Bronx, N.Y., May 21, 2021; Yankees 2, Chisox 1 — “Extra! Extra! Read all about it!” The baseball headlines all across the country are sounding disturbingly similar, whether you get your news on paper, online, or by word of mouth. Today’s game is boring. With a half bushel of early no-hitters leading the way, there is no offense. The hard-throwing hurlers are too dominant. Everyone swings for the fences, and they strike out all the time. It’s no fun to watch a game anymore. Continue reading
Author Archives: Dan McCourt
Corey’s Masterpiece
Bronx, N.Y., May 2, 2021; Yankees 2, Detroit 0 — A little more than a week since Yankee fans were concerned that new free agent signer Cory Kluber would ever pitch well — or more than a few innings — the oft-injured righthander went eight dazzling innings in a 2-0 shutout over visiting Detroit in Yankee Stadium Sunday afternoon. With temps pushing 80 degrees and the persistent breezes of the last few days finally abated, a field only intermittently bathed in sunshine was the only factor making this just an almost perfect day for a game. Continue reading
No Longer Petrified Offense
Bronx, N.Y., April 3, 2021; Yankees 5, Toronto 3 — Two teams showed some early-season struggles in the Yankees’ 5-3 victory over the Blue Jays this afternoon. The Yankees gifted the visitors with single runs in the top of the third and seventh innings that each felt much longer than they were (16 and 11 minutes, respectively), while Toronto’s Marcus Semien ended Corey Kluber’s day with a fifth-inning blast to left less than a minute after that frame had begun. But although 11 hometown hits produced less than they should have, they were a welcome sight for Yankee fans more concerned with their offense than they have any right to be on April 3. Continue reading
Thanks, Sis!
Delayed in the mail, I got a birthday present the other day. It was sent by my sister, someone whom I believe has attended all of one major league baseball game in her life, certainly not more than a handful. She neither loves the game, nor knows it. But she loves her brother, which is plenty enough for me. We are not alone as a family that was unable to get together over the holidays, and I was touched by her thoughtfulness.
One of the items she sent stunned me, as it was a signed envelope on which a one-time Yankee player, Johnny Mize, is featured. I’ve always been fascinated by Mize for a number of reasons, none of which Sis was aware of. She just found this piece in a market somewhere, and figured — rightly — that her crazed Yankee fan brother would like it.
First, Johnny arrived in the Bronx the same year I did, in my case born to my parents in 1949. Mize had starred for National League teams in St. Louis and New York (the Giants) for 10 years around a three-year stint of military service in World War II. Top 10 finishes in several offensive categories (home runs, rbi’s, total bases, even a third-place finish and two seconds in the MVP vote) dot his years in the NL. His record of having hit three home runs in a game six times has been equaled just twice, by Sammy Sosa and now Mookie Betts.
But an aging Mize was no longer a full-time player when the Giants sold his contract to the Yankees as I was learning to walk in 1949. No longer a star, he was a valuable halfway player with a feared lefthanded power bat, and he would conclude his career clearing 37 fences and driving in 179 runs in the Bronx.
And in that beloved borough, Mize would set another mark, one unlikely to be ever matched. The Yankees are the only team to ever win five consecutive World Series titles, from 1949 through 1953. Johnny was on hand for all five of them, and only them.
Following the last one, Mize retired and left the Bronx. So did I, moving with my family across the Hudson River to New Jersey.
A-MIIZE-ing!
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!
Perfect for a Night Game
Tampa, Fla., March 4, 2020; Yankees 3, Philadelphia 2 — Strong pitching and yet another solid first inning carried the Yankees to a 3-2 win on a gorgeous Wednesday night in George M. Steinbrenner Field. Rounding into midseason form, second baseman DJ LeMahieu started the rally with the first of two sharp singles, but just as key was Brett Gardner, busting out like it was the playoffs to beat the relay on his seeming double-play one-hop grounder back to the pitcher. Continue reading
Wild Things
Tampa, Fla., March 3, 2020; Yankees 9, Boston 1 — The Yankee “pounding” of the visiting Red Sox in an ugly first inning on Tuesday afternoon was a sign of what can happen in a Spring Training game. But usually innings like this happen later in games, not at the beginning when the lineup is dotted with starters and other players likely to make the team. But when I say “pounding,” it was more like a case of hitting a few balls and letting the visitors mishandle them. DJ LeMahieu started the 34-minute bottom of the first with a clean single that just got past C.J. Chatham at short, but from there on, it was Keystone Kops stuff. Starter Martin Perez wild pitched LeMahieu to second and, one out later, Chatham threw wildly to the plate on Gleyber Torres’s ground ball. Gary Sanchez topped a roller down first which neither Perez nor first baseman Michael Chavis could decide to field. Continue reading
Fundamental Things Apply
Sarasota, Fla., March 2, 2020; Tampa Bay 3, Baltimore 3 — It didn’t take us long to decide what to do in the Tampa area on an 80-degree sunny Monday in March with no Yankee game scheduled. Go find another ballgame. We’d covered every city in the area but Bradenton (the Pirates) and Sarasota (the Orioles), and Pittsburgh was not playing at home. Ninety minutes South it was, with the Rays visiting the O’s. Continue reading
Who Are You?
Lakeland, Fla., March 1, 2020; Detroit 10, Yankees 4 — The fatigue anticipated coming into the Yanks’ 10th game in nine days appeared on the field Sunday, as the home-standing Tigers beat the visiting Yankees 10-4 on the strength of an ugly six-run bottom of the seventh inning. The end-of-game box score listed two errors for Detroit and none for New York, a scoring Yankee fans in the stands would rush to dispute. Continue reading
Yankees Are “En Fuego”
Tampa, Fla., February 29, 2020; Yankees 8, Detroit 2 — The visiting Tigers and Yankees breezed through 4.5 innings of scoreless baseball in one hour and 11 minutes in a warming George M. Steinbrenner Field Saturday afternoon while a split squad of Yankee players were battling the Red Sox in Fort Myers, a nearly three-hour bus trip to the South. The visitors reached Gerrit Cole, in his second Yankee start, for two hits, as did the Yankees a very game lefty Matthew Boyd for Detroit. Continue reading
Sage Advice
North Port, Fla., February 28, 2020; Yankees 5, Atlanta 3 — Following a couple of days of revitalized offense, the Yankees continued to hit the ball, and once again the pitching held up its end on Friday afternoon. Visiting the Braves’ brand-new facility in North Port, Yankee players collected hits in every inning but the third and ninth, and 10 overall. Although the team precipitated a lot more action than the Braves, who rarely reached base, the visitors were on the wrong end of a 2-0 score through five innings once third baseman Johan Camargo reached young righthander Deivi Garcia for a two-run shot in the second inning. Continue reading