Bronx, N.Y., Nov. 1, 2001 — It’s an apt description of my jumbled and twisted train of thought as I tried, in the car on my way home, to put into words what I’ve seen the last two nights after what I’m calling Bronx Bonanza Two. Hearing Joe refer to the Bill Murray flick “Groundhog Day” in trying to describe what’s been happening the last two nights, I was a bit disappointed, and sure I’d be able to find a much more profound view of things. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., Oct. 31, 2001 — A long time for a used-to-be young man to stand and hold his ground, and this guy is waving his arms too! Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., Oct. 30, 2001 — And I know there’s a real good one going for the D’backs tomorrow night, but you sure saw a horse in Roger Clemens tonight. An astounding start really, with what appears to be the requisite for that title in this series — three hits allowed. Only Roger threw in an incredible 22 of 27 first-pitch strikes. (No, Schilling didn’t come close.) Continue reading →

NEW YORK, N.Y., Oct. 29, 2001 — You know the saying. It’s you know who‘s workshop. Herewith some suggestions for the citizenry of the state of Arizona to avoid that very pitfall: Continue reading →

NEW YORK, N.Y., Oct. 28, 2001 — Can the script be any more perfect? We’ve been here before, and we all know what I’m talking about. Continue reading →

NEW YORK, N.Y., Oct. 27 — I have a confession to make. I’m a Yankee fan, and my day wasn’t a total loss. My brother? Now he had a bad day.

For the most part, I am a baseball fan, but I have dipped into another sport now and again. And I’ve found that I can get pretty excited about them too — provided there’s a wager involved. John went to Monmouth Racetrack today, where they featured simulcasting (and parimutuel betting) on the Breeders Cup races from Belmont. He placed a few bets for me too. I lost all day. He won, but only early, so by the time the last race rolled around the only money being bet was his and mine. I picked an early-line 8-1 that went off at 6-1 named Tiznow; his was an 8-1 named Sakhee that held at 8-1. They both closed in the last two furlongs, and made it a three-way race with the early leader, but by time they had reached the stretch it was Tiznow and Sakhee, neck and neck, one inching ahead, and then the other, until the final stride made me a winner by the proverbial nose.

Now that was a painful loss for John.

9-1, when you’re down 5-1 in the third, and all 9-1 in the fourth, that’s virtually painless. And it’s not like it was a shock. We’ve seen it before. In 1996 we had the bad luck to close the Orioles out of the ALCS on Sunday, while the Braves and Cardinals played three more games. And then Game 1 was rained out, and we didn’t play until Sunday, Oct. 20. 12-1. Ugly, but in retrospect, not that painful (certainly nothing we couldn’t recover from.) The Braves had two full days off and it didn’t bother them. Why? I don’t know. And the D’backs had six, but when you’re a team that relies on two starters carrying you, is it any wonder the layoff was no problem for them?

And then there is the genius of our starter, Mike Mussina. That’s right, I said our starter. He doesn’t like long rest. He doesn’t like short rest. It was obvious in the first inning both from the fact that it took him eight pitches to strike out Womack and that four pitches later he surrendered the sixth homer this year by Craig Counsell that he neither had a fastball, nor could he locate it. Mike will have the requisite four days rest (and no more) when next he takes the mound in the Cathedral for Game 5 Thursday, and he’ll pitch brilliantly, just as he has been. There’s simply no credible evidence to the contrary.

On July 12, coming out of the All Star break with the rest days and rotation all out of whack (where have I heard that before?) he was massacred by another team that does not hit a lot, the perhaps soon-to-be-defunct Florida Marlins, 9-3. Five days later he held a team that had a very good year in the Philadelphia Phillies to one run in seven innings of an eventual 11-inning Yankee win.

So if you want to know how I feel about being down one in games, and losing 9-1 in a big game, I’ll tell you what I said after Game 5 vs. Oakland, “There is nothing like coming from behind!” And if you ask how it feels after a painful loss, that reply is simple too: “I don’t know. I’ll tell you when we have one.”

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!

NEW YORK, N.Y., Oct. 27 — The average baseball fan is a person with a sense of history, as the sport really was the first to enthrall the American public. The Babe and the Yankees put baseball on the map of American experience, and the combo has reaped a bountiful harvest in at least two fields ever since. Once the Babe joined them the Yanks started winning, and now they have 26 World Championships. And the Babe and the Yanks have continued to make headlines through the years. Some other historical perspectives: Continue reading →

NEW YORK, N.Y., Oct. 26 — We’ve all seen the classic “Baseball Bugs” where he takes on the Gashouse Gorillas by himself, and the announcer intones his name as playing every position for the Teetotalers. I would never suggest that this Diamondback team is quite the one-trick pony that that might imply, but using a certain historical perspective, one could view much of the starting pitching contingent that way. Continue reading →

NEW YORK, N.Y., Oct. 25 — I’ve been a fan a long time, but I didn’t know the game like I do now back when we won in ’77 and ’78, so a lot of the time I have been focussing on games and rooting with my very being, well, we didn’t win a lot of those games. One thing my brother and I witnessed years ago was what we decided to call (back in a much kinder and gentler time) the Kiss of “Death,” (any biblical reference totally unintended). As a seemingly unbreakable law pertaining to cosmic baseball, it has broken my heart time and time again. When what you need is a dinger, the proverbial “blast” part of the “bloop and a blast,” a big fat tater, if your guy hits one but it goes foul, fuggetaboutit. E = MC squared. Need homer plus foul homer = you lose. Continue reading →

NEW YORK, N.Y., Oct. 24 — Well, not ramparts exactly, but from Yankee Stadium tier box 622 we were watching a scene that would be dear to any American, and doubly special if that citizen happens to have a place in their heart for New York and the Yankees. Continue reading →