Bronx, N.Y., April 4, 2009 — Well, the Yanks proved poor hosts to the Chicago Cubs and an impressive assemblage of Cubs fans for the second straight day Saturday afternoon. After early morning showers that dotted the New York area cleared there was no threat of rain, but the gusty, cold weather was anything but pleasant. Still, some face time with some old friends, combined with a visit from another, highlighted a very good day for this Yankee fan with decades of experience on the other side of 161st Street.
First, we had the foresight to arrive early enough for a visit to the new Monument Park (a 10:40 arrival got us through the line and then past the marvelous displays in roughly an hour), and whatever quibble veteran fans may have with the new space, it would be difficult to find fault with anything they have done in this relocated tribute to former heroes. Most fans have seen the retired numbers above the descriptive placards that ushered young and old into the old one, and the gilded plaques and monuments that have always formed this assemblage’s highlight. Given the time and space to lay this out logically, the Yanks and their designing partners have done a fabulous job.
The enormously popular Philly Cheesesteak stand in the Upper Deck was not yet up and running, so we sampled a Double Rockets cheeseburger. The cheese was a bit strange but the burger was fine. Pregame, the public address system led us in a short tribute to two recently deceased members of the Yankee family, Yankee PR icon Arthur Richman and catcher/first baseman/pinch hitter deluxe Johnny Blanchard from the 1960’s teams. That Richman was a tremendous asset to George Steinbrenner over the years has benefited Yankee fans in many ways, but remembering Blanchard on the field of play riveted those who recall those days even more. My tribute to Johnny is a simple question with that carries a resounding “No” answer: Does anyone have a bad Johnny Blanchard memory?
Next came a rendition of the late Robert Merrill’s national anthem, and having Challenger the Bald Eagle soar from center field to the pitcher’s mound afterward for the first time in seven years brought a tear to my eye. The waterworks continued as hero pilot Sully Sullenburger (a lifelong Yankee fan don’t you know?) threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and we were ready for action. Sully’s pitch easily reached Jorge Posada on the fly, and if it drifted a little into the left-hand batter’s box, who could blame him in the driving gusts? We can all count our blessings that no such wind conditions blanketed the New York area the fateful day he landed flight 1549 in the Hudson River.
Things took an instant downturn when ex-Yank Alfonso Soriano drilled Andy Pettitte’s first pitch high off the wall in left, but with Johnny Damon holding it to a long single on a perfect play of the carom, Pettitte escaped the first frame unscored upon despite allowing another hit. Ex-Oakland A hard thrower Rich Harden looked prepared to give the Yanks a