Bronx, N.Y., June 17, 2014 — Although to all reports, Masahiro Tanaka is delighted to be on a team with the great baseball history that the New York Yankees have, there is no way we can yet know how specifically he gets involved with the highlights that have taken place day by day over the years. What is clear, however, is that he is writing a whole new page in that history himself. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 5, 2014 — It seems a momentous occasion to report on a 2-1 Yankee victory to close a frustrating — but mercifully brief — homestand at 2-5 Thursday afternoon, but it was nothing special really. The Yanks benefited from stellar starting pitching, survived with a gutsy three-headed outing from their bullpen, and even though they failed to come up with enough offense to keep their two-runs-per-game output going, they achieved the number with a little help from the A’s. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 1, 2014 — The only classy thing to do following Sunday’s Yankee ninth-inning meltdown in a 7-2 loss to the visiting Twins is to give a tip of the cap to ex-Pinstriper Phil Hughes, who relied on his plus fastball to dominate the Yankees with 100 pitches through eight innings. One year ago on this day, Phil failed to survive the fifth inning in an 11-1 loss to the Red Sox in the Stadium, but his career has been reborn in Minnesota, and it is largely his work that has kept the Twins in the second-place mix in the AL Central behind the Tigers. Continue reading →

May 17, 2014, Bronx, N.Y. — If you’ve come across a highlight, or even were just in the South Bronx late Saturday afternoon, you heard the loud noises the Yankee offense made in battering the Buccos from Pittsburgh, 7-1. But don’t be fooled. The Yanks came out of this with a convincing win, but victory was far from assured midway through. Continue reading →

April 27, 2014, Bronx, N.Y. — I’m not a big fan of the Yankees hosting ESPN Sunday night games, particularly in too cold April in New York. Two weeks ago, the Yanks prevailed over the Red Sox in three hours and eight minutes, while we got 20 more minutes of baseball this Sunday night against the Angels. But I’ll have to grudgingly give up that complaint, because both were hugely gripping games, and both were 3-2 wins for the home team. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., April 13, 2014 — I don’t know how the ESPN TV Sunday night game between the visiting Red Sox and the Yankees in the Stadium played out on screen, but it was among the most captivating contests I’ve witnessed, and the pleasant temps under a Full Moon (with a hint of relatively oh-so-close planet Mars nearby) set the scene beautifully. Having seen No. 3 starter Ivan Nova implode earlier in the week against Baltimore, Yankee fans were apprehensive. But “Super-Nova” thankfully made an appearance in a key AL East game, if there can be such a thing on April 13. Continue reading →

April 9, 2014, Bronx, N.Y. — Yankee Stadium got its long-anticipated look at Masahiro Tanaka Wednesday evening and, despite an early bump in the road, the show was worth the ticket price, and more. Baltimore’s Jonathan Schoop turned on a 1-0 pitch with two on in the second inning, scoring three runs early against Masahiro, just as the Jays did in Toronto last week. Continue reading →

April 8, 2014, Bronx, N.Y. — It’s a good thing the Yanks picked their second home game, and not their opener, to play a really bad game, as they dropped a 14-5 stinker to Buck Showalter’s Orioles Tuesday afternoon. It was also lucky that the weather, merely neither cold nor unpleasant early, provided the crowd of 35,000 the kind of [somewhat] sunny baseball day we’ve been missing for more than six months. Continue reading →

April 7, 2014, Bronx, N.Y. — The Yankees beat the Orioles 4-2 in their home opener in frigid Yankee Stadium Monday afternoon, and after starring in the pregame, Derek Jeter played a key role in the win in this, his final year. He delivered the only Yankee extra base hit, a double down the left field that struck the wall inches below the top; had a key putout on a fifth-inning pickoff; and delivered the game’s first run with a sharp one-hopper back to the box. Continue reading →