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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.

Continue reading Jeter Swings It

Bronx, N.Y., October 7, 2007 — A Yankee season that was imperiled when the Indians beat Chien-Ming Wang in Cleveland was pushed further to the edge by a swarm of gnats Friday night, resulting in an 0-2 record in the five-game ALDS. One wonders how a confident yet nervous Yankee crowd in the Stadium for Game Three Sunday night would have reacted had they known going in that aging vet Roger Clemens would not last three frames. Continue reading Tell-Tale Heart, Bronx Style

Bronx, N.Y., October 3, 2006 — A not so funny thing happened in the Yankees/Tigers tussle in Game One of the ALDS Tuesday night. As expected, Chien-Ming Wang gave the Yanks a good, not stellar start. The 12 hits Yankee bats stroked against starter Nate Robertson were about par for the bashing club’s course. Fulfilling manifold predictions, the vaunted Yankee lineup threw a crushing rally at Detroit. But totally messing with the pregame script, the Tigers responded to six straight Yankee hits that tallied five runs leading off the home third by rallying to make the series opener a battle. Continue reading The Captain Crunches the Bengals

NEW YORK, N.Y., November 5, 2004 — OK. Let’s get something out there right from the start. I come not really to praise the Red Sox but, as the Bard would have it, to “bury them.” But first there are quite a few great things they accomplished this season that need to be recognized. They are the first team in baseball history (and in the history of any major sport that is currently viable) to recover from an 0-3 deficit to win a best of seven series. Continue reading 1913

NEW YORK, N.Y., October 16, 2005 — Darn. What a Gyp! It’s almost six days now, the Almighty seems to have recovered, seeing as the sun has returned to New York, and so I’m thinking it’s about time I do the same. I’d like to say the turn in the weather has shaken me out of my lethargy and alerted me to how lucky this Yankee fan’s life has been, but that would be giving me credit for a maturity I possess in extremely short supply. Continue reading Double Drat!

Bronx, N.Y., October 9, 2005 — It was 7:56 pm on an unexpectedly pleasant Bronx evening when Yankee righty Shawn Chacon delivered his first pitch to Angels third baseman Chone Figgins, but by the time his lazy fly ball settled into hometeam centerfielder Bubba Crosby’s glove, the clock had moved to 57 minutes after the hour. Perhaps the between-minutes first pitch put both offenses out of phase, or maybe it was just the great pitching, but what ensued was 192 (or 193) minutes of the most tense baseball the House That Ruth Built has seen in 2005. Continue reading The Possible Dream

Bronx, N.Y., October 20, 2004 — Well, that which cannot happen has come to pass. It’s a true statement on several levels, but for our purposes let’s just concern ourselves with two: First, when push comes to shove, the Yankees always beat the Red Sox. And more generally, teams who lose the first three games of a best-of-seven series in most major sports, and certainly in baseball, can’t recover from that deficit. Continue reading The Lowe Down

Bronx, N.Y., October 17, 2004 — The pictures in the Fox-TV coverage toward the end of last night’s Yankee 19-8 humiliation of the Red Sox were dominated by two views, one seen often in Fenway Park, and the other almost never. (I couldn’t tell you what Buck, McCarver, et al, were saying, as we threw that verbal tribute to the powers that be at Fox over the side in the second inning, using the radio for the audio portion of the goings-on. (But I can address the pictures they showed.) Continue reading Swing [at] Lowe

Bronx, N.Y., October 11, 2004 — The greatest postseason closer in baseball history recorded yet another save in the Bronx Tuesday night. And as Mariano Rivera trotted in from the bullpen to take his practice throws, the Scoreboard displayed its latest gimmick, not just playing Mettalica’s Enter Sandman, but flashing the lyrics across the auxiliary boards that hang from the loge sections down each line. Continue reading Enter Sandman: The Ballgame

Bronx, N.Y., October 11, 2004 — The story behind Ruben Sierra, the powerful Yankee switch-hitting DH/outfielder, is one of many good ones regarding the 2004 team. The Yankees had achieved two huge goals when they originally got Ruben in July 1995 for Danny Tartabull. First, they got rid of the oft-injured righty power hitter and his big contract. And then the Yankees rode thier way to a 1995 Wild Card berth largely on Ruben’s double-barreled stick. Continue reading Sandcastle to Cathedral