Bronx, N.Y., April 12, 2013 — It hardly seemed momentous when Nick Markakis bounced back to the box on an 0-2 count and CC Sabathia threw to first for the initial out of a 5-2 Yankees victory over visiting Baltimore Friday night. Forefront in most minds was that it was freezing, but by the time the game ended almost three hours later we had witnessed a nine-ground-out defense where just two grounders would be hit to a non-pitching infielder, and one of those was an e-5 charged to Kevin Youkilis that would lead to the visitors scoring a late tying run. Continue reading
Author Archives: Dan McCourt
A Yale Yahoo
April 4, 2013, Bronx, N.Y. — With all of major league baseball, a large part of the country’s sporting community, and even the part of America not be terribly interested in our great game peeking in, the Yankees arose from the frozen tundra in the Bronx and showed they would not be losing all of their 2013 games Thursday night. With catcher Francisco Cervelli dashing to prevent the first Boston run and uncharacteristically hitting the back wall of the visiting bullpen with a seventh-inning drive to tally the home team’s last, the pinstripers salvaged the last of three with the Red Sox by a 4-2 score. Continue reading
Not Much to Say
Bronx, N.Y., April 1, 2013 — It will come as no shock that an opening day that started near 60 degrees and got colder and wetter, and that ended in an 8-2 loss, is not one I’m eager to share. It was a mixed day throughout. Yankee Stadium was beautiful, but crossing to the stadium from the train, we saw that brown grass remnants dominated the ballfields that populate the location of the sacred field that once was home to the Cathedral. Shivering for months through relentless temps in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, I somehow showed up in the Bronx expecting the grass there to be late-spring, early-summer verdant. Continue reading
A Right of Spring
Washington, D.C., March 29, 2013 — The Yankees played, and won, their penultimate 2013 Spring Training game a couple of hundred miles south of the Big Apple Friday, but considerably north of where they participated in a difficult camp, dominated by injuries, errors, generally light hitting, and a plethora of game losses. But if the results of this contest are any guide, this team is removed from the one that played its first game one month ago by a lot more than mileage. Continue reading
Therrific Thirteen
Spring Training, Week 1, 2013 – Got in late Saturday after finally witnessing a win in Tampa, and vegged much of the day, but I wanted to share some positive impressions on players in camp that we saw from February 26 through March 2. Following a 1-4 stretch during which the Yanks continuously threw the ball away, I thought I might have some trouble filling a baker’s dozen, but as it turns out I’m afraid I’m leaving some worthy candidates out, like Jose Ramirez, Tyler Austin, and Mark Montgomery.
Hats off, too, to Chris Stewart, who has struggled to block the plate, and made a bad throw, but his two-run home run and subsequent peg to nail Tigers rookie league shortstop Brandon Loy trying to steal Saturday contributed more than any other factor to get us a win. Our list of 13 covers three vets pretty much guaranteed significant 2013 innings, four vets battling over extra spots, and six kids, some of with a rep coming in, some not.
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Mouse over or touch the images in the slideshow to read my assessment of players we saw in the first week of spring training.
Honorable mention would include a mix of youth and experience as well. Among the vets, both Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira have looked solid at the plate and exceptional in the field, and Ivan Nova and David Robertson have pitched well; youth has served well too, with Adam Warren making two solid starts. Melky Mesa continues to flash a variety of skills, but showed a tendency to strike out in big spots. Overall, I present a glowing look at what we can expect from a team that lost seven straight, and four out of five, with 11 errors, while I was there.
Spring Training Spring Training
With an unprecedentedly large Spring Training roster, the Yankees have assigned 13 numbers to two different players, in each case, one pitcher and one position player. No. 96 at third base, Addison Maruszak, had an up-and-down day, but No. 96 on the mound, Vidal Nuno, is the gold star prospect so far.
A Too Pristine Day
David Phelps looked season-ready over three innings. In 39 pitches he struck out two while allowing a walk and a hit, but no runs.
Yankees Throw One Away
Gardner confers with Rob Thomson after his three-run second-inning triple. Brett’s daredevil head-first slides into bases are a concern, particularly following on his injury-plagued 2012 season.
Who’s Hot? JR
Hard to tell with his shaded right foot perhaps, but Ichiro Suzuki is wearing different-colored shoes. It may seem strange, but he seems to be playing a faster game than everyone else. I’m sure he has a reason.
Night Baseball Into Day
Hermosillo, Mexico, February 7-8, 2013 — In September 1988, the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees “treated” me to the longest live ballgame I ever witnessed in person, a 5-4 Yankee walkoff that took a little more than six hours. Twenty-five years later, I got to see a similar contest, 18 innings again, and a full hour longer. Only this one was broadcast to me, attentively watching in my recliner, over my TV, and in Spanish.
It took a real marathon to settle the 2013 Caribbean Series. The heavily favored Dominican Republic team, fielding the most current or one-time major leaguers – Hanley Ramirez, Miguel Tejada, Fernando Tatis, Jordany Valdespin, Julio Lugo, Fernando Rodney, Tony Pena, Jr., Jhonny Nunez – would have already won the Championship in former years with its 5-1 record in the round robin games. But in 2013, a Championship game pitting the top two finishers was added. Continue reading