Bronx, N.Y., July 5, 2007 — The Yankees and the Twins played a good, old-fashioned ballgame in a steamy Yankee Stadium Thursday afternoon. Minnesota jumped on Yankee starter Kei Igawa for two quick runs in the top of the first, and they reached Mariano Rivera for a score in the ninth. But the Yankees pounded three home runs in between, and they beat the Twins in a very uncharacteristic way. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 3, 2007 — “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,” Yankee organist Paul Cartier played during one of the pitching changes the Twins made during their 8-0 loss in Yankee Stadium Tuesday. And judging by the response, quite a few fans were, and did. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 1, 2007 — The throng who made it to Yankee Stadium for a showdown and rubber match with the AL West A’s may have thought they were in for a long, though gorgeous, afternoon. After being one-hit for seven innings by a guy who had just 26 starts in 117 career appearances Saturday, this day they were matched up against AL era leader Danny Haren, sporting a 9-2 record with that gaudy 1.91 earned run average. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 29, 2007 — There he was, situated behind home plate just as I remembered him, exchanging lineups before the Friday night game pitting the Yankees and the visiting Oakland A’s. And Bob Geren was wearing no. 53 still, just as he had backing up catching luminaries such as Don Slaught and Matt Nokes for the Yankees from 1988-1991. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 17, 2007 — The Mets fan seated next to me Friday was delighted, a few shaky innings aside, that he had come to the Bronx to see his team play on a night when “the good Ollie Perez” pitched. And seeing how this Yankee team has been attacking anything but stellar pitching of late, one had to begrudgingly ackowledge his point. Perez dominated. But although it has become increasingly clear that anytime a Yankee fan comes to see Chien-Ming Wang throw, he’ll be good, a new question is coming to the fore: “How did he do it?” Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 12, 2007 — Had Arizona second baseman Orlando Hudson handled Johnny Damon’s leadoff first-inning grounder cleanly Tuesday night, it’s likely Brandon Webb and Chien-Ming Wang would have held their respective clubs to one run each over seven crisp frames. Considered in tandem with Justin Verlander’s no-hitter in Detroit, it was as if hurlers were paying their respects to John Lee Richmond’s Perfect Game on June 12, 1880, the first 27-up, 27-down game in professional baseball history. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 8, 2007 — The 76-degree temp posted at the start of the Friday night game between the Yanks and the visiting Pirates in Yankee Stadium seemed about right, but a cool breeze obscured the effects of the rising humidity, at least at the game’s start. Three tense hours later, there wasn’t a dry forehead in the packed house. It was due, I suspect, to both the tight game and the still, steamy evening. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 27, 2007 — All eyes were on Mike Mussina in Yankee Stadium Sunday afternoon following his most disappointing loss of the year. Mike melted early and late in a 7-3 loss to the Red Sox Tuesday, costing the Yanks a sweep of their rivals. In danger of the opposite kind of sweep at the hands of these Angels, who always seem to beat New York, fans started the day more focussed on the mid-eighties gorgeous afternoon than the prospects for the day. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 25, 2007 — Battling through a rough stretch of games in big series their fans want them to sweep, the Yanks seem to have adopted a strategy that if they can win series, they can turn their season around. If they are to win this weekend series vs. the Angels, they’ll have to do it in comeback fashion after falling 10-6 Friday night. Continue reading →