Bronx, N.Y., April 21, 2018; Yankees 9, Toronto 1 — Fans who hear that the Yankees beat the visiting Blue Jays 9-1 Saturday afternoon might be surprised to hear that for much of the day, this was a spine-tingling, edge-of-your-seat pitchers’ duel, one the Yanks would have been losing but for the extraordinary talent of the young man holding down right field in the Bronx. On the very first Spring-like day (approaching 60 degrees and sunny will have to do) the Bombers have played on in 2018, the home team delighted a big crowd much of the day. Continue reading
Author Archives: Dan McCourt
Deuces Were Wild
Bronx, N.Y., April 4, 2018; Yankees 7, Tampa Bay 2 — The Yankees played their strongest hand in a rainy, then blustery Stadium Wednesday afternoon, with “grounded” ace Luis Severino dealing into the eighth and their monster troika of power hitters each homering for two runs. Tampa southpaw Blake Snell was driven from the mound with one down in the fourth one out before Aaron Judge added an exclamation point to a Bronx bombardment that featured Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez jolts before his. Continue reading
Hope-ning Day
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
End of the Road
Tampa, Fla., March 4, 2017; Tampa Rays 9, Yankees 1 — Well, eight wins in nine Yankee games, and 10 wins (because we considered all nonYankee games we attended wins) overall, came to a shattering halt in Tampa Sunday afternoon. Following a sting of easy — and unlikely — victories, it all came crashing down In a game where almost nothing went well for the home team. For us, the day started unhappily, because we dragged ourselves to the park a bit early, only to be informed upon arrival that today there would be no batting practice. Continue reading
A Love Fest in the Sun
Ft. Myers, Fla., March 3, 2018; Yankees 5, Red Sox 3 — The dominant start to the Yankees’ Spring Training season received perhaps its stiffest test Saturday afternoon. The dawn/dusk, yin/yang/ ebb/flow can be hard to read over the years, decades even, of the Yankee/Red Sox rivalry. Both teams are expecting big seasons in 2018, so even though this was just a Spring Training game we were traveling almost three hours South to attend, we weren’t sure what to expect. It was my first game at Boston’s beautiful JetBlue Field complex in Ft. Myers. Enveloped in warm temps under blue cloudless skies, the vibe was more Love-In and music festival than bitter rivalry for the ages. Continue reading
The Right Stuff
Tampa, Fla., March 2, 2018; Yankees 5, Atlanta 4 — Strongly copying what took place last March, the Yanks started the second week of Spring Training games today with their second walkoff, achieving a 7-1 record on Tyler Austin’s second home run in two days. Masahiro Tanaka’s shaky start had the team down 4-0 to the visiting Braves in the second inning, a deficit it took all day to overcome. Continue reading
Mighty Miguel
Clearwater, Fla., March 1, 2018; Yankees 6, Phillies 4 — There was a lot to like about the Yanks’ 6-4 win over the Phillies in Clearwater Thursday, their second win in Spectrum Field in four days. They ran their Spring record to 6-1, got a midseason-quality two-inning start from CC Sabathia, and five solo home runs from young players not named Sanchez, Judge, Stanton, or Bird. CC was amazing, retiring six of seven around an error on 26 pitches, with three punch outs, two swinging. He mixed pitches well, with a fastball that averaged 87-88 mph, but he did hit 90. And he left after two with a 1-0 lead on the first of the series of long balls. Continue reading
Runzilla
Tampa, Fla., February 28, 2018; Detroit 9, Yankees 6 — The visiting Tigers and the Yankees played what felt like two games Wednesday afternoon, and the home-standing Yanks lost both. The good news is twofold: First, it counts as just one actual loss, setting the Yanks back to a 5-1 record in this Spring campaign; and two, one Yankee won the interim in blinding fashion. Continue reading
A Gitche Gumee Game
Dunedin, Fla., February 27, 2018; Yankees 9, Blue Jays 8 — The two teams scored in nine of 18 half-innings in the Yankee 9-8 victory over the Blue Jays Tuesday afternoon. Each team homered three times, tripled once, and made one error. The home-standing Jays used nine pitchers, the visiting Yankees eight. Continue reading
Walk On Walk Off
Tampa, Fla., February 26, 2018; Yankees 4, Phillies 3 — Another glorious Florida baseball day Monday found us doing our second doubleheader, starting with a two-hour drive South to see the Tampa Rays host the Toronto Blue Jays, just a baseball game pitting two AL East rivals. Our seats were tremendous, fifth row behind home plate, where our Yankee gear stood out, and where the sun and the intense heat rendered us bereft of any New York chill; we babbled inanities, and watched both the game and the peculiar dance of the fanbases. Continue reading