Bronx, N.Y., May 25, 2008 — It was hard not to feel confident when arriving at Yankee Stadium Sunday for the last game of the current homestand, an afternoon tilt against the Seattle Mariners. The Yanks were starting staff ace Chien-Ming Wang, the hard-throwing righty who upped his record against the Mariners in the last three-plus years to 7-0 with a 5-1 win 23 days before. Southpaw Jarrod Washburn, 2-6 with a 6-plus era this year, and a losing record against the Yankees, was to oppose him. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 24, 2008 — Any expert on labor law and how it affects the dead working overtime might want to get in touch with the Yankees following the team’s second straight drubbing of the Mariners Saturday afternoon. At 4:16 Jose Veras poured a breaking ball by Seattle third baseman Adrian Beltre, home plate ump Larry Vanover punched him out, and the Scoreboard trumpeted Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York. The players made for the dugout, and fans began filing out, paying no attention to the argument Beltre was making to Vanover. Ballplayers argue about called strikes all the time, don’t they? Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 23, 2008 — The Yankees made it three straight wins Friday night at the Stadium, and if that doesn’t sound unfamiliar enough to you, consider this. The weather was pleasant and dry with nary a cloud in the sky. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 22, 2008 — Four hours before game time Thursday night, hailstones peppered my house 20 miles north of Yankee Stadium, and I stared at the sky shaking my fist like Snoopy after the dastardly Red Baron had escaped his clutches one more time. The weather and the team’s play have both been gruesome in 2008, and it was after a full day of rain Tuesday that the Bombers were crushed 12-2 in a very ugly ballgame. Things improved Wednesday, but even then the rain started falling two minutes before first pitch, soaking all not covered before the team stormed to an 8-0 drubbing of Baltimore. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 20, 2008 — Anyone picking up Wednesday’s newspaper and seeing that the reeling, last-place Yankees were crushed by the middling Baltimore Orioles 12-2 in the Stadium Tuesday night might assume that starter Mike Mussina just didn’t have it. And they wouldn’t be all wrong. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 8, 2008 — Nature abhors a vacuum, or so I was told in science class a significant number of years ago. This thought popped up as I watched the Cleveland Indians not take batting practice about noon Thursday afternoon. The Stadium staff had it all set up for them, with green tarp stretched on the field around home plate, various screens propped up through the infield and outfield, and the big batting cage sitting empty as well. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 6, 2008 — Well, the baseball weather has finally arrived in New York, and the Yankees finally got a day off — at home — yesterday. All of which, sadly, made Tuesday night’s loss that much more disturbing. We’ve come to look on the young Joba Chamberlain as every bit as automatic as Mariano Rivera, and we got burned for that this night. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 4, 2008 — Well, beat the drum and hold the phone — the sun came out today

After a month of frigid temps, rain, everlasting road trips, injuries, and no days off, the baseball season arrived in the Bronx in earnest on Sunday afternoon. The Yanks had been home for six days, but the hard breeze that carried them here from Cleveland Monday night chilled the city and the ballpark all week, the Tigers swept the Yanks three straight, and the home team was earnestly trying to sweep the visiting Mariners in an effort to redirect a season seemingly headed south. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 2, 2008 — For the third straight game the Yankees jumped out to an early lead Friday night, 1-0 over the Mariners after one, and 3-0 after two. There were two glaring differences, however. First, although Hideki Matsui and Melky Cabrera came up with huge base hits with runners in scoring condition, the quick lead this time was a gift courtesy of sloppy Seattle fielding. Second, and far more important, they hung on to win this one. Continue reading →