Fans arriving at Monday's game saw what will be a common sight: a list of home games that will total 20 before May 1.
Under Lock and Key
Author Archives: Dan McCourt
Out Pitch
April 3, 2011, Bronx, N.Y. – The 2011 Yankees made a lot of noise yet again Sunday afternoon, with four more home runs and seven runs scored. But an offseason bugaboo raised its ugly head, simply because they did not get a good start. Compounding matters, fifth-in-the-rotation candidate Bartolo Colon relieved a beleagured Phil Hughes and failed to stem the tide, dooming Yankee comeback efforts to failure. Continue reading
Often Upon a Season
Tossing aside talk of a cold and temperature, A.J. consistently pounded strikes in his first start of the 2011 season.
Pen Power
The only people happier than baseball fans are typographers, at least with these two classic clubs playing the game.
Bronx, N.Y., March 31, 2011 — Twenty-four hours removed from all but starting the 2011 season on the disabled list, Curtis Granderson flew into New York a day after his teammates and ended up having the best day of all in a 6-3 Opening Day victory over the Tigers in a damp and very chilly Yankee Stadium Thursday afternoon. Facing ex-Yankee southpaw Phil Coke leading off the seventh inning, Curtis broke a 3-3 tie with a no-doubt-about it blast to right field. Oh, and he made a few plays in the field too.
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Good Signs All Around
Showing clear command of every pitch he threw, A.J. Burnett retired nine straight, mostly Philly starters, with one strike out, on 43 pitches.
Tampa and Sarasota, Fla., March 7, 2011 — “I saw them ALL,” gushed the young girl who climbed to our section to rejoin her parents in the redone Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. A Yankee split squad was playing the Orioles Monday evening, and Sarasota, with apologies to the big stars in the Yankee outfield, was lucky enough to have the infield-dominated Bombers group make the hour-plus drive. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez lead this every-city popularity phenomenon, with Robbie Cano and Mark Teixeira bringing up the rear. Continue reading
I Dream of Hitting
Read it and weep. These are numbers only a hitting coach could love, although it did make for an entertaining game.
Kissimmee, Fla., March 6, 2011 — Following eight days of largely ineffective offense, I dreamed of hits Saturday night. Perhaps tonight I’ll dream of winning $1 million. The Yanks outlasted the Astros in Kissimmee 10-8 Sunday afternoon, outhitting the home club 21-17. A wind that was blowing out to all fields probably had a greater effect than any visions during my slumber, or at least that’s what most fans present were thinking, I’m sure. Continue reading
CC Gets an FF
After personally congratulating each member of the Jefferson High School State Champs pregame, David Wells paid a visit to the Nationals' dugout, speaking here to a few players including ex-Red Sox outfielder Jonathan Van Every.
Tampa, Fla., March 5, 2011 — After spending four days lamenting the lack of Yankee offense, on Saturday afternoon the team broke out for 10 hits and eight runs, with all of the latter bunched into a wild and fun home fourth inning, even if two Washington miscues got the rally ball rolling. Staff ace CC Sabathia failed to go three innings in his second start, and was tagged for five runs and six hits and a walk before handing the ball off to Joba Chamberlain. Continue reading
Colon Makes His Case
There's a lot less head shaking and shrugs about the signing of Bartolo Colon to a minor league contract than there were before this stellar performance.
Tampa, Fla., March 4, 2011 — Freddy Garcia was happy with his work yesterday in Port Charlotte, and for good reason. But he might be feeling a little less comfortable with it now, because Bartolo Colon made a statement start Friday night. Admittedly facing a different-looking Red Sox team (more on that shortly), he retired seven straight and nine of 11, and recorded five of the nine outs via the strike out, three of them swinging. Only five of the 16 strikes he recorded in the first two innings struck Sox bats. A ground double down the left field line and a swinging bunt with one out in the third slowed his momentum, but Colon came back strong with the fifth strike out and a dribbler to first where the bulky right-hander broke from the mound and took the throw at first just ahead of Boston center fielder Ryan Kalish. In perhaps the most impressive stat of his night, Bartolo forged an 0-2 count against seven of 11 batters. Continue reading
Dang Yankees
You talk yourself into things, you know? It was gratifying to hear that the Tampa fans saw something special with Betances too.
Tampa, Fla., March 3, 2011 — The Yanks brought out their prevent offense (except for one sloppy inning in Tampa) for the third straight day in a contest vs. the Rays in Port Charlotte Thursday. They notched all of four hits good for one run over 10 innings, though it needs to be added that the run only scored when a five-year mlb veteran shortstop let Bradley Suttle’s ground ball sneak through the wickets for the game’s lone (official) error. Compounding the ineptitude, they made this showing against a Tampa team off to a bad start because their pitchers are being routinely whacked around. Continue reading
A Win on the Wild Side
A.J. allowed two singles, but he threw free and easy, notched a strike out, threw 6 of 7 first-pitch strikes, and retired the side twice on 19 pitches.
Tampa, Fla., March 2, 2011 — The Yankees/Phillies tilt that opened Spring Training in George M. Steinbrenner Field four days ago, a back-and-forth battle in which the visitors ultimately prevailed, was noteworthy for how un-“springlike” it was. A one-run (5-4 Phils), crisply played game, with each team amassing nine hits, six walks total, and just one error on an infield roller initially ruled a hit. On Wednesday afternoon in the same venue, the visiting Astros and the Yanks played the antithesis of that game, a contest that was “springlike” in the extreme. Continue reading