Bronx, N.Y., September 10, 2002 — It is not the best time for this at work, but I just couldn’t help myself. I didn’t go out of my way looking for trouble either. I really did have tickets to the rained-out June 6 game against the Orioles that was to be played as the first game of today’s twin bill; I had tickets for the night game too. I was intrigued when I saw the two together on the rejiggered Yankee schedule. I don’t know when I last attended a double dip, but I would not pass up the opportunity Tuesday. I would have been there without the Paul O’Neill bobble head. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., September 8, 2002 — Another gorgeous day in the Bronx, and another nail-biter vs. a club with nothing to lose, the Detroit Tigers, who seem to be auditioning players at almost every position. And auditioning ballplayer no. one was the guy on the pitcher’s mound, Andy Van Hekken. A tall lanky lefty who became the first American League pitcher in 27 years to throw a shutout in his debut (he did it last week against the Indians), he only surrendered one earned run on six hits and a walk. He was decidedly a fly ball pitcher, as he didn’t get his second ground ball out until Coomer bounced to short in the fourth. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., September 7, 2002 — You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again. A Stitch in Time Saves Nine. Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be. None of these sayings is specifically attributed to the Pilgrims who helped colonize these United States. But each of these aphorisms could be applied to the philosophy and the Way of Life of these brave and hearty souls, who celebrated our first Thanksgiving. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., September 4, 2002 — It was going to be different this year. The Red Sox weren’t only going to put a scare into the Yanks this time. Ever since they inhaled that heady and almost unprecedented five-games-up air early in the year, the demons of yesteryear were banished, and the Yankees were going down. As intoxicated with the sound of a hit record (certainly a hit in Boston, and in much of the country too) as the late George Harrison was on this day in 1970 when he released the song that shares this column’s title, Red Sox players, fans and new ownership and management were as fooled as Harrison was. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., September 3, 2002 — We live in a different world, here in 2002. As the first anniversary of the most extreme act of terrorism we can all hope to ever withstand approaches, we are all struggling for a whole new way of communicating, an entirely different set of effective metaphors. And the world of spectator sports, a bigger part of our lives than any of us want to acknowledge, is not immune to the problem. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., September 2, 2002 — “…and Carry a Big Stick.” Teddy Roosevelt uttered those words in public for the first time 101 years ago today, and I focused on them during all those times during today’s interminable game, rain delay and game again that Boston fans cheered, “Let’s Go, Red Sox.” Sure, they won today, and in the process extracted a bit of revenge for the way Mussina has treated them in their home park, though I really felt Mike’s undoing was more the work of home plate ump Mike Winters than the bats of the Red Sox. Continue reading →