Bronx, N.Y., July 2, 2010 — The concern in Yankee land had reached fever pitch by the time Friday’s game rolled around. What was up with A.J. Burnett? Would he ever win again? Even have a trouble-free first inning? June 2010 was without a doubt the worst month of his career. On a Yankee team built on its starting pitching, would titular starter number two ever right the ship? Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 1, 2010 — There is no truth to the rumor that the Yankees are going to start discounting all their ticket prices because of the new phenomenon in the Bronx: the [well] under three-hour game. Seattle’s Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez dispatched the home team the last two days in 2:30 and 2:46, respectively, and CC Sabathia returned the favor Thursday afternoon in 2:33. The stocky lefthander shut down the Mariners on two hits over the first four frames. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 30, 2010 — “King” Felix Hernandez has been in the league for years, but the Yankees have not seen him better than he was Wednesday night. The young righthander dominated “Bomber” bats once he worked through a little first inning wildness on a night custom-made for a ballgame. The home team flailed their way to 11 strike outs through nine innings in Hernandez’s complete game 7-0 shutout, but the Stadium was such a pleasant place to be you half expected to hear on the way out that this game didn’t actually count, that the athletes were all just feeling so good they just “decided” to play a game. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 20, 2010 — If you’ve been stuck talking to a dinosaur Yankee fan like myself, you know you don’t want to get into a discussion with one of us about the old Stadium that used to stand on the south side of 161st Street. But you might get an even stronger argument from one visitor to the Bronx this Sunday afternoon. Johan Santana amassed a 3-0 regular season record in the old Stadium from 2003 to 2008, holding the home team to seven runs in 30.7 innings. He struck out 28 while walking seven, and allowed four home runs, three of them singleton shots in one Mets win in 2008. But Johan’s adventures on the north side of the street have been quite different. He recorded nine outs and gave up nine runs last year, allowing four runs in the second, so he had to be experiencing a feeling of deja vu when Mark Teixeira blasted a grand slam off him in this afternoon’s third inning. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 19, 2010 — Already stressed at being down 1-0 in the first, I was feeling pretty good about the Yankee start. With a team struggling offensively as mightily as the Yanks are, it seemed crucial that they get that run back as soon as possible, so when Mets starter Hisanori Takahashi missed with his first three pitches to leadoff hitter Derek Jeter in the bottom of the first, opportunity was knocking. Derek took one right down the middle, but pitch number five seemed clearly both low and outside. When veteran home plate ump Mike Reilly called it a strike, my early plan, and my night it turned out, was doomed. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 18, 2010 — It’s official. Jamie Moyer really is not Cy Young reborn. He may be a hypnotist, but the pitching spell he weaved around Yankee bats Wednesday night stuck around Thursday long after he finished pitching. Kyle Kendrick, a sinker balller with a 4.69 era and 1.440 WHIP over a four-year career (against lighter-hitting NL lineups), buzzed some pitches near 90, but the effect on the Yankee offense was the same as the night before. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 17, 2010 — Wednesday night in Yankee Stadium began with the uplifting Tuesday highlights when the team jumped on Philly ace Roy “Doc” Halladay for three home runs and six tallies in an 8-3 win. The Yanks had not only won four straight, the Scoreboard pregame show informed us, but nine in a row at home, a streak one game longer than any they put together in the magical 2009 championship season. Having dispatched the best the visitors had to offer, hard-throwing A.J. Burnett was to be paired against the relatively (in baseball years) ancient Jamie Moyer, who allowed nine runs while recording three outs his last time out. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 13, 2010 — Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, despite having a tough 1981 postseason with the Yankees, had a string of All Star seasons playing for the team, years where his numbers were comparable with those of any offensive star in the American League. Aside from his premier year in New York, the slugger posted 100-plus-rbi seasons six straight years, and in six of seven, before back surgery cost him the the 1989 season. It easily could have been eight straight too, except for what befell poor Dave in 1987. Continue reading →

Going for his 200th Yankee win, Andy Pettitte earned it by "pitching to daylight."

Bronx, N.Y., June 12, 2010 — Only the Yankees and their fans, with a considerable assist from the Sports Authority, could throw a party for Hall of Famer-to-be Mariano Rivera, and then put him to work on his own night. The sporting goods chain sponsored what was clearly this season’s most popular promotion in the Bronx, as a Rivera statuette was given to the first 18,000 early arrivals, at least the ones who were 21 and over. The fans may have had to show up a little early, but the ever-gracious Rivera not only put the finishing touches on his “party,” he did so by sending the happy fans home just 2:19 after the first pitch. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 3, 2010 — The Yanks trotted out a cavalcade of stars in beating Baltimore 9-1 Wednesday night. They scored early and often on the first night in a month where they could field a lineup anything like the one they assembled on the drawing board when designing their 2010 team. DH Nick Johnson won’t be back for some time, but the toughest thing about talking about an easy win the first day both Curtis Granderson and Jorge Posada were in the lineup is choosing a player to highlight. Continue reading →