Bronx, N.Y., September 6, 2004 — Well, I knew if I waited long enough the Commissioner’s Office would find yet another reason to ignore the rule book if applying it worked in the New York Yankees’ favor. Move over Mr. MacPhail, it’s Mr. Selig’s turn. I’m told that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays made their stand on principle. They would not leave their homes with a hurricane bearing down on Florida, even though they had much of Friday night and Saturday afternoon to do so, and MLB “suggested” that they do. If it involved a forfeit, so be it.

So be it. The New York Jets refused to play football after the horror that was 9/11, and stated their willingness to forfeit if it came to that. It didn’t because the League cancelled all the games. The Devil Rays’ decision this weekend was that they were taking the “principled” stand that, Hell No, they wouldn’t go. Fine. But the second part of their little ultimatum read like this: If that’s not acceptable, well, baseball will just have to punish the Yankees. Some accountability there. And make no mistake, a doubleheader Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday absolutely punishes the Yankees, with an already stressed starting staff. And a Monday October 4 date with the Rays would obviously punish them even more so.

That being said, however, the New York Yankees operated like the class operation, “World-Class” as their 2004 slogan proclaims. They displayed generosity and understanding through this whole episode, and that includes the request for a Tampa Bay forfeit, by rule. The team with the highest average attendance made the initial old-fashioned doubleheader offer to their fans to make up an earlier rainout in the first place. They then moved the start time from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. with less than 24 hours notice without a whimper, even though they were painfully aware what that late a change would do to their gate.

They paid their security and concession people from as early as 9:00 a.m. Monday, because they had committed to opening the Stadium at 11:00 a.m. originally, and they refused to break that pact with their fans. And as the updates throughout the day made it clear that the Rays would neither arrive in time for the original start time nor the rescheduled one, they assured ticket holders that they could come to the Stadium or not, regardless the ticket would gain each of them free entry to yet another game.

A few thousand fans took the Yankees at their word, excitedly entering the Stadium as soon as the gates opened. We were not among them, but I am so delighted that we did arrive several hours early, some time after 4 p.m. The first thing we were treated to was an extended Jason Giambi batting practice session. I’m sure the intestinal parasite, the bumps and bruises, the cold and, of course, the benign tumor, have taken their toll, but the show he put on was tremendous.

Watching Yankee bench coach Willie Randolph serve up pitch after pitch brought to mind their joint appearance in the same roles in the All Star Home Run Derby more than a year ago. In addition, Giambi’s presence in the cage all by himself, while his teammates slowly gathered for some pre-practice stretches, solidified the impression to even the most experienced fans that they were witnessing something special. Jason did not disappoint. The line drives peppering the right field bleachers (and even a few clanging off the legendary black seats) were fun, but all knew it when they were witnessing classic Giambi: the lofty moonshots dropping into the right field tier like the hailstones one hears of in urban myths.

It was during this display that we first saw the next two instances of Pinstriped philanthropy. First, fans interested in leaving and returning before the finally announced 7:00 p.m. start time could do so through Gate 6, no questions (security permitting) asked. And then the kicker: Hot Dog & Cokes Are Available Without Charge!!! This offer would remain in place for the entire evening. And some fans exiting the Stadium after the game were given Yankee freebies, in our case 2003 American League Champions posters.

Seeing the Yankee players stretch and prepare was a treat, as was their extended batting practice session. They usually vacate the field roughly 90 minutes before first pitch so the visiting team can do their own prep work, but no waiting team pressed them to leave this day.

At 6:25 the first Devil Rays player appeared from the visiting dugout to a lusty chorus of boos. Yankee generosity only stretched so far. It was clear from the final pregame steps that the first pitch would be made as close to 7:00 pm as possible. When shortstop Julio Lugo fouled off The Duke’s first pitch, the scoreboard clock read 7:02.

