey Sr. took over first for a year. He had a good year, hitting .306 with 11 homers.

However, in 1984, Griffey moved back to the outfield, and a 23-year old by the name of Donald Arthur Mattingly burst on to the scene, hitting .343 with 23 homers and 110 RBIs. The rest, as they say, is history.

It still makes me sad that Donnie Baseball never won a World Series.

In 1996, the year after beating Mattingly & Co. in the Division Series, former Mariners first baseman Tino Martinez, the very Tino tutoring Teixeira above, took over at first and ended up hitting over 200 home runs in his time with the Yanks.

In 2002, the Giambi Juicer years began. Yes, in his time with the Yankees, Jason Giambi’s average dropped and his power numbers stayed the same. The Yankees, tired of lackluster defense at first, brought Tino back for the 2005 season, in which he hit 17 last homers, then retired. When Jason’s contract expired at the end of last season, we wisely let him go back to the A’s.

Now, our bright new light is shining through.

They call him Tex.

News and photos from camp: Looks like CC, AJ, and Joba are hitting it off really well, and we signed Brett Tomko to a minor league deal and invited him to train with us.

Whew, that was a lot of pictures.

Be back later with more pics and news–if there is any.

 

It’s finally finally here! Baseball has returned to us after a long winter. Many teams have reported now, and I have more photos for you guys, this time of real live players! Just so you know, I love these photos so much and they give me such joy, there will probably be a lot.

Haha, I love this picture. Our two beefiest pitchers.

The guy on the left is Brian Bruney, for those of you wondering.

Our fearless captain also reported early.

I’m soooooooo exciiiiited!!!!!! So you guys know, I’ll be doing this picture stuff a lot.

After a dramatic offseason full of blockbuster signings, a huge trade, and a final week that slowed everything down a lot, with allegations, confirmations, and other tiring stuff, let’s just play some baseball, folks!

Boy, it’s been a long winter, hasn’t it, baseball fans? But at long long last, Yankees pitchers and catchers report! It’s been about an hour as I write this, so obviously there are no photos of the actual players yet, but I will share with you what I have:

And so opens a new season full of hope and promise. I’ll be back with more maybe later, maybe tomorrow.

So A-Rod took steroids from 2001 to 2003. Big whoop. I had noticed he beefed up.

Therefore, I wasn’t overly surprised. I was, however, glad that it wasn’t with the Yankees. And I’m very glad there was none of this.

He came up front and confessed. No I’m-not-here-to-talk-about-the-pasts, no (god forbid) finger wagging, no flaxseed oil, he took the high road out.

This man took that road, and look where he’s ended up. Right back where the fans still love him, playing for the only team he wants to.

Now, the fans have never loved you as a whole, A-Rod, and they probably never will. You will not be accepted the same way Andy was, but I still congratulate you for this. Coming clean is always the best way to go.

And to the fans, I know you will never accept him fully, but let A-Rod go on this one. If it was the Ranger years, why would Yankee fans even care?

Look at this man. He already has been battered and bruised in his time in New York. Why torment him further with something from the past.

You complain about his performance, but maybe if you, the home fans, supported him through this tough time, he wouldn’t be crushed under the pressure of no one supporting him.

In his interview, he said he was “young, stupid, and naive.” So I say as long as he came clean with the whole truth, support A-Rod. Leave the heckling to everyone else, New York.

Also, I’m not sure how much it really helped him. In 1998, he was a 40-40 man. He had a .300+ average in all but one of his years in Seattle. When he went to the Rangers, his home runs rose by about 10 a year, but his average and steals steadily declined. Bulkier is not necessarily better. He lost some of that bulk before the 2007 season with the Yanks, and his steal total rose back up. I propose this: Since steroids are a way of cheating, I say we figure his average home run total from his pre- and post-steroid years (39), and lower his totals from the Ranger years to 39. This would put his career homer total at 514. Is it time to break out the asterisks? Share your opinions.

 

 

 

To my faithful readers, sorry I haven’t posted lately, I was preparing one when the A-Rod story broke. My next post will likely be on the day pitchers and Molinas, as I like to say, report.

Well, with me not caring about most of the Hot Stove happenings (there have been very few), I divert my attention to the infinitely important subject of one of the Yankees’ newest pitchers’ entrance song.

