Bronx, N.Y., July 10, 2004 — As the saying goes, you couldn’t keep track of all the special moments in a long gorgeous Saturday afternoon in the South Bronx without a scorecard. The day began with radio announcer John Sterling and YES TV broadcaster Michael Kay introducing 40 beloved stars of yesteryear, and ended with 13 of the players on the 2004 team delighting a full house with a 6-3 win, yet another come-from-behind victory.
Once the old-timers were introduced, and Bob Sheppard honored those in the Yankee and in the greater baseball family who have passed away in the last year, two beloved stars who left us in the past received particular honors. The family of Yankee pitcher Red Ruffing, whose 231 victories in Pinstripes are the most ever for a righthander, was presented with a plaque in his honor to be erected in Monument Park. Red was honored for all those victories, for the amazing 261 Yankee complete games, for the four consecutive 20-win seasons that coincided with the at-the-time unprecedented 1936-1939 World Series Championships, and because as a hitter he posted a better than .300 average in an amazing eight career seasons. My favorite stat was excluded: Red accomplished all that with the Yankees after posting a paltry 37-93 record over six-plus seasons with the Red Sox.
Next came the ceremony in honor of the late Thurman Munson, as he was lost to his wife and family, his fellow players, and Yankee fans 25 years ago. Tampa Devil Rays Manager Lou Piniella delighted the fans by joining 14 of Thurman’s ex-teammates on the field, and Diana Munson threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Rick Cerone, who replaced him, before the Old Timers Game.
As for the stars, there were so many favorites present, I’ll just list them, as they were announced as two 20-man teams, the Clippers and the Bombers. That the Clippers prevailed 5-2 in a three-inning game is not the big news; that a delightful time was had by all in a close but joy-filled contest is. The Clippers, whose victory was crowned when ex-infielder and current third base coach Luis Sojo homered deep to left, were manned by Dave LaPoint, Jay Johnstone, Steve Balboni, Kevin Maas, Rich Monteleone, Dooley Womack, Brian Doyle, Al Downing, Oscar Gamble, Ryne Duren, Luis Sojo, Rick Cerone, Cliff Johnson, Mickey Rivers, Gene Michael, Jim Abbott, Jim Leyritz, Hector Lopez, Tom Tresh, and Charlie Silvera. They all lined up along the third base line before the game.
Ranked against them down the first-base line were Bob Turley, Luis Arroyo, Johnny Blanchard, Joe Pepitone, Roy White, Clete Boyer, Mel Stottlemyre, Willie Randolph, Goose Gossage, Graig Nettles, Bobby Murcer, Don Larsen, Moose Skowron, Hank Bauer, Ron Guidry, Don Mattingly, Reggie Jackson, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, and Phil Rizutto. The game was announced by Keith Olbermann and Bob Woolf, with players clowning around most of the time, but still showing some evidence of the monster talent that has been displayed in this, the Home Office for Baseball, for lo, these many years.
With retired representatives of a team that has won 26 Championships in attendance, the beginning of the regular-season game roughly two hours later got off to an inauspicious start. At 6-5, righty Jon Lieber was throwing for the Yanks against Tampa Bay’s 2-1 Dewon Brazelton, who came within four or five outs of throwing a no-hitter 10-12 days ago.
Mr. Lieber makes his living more by hitting bats than missing them, and the first inning was no exception, this time to poor effect. Carl Crawford lined an 0-1 pitch to right, and Gary Sheffield’s diving stop was ruled a trap. Jose Cruz’s 0-2 single to right moved Crawford up one base, and Rocco Baldelli’s grounder through the shortstop hole moved both runners one station more. With the sacks filled and nobody out, Lieber was in deep trouble in a mere 10 pitches. Twelve tosses later he had escaped with an acceptable 2-0 deficit, on an Aubrey Huff fielder’s choice grounder and Tino Martinez’s deep fly to center.
From that point on Lieber was in control, although the hits kept coming. Not only did he not walk a batter in seven full innings, he never went to a three-ball count, and threw as many as two off the plate to any batter only two times after the first. The Rays averaged a hit an inning, getting two in both the fourth and the sixth, while Jon one-two-three’d them in the fifth and the seventh.
