Chances Are

Bronx, N.Y., September 30, 2003 — Baseball is a simple game really. Hit the ball harder and more often, catch the balls thrown and hit within reach, throw it harder and more accurately, and pitch it with skill and direction and a certain flair, and you win most of your games. If your opponent ends up with all the check marks on their side of the ledger, you are likely to lose. That explains the Yanks’ 3-1 loss to the Twins in Tuesday’s Game One of the 2003 American League Division Series in the clearest of terms. Continue reading

What Would Confucius Say?

Bronx, N.Y., September 28, 2003 — If you lived north of the city, as I do, you could be forgiven for thinking Sunday morning that there would be no game in the Bronx to finish the season. With the AL East Title won and best record in the League already assured, and all the playoff pairings finalized, the game was not necessary, and the rain north of the city was depressing and unrelenting. But lo and behold, as I drove south through Westchester and into the Bronx the rain slowly subsided, although the skies certainly never cleared. Continue reading

The View From Below

Bronx, N.Y., September 13, 2003 — It was an easy decision really. With the intermittent rain all day, and the two June 19 Tampa Bay Tier Box rain-out tickets in our pockets, my brother and I decided to catch this game from downstairs, with something solid protecting our heads from the intermittent sprinkles. We knew the game would be sparsely attended. I love watching games from the Tier, and have done it for years. But we decided it was time to revisit the lower levels. Continue reading

A Little Bingo

Bronx, N.Y., September 7, 2003 — Yankee Stadium is just stunning at 7:00 pm on a clear day in early September. The sun has not yet set, and is shining brightly first on the outfield walls and bleachers in left and right fields, then on the world-famous Stadium facade that rings the ballpark on its eastern side along River Ave., and finally at the Bronx County Courthouse and other buildings that dot the South Bronx sky beyond. On Friday night there was a lone cloudbank hanging over the right field upper deck, and the setting sun had made it a “star” in its glorious light show, first displaying streaming reds and yellows, which slowly evolved into a lavender glow. Continue reading