Bronx, N.Y., May 17, 2009 — So how is the new Yankee Palace going to play as the season unfolds? Will balls continue to fly out in right center as the months grow warm, then hot, and the winds grow still? Will the team warm to the new Stadium and regularly win here, or lose too often, as had been the case before their recently begun homestand? Patterns emerge over time, and trends need to be verified through game after game. But at least for the time being Johnny Damon has snagged onto the second deck in right field as his preferred depository for his home runs. Continue reading
Author Archives: Dan McCourt
Less (Pitches) = More
Bronx, N.Y., May 16, 2009 — Agonizing through an endless top of the eighth inning Saturday afternoon, I was thinking about one of the earliest games some kids play in their baseball-learning process. “Bombs away” is the way I and a string of nieces and nephews refer to the game that came to mind, a pastime that has the player(s) located near a convenient stream, river, pond, lake, or even bigger body of water. A partaker picks up a rock, stone, shell, stick, or some other object and tosses it in the water while yelling “Bombs away!” Artistes sometimes go for flourishes such as skipping stones, but really, the splash is the hoped-for (and almost always achieved) outcome. A big spash is a crowd pleaser, but bottom line, this game is about quantity, not quality. The more you can throw, resulting in more splashes, the better. Continue reading
A Lame Loss
Bronx, N.Y., May 5, 2009 — Of all the negatives that could and will come out of yet another Yankee loss to the Red Sox Tuesday night, one argument will be no closer to being settled. Should Joba start or should he relieve was a beside-the-point calculation in this one, because the 21 pitches the Red Sox punished for five hits and four runs starting the game were poor-quality pitches. The mounting losses point to several Yankee season-long concerns, like a devastated bullpen, their two most expensive free-agent signees stumbling badly out of the box, a weak bench, and an offense that seems always to be waiting for a long ball to score the next run. Continue reading
Mayday Mayhem
Bronx, N.Y., May 1, 2009 — Friday night was not a gorgeous night. And despite a quick 4-0 Yankee lead in the first inning in Yankee stadium, it hardly featured a classic game. The four-run outburst was achieved on just two hits, with a huge assist from Anaheim (sorry, one city mention per team is my rule) righty Jered Weaver, who walked the first two batters he faced. A fielder’s choice, sac fly, single, and homer (Jorge Posada) followed, and the Yanks had a nice lead. Continue reading
The Melkman Cometh, Twice
Bronx, N.Y., April 22, 2009 — The Yanks and A’s played two games, really, in cold, wet Yankee Stadium Wednesday afternoon. In the first one, the Yanks followed the seventh-inning stretch by getting their 14th and 15th hits of the game, but failed to add to their seven runs with bases loaded and no one out. Melky Cabrera came up short in the key at bat. Fortunately, there was a 14th-inning stretch seven frames later. Over the ensuing innings the home team’s impressive hit total went up by just one. But after the second stretch, Melky responded much more positively. Continue reading
Yanks Struggle Together, and Win
Bronx, N.Y., April 19, 2009 — We shouldn’t be surprised that the new Yankee Stadium outfield wall was involved in a 2009 home-run call review so early in its first stand, in its fourth game. The new Palace has been experiencing firsts since it opened with home runs smacking both foul poles in an exhibition against the Cubs. That one worked well for the home team, even if it was meaningless, but the many scoring records surpassed, tied, or threatened Saturday afternoon weren’t nearly as welcome. The bunches of home runs have been a mixed bag, good at first, but again, not on Saturday. Not Sunday either, to start with. Continue reading
A Mixed NY Yankee Day
Bronx, N.Y., April 18, 2009 — I know what you’re thinking. Mixed? On a day when only three games into their new Stadium, the Yankees were victimized by an inning that featured the most hits they have ever surrendered in one frame resulting in the most runs they have ever allowed in one inning? The Indians pummeled them 22-4. Doesn’t sound too mixed. Sounds downright bad. Continue reading
Pen Is Mightier?
Bronx, N.Y., April 17, 2009 — Friday would have been financier J.P. Morgan’s 172nd birthday, which may explain the remarkable abundance of empty seats closest to Yankee Stadium’s home plate as the Yanks struggled to a 6-5 nail-biting win over Cleveland on a gorgeous spring afternoon. Seated as I was in the left-field-most corner section of the grandstand, staring down toward the plate and its environs (to the left, the right, and just above), I had plenty of time to contemplate where all the missing fans were (at the big birthday shindig?) as a Yankee starter struggled with his control for the second straight day. Continue reading
Lingo Lesson
Bronx, N.Y., April 16, 2009 — I learned a painful lesson about being exact with my language watching the Yankees battle the Indians in the opener of the new Yankee Stadium Thursday afternoon. As has been covered everywhere, the new “Palace” is beautiful, if expensive, and it is assumed that Yankee fans both experienced and new, old and young, will adapt to it, as long as much of the magic that permeated the Baseball Cathedral across 161st Street makes it across to the new digs. In good times and in bad, the day of the Home Opener was certainly a magical day over there, particularly since it was modified and reopened in 1976. In the 33 years of home openers in that Stadium, the record was a lofty 26-8 (which adds up to 34 because they dropped a double header opener following a six-day-delaying blizzard in 1982). That magic, it appears, will be delayed making it to the other side of Babe Ruth Plaza. Continue reading
Yankee Baseball and the Blustery Day
Bronx, N.Y., April 4, 2009 — Well, the Yanks proved poor hosts to the Chicago Cubs and an impressive assemblage of Cubs fans for the second straight day Saturday afternoon. After early morning showers that dotted the New York area cleared there was no threat of rain, but the gusty, cold weather was anything but pleasant. Still, some face time with some old friends, combined with a visit from another, highlighted a very good day for this Yankee fan with decades of experience on the other side of 161st Street. Continue reading