Bronx, N.Y., August 1, 2008 — Following the devastation Anaheim wreaked upon the Yankees Thursday, fans could be forgiven for missing what was the turning point of the Friday night game. Few expected Sidney Ponson’s quick and efficient 11-pitch, top of the first, and before the 54,000-strong throng realized it, the Yanks were set up to take a lead. A 1-0 Derek Jeter single to right following Johnny Damon’s six-pitch leadoff walk against Ervin Santana had the home team set up. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 20, 2008 — Famously, a squirrel cavorted on the right-field foul pole last August as Andy Pettitte was pitching the Yanks to a win in a sweep of the Red Sox. The “Dog Days of August” have not arrived in the 2008 baseball season yet, but it could hardly have been hotter as the Yanks swept the A’s 2-1 behind Pettitte Sunday afternoon. But don’t take my word for it; we spied what could have been the same squirrel scurrying for the shade under a car in Parking Lot 8 after the game. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 18, 2008 — Well, the A’s traded away Joe Blanton, and the Yanks slapped around lefty Greg Smith, who was pressed into duty Friday night in the Bronx after Joe was shipped out. And what chance did the lefty thrower have really, relying on the 88-mph fastball and the change of pace floating in at around 80? The opposition battered him for three hits in the first, one more each in the second and third, then two more in both the fourth and the fifth. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 9, 2008 — The first place Tampa Bay Rays left town late this afternoon after playing 19 innings over two days in a ballpark that historically has not been kind to them. Considering that they scored all of one run while they were here, it was business as usual as the Yanks swept them in a two-game mini-series. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 8, 2008 — Despite having the superb Andy Pettitte on the mound Tuesday night for the first of two against the first-place Tampa Rays, it was hard not to be concerned watching southpaw Scott Kazmir’s dominance through two frames. Pettitte has been very good just when the team needed it most, or at least he was until Captain Derek Jeter’s uncharacteristic first-inning throwing error put him into a 2-0 hole last Thursday versus Boston. That game went downhill from there, Boston battered Darrell Rasner the next day, and it took two scintillating one-run victories to salvage the holiday weekend, and perhaps the Yankee season. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 6, 2008 — What is it about 5-4 Yankees/Red Sox games in Yankee Stadium in the current millennium? After catching some of the July 1, 2004 classic in which Captain Derek Jeter bloodied himself with a full-bodied dive into the lower boxes before the Yanks came from behind to win 5-4 in 13 on TV, we fretted, sweated, and feted a 10-inning win by that same score on Sunday night. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 1, 2008 — For the second straight day, the Yanks came up on the short end of a low-scoring, one-run game in the Bronx pitting two great offenses. The Yanks wasted good pitching in both losses, failed to make up ground against the Red Sox, and fell another game behind those “Devils,” the first-place Tampa Rays. Bottom line, 3-2 Tuesday was equally injurious and frustrating to 2-1 Monday. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 30, 2008 — The Yankee team that bested Flushing’s Johan Santana on four hits over six innings Saturday, then lost to Oliver Perez of the Mets Sunday while hitting safely just four times, was at it again Monday night in the Bronx. Santana began the season as the titular best arm in baseball, and lefty throwing Perez has feasted on the Bronx lineup before. But how are we to explain the offensive meltdown against Texas’ Scott Feldman? Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 22, 2008 — With the three-game series against Cincinnati already a defeat via the 6-0 loss Saturday afternoon following Friday’s 4-2 defeat, one got the impression that the Yankees were ready to leave New York and move on to Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon. I’m as excited as the next fan that the Bombers will be flying to the “Steel City” for the first time in 48 years, but not so much that I did not realize there was unfinished business in the Bronx. Continue reading →