Although the 7-4 win was inspiring and Manager Joe Torre’s lineup moves worked like magic, I’m afraid I’m going to give the actual game a bit of short shrift. El duque did what he does, picking and choosing his spots, both when to come at them hard and when to throw soft, and on which batters he would challenge and which ones not. Falling behind rookie second baseman Cantu 3-1 leading off the second, he grooved one and it cost him a home run to straight away center. Good starting pitchers have been prone to allowing singleton jacks since people first started playing this game. But with a string of games featuring tepid Yankee at bats and with Tampa’s Doug Waechter pitching around two walks, and not allowing a hard hit ball until Lofton lined deep to left in the third, the deficit was temporarily worrying.

But then Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez demonstrated for the first of two straight times how well Torre had done with their respective one-two placements in his revised batting order. Once the Yankee Captain hustled his way to an infield single, he knotted the game at one on a Sheffield fielder’s choice after A-Rod had doubled Jeter to third. Then in the decisive home fourth, Posada and Williams singles got it going, Cairo plated the go-ahead run with a sac fly and Jeter walked to load the bases after a Lofton single. The Alex Rodriguez troubles with runners in scoring position have become a recurring 2004 theme, but he homered early with two on in Thursday’s win over Cleveland, and he wasted no time Monday night, doubling down the left field line on Waechter’s first pitch for three quick runs, and a 5-1 Yankee lead.

The Duke left after seven, having thrown 110 pitches, with one more Devil Ray run across. It seemed from the Upper Deck that Mel Stottlemyre was tossed for arguing balls and strikes when umpire Rob Drake’s strike zone underwent a huge reduction in size in the seventh, but one news report I saw said that the Duke was tossed too. Small matter really (heck, I’m not paying the fine); it’s almost certain he was not answering the bell for the eighth. Quantrill relieved, pitched around a hard single in the eighth and allowed Geoff Blum a two-run jack in the ninth, which thankfully came after the Yanks had added two on a Sierra pinch single and Jeter’s sac fly in the home eighth.

Hernandez threw 17 of 28 first pitches for strikes, had an acceptable 42/68 balls/strikes ratio, and held the Rays to four hits and one walk. He managed a strike out an inning from the third through the seventh, four of the five swinging on the nine pitches on which he got the young Rays to swing and miss. Kenny Lofton made a fine running grab of a deep liner to center by Rocco Baldelli in the first, and Quantrill and defensive sub Tony Clark did well on a Toby Hall 1-3 grounder in the ninth. On the other hand the 4-6-3 the Tampa infield turned on Bernie’s bid for a third single in the fifth was well executed as well.

The crowd was sparse and well spaced out, and obviously having a ball. It was strange seeing three crowds last week that though big, were less than the customary 50,000-plus, so the 20,000 or so Monday made it look like a throwback game. Other points of note: Bernie appeared to turn an ankle at first base on his fourth-inning single. And speaking of first base, it’s becoming obvious that Tino Martinez would be cheered in the Bronx even if he came back in either Red Sox or Mets garb, heaven forbid on both counts. The first of two tallies in the eighth inning was scored by Bubba Crosby, who ran for Olerud after his leadoff single. This is the first game action I have witnessed where Bubba was not wearing the stirrups or high socks most rookies in New York and in much of baseball wear. Perhaps he is feeling more comfortable in the big leagues.

Mariano Rivera was up twice in this game, warming with Steve Karsay in the eighth while the lead was still three runs, and then again when the Rays closed it to that margin on Blum’s ninth-inning bomb off Quantrill. But Paul settled down and got the next three, the last on a 3-Unassisted to Tony Clark at 9:59 p.m.

Concessions and security people in the Stadium were then perhaps within an hour of the end of their “Labor Day” after 13 hours at their posts. More than the Yankee team and their fans even, these hard-working souls were the most victimized of all by Tampa Bay’s “principled” stand. The Devil Rays insisted to a man that they would accept a forfeit rather than report for work as these people did.

I would be totally OK with that. How about it, Bud?

BTW,TYW

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!