The good times continued to roll in Tampa as the Yankees outlasted the visiting Rays, 4-3, on March 9, 2015, behind stellar pitching from Michael Pineda, Nate Eovaldi, David Carpenter, and Justin Wilson, but the best news of the day was two hits and an rbi from DH Alex Rodriguez and an rbi double from Greg Bird. Continue reading →
We felt privileged and lucky to be in Tampa on March 8, 1999, when we heard the sad news that Joe DiMaggio had passed on. Had we been home when we heard it, we would have had nowhere to turn, as the Ballpark in the Bronx was not up to speed yet. Things were handled in a pretty dignified manner at Legends Field, and a painting of Joe was placed in front of his number and plaque in the southern wing, if you will, of Monument Park. It made it easier to spend a moment honoring and remembering “the Greatest Living Ballplayer.” Continue reading →
Exciting his fans and somewhat blunting his critics, newly re-signed outfielder Brett Gardner hit a grand slam home run in the second inning of a 4-0 win over Philadelphia on March 6, 2021. Worthy of note, the home-standing Yanks wore their Pinstriped unis, something they had only done in the ST opener previous to this season. Continue reading →
When Babe Ruth signed a three-year deal on March 6, 1922, he more than tripled the yearly salary of teammate Frank “Home Run” Baker, the second-highest on the team. But it was only fair. He had outhomered him in 1921 by better than 7-to-1; The Babe hit 59 to Baker’s eight. Continue reading →
In an underattended 2021 Spring Training game in Tampa on March 5, the Yanks almost beat visiting Detroit on Gleyber Torres‘s fourth-inning home run, but the Tigers tied in the eighth, a frame in which righty Addison Russ walked four guys and delivered a wild pitch as well, for a 1-1 final. Continue reading →
The Yankees bunched four singles into a three-run first inning that was barely enough to hold off the visiting Phillies 3-2 on March 4, 2020. A guy in Yankee camp in 2021, veteran outfielder Jay Bruce, plated both Philly runs with a two-run home run in the top of the sixth. Ex-Yankee infielder Ronald Torreyes stroked two of the five hits the Phillies scratched that evening. Continue reading →
Giving credit where it is due, real-life power threat and catcher Joey Bart drilled a game-tying three-run home run in the third inning of the Yanks’ 12-3 destruction of visiting Pittsburgh on March 3, 2025. True, the ensuing Yankee five-run explosion in the sixth was largely the product of four walks and a couple of singles given up by young Pirate bullpenners, but it was exciting that New York was able to pile on three more runs in the home eighth on home runs by free agent Andrew Velazquez (“squid”) and by George Lombard, Jr.Continue reading →
A band of visiting Yankees were battered by the Braves on March 2, 2025. Marcus Stroman was reached for four runs in three innings, and a five-run seventh cemented the 11-1 final. Alexander Vargas delivered the only Yankee run with a sac fly in the top of the seventh. Continue reading →
Lots of good to talk about in the March 1, 2025, 9-3 win against visiting Houston at GMS Field, starting with the 2-1/3-inning start from a Cam Schlitter few of us recognized. Three walks and a single cost him a run in the third. But Aaron Judge drove in two in a three-run third, and Ben Rice homered in the fourth. A five-run seventh sent the cheating ‘stros to their bus as we celebrated. Continue reading →
Singeton jacks from Austin Wells and Cody Bellinger put the Yanks up in Tampa hosting the Blue Jays on February 28, 2025, in an eventual 6-3 win. Staff ace Gerrit Cole looked strong going 3-1/3 with five strike outs, but a 16-pitch, two-double, one-run top of the third appeared to wear him out, a sign we were worried to see (a fear that would come back to bite). Jesus Rodriguez accounted for the final score with a two-run double in the home seventh. Continue reading →
