Bronx, N.Y., September 1, 2010 — The Yankees may not have cashed in their place in the 2010 postseason yet, and who could blame them, as they cling to the smallest of leads in the American League East? The team is still trying to settle on a reliable rotation, and hasn’t played with their All Star third baseman in two weeks. But up in the Grandstand, the fans are thinking playoffs, and Wednesday night we got a lesson in playoff baseball 101. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 30, 2010 — There have been a few things that have happened on August 30 over the years that have taken some time. But it’s hard to imagine any of them dragged on longer than the first inning of the A’s/Yankees game in the Stadium Monday night. The German siege of Leningrad in 1941 started this day, and must have taken longer, even if that seemed hard to believe as Trevor Cahill struggled to record even a second out in the bottom half. Given a trusty time machine, I can believe that the aged Casey Stengel may have retired on this day in 1965 because he saw this inning coming. Who knows? Maybe Cleopatra, who surrendered herself to the asp’s bite this day 2,040 years ago, got wind she’d be sitting in the moat as Cahill’s 2-0 fastball to Jorge Posada missed for a 3-0 count. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 22, 2010 — Yankee fans and baseball enthusiasts looking to bask in the glow of Sunday’s 10-0 destruction of the Seattle Mariners in Yankee Stadium might be disappointed reading this report. As one of the Pinstriped persuasion who feels brought low by losses both big and small, and who agonizes over every pitch in a close game, I love a good old blowout as much as anyone. But if you’re looking at the Sunday contest through 10-0 glasses, you’re missing much of what transpired in the Yankee palace. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 21, 2010 — I felt the years melt away watching the Yanks bat against the Mariners down 2-0 in the first inning in Yankee Stadium Saturday afternoon. Derek Jeter’s bouncer up the middle deflected off southpaw Jason Vargas’s glove for an infield single and Nick Swisher flied deep to left. Mark Teixeira took a strike then fouled one off, falling behind quickly 0-2. Tex got a tiny piece of the next pitch, but didn’t miss by much, flicking it straight back. He lashed the next throw into the left field corner, to put two runners into scoring position. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 19, 2010 — In a game where the word “remarkable” could be used to describe both the Yankees’ nine-run sixth inning and a play Mark Teixeira made on Johnny Damon in foul territory down the first base line in the fourth, the pitching got off to a “remarkable” start as well. Cumulatively, of the first 10 batters in this game, eight faced an 0-2 count. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 17, 2010 — If you agree that during Tuesday night’s pivotal game in Yankee Stadium, CC Sabathia’s in-game stats over seven innings of nine strike outs, 114 pitches, and an era and of 2.86 were good, consider this: The era for the last 113 pitches was 1.43. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 6, 2010 — On a night where Derek Jeter not only passed Babe Ruth in his hits total, but drove in three key runs as well, two relative newcomers largely carried the Yanks to a 7-2 victory over the Red Sox in Yankee Stadium. First, emergency starter Dustin Moseley proved he could more than pitch with Boston ace Josh Beckett. Then Yankee-for-a-week Lance Berkman showed a little of the bat speed the Yanks hoped they were getting when they acquired him from Houston. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 7, 2010 — The altered hours baseball games are played in the name of national TV contribute some strange effects to the experience, something Yankees and Red Sox fans will know only too well when their four-game wraparound series in Yankee Stadium concludes with a rare 2 pm start Monday afternoon. Locals will find out how well mass transit handles thousands of bodies once Sunday night’s 8 pm tilt concludes at an hour when most weekend revelers have been home for hours, and in bed for some time as well. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 6, 2010 — “Kiss of Death,” I guess you could call it. But it was so hard to resist, just such a cool stat. The Yankee Stadium Scoreboard has been coming out with them repeatedly, like when they informed us in the bottom of the first when Derek Jeter singled past short that he had tied Babe Ruth for career base hits. No possible harm in that, I guess, unless he happens to never get a hit again (perish the thought — literally not possible). But even given that improbable scenario, how could we not celebrate yet another Captain milestone? Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 4, 2010 — It was a big day in the Bronx, as the Alex Rodriguez 600 home run watch came to a dramatic end, and the Yankees snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over the Blue Jays. The Bombers rode A-Rod’s big blast to a tie both for the best record in baseball and first place in the AL East, with the latter being clearly the more coveted and difficult prize to attain. Probably more weird than the fact that the 600th home run came three years to the day after Alex’s 500th, the Yankees managed to finally win a game in which they took a lead with a two-run home run in the first inning, after failing to do so the last two days. Continue reading →