Bronx, N.Y., October 16, 2009 — The Yanks beat the Angels 4-1 in Game One of the ALCS Friday night in a game where the Halos contributed to their own demise with uncharcateristically sloppy play. But whatever was affecting the Angels had the Scoreboard operators off their game as well. The only ones who played their “A” game were the dominant Yankee starter CC Sabathia and the fellow members of his team. Continue reading
Author Archives: Dan McCourt
Possible Dream
Bronx, N.Y., October 9, 2009 — Milling around the new train station at Yankee Stadium Friday night following the Yanks’ improbable come-from-behind win, the big joke went something like: “Boring game, huh?” But move those delirious people back in time two hours, and nobody would have seen what was so funny. For the second straight postseason game the Yanks and their fans (hey, we buy the tickets) got their money’s worth when both CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett were signed on December 18, 2008. What we didn’t count on was the superb Nick Blackburn and the Twins setup relief.
Jeter Swings It
Bronx, N.Y., October 7, 2009 — It seemed pretty clear that the overwhelmingly underdog Twins had one not so bad chance playing Game One of the ALDS in Yankee Stadium Wednesday. Sure, they were whipped, having played must-win games for a month, won out to make up a deficit, and finally slipped past the Tigers just 20 hours before first pitch. Sure, they were set to play the 103-win Yankees in a ballpark in which the Bombers have quickly learned to dominate. And they would be facing 19-game winner CC Sabathia, and a hostile Yankee crowd almost 50,000 strong.
The Girardi Bunch
Bronx, N.Y., September 30, 2009 — The Yankees and their fans continued the lovefest that originated in the Boston sweep over the weekend and continued through walkoff win number 15 from Tuesday on Wednesday night in the Bronx, even if the game result was a tad disappointing. With the AL East title and best record in baseball already assured, they hoped to continue the positive vibe, and a loss resulting in a 5-1 homestand stood no chance of dampening the spirits permeating the park. Continue reading
Taking Care of Business
Bronx, N.Y., September 27, 2009 — The Yankees and the Red Sox saved their best for last in the three-game weekend series, but it didn’t matter. Hard rains all morning were the more effective block to the home team clinching the AL East. But once a packed Stadium waited out a one-hour delay the Yanks did a day’s work and came away with a 4-2 victory for their 100th season win, a three-game sweep of their opponents, and the Division title. Continue reading
‘s Wonderful
Bronx, N.Y., September 26, 2009 — The Yankees moved within one game of 100 wins and also reduced their magic number for clinching the AL East to one with a 3-0 win over the Red Sox in Yankee Stadium Saturday afternoon. Staff ace CC Sabathia brought his “A” game and copped his 19th win with seven innings of shutout ball. Then Manager Joe Girardi called on the eight inning/ninth inning combo he hopes to use to bring the team its 27th Championship: eighth inning by youngster Phil Hughes, ninth inning by Mariano Rivera, the best closer the game has ever known. Continue reading
The Aim of the Game
Bronx, N.Y., September 25, 2009 — If the aim of the game of baseball is to have your team’s pitchers throw more pitches than the other team’s, then the Red Sox walloped the Yankees Friday night. Keyed by a superb start by Joba Chamberlain, who got through the first three frames on just 36 throws, and 86 to pitch through the sixth, the Yanks beat the visiting Sox 9-5. Even though his first-pitch strikes ratio was poor (11 of 24), Joba didn’t walk a batter until the sixth, struck out five, and didn’t allow a hit or baserunner until Victor Martinez homered to right center with one down in the fourth. Chamberlain’s fastball reached 95, but he was getting strikes with his high-70s curve, his 85-mph signature slider, and a mid-eighties change of pace as well. Continue reading
The Thrill Is Back
Bronx, N.Y., September 16, 2009 — The skies threatened all night Wednesday in Yankee Stadium, something that could not be said for the home team. Once the Yanks grabbed a 2-0, first-inning lead on a Mark Teixeira double and Hideki Matsui’s single, the offense produced all of a single and a hit by pitch over the next five frames, as Toronto tied the game, then took a 4-2 lead. But the crowd was not fooled; they’ve seen this team come back before. Continue reading
In a Nick of Time
Bronx, N.Y., September 8, 2009 — There was a pretty weary bunch of concession people and ushers manning their stations in Yankee Stadium Tuesday night. Coming off a lengthy day/night Labor Day doubleheader, to a man (and woman) they were hoping for a brisk contest. You got the feeling, then, that they were just as disappointed as the Yankee players and fans when Jason Bartlett tied the game 2-2 on a home run off Phil Hughes on the first pitch of the eighth inning. And, one assumes, they were just as happy as the team and the paying crowd when Nick Swisher sent us all home with his second home run of the night in the bottom of the ninth. Continue reading
Drives Me Crazy
Bronx, N.Y., September 7, 2009 — Before game two of the Yankees/Rays doubleheader in the Bronx Monday night, the scoreboard was brandishing this quote from recent Yankee hero Paul O’Neill: “You play the game to win the game, and not to worry about what’s on the back of the baseball card at the end of the year.” And of course, Paul is right. The sight of Chris Richard playing first base for Tampa late in the game that followed got me thinking. With all the madness swirling around the Yankee fourth starter and his new “rules,” and all the adulation the Yankee shortstop has been receiving, you can forget about what’s important. The Yankees won. They had taken the opener, and with the 11-1 thrashing in the second game, they swept two. Two wins, that’s the thing that’s important. Except when it isn’t. Continue reading