Bronx, N.Y., July 21, 2007 — The naysayers in Yankee land had spread the sad news all over the ballpark by the time Saturday’s double dip with the Devil Rays began at 1:07. The Yanks would be throwing less than front-line starters in both games coming off two straight losses. And it’s true that Kei Igawa and Matt DeSalvo allowed two long bombs and six scores while failing to complete 10 innings between them. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 18, 2007 — Roger Clemens battled the superb Sean Marcum and the Toronto Blue Jays in a steamy Yankee Stadium Wednesday night. But fans who were hoping to see The Rocket back to the form he exhibited in back-to-back eight-inning gems before stumbling in Tampa Bay last weekend were in for a very different kind of performance. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 16, 2007 — The second- and third-place teams in the AL East battled in the first of four in the Bronx Monday night when the visiting Blue Jays took on the Yanks. It was a gorgeous evening. The teams evenly divided six loud hits for a 4-4 tie midway through the sixth inning, but it was one of the quieter safeties of the game that sent the crowd home happy. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 8, 2007 — After a Saturday game Melky Cabrera will be trying to forget his whole career (1-for-6 with five strike outs), he stroked Sunday’s first hit, releasing a charging Yankee offense that was bottled up by Anaheim for 13 long innings the afternoon before. Melky would score a run, something all nine guys in the lineup did Sunday, and the Yanks rode three home runs to a 12-0 laugher. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 7, 2007 — The Bombers strung together six hits in the second inning Saturday afternoon, and seven over two frames. Unfortunately, they played the Clippers, not the Angels, and the hit total matched what the 2007 team amassed in 13 innings in the contest that followed. The Bombers beat the Clippers 4-0 in the 61st Yankee Stadium Old Timers Day game, and Anaheim bested the current team 2-1. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 6, 2007 — Something strange happened to the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins since they played a game in the Bronx Thursday afternoon, something that appears to have worn off on the visiting Anaheim Angels as well. (Market-driven alterations notwithstanding, by the way, they’ll always be the “Anaheim [or California] Angels” to me.) Following the Yanks’ 7-6 victory the day before, the Yankees, Twins, and Angels scored 53 runs among them Friday. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 5, 2007 — The Yankees and the Twins played a good, old-fashioned ballgame in a steamy Yankee Stadium Thursday afternoon. Minnesota jumped on Yankee starter Kei Igawa for two quick runs in the top of the first, and they reached Mariano Rivera for a score in the ninth. But the Yankees pounded three home runs in between, and they beat the Twins in a very uncharacteristic way. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 3, 2007 — “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,” Yankee organist Paul Cartier played during one of the pitching changes the Twins made during their 8-0 loss in Yankee Stadium Tuesday. And judging by the response, quite a few fans were, and did. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 1, 2007 — The throng who made it to Yankee Stadium for a showdown and rubber match with the AL West A’s may have thought they were in for a long, though gorgeous, afternoon. After being one-hit for seven innings by a guy who had just 26 starts in 117 career appearances Saturday, this day they were matched up against AL era leader Danny Haren, sporting a 9-2 record with that gaudy 1.91 earned run average. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 29, 2007 — There he was, situated behind home plate just as I remembered him, exchanging lineups before the Friday night game pitting the Yankees and the visiting Oakland A’s. And Bob Geren was wearing no. 53 still, just as he had backing up catching luminaries such as Don Slaught and Matt Nokes for the Yankees from 1988-1991. Continue reading →