Bronx, N.Y., May 8, 2005 The initial weather report for Sunday in the Bronx called for the voluminous Saturday rains to taper off, with the day becoming a nice one around the time the opposing managers would be going to their bullpens. But Saturday had dawned with iffy skies, and while the day drifted toward the charming, Mike Mussina brought Yankee fans back from the brink with a masterful shutout win. OK. The skies were inclined to cut us a break. How about the Yankees? Moose gave the team a boost. Could enigma Kevin Brown follow it up? Continue reading
Category Archives: Grandstand View
Impressive Numbers
Bronx, N.Y., April 29, 2005 Just when the Yankee offense is stumbling around and in need of a positive outing, the expected pitching duel between Randy Johnson and Roy Halladay fully materialized in Yankee Stadium last night. The Jays were rolling after a sweep of Tampa at home, while the Yankees had scratched just one run in each game of back-to-back losses to Anaheim (sorry, that’s what I’m calling them) after a win behind Alex Rodriguez’s three-home run outburst. In both of the losses, the home-standing Bombers ran themselves out of an early score, and the offense fizzled. Continue reading
Who’s on First?
Bronx, N.Y., April 24, 2005 The skies Sunday in the Bronx approximated the condition of the team. The sun shone brightly for part of the afternoon, and the Yankees cranked out an impressive 11-1 win over Texas. But overall the weather was cool with big clouds thrown in, and hometown innings of four, three, and three runs could not cancel out the pitching and hitting failings of the prior two days, or the unsettled state of the Yankee starting rotation. Continue reading
Imitating the Immortals
Bronx, N.Y., April 18, 2005 The Yankees crawled back into New York for a Monday game against the Devil Rays, traveling north from a ballpark that has been a second home. But this most recent trip to Camden Yards resulted in three painful losses in what had become a four-game skid. Their owner had grumbled angrily in public, fans who had booed a sure Hall of Famer in the season’s third game were furious at the 4-8 record, and even Manager Joe Torre sounded embarrassed when discussing the quality of his team’s play. Continue reading
The Fundamental Things
Bronx, N.Y., April 5, 2005 “Turn the page” was the slogan we were repeating among ourselves in the Tier behind home plate Sunday, and with the Unit’s successful debut that’s exactly what the Yankees did. Gazing slant-eyed into the gleaming sky at 12:30 Tuesday afternoon, however, the overwhelming impression one got was that this was the real Opening Day. While it’s true that New York fans were delighted when Randy Johnson beat the Sox Sunday night 9-2 in the season’s first game, you would have been hard pressed to find anyone who agreed that that felt like an opener in the cold and dark of the Bronx night. Continue reading
Meeting a ‘Legend’
NEW YORK, N.Y., December 30, 2004 I experienced a poignant moment the other day when I heard that Yankee organist Eddie Layton had passed away. He was taken from us just one year after retiring to a life of leisure, one final contradiction in the life of a Renaissance man who played the soundtrack to several generations of Yankee fans. I had the good fortune to meet and spend an afternoon with Eddie back in 2001, and it remains one of the greatest thrills in the life of this Bronx-born fan. Continue reading
The Lowe Down
Bronx, N.Y., October 20, 2004 Well, that which cannot happen has come to pass. It’s a true statement on several levels, but for our purposes let’s just concern ourselves with two: First, when push comes to shove, the Yankees always beat the Red Sox. And more generally, teams who lose the first three games of a best-of-seven series in most major sports, and certainly in baseball, can’t recover from that deficit. Continue reading
Swing [at] Lowe
Bronx, N.Y., October 17, 2004 The pictures in the Fox-TV coverage toward the end of last night’s Yankee 19-8 humiliation of the Red Sox were dominated by two views, one seen often in Fenway Park, and the other almost never. (I couldn’t tell you what Buck, McCarver, et al, were saying, as we threw that verbal tribute to the powers that be at Fox over the side in the second inning, using the radio for the audio portion of the goings-on. (But I can address the pictures they showed.) Continue reading
Enter Sandman: The Ballgame
Bronx, N.Y., October 11, 2004 The greatest postseason closer in baseball history recorded yet another save in the Bronx Tuesday night. And as Mariano Rivera trotted in from the bullpen to take his practice throws, the Scoreboard displayed its latest gimmick, not just playing Mettalica’s Enter Sandman, but flashing the lyrics across the auxiliary boards that hang from the loge sections down each line. Continue reading
Sandcastle to Cathedral
Bronx, N.Y., October 11, 2004 The story behind Ruben Sierra, the powerful Yankee switch-hitting DH/outfielder, is one of many good ones regarding the 2004 team. The Yankees had achieved two huge goals when they originally got Ruben in July 1995 for Danny Tartabull. First, they got rid of the oft-injured righty power hitter and his big contract. And then the Yankees rode thier way to a 1995 Wild Card berth largely on Ruben’s double-barreled stick. Continue reading