But Brazelton started out as tough as advertised (based on the near no-no), and retired the Yanks easily through the first three, allowing just a Sheffield two-out, first-inning single and a third-inning walk to Designated Hitter Bernie Williams, again with two outs. But that four-pitch free pass was telling, following a seven-pitch strike out of ninth-place batter and center fielder Kenny Lofton. Jeter closed the third on a grounder to second, but Sheffield walked on four to start the fourth.
Despite 21 homers and 56 rbi coming in, few would dispute the assertion that third baseman Alex Rodriguez has struggled of late, and he had popped weakly to short after Shef’s single in the first. Following the Sheffield walk, Alex fouled Brazelton’s first offering, then took ball one and ball two. Suddenly it became good and fitting that all the Hall of Famers, All Stars, and great players of yesteryear were in attendance. To simply describe Rodriguez’s ensuing drive off Brazelton as a home run would be like saying the Yankees have been a pretty good team over the years. Upper deck homers to right field in the House That Ruth Built are fairly routine, but shots that carry to the cheap seats atop the left field grandstand are a thing to behold. Blasted several rows beyond the Empire sign adorning the Yankee Stadium left field tier facade, Alex’s homer knotted the score at two. Brazelton was understandably rocked by the mammoth drive, and after he threw the next seven off the plate, Giambi stood at first, Posada had a 3-0 count, and the crowd clamored for more. The Tampa righty stiffened, however, getting a called strike and coaxing two swinging strikes to retire Posada and a 4-6-3 Matsui bouncer to send the game to the fifth still tied.
Brazelton pitched around a walk apiece in the fifth and the sixth, but his day was over once Matsui and Cairo singled after Posada’s hard liner to center leading off the seventh. Reliever Jesus Colome’s first six pitches were off the plate and loaded the sacks with a Lofton walk, and prompted a mound visit with a 2-0 count on Williams. But Colome got a second out when he threw Bernie’s 2-0 bouncer back to the box home for a force. He fell behind Jeter 2-0 also, and did not escape this time. After a called strike, Jeter scored three with a double that split the right-center field gap and rolled to the wall. Colome fell behind Sheffield 3-1, and then Jeter scored on third baseman Aubrey Huff’s error for the 6-2 lead.
It was all over but the shouting. Tampa scored off Tom Gordon in the eighth after Baldelli’s lead-off double, although he appeared nailed at the plate, twice, on Matsui’s strong, accurate throw once he caught Martinez’s sac fly. Not only did Baldelli appear out once he ran into Posada, who had caught the throw, it is doubtful that he ever touched home plate before Jorge swiped and tagged him again.
But this game belonged to Lieber, who showed yet again that hitters are most easily retired once they hit the ball. Truth be told, Jon did manage five strike outs, all swinging, and got Rays batters to swing and miss 16 times. But what Jon did the most was simple: He did not throw balls. His 94 pitches on the day included only 19 off the plate, he threw 21 of 29 first pitches for strikes, and after throwing five pitches for balls in the two-run first, the inning-by-inning counts are almost laughable: three, three, three, one, two, two. Young stars, and friends, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter drove in five of the six runs on two huge hits, and Mariano Rivera turned in a one-inning, five-pitch save (a delight after the 26-pitch struggle Friday night).
It is fitting that Mo would have closed it. In a grouping of superb ballplayers he stands out, simply because he is the best at what he does, the best of any who have ever played the game. No doubt he’ll have a plaque like the one fellow righty Red Ruffing earned this day. He’ll be honored by loving fans and teammates alike, as Thurman Munson was today.
The French novelist Marcel Proust would have been 133 years old Saturday. He is famous for his multi-volumed study in memory and sensation Remembrance of Things Past. It is well saluted on a day like this in the Bronx, a day where “things past” were lovingly remembered and celebrated. But it was also a day where things present were experienced too. And 55,000 people were there to live them.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!