May 22 in Yankee History

  • A Robinson Cano home run and fifth-inning rbi’s by Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson were just enough to carry Phil Hughes and the Yankees to a 3-2 win over the Royals in Yankee Stadium on May 22, 2012, but it wasn’t easy. Joe Girardi used five relievers to preserve the one-run lead, three of them in top of the eighth inning. Continue reading
  • May 21 in Yankee History

  • Coming off a win the night before, Mets fans in Yankee Stadium were excited when they reached A.J. Burnett for two runs in the first inning of the May 21, 2011, game in Yankee Stadium, but home runs by Russell Martin, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, and Alex Rodriguez off Chris Capuano restored order in a 7-3 Yankee win. Derek Jeter‘s seeming unstoppable climb to 3,000 hits settled in at 2,973 after two singles and two runs scored. Continue reading
  • May 20 in Yankee History

  • Filling in for the ineffective and injured Chien-Ming Wang, young righthander Phil Hughes got the win when the team battered Baltimore in the Bronx 11-4 on May 20, 2009. Another tradition survived the trip across 161st Street as all the predominantly white uniforms in the stands confirmed it was Fleet Week in New York. The big bat belonged to Robinson Cano, who had three hits with a homer, knocked in three runs, and scored two himself. Continue reading
  • May 19 in Yankee History

  • This is a baseball history column, and more specifically one focused on Yankee history. But being a Yankee is about excelling, so I need to start the May 19 installment with an acknowledgement of the record-smashing Belmont Stakes run by the thoroughbred Secretariat on this day in 1973, some 40 years ago. It was an astounding performance. Continue reading
  • Hero-K

    Bronx, N.Y., May 17, 2013 — On Friday night, Hiroki Kuroda put a stop to that seemingly rarest of 2013 Yankee experiences, a two-game losing streak, and even rarer, a loss in a one-run game. Hiroki was willing (and obviously able) to win a one-run game himself, something it seemed he might have to do given the unexpected trouble the Yanks were having with Mark Buehrle’s slow and slower stuff. Continue reading

    May 18 in Yankee History

  • The fourth-inning rbi fielder’s choice grounder Alex Rodriguez delivered against old friend Bronson “Brandon” Arroyo was enough for Andy Pettitte, who surrendered just four singles in a 4-0 win over visiting Cincinnati on May 18, 2012. But the eighth-inning Robinson Cano and Raul Ibanez home runs were welcome nonetheless. Continue reading
  • May 17 in Yankee History

  • It’s another day where a great candidate for top highlight is surpassed by an even better one. Does it help if I share that numero uno happened on Beanie Baby Day in the Bronx? It doesn’t seem possible, but the word “several” no longer applies in describing the multi-year anniversary of David Wells‘s Perfect Game, a 4-0 win over the Twins on May 17, 1998. Bernie Williams had a homer among his three hits, Latroy Hawkins manned the mound for the visiting Twins, and Boomer threw only 11 of 27 first-pitch strikes. Continue reading
  • Bronx DeBoos

    Bronx, N.Y., May 15, 2013 — Well, it was bound to happen, though perhaps not as dramatically as the ugly Wednesday Yankee 12-2 loss to Seattle in the Bronx proved to be. Enigmatic Yankee righthander Phil Hughes had his worst start in … well, forever, failing to survive the game’s first inning, and putting his teammates in a 7-0 hole. Phil garnered his first out in two pitches, then recorded his next 32 tosses later. CC Sabathia was striking out Robert Andino to end the top of the second at 7:29 Tuesday night; 24 hours later, Preston Claiborne, in already for Hughes, put an end to the top of the first with a called third strike at the same moment. Continue reading