Bronx, N.Y., April 3, 2018; Yankees 11, Tampa Bay 4 — With apologies for my own human weakness (and you don’t want to see my scorebook), up against the very bad — not to say the worst — that Mother Nature can offer, what follows is not a report on today’s game. Rather, it’s a column I wrote a few days before the home opener in 2006. There was much on the sports tickers a week ago about the recent Yankee troubles on Opening Days. And although the numbers were accurate, the subject was just Opening Day, not specifically home openers. But with a huge Yankee cap tip to the glorious Didi Gregorius, and the eight rbi’s that carried the pinstripers to an 11-4 victory Tuesday, the focus here is on how good the Yankees have been in openers in the Baseball Cathedral on the south side of 161st Street, but also in the Palace across the street that saw its 10th opener this day.
Updating the numbers mentioned in the sixth paragraph that follows, the Yankees won the last three openers in the old place, bringing the record from 1983 through 2008 to 22-4! Granted, they’ve won just six of 10 in the new digs, but still, that’s 28-8 overall. And in those 36 home openers, the Yanks have outscored their opponents 202-129. I love Opening Day, whatever the weather conditions. I hope the following shows you just how much. Continue reading