Bronx, N.Y., April 2, 2007 — Rooting for the Joe Torre-led Yankees has been a wonderful way to spend the last 11 years, even if the team has failed to win it all for a while. And the best of the bunch in all those years was the dream 1998 season, where the Yanks won 125 games while losing just 50, a 71 percent rate of success. But after having just witnessed my 21st victory in the last 25 home openers, I’m winning this one at an 84 percent clip. Hey ’98 Yanks, “Eat my dust.”

The Yankees came away from their opening day battle with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Monday afternoon with a 9-5 victory, but as is often the case when the team heads north to colder climes, it was far from an artistic success. The two-run Jason Giambi first-inning single was a blow young lefty Scott Kazmir could have survived, but the 35 pitches it took him to record the first three outs was another matter.

Yankee starter Carl Pavano, who hadn’t pitched in the bigs in almost two years, was hoping to make up for it all in one day. He failed to do so, and was in position to lose this one for a while, but Carl showed some flashes. He allowed but two walks and two singles through the first four innings, and would have had a three-run lead once Jorge Posada homered to right field in the fourth if some shoddy fielding hadn’t cost him a run in the second.

There was mayhem in the defense everywhere. Alex Rodriguez ran under and missed a foul pop in the first to a chorus of boos; Derek Jeter threw away a grounder two outs later. When B.J. Upton drove in Dioneer Navarro with the first Tampa run, hard-charging Johnny Damon’s peg to third was both weak and offline, giving Upton second base. Pavano escaped with no further damage, but the next time the defense faltered, Pavano was reeling himself.

Rookie centerfielder Elijah Dukes drilled Pavano’s second fifth-inning pitch, and 62nd of the game, an impressive liner that carried the wall and smacked off the facade of the black seats in center to close the Yankee lead to 3-2. Four of the next six Rays batters singled, and they parlayed two stolen bases with a couple of multi-hop Hideki Matsui throws home, both well off-line, into three more runs. They got an assist in this when righty hitting first baseman Josh Phelps cut off a Bobby Abreu throw from right and promptly tossed it past second on a play where Carl Crawford was the certain first out. Brian Bruney relieved Pavano after the first three bingles, and struck out Ty Wigginton but Delmon Young singled to left for the fifth Tampa tally. Posada then finally restored peace to the basepaths when he nailed Young trying to steal to end the uprising.

But this Yankee team can hit the ball, and they have an impressive bullpen. It was those two attributes that brought them victory this day. Sean Henn allowed a single in a scoreless sixth, as did Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth, but with the help of a double play, 12 of the last 13 Tampa batters were retired. And while the Yankee pen was dominant, Tampa relievers were anything but once Kazmir could go no more.

Kazmir walked two after Posada’s home run in the fourth, further driving up his count. Although he tossed an overpowering, 10-pitch, one-two-three fifth, his first pitch to Posada starting the sixth was his 96th. Compounding matters, both Jorge and Robbie Cano extended the Tampa southpaw to seven pitches before each singled with no one down. With righty Shaun Camp on, Doug Mientkiewicz hit for Phelps and dropped a perfect sacrifice toward third on his first pitch. Obviously nervous, Camp’s next throw was behind Melky Cabrera, who had come on for a cramped Damon the inning before. The ball hit Cabrera to load them up, and the 2006 MVP candidate Jeter drilled a game-tying single up the middle.

Brian Stokes replaced Camp and escaped that inning on a bizarre double play, but Alex Rodriguez found his way back into the fans’ favor to start the seventh. His hard one-hopper ate up rookie shortstop Ben Zobrist, and caromed into left field for a single. A-Rod then stole second and Giambi promptly delivered the Yanks’ second lead and his third rbi with a single to the right of second. In the eighth, Mientkiewicz topped a roller and reached leading off against Ruddy Lugo. With the mixed quality of play, that Cabrera delivered the Yanks’ second straight effective sac bunt was a relief. It provided a run too, when Abreu stroked a two-out single to left. There was barely time to celebrate before Rodriguez blasted the next Lugo pitch in a majestic arc over the center field fence. 9-5 Yankees.

Newcomer Luis Vizcaino had pitched a five-pitch seventh, getting his first Yankee win for very little trouble, and Farnsworth struck out one in closing the eighth. But Mariano Rivera had the fans thinking of that glorious 1998 season when he pounded three straight punch outs to close it. Navarro and Dukes succumbed swinging at 94- and 96-mph cheese, while Upton stood frozen as Mo found the low outside corner with a fastball that dipped to 91.

This was a workmanlike day as openers go. The construction project across 161st Street that was a hole in the ground four months ago is now a rising structure, and the effects are everywhere. Most painfully obvious was that all of the excess parking in the neighborhood had been snatched up by construction workers and all of the Yankee parking lots were turning drivers away well over an hour ahead of first pitch. This is apparently a problem that the city and the Yankees have decided not to address, except to have the police not even allow drivers to approach the area as the game nears.

Also there was no flyover this day, no soaring eagle, and no stars of yesteryear in evidence except the few that work on Joe Torre’s staff. The only freebie handed out to paying customers was the pocket major-league schedule fans are getting across the country. Bob Sheppard paid tribute to the late Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, to Hank Bauer who died over the winter, and to Cory Lidle who perished in a fiery crash last October. Lidle’s wife and young son both tossed out first pitches, with each delivering creditable throws. But after Sheppard followed by announcing the players and coaches of both teams, he turned the vocal chores over to Rick Cerrone.

Storyteller Hans Christian Anderson would have been 202 years old this day, a day that found some fans hoping for a fairy tale twist to the Carl Pavano story. An overpowering start would have quieted some fears and given the fanbase some reassurance in a year where the team begins its quest for championship number 27 after having unloaded more high priced talent than they procured. Almost two years ago Pavano received no decision in a Yankee win over Boston in his first Pinstriped outing, but he left with a lead and whiffed seven in six innings. Likewise, he struck out seven Devil Rays that June when he lost to a big three-run home run to eventual Yankee Nick Green.

Carl was not the same hard thrower today. But he pitched effectively until he tired. It was encouraging to see a guy who never topped 92 on the gun coaxing six ground outs and two popups in five innings. He struck out two and walked two, and threw 11 of 21 first pitch strikes. Not a fairy tale start by any means. But not a bad one either.

BTW,TYW

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!