Bronx, N.Y., April 13, 2013 — It was midafternoon in the Bronx exactly 15 years ago that a catastrophic failure ensured a dramatic change in Yankee fortunes. The failure of a beam in the old Stadium’s Loge level made what was planned and feared (by some) inevitable: The Stadium would have to be replaced.
The way Phil Hughes pitched in the first three-plus innings vs. the visiting Baltimore Orioles Saturday cannot be compared to the structural failure, but only because for Phil this is a key year, not so for his team. Pitching poorly like today will not dramatically change the Yankees, but it could derail a promising career. Hughes, who will be a free agent soon, managed to retire just nine of 20 batters Saturday afternoon, surrendered a double on his second pitch, was reached for three home runs, and got the visitors to swing at and miss exactly one of his 60 pitches.
He had no control of his fastball, and after failing to retire batters with his curve and change, his dreaded slider was clubbed for light-hitting Ryan Flaherty’s second hit and first fence-clearing drive of the season. Hughes was down only 2-0 after two because J.J. Hardy’s long blast to center died on the warning track, and Nick Markakis’s drive off the right field wall was turned into an inning-ending 9-4-2, with nifty work from Ichiro Suzuki, Robinson Cano, and Francisco Cervelli.
No sooner had Phil’s defense saved him than Baltimore’s let starter Jason Hammel down, as the Yanks tied matters after a Travis Hafner home run on an e6 and Lyle Overbay’s opposite-field single. But three quick hits, including a Markakis leadoff homer, removed any hope that the much needed offense would turn Hughes around. A fielder’s choice grounder made it 4-2 after three, and a second straight leadoff homer, then double, finally sent the young righty despondently trudging off the mound to a lusty chorus of “Boos!”
Young David Phelps was superb in relief, freezing Manny Machado at third with one out by striking out four straight. He would retire 12 of 13 around a hit by pitch and one hit, aided by another outfield assist, and the visitors would not score again. Phelps struck out six in all, and Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson closed the Orioles out. And the Yankee offense mounted threat after threat, but dented the scoreboard just one more time, on Vernon Wells’s sixth-inning home run. The Yanks had hits in every inning from the second through the eighth, and two hits in four of those.
The last of those failed rallies did produce a quirky top of the ninth. Joe Girardi sent lefty power threat Brennan Boesch out to hit for Jayson Nix, in at short for the injured Eduardo Nunez, with two on and two down in the bottom of the eighth. And once Boesch struck out to end the threat, the home team solved a shortage in middle infielders by sending catcher Cervelli out to play second, and shifting All Star second sacker Robinson Cano to short, his first time at the position in the majors, if memory serves. Cisco looked game retreating deep into short center when Nolan Reimold’s soft fly drifted over his head, but Brett Gardner came on to make the catch, and the new middle infield was not tested again.
Three quick outs later, the fanbase filed out of the Yankee palace on the north side of 161st Street, with many of us walking past the grounds of the old “Cathedral” on our way to the train. The oldtimers gave a glance toward the huge bat that marked the old place, thinking of the old days. And everyone considered the just concluded game, and wondered, what if
Phelps, Not Phail-ure
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!