AJ Burnett is the new pitcher. The reason I care is because his favorite band is System Of A Down,

who are incidentally, also my favorite band. Now, System Of A Down may be too heavy for some people’s tastes, but I find that they have found a unique balance and a rare rock band that has found that balance, between being too heavy and too light. Too heavy would be, say, Slipknot. Too light would be in your Good Charlotte zone (which I don’t even consider rock). Their styles also work together excellently, which is surprising.

Vocalist Serj Tankian has an amazing voice which can range from opera-style to an all-out scream.

Guitarist Daron Malakian is not one for overly complicated and difficult riffs, but he makes it sound very good. He also sings backup to Tankian, and has great harmony despite his highish voice.

Bassist Shavo Odadjian plays sometimes more difficult riffs than Malakian, and is key in System’s stop-go style, because when they stop, there is usually a small bass riff playing in the background.

Drummer John Dolmayan has won Drummer Of The Year, and is one of the best out there.

SOAD released five albums before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2006.

If AJ prefers System’s heavier sound, he might like to enter to a song from their self-titled debut album.

The high-powered Sugar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOA8QT-sk4M

or the mellow and slightly creepy Spiders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VF5hRkW1IE&feature=channel

or perhaps he’d like to take a slightly political stance with War?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3WSnlP1Ijs

or a really political stance with P.L.U.C.K. (Politically Lying, Unholy, Cowardly Killers): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXwLxcSniGw&feature=related

Maybe Allen James would like to enter to a song from their smash hit, the album that really put them on the map, Toxicity

He could take another political stance with the opening track, Prison Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yndfqN1VKhY

Or Deer Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkkOQjK71Ss&feature=related

He could come in to System’s smash hit, their most popular song of all time, Chop Suey!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdRd3k4CIAg&feature=related

He could enter on a more humorous note, with Bounce: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lITuHDdhdkw&feature=related

He could come in to the song Toxicity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJmt3dr9XYQ

Or the epic and dark Aerials, which closes out the album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ6FbEmDDcU

Then again, he could draw something from the record Steal This Album!, which has underlying dark and mysterious tones.

He could come in trying to find his Innervision: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m1iIyPeM0k

A funnier entrance might be Bubbles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eftFjuGUMn0&feature=related

He could take a stand on the subject of war with Boom!(definitely watch the video to this one): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7yAO-QCSWA

He could strike fear into the opponents’ hearts with Mr. Jack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEDYIpl-amw&feature=channel

He could come in to I-E-A-I-A-I-O, which I thought meant nothing until someone pointed out I-E-A-I-A-I-O are the vowels in idealization: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKhEoytKk6U&feature=related

I would also ask you to check out Pictures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_lKGxAW8o8&feature=related

Highway Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtcHwr7K-2c&feature=related

F**k The System: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt72GmXFKoQ&feature=related

and definitely Streamline: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96bwBKou4yw&feature=related

God, I’m sorry I posted so many songs. I’m going to keep going, though.

He could also draw from the first of their two #1 albums of 2005, Mezmerize:

He could come in to another smash hit, B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bombs): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ5Tp97UgyQ

If we’re playing the Marlins, who dismissed him instead of dealing with his request to stop “coaching scared”, he could play Revenga: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY6DhfGHmpY

Radio/Video is just a fun song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI8KacxPovo&feature=related

He could go with a song about reincarnation in Question!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yijKdC8kESA

Or Sad Statue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqOFZ1jHX0Q

Old School Hollywood would work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJUhHpu0NOQ&feature=related

Or he could come in on a more somber note, with Lost In Hollywood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJhAOsTsLXI&feature=related

He could also enter to a song off of their final album, which debuted at #1 in the same year, 2005, as Mezmerize, putting them in company with the Beatles, Guns N’ Roses, 2Pac, and DMX as the only people with two albums debuting at #1 in the same year. Oh yeah, this album is called Hypnotize.

He could enter to the song Hypnotize: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciio3o5Pcuo

Or Stealing Society, which has a great vocal solo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGxsrYdWG28

He could come in to Holy Mountains: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-bNqBjKrQI&feature=related

He could enter on the simple, but strong song Lonely Day, which I have featured on my blog once before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3wH7tYkyvM

Or he could take a different war stance with Soldier Side: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK4ynCvvV0A

Ok, so I know I went overboard with the number of songs, and you do not have to listen to all of them at once, especially if you get headaches easily. I won’t expect comments for several days, as this is a vast number of songs. If you are one of those people who get headaches easily, I would suggest a 4-or-5 song-a-day system. If you really don’t like it and can’t tolerate a lot of them, you can not comment or just listen to the ones with interesting titles. Tell me if you do that or listen to only the mellow songs, the mellowest of which are probably Lost In Hollywood, Hypnotize, and Lonely Day. Thanks for your thoughts on which song AJ should run out of the bullpen to! I will wait 6 days or a week before my next post so you all have time to listen to the songs.

