Tampa, FL., March 1 — I felt something was missing as I took my seat in steamy Legends Field today for the opener of the 2007 Spring season. Slathered in sunscreen and clad in shorts for the first time in months, I scanned the rosters of the Yankees and the visiting Minnesota Twins, eagerly awaiting the scheduled 1:15 first pitch with pencil and scoreboard poised for action. But I was minus the reams of minor league stats and big-leagues documentation I had pored over and printed out in anticipation of the big day, because that research was in the one of my two checked bags on the flight from New York, the bag that failed to appear once we landed in Tampa. Continue reading
Category Archives: On the Field
The Boys of Spring
Bronx, N.Y., January 14, 2007 — One of the highlights of the 2006 Yankee season for this avid fan came in a sleepy Florida town in front of a crowd barely 6,000 strong. On March 5, Joe Torre took the ball from Mike Mussina in a 1-1 game vs. the Toronto Blue Jays with two down in the third and a man on second. There was no question that the tall righty that took Moose’s place was nervous; his second warmup pitch sailed over Jorge Posada’s head and smacked the screen — hard. But Philip Hughes dispatched dangerous Toronto portsided first sacker Lyle Overbay on a bouncer to second on just two throws. Continue reading
Chacon Shackles Twins
Tampa, FL., March 7 — Ten years ago, Brad Radke pitched one of his better games against the Yankees in the Bronx on a cool summer evening, with soutpaw Jimmy Key providing the mound opposition. Radke calmly retired the first 20 Yankee batters until Paul O’Neill smacked an opposite-field double down the left field line with two down in the seventh, and Tino Martinez hooked a 320-foot line drive around the right field foul pole. The Yanks completed their 2-0 victory, and the paying customers found themselves in the unaccustomed position of being outside the ballpark shortly after 9:00 pm. Continue reading
Who’s on Second?
Tampa, FL., March 6 — Well, the morning broke upon another gorgeous day in Tampa Monday, with the Yanks hosting the Blue Jays after having gotten off the losing train in Dunedin the day before. But although Yankee fans may think they’re not prey to the frailities and fears inherent to fans of lesser teams, they sometimes need something to fret about. The Bombers had reached two pretty good pitchers in Ted Lilly and B.J. Ryan for eight line drive hits in three frames Sunday, but it seemed something was missing. The lack of power hitting was a lingering concern. Andy Phillips’s singleton opposite-field shot on Thursday was still the only Yankee home run after four games. Continue reading
A By-the-Book Win
Dunedin, FL., March 5 — The first thing I noticed once the Yanks finished their pregame bp before Sunday’s game in Dunedin was that Joe Torre was carrying a small binder in his left hand as he watched his team assemble in the dugout. And it’s no wonder. Joe is seeing more players than ever this spring as he manages his WBC-depleted team through these early games, and it seems each and every one of them is taking advantage of the opportunity to show their stuff on baseball’s biggest stage. Melky Cabarera and Kevin Thompson continued to carry much of the offense, Mitch Jones made a diving grab in right to blunt the Jays’ biggest threat, and 19-year-old Philip Hughes made his debut against major league hitters. Continue reading
Johnson Allows Two Big Hits; Yanks Get Just One
Tampa, FL., March 4 — To view Saturday’s 4-1 Yankee loss to the Reds in Legends Field through any other prism than the one entitled “Spring Training” would be to paint a fan into a corner where proclamations best saved for August would have to come into play. The Yanks are 0-3, and with four of nine starters elsewhere and two nursing minor nicks, the name of the game is to work the pitchers and let the kids carry the scoring load. Randy Johnson was reached for a two-run home run and run-scoring double in three innings this day, and a misfiring Yankee offense never recovered.
Howard Hammers Game Yanks
Clearwater, FL., March 3 — The 11-10 barnburner of a ballgame the Yanks lost to the Phillies in their spring home opener in Clearwater Friday afternoon had something of everything except for good, crisp play. This may not explain why it was very entertaining but it rarely got boring. At three hours, 20 minutes it eclipsed the running time of Thursday afternoon’s loss by the better part of an hour. The game exploded early on the Yanks, and the man who detonated the charges was Phils first baseman Ryan Howard.
All’s Well That…Starts Well?
Tampa, FL., March 2 — Yankee fans didn’t have to wait long for early answers to some of the questions confronting the team as it christened its 10th year of Spring Training at beautiful Legends Field in Tampa Bay under dazzling sunshine and 75-degree temps Thursday afternoon. Would newly signed center fielder and leadoff man Johnny Damon adapt to playing for the “Evil Empire”? How would the man he is replacing, long-time star Bernie Williams, handle spot duty DH’ing and fielding the corner positions after so many years playing center field in Pinstripes?
We’ll Always Have Tampa
Tampa, FL., March 31 — We witnessed the alpha and the omega, the yin and the yang, the long and the short of spring baseball, on this our last day under the hot Florida sky. After surviving a three-hours-plus, nine-inning tie in Clearwater under an 89-degree sun with high humidity, we weren’t sure what to expect when we arrived in Legends Field this evening for the second half of a two-city doubleheader. In the early game, the Blue Jays and the Phillies had battered each other and 10 pitchers for 18 runs, six home runs, and 24 hits. Not only were we getting weary, we had dulled the points on all of our pencils.
The Sizzling Sarasota Sun
Sarasota, FL., March 30 — The weather reviews on today’s battle with the Reds in Sarasota were a smash hit, as Paul Wilson’s 1:05, first-pitch strike to Derek Jeter came under bright-blue cloudless skies; the 76-degree temp claim will be disputed by anyone sitting in the hot sun. It was hot and sticky upon our arrival last Friday and will be again on the weekend (though not in the Bronx Sunday evening), but the weather the last few days has been magnificent.