Showing clear command of every pitch he threw, A.J. Burnett retired nine straight, mostly Philly starters, with one strike out, on 43 pitches.

Tampa and Sarasota, Fla., March 7, 2011 — “I saw them ALL,” gushed the young girl who climbed to our section to rejoin her parents in the redone Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. A Yankee split squad was playing the Orioles Monday evening, and Sarasota, with apologies to the big stars in the Yankee outfield, was lucky enough to have the infield-dominated Bombers group make the hour-plus drive. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez lead this every-city popularity phenomenon, with Robbie Cano and Mark Teixeira bringing up the rear. Continue reading →

Read it and weep. These are numbers only a hitting coach could love, although it did make for an entertaining game.

Kissimmee, Fla., March 6, 2011 — Following eight days of largely ineffective offense, I dreamed of hits Saturday night. Perhaps tonight I’ll dream of winning $1 million. The Yanks outlasted the Astros in Kissimmee 10-8 Sunday afternoon, outhitting the home club 21-17. A wind that was blowing out to all fields probably had a greater effect than any visions during my slumber, or at least that’s what most fans present were thinking, I’m sure. Continue reading →

After personally congratulating each member of the Jefferson High School State Champs pregame, David Wells paid a visit to the Nationals' dugout, speaking here to a few players including ex-Red Sox outfielder Jonathan Van Every.

Tampa, Fla., March 5, 2011 — After spending four days lamenting the lack of Yankee offense, on Saturday afternoon the team broke out for 10 hits and eight runs, with all of the latter bunched into a wild and fun home fourth inning, even if two Washington miscues got the rally ball rolling. Staff ace CC Sabathia failed to go three innings in his second start, and was tagged for five runs and six hits and a walk before handing the ball off to Joba Chamberlain. Continue reading →

There's a lot less head shaking and shrugs about the signing of Bartolo Colon to a minor league contract than there were before this stellar performance.

Tampa, Fla., March 4, 2011 — Freddy Garcia was happy with his work yesterday in Port Charlotte, and for good reason. But he might be feeling a little less comfortable with it now, because Bartolo Colon made a statement start Friday night. Admittedly facing a different-looking Red Sox team (more on that shortly), he retired seven straight and nine of 11, and recorded five of the nine outs via the strike out, three of them swinging. Only five of the 16 strikes he recorded in the first two innings struck Sox bats. A ground double down the left field line and a swinging bunt with one out in the third slowed his momentum, but Colon came back strong with the fifth strike out and a dribbler to first where the bulky right-hander broke from the mound and took the throw at first just ahead of Boston center fielder Ryan Kalish. In perhaps the most impressive stat of his night, Bartolo forged an 0-2 count against seven of 11 batters. Continue reading →

You talk yourself into things, you know? It was gratifying to hear that the Tampa fans saw something special with Betances too.

Tampa, Fla., March 3, 2011 — The Yanks brought out their prevent offense (except for one sloppy inning in Tampa) for the third straight day in a contest vs. the Rays in Port Charlotte Thursday. They notched all of four hits good for one run over 10 innings, though it needs to be added that the run only scored when a five-year mlb veteran shortstop let Bradley Suttle’s ground ball sneak through the wickets for the game’s lone (official) error. Compounding the ineptitude, they made this showing against a Tampa team off to a bad start because their pitchers are being routinely whacked around. Continue reading →

A.J. allowed two singles, but he threw free and easy, notched a strike out, threw 6 of 7 first-pitch strikes, and retired the side twice on 19 pitches.

Tampa, Fla., March 2, 2011 — The Yankees/Phillies tilt that opened Spring Training in George M. Steinbrenner Field four days ago, a back-and-forth battle in which the visitors ultimately prevailed, was noteworthy for how un-”springlike” it was. A one-run (5-4 Phils), crisply played game, with each team amassing nine hits, six walks total, and just one error on an infield roller initially ruled a hit. On Wednesday afternoon in the same venue, the visiting Astros and the Yanks played the antithesis of that game, a contest that was “springlike” in the extreme. Continue reading →