Everyone seemed to be ready to settle into Opening Day at George M. Steinbrenner Field Wednesday afternoon quietly, feeling their way, making a mistake here and there, and zipping through a pitching-dominated game. The lowly Pirates were the visitors, with some interesting one-time Yankees in tow, and the crowd size was minimized by the 55-degree temps, a whipping wind and the all-too-intermittent burst of sun. Continue reading
Author Archives: Dan McCourt
Thinkin’ Tampa
When Chad Gaudin delivers his first pitch to the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday afternoon, it will mark the 15th Spring Training Opener since the Yankees moved preseason prep facilities to Tampa from Fort Lauderdale in 1996. The opponent that March 1 was the reigning American League Champion Cleveland Indians, and things got off to an inauspicious beginning. Continue reading
It Happens Before Spring
With all apologies to a movie with special effects that bring a smile and the genuine heart and humor of baseball (It Happens Every Spring, of course), I’m delighted to announce the fourth annual Maple Street Yankee Annual, this one subheaded 2010 Continue reading
Hey, Gorgeous!
We are the champions... In Asia just three days earlier, the World Series trophy made a road trip to Westchester this weekend.
White Plains, NY, February 6, 2010 Hello Excellence, my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again.
With apologies to Paul Simon, those words, and others just like them, whirled through my head on Saturday, February 6, as we made the trip to White Plains to see the New York Yankee World Series Trophy in person. The predicted snow had stopped south of Westchester County, and when we arrived we had just a 25-minute wait until it was our turn. Continue reading
Welcome Back, Jimmy
Al Kooper's birthday bash at B.B. King's
We experienced the only high side (aside from all the hilarious late night fodder we had for weeks) of the ending of the Conan O’Brien stint on the Tonight Show when guitarist Jimmy Vivino joined the Al Kooper 66th birthday celebration at B.B. King’s Friday night. Jimmy, member of the seminal New York band Prisoners of 2nd Avenue, one fourth of the excellent Beatles cover band the Fab Faux and a regular at Levon Helm’s Midnight Rambles in the barn in homey Woodstock, has been on the wrong coast almost continuously since Al’s 65th celebration last year, and New York has missed him. Continue reading
Winter Numbers
View From 420b
Bronx, N.Y., January 8, 2010 — I made my annual birthday celebration/trek to Yankee Stadium the other day. The reason I give myself (and anyone asking) for why I brave the chilly winds of the South Bronx in January each year is to pay off the coming year’s season ticket plan, but in reality it’s more a pilgrimage than a buiness trip. I actually bumped into Joe Torre on this trek two days into 1997, shaking his hand and thanking him for one of the best summers of my life just three months after a glorious downtown parade. I’ve been hooked into carrying out this trip ever since. Continue reading
Canyon Caps Sizzling Season
Andy Pettitte took his rightful place dominating the penultimate float, as befits the winner of more postseason games than anyone, and the clinchers in all three series.
Downtown Manhattan, N.Y., November 6, 2009 — The woman getting on the 6:34 (out of Rye) in New Rochelle was grateful that I slid over and let her have the outside seat of two, but I was glad for the company. “Oh my,” she said, “it seems we have a few young fans heading to the Parade.” Continue reading
Designated Hero
Bronx, N.Y., November 4, 2009 — You had to hand it to the sports prognosticators following the Yankees’ Game Six World Series victory Wednesday. To a man, they all knew it was about pitching, and how rested the pitchers starting for each team would be. The astounding thing is that so many knew that that was the key, but so few realized for which pitcher that would be the bigger problem Continue reading
Andy Pennant
Bronx, N.Y., October 25, 2009 — Fulfilling their role as overseers of what goes on in the Big City, the New York Times reported on Saturday that the concrete covering some of the ramps in new Yankee Stadium was crumbling. From what I saw following the Yankees’ 5-2, Game 6 ALCS-clinching victory over the Angels, they needn’t have worried. Fans were soaring out of the Stadium without their feet ever touching the ground. Continue reading
AJ, A-Rod, A-OK
Despite the fact that AJ pied Mark Teixeira a week ago, the entire Yankee hurling staff should chip in and buy Tex and his family all the pie they can eat. He saves runs every day at first base.
Bronx, N.Y., October 17, 2009 — You could look at Game 2 of the ALCS as two games. The first one was mostly dry, and Joe Saunders and AJ Burnett battled superbly to a seven-inning 2-2 tie. Then the Yankee bullpen beat the Anaheim pen 2-1 in a sloppier but still well pitched contest through six innings more. Continue reading