Bronx, N.Y., June 17, 2015; Yankees 2, Marlins 1 — Well, the Yankees dropped a 2-1 decision to the Marlins in Miami on Monday in the first of two, and beat them 2-1 under the same scenario, this time in the Bronx, tonight. It makes me very eager to see tomorrow night’s 11-run explosion. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 7, 2015; Yankees 6, Angels 2 — Seated just to the right of home plate in the Stadium grandstand, we’re located directly below the banner that represents the second-place team in the AL Western Division. With the incredible Astros start, it has invariably been the flaming red banner of the Angels all year. The first thing I noticed when I looked up today was that, not only had the Yanks’ five-game win streak improved their hold on first place in the East. The last two wins, it seems, have knocked Anaheim from that perch: The blue banner of the Texas Rangers has grabbed the spot. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 5, 2015; Yankees 8, Angels 7 — Or was it 27 hours? Fans who chose to stay for Friday night’s top of the ninth inning had no idea what they were signing up for. Using the long ball, the home-standing Yanks had built a comfortable lead, then had a nervous moment midgame, but followed that with some more offense to “seemingly” put this one away. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., Memorial Day, May 25, 2015; Yankees 14, Royals 1 — A huge weight was lifted from the Yankee organization, its players, and the fans on Monday, Memorial Day, when the team broke out of a dreadful slump by pounding the visiting KC Royals, 14-1. They had lost two of three to KC a week before on a 2-7 road trip, only to drop three straight at home to the lowly (recently, anyway) Texas Rangers upon their return. This last series had featured back-to-back third innings where they surrendered seven runs and 10 runs, respectively. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 7, 2015; Yankees 4, Orioles 3 — The fact that the Yankees outhit the visiting Baltimore Orioles 11-6 was an outlier — don’t be fooled; the teams played essentially the same game. The vaunted Yankee pen had to throw one more inning than the relievers from Baltimore, but both bullpens held the opposition scoreless. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., April 26, 2915; Yankees 6, Mets 4 — Well, the Yankees won the Battle of New York, part one, in 2015, the first home series in which they’ve beaten their crosstown rivals since 2012. But any Yankee fan hoping the team could derail the Mets fan brigade by doing so better rethink it. Down one run, then two, with four innings left, the Flushing-rooting visitors cheered lustily for a team whose offense through the game’s second half consisted of an infield single, a walk, two hit-by-pitches, and reaching on a swinging strike out/wild pitch. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., April 24, 2015; Yankees 6, Mets 1 — Despite the 30-degree wind chill Friday night, New York had a rare occasion to smile at the schedule makers at major league baseball. There has been a lot of drama over the years in The Bronx and Flushing, and all surrounding communities, since Dave Mlicki of the Mets blanked the Yankees 6-0 in the first regular season interleague game between the teams in 1997. Despite a Mets sweep in 2013 and continued success last year, frustrated Mets fans — with their team off to a fantastic start — were itching for an early fight in 2015, and they got it. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., April 12, 2015; Yankees 14, Red Sox 4 — The very first road game I ever attended was on April 7, 1969, when as a college student in our nation’s capital, I witnessed my Yankees beat the Senators 8-4 in their home opener at RFK Stadium. Mel Stottlemyre bested Camilo Pascual that day, largely on the strength of back-to-back home runs by Bobby Murcer and Jerry Kenney, the third baseman who would clear just one more fence the rest of the year. In 1970, he doubled that output to four long balls, and hit .193 for the year. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., April 9, 2015; Toronto 6, Yankees 3 — It was easy to think of it, that thing that has reared its ugly head quite a few times since CC Sabathia went from being the Yankee horse — who largely carried them to Championship No. 27 in 2009 — to a pinstriped puzzle. From 2009 through 2012 he won 11, 14, 11, and nine more games, respectively, than he lost, then his 2013 mark slipped to 14-13, before his knee gave way last year at 3-4. Continue reading →

April 8, 2015, Bronx, N.Y.; Yankees 4, Blue Jays 3 — Fans concerned about the [lack of] Yankee offense following Monday’s opening loss didn’t receive a lot of comfort from Wednesday’s victory in the frigid tundra that passed for the Stadium, but they certainly got an ace outing from Michael Pineda. The line read two runs (one earned) on six hits through six, but the hulking righty really only threw one bad pitch all night. Continue reading →