With all apologies to a movie with special effects that bring a smile and the genuine heart and humor of baseball (It Happens Every Spring, of course), I’m delighted to announce the fourth annual Maple Street Yankee Annual, this one subheaded 2010 Continue reading It Happens Before Spring
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 We are the champions... In Asia just three days earlier, the World Series trophy made a road trip to Westchester this weekend. White Plains, NY, February 6, 2010 Hello Excellence, my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again. With apologies to Paul Simon, those words, and others just like them, whirled through my head on Saturday, February 6, as we made the trip to White Plains to see the New York Yankee World Series Trophy in person. The predicted snow had stopped south of Westchester County, and when we arrived we had just a 25-minute wait until it was our turn. Continue reading Hey, Gorgeous!  View From 420b Bronx, N.Y., January 8, 2010 — I made my annual birthday celebration/trek to Yankee Stadium the other day. The reason I give myself (and anyone asking) for why I brave the chilly winds of the South Bronx in January each year is to pay off the coming year’s season ticket plan, but in reality it’s more a pilgrimage than a buiness trip. I actually bumped into Joe Torre on this trek two days into 1997, shaking his hand and thanking him for one of the best summers of my life just three months after a glorious downtown parade. I’ve been hooked into carrying out this trip ever since. Continue reading Winter Numbers  Andy Pettitte took his rightful place dominating the penultimate float, as befits the winner of more postseason games than anyone, and the clinchers in all three series. Downtown Manhattan, N.Y., November 6, 2009 — The woman getting on the 6:34 (out of Rye) in New Rochelle was grateful that I slid over and let her have the outside seat of two, but I was glad for the company. “Oh my,” she said, “it seems we have a few young fans heading to the Parade.” Continue reading Canyon Caps Sizzling Season
Bronx, N.Y., October 25, 2009 — Fulfilling their role as overseers of what goes on in the Big City, the New York Times reported on Saturday that the concrete covering some of the ramps in new Yankee Stadium was crumbling. From what I saw following the Yankees’ 5-2, Game 6 ALCS-clinching victory over the Angels, they needn’t have worried. Fans were soaring out of the Stadium without their feet ever touching the ground. Continue reading Andy Pennant  Despite the fact that AJ pied Mark Teixeira a week ago, the entire Yankee hurling staff should chip in and buy Tex and his family all the pie they can eat. He saves runs every day at first base. Bronx, N.Y., October 17, 2009 — You could look at Game 2 of the ALCS as two games. The first one was mostly dry, and Joe Saunders and AJ Burnett battled superbly to a seven-inning 2-2 tie. Then the Yankee bullpen beat the Anaheim pen 2-1 in a sloppier but still well pitched contest through six innings more. Continue reading AJ, A-Rod, A-OK Bronx, N.Y., October 16, 2009 — The Yanks beat the Angels 4-1 in Game One of the ALCS Friday night in a game where the Halos contributed to their own demise with uncharcateristically sloppy play. But whatever was affecting the Angels had the Scoreboard operators off their game as well. The only ones who played their “A” game were the dominant Yankee starter CC Sabathia and the fellow members of his team. Continue reading Bewitched in the Bronx Bronx, N.Y., October 9, 2009 — Milling around the new train station at Yankee Stadium Friday night following the Yanks’ improbable come-from-behind win, the big joke went something like: “Boring game, huh?” But move those delirious people back in time two hours, and nobody would have seen what was so funny. For the second straight postseason game the Yanks and their fans (hey, we buy the tickets) got their money’s worth when both CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett were signed on December 18, 2008. What we didn’t count on was the superb Nick Blackburn and the Twins setup relief. Bronx, N.Y., October 7, 2009 — It seemed pretty clear that the overwhelmingly underdog Twins had one not so bad chance playing Game One of the ALDS in Yankee Stadium Wednesday. Sure, they were whipped, having played must-win games for a month, won out to make up a deficit, and finally slipped past the Tigers just 20 hours before first pitch. Sure, they were set to play the 103-win Yankees in a ballpark in which the Bombers have quickly learned to dominate. And they would be facing 19-game winner CC Sabathia, and a hostile Yankee crowd almost 50,000 strong. |
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Bronx, N.Y., November 4, 2009 — You had to hand it to the sports prognosticators following the Yankees’ Game Six World Series victory Wednesday. To a man, they all knew it was about pitching, and how rested the pitchers starting for each team would be. The astounding thing is that so many knew that that was the key, but so few realized for which pitcher that would be the bigger problem