Thank you and goodnight.

 

Let’s start with this, though.

Mark Teixeira is officially the newest of the New York Yankees. Thank you Leigh Teixeira! She’s the one who told him she wanted him to be a Yankee over dinner on December 13th, I think. He grew up idolizing Don Mattingly, his press conference could be the last major event at the old Yankee Stadium, etc., etc., everything else everyone has already reported on.

The Red Sox have countered with signing five players who are not at CC, AJ, or Tex’s skill level, but will likely keep them in contention with the Yanks.

Rocco Baldelli: The former “next Joe DiMaggio” signed with the Sox after a 6-year career with the Rays. He has a disorder that leaves him in a constant state of fatigue, and he will platoon with the Sox. Just wondering, for you Red Sox fans who read this blog, where will he play? I know he will platoon, but with who? Ellsbury is a full-fledged star, Bay is an excellent and durable player, and Drew–well, I guess that’s who he’ll platoon with the most, huh?

Mark Kotsay: Returning to the Sox as a backup first baseman and outfielder.Yeah, that’s pretty much it.

John Smoltz: One of the few players who seemed like he’d actually stay with his team for an entire career, Smoltz went from the Braves, who he spent 20 years with and would have a sure spot in the rotation with, to the Sox, with whom he’ll have to win the 4th or 5th starter slot. However, this is a good move for the Sox, who are following the Yanks in the “you can never have too much pitching” philosophy.

Brad Penny: Penny is a mystery. In 2008 he was awful, but the two years before that he had dominant first halves and finished with a decent record. He even started the All-Star Game in San Francisco for the National League. But you never know.

Takashi Saito: Another former Dodger, another Japanese pitcher for the Red Sox. The 38 year old Saito should help the Red Sox’ bullpen a lot. He was very good in LA, and was only dumped off because Jonathan Broxton was ready to close.

In other news…

Pat Burrell has gone from the best team in baseball last year to the second best, the Rays. This adds a power bat to their lineup in the DH spot and should help them stay in contention next year.

Milton Bradley was introduced as the newest Cub a couple of days ago to play center field, deflating my proposed trade of Randy Winn to Chicago.

Trevor Hoffman, a San Diego Padre for 16 years and 552 saves, has moved on to the Milwaukee Brewers. This leaves a gaping hole in the Padres’ bullpen that I doubt can be filled this year. However, the Brewers get a closer that consistently puts up 40+ saves and a good ERA. 

 

Carl Pavano has struck a deal with the now-officially-desperate-for-starters Cleveland Indians. We all know how it turned out the last time he was signed.

Jason Giambi has returned to the Oakland Athletics where, as you can probably see from the photo, he won an MVP. I personally won’t be sad to see him go.

That just about wraps it up for another post by the New Mexican Yankee Fan, but before we go, I would like to bid a fond farewell to Shelley Duncan, who I, in person, watched hit his first Major League home run. He was designated for assignment.

I’m sorry it ended this way.

Thank you and good night.

 

There are several aspects of 2008 many of us would like to forget, but the year in sports was one to remember.

My Giants upsetting the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl? Classic.

The Celtics and Rays’ worst-to-first stories? Unprecedented.

 

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s Wimbledon match? Epic.

Tiger Woods’ US Open win on one leg? Inspiring.

Josh Hamilton’s record-setting Home Run Derby (even if he didn’t win)? Amazing.

The aptly named Usain Bolt’s Olympic performance. Well, fast. Really really fast.

The Phillies delivering Philadelphia’s first major sports championship in 100 total years? Impressive.

Mario Chalmers’ shot? Heart stopping.

Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Graham Harrell, and Tim Tebow’s race to the Heisman and Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech’s race to the national championship? Chaotic, and both ended badly.

Michael Phelps’ EIGHT gold medals? Amazing, stunning, awe-inspiring, etc., etc.

That certainly looks like the best year to me. What about you?