Bronx, N.Y., October 9, 2010 — Although the larger story may have been that the Yanks swept the Twins in three games to win the 2010 ALDS in Yankee Stadium 6-1 on Saturday night, for Phil Hughes the bigger aspect may have been a more personal one. Exactly one year ago, the Twins put an ugly inning on Phil at the worst possible time, and although to all accounts he seems to be a pleasant young man, he really seemed to have enjoyed the chance to get back this time around. Continue reading
Category Archives: Postseason
Canyon Caps Sizzling Season
Andy Pettitte took his rightful place dominating the penultimate float, as befits the winner of more postseason games than anyone, and the clinchers in all three series.
Downtown Manhattan, N.Y., November 6, 2009 — The woman getting on the 6:34 (out of Rye) in New Rochelle was grateful that I slid over and let her have the outside seat of two, but I was glad for the company. “Oh my,” she said, “it seems we have a few young fans heading to the Parade.” Continue reading
Designated Hero
Bronx, N.Y., November 4, 2009 — You had to hand it to the sports prognosticators following the Yankees’ Game Six World Series victory Wednesday. To a man, they all knew it was about pitching, and how rested the pitchers starting for each team would be. The astounding thing is that so many knew that that was the key, but so few realized for which pitcher that would be the bigger problem Continue reading
Andy Pennant
Bronx, N.Y., October 25, 2009 — Fulfilling their role as overseers of what goes on in the Big City, the New York Times reported on Saturday that the concrete covering some of the ramps in new Yankee Stadium was crumbling. From what I saw following the Yankees’ 5-2, Game 6 ALCS-clinching victory over the Angels, they needn’t have worried. Fans were soaring out of the Stadium without their feet ever touching the ground. Continue reading
AJ, A-Rod, A-OK
Despite the fact that AJ pied Mark Teixeira a week ago, the entire Yankee hurling staff should chip in and buy Tex and his family all the pie they can eat. He saves runs every day at first base.
Bronx, N.Y., October 17, 2009 — You could look at Game 2 of the ALCS as two games. The first one was mostly dry, and Joe Saunders and AJ Burnett battled superbly to a seven-inning 2-2 tie. Then the Yankee bullpen beat the Anaheim pen 2-1 in a sloppier but still well pitched contest through six innings more. Continue reading
Bewitched in the Bronx
Bronx, N.Y., October 16, 2009 — The Yanks beat the Angels 4-1 in Game One of the ALCS Friday night in a game where the Halos contributed to their own demise with uncharcateristically sloppy play. But whatever was affecting the Angels had the Scoreboard operators off their game as well. The only ones who played their “A” game were the dominant Yankee starter CC Sabathia and the fellow members of his team. Continue reading
Possible Dream
Bronx, N.Y., October 9, 2009 — Milling around the new train station at Yankee Stadium Friday night following the Yanks’ improbable come-from-behind win, the big joke went something like: “Boring game, huh?” But move those delirious people back in time two hours, and nobody would have seen what was so funny. For the second straight postseason game the Yanks and their fans (hey, we buy the tickets) got their money’s worth when both CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett were signed on December 18, 2008. What we didn’t count on was the superb Nick Blackburn and the Twins setup relief.
Jeter Swings It
Bronx, N.Y., October 7, 2009 — It seemed pretty clear that the overwhelmingly underdog Twins had one not so bad chance playing Game One of the ALDS in Yankee Stadium Wednesday. Sure, they were whipped, having played must-win games for a month, won out to make up a deficit, and finally slipped past the Tigers just 20 hours before first pitch. Sure, they were set to play the 103-win Yankees in a ballpark in which the Bombers have quickly learned to dominate. And they would be facing 19-game winner CC Sabathia, and a hostile Yankee crowd almost 50,000 strong.
Tell-Tale Heart, Bronx Style
Bronx, N.Y., October 7, 2007 — A Yankee season that was imperiled when the Indians beat Chien-Ming Wang in Cleveland was pushed further to the edge by a swarm of gnats Friday night, resulting in an 0-2 record in the five-game ALDS. One wonders how a confident yet nervous Yankee crowd in the Stadium for Game Three Sunday night would have reacted had they known going in that aging vet Roger Clemens would not last three frames. Continue reading
The Captain Crunches the Bengals
Bronx, N.Y., October 3, 2006 — A not so funny thing happened in the Yankees/Tigers tussle in Game One of the ALDS Tuesday night. As expected, Chien-Ming Wang gave the Yanks a good, not stellar start. The 12 hits Yankee bats stroked against starter Nate Robertson were about par for the bashing club’s course. Fulfilling manifold predictions, the vaunted Yankee lineup threw a crushing rally at Detroit. But totally messing with the pregame script, the Tigers responded to six straight Yankee hits that tallied five runs leading off the home third by rallying to make the series opener a battle. Continue reading