Bronx, N.Y., June 17, 2007 — The Mets fan seated next to me Friday was delighted, a few shaky innings aside, that he had come to the Bronx to see his team play on a night when “the good Ollie Perez” pitched. And seeing how this Yankee team has been attacking anything but stellar pitching of late, one had to begrudgingly ackowledge his point. Perez dominated. But although it has become increasingly clear that anytime a Yankee fan comes to see Chien-Ming Wang throw, he’ll be good, a new question is coming to the fore: “How did he do it?” Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 12, 2007 — Had Arizona second baseman Orlando Hudson handled Johnny Damon’s leadoff first-inning grounder cleanly Tuesday night, it’s likely Brandon Webb and Chien-Ming Wang would have held their respective clubs to one run each over seven crisp frames. Considered in tandem with Justin Verlander’s no-hitter in Detroit, it was as if hurlers were paying their respects to John Lee Richmond’s Perfect Game on June 12, 1880, the first 27-up, 27-down game in professional baseball history. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 8, 2007 — The 76-degree temp posted at the start of the Friday night game between the Yanks and the visiting Pirates in Yankee Stadium seemed about right, but a cool breeze obscured the effects of the rising humidity, at least at the game’s start. Three tense hours later, there wasn’t a dry forehead in the packed house. It was due, I suspect, to both the tight game and the still, steamy evening. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 27, 2007 — All eyes were on Mike Mussina in Yankee Stadium Sunday afternoon following his most disappointing loss of the year. Mike melted early and late in a 7-3 loss to the Red Sox Tuesday, costing the Yanks a sweep of their rivals. In danger of the opposite kind of sweep at the hands of these Angels, who always seem to beat New York, fans started the day more focussed on the mid-eighties gorgeous afternoon than the prospects for the day. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 25, 2007 — Battling through a rough stretch of games in big series their fans want them to sweep, the Yanks seem to have adopted a strategy that if they can win series, they can turn their season around. If they are to win this weekend series vs. the Angels, they’ll have to do it in comeback fashion after falling 10-6 Friday night. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 23, 2007 — The strangest thing happened in Yankee Stadium Wednesday evening as the Yanks were beating the Red Sox, 8-3. Present (and former) Yankee southpaw Andy Pettitte pitched superbly, but there is nothing unique there. He did it here routinely from 1995 through 2003, and he has done it virtually every time out in this, his return season. The twist in this game was that the Yanks scored early with Andy on the mound, and that they kept on scoring all night long. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 21, 2007 — Although it’s an easy bus ride, I’m sure no Yankee players used that form of transportation to get from Queens to the Bronx Monday night, to start a three-game series with the Red Sox and a six-game homestand. Coming off a weekend-saving win over the Mets Sunday night, the Yankees rode a struggling Chien-Ming Wang to a 6-2 victory. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 10, 2007 — I have early memories of a finely crafted set of bookends from my parents’ house. It was elephants imbedded in a fine leaden base that could hold many volumes before sliding. I compare them to a pair of middling lighthouses we use for that task now. They are short on detail, the paint is chipped, and worst of all, they have no heft and can hold up only the thinnest of books. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 9, 2007 — The most faithful of Yankee fans could be forgiven if they were getting a little nervous during the visiting third inning Wednesday night. The Yanks battered Seattle’s Cha Seung Baek for 41 pitches and a quick 5-0 lead in the first inning of Friday night’s game, only to fall when Kei Igawa failed to take advantage of the big score. A quick rally this night was giving the crowd an unpleasant whiff of deja vu. Continue reading →