Bronx, N.Y., May 19, 2002 — Gorgeous, if cool, day in the Bronx, and I knew we were in for something good when I heard “The Voice.” Yes, that’s right, Mr. Bob Sheppard was on the job today. And although I was too consumed with maneuvering past 53,662 zombies dressed as Yankee fans to appreciate the difference while job no. 1 (the announcement of the lineups) was performed, Mr. Sheppard proved his value later. Major League Baseball is using the traditional seventh-inning stretch to honor those lost on 9/11, and those working to rectify it, but unfortunately the replacement announcer and the use of the old Kate Smith tape of God Bless America had reduced it to a boring exercise. Sheppard’s intro, and then the plaintive rendition of Irish tenor Ronan Tynan on that classic, restored the tears to my eyes today. It felt right.
The baseball discussion must center on Roger. His seventh-inning strike out of Dustin Mohr, we were advised by the scoreboard, marked Clemens’s 99th career game with 10 K’s or more, and the win tied him with former Minnesota Twin Bert Blyleven (whose strike out total the Rocket eclipsed last year) at 287. By virtue of the 24 pitches it took Roger to dispose of the Twins in both the second and fourth innings, we were all concerned with how long he would go today, but there was no doubt that he was feeling strong, and throwing heat, much of it too high for home plate ump Paul Emmel’s strike zone (only 14 out of 30 first-pitch strikes!).
It was another wierd game, where we witnessed third base ump Gary Darling call Posada out in the fourth inning on fan interference, as one fan tried to outdo Jeffrey Maier by throwing his glove at Posada’s foul pop, granting a putout to Twins left fielder Jacques Jones. Jacques would return the putout one inning later on Alfonso’s pop: the ruling, as shared with us by the scoreboard — “Base hit, Lost in the sun.” And speaking of Alfonso, how shocked the Twins infield must have been by his first inning bunt base hit, after all the fireworks he has fired off in the last week. Not simply the beginning of another three-hit game in my book, as I think the early run we scratched out against the impressive youngster Kinney had a lot to do with the final outcome, and on Roger’s throwing so free and easy.
Also wierd was the discussion home plate ump Emmel had with reliever Mike Jackson in the seventh, and with manager Gardenhire in between innings afterward. The closer for some great Indians teams in the recent past, Jackson is also famous as being one of the few, along with New York’s two dueling Mo’s (Vaughn and Rivera), allowed to wear No. 42. (What ever happened to Butch Huskey, anyway?)
But what struck me most on another winning day in the Bronx was the symmetry found in the scene facing catcher Jorge Posada, home plate ump Paul Emmel and us fans behind home plate, as we watched the Yankees on the field. Considering the Yankees’ within-the-diamond defense, it is the first time since Donnie Baseball plied his talents in the Bronx that one could look at the eight-headed group on the field as a body with a left and a right hand at its extreme edges. Both Messers. Pagliarulo of days gone by and Boggs from the recent past, share the fact that, though they were lefty hitters, they each wore their glove on their left hand and threw the ball with their right, as have the most recent right-handed-hitting Yankee third basemen (Brosius, Davis, Hayes, etc.). And Jason, like his predecessor Tino, sets up the same way at the first base bag. It is only when Nick Johnson plays first that we enjoy the remarkable view we saw today (and used to see when Donnie played): a bare hand on the first baseman to the extreme right side of our view of the defense and a bare left hand on the other, third base, side. That felt right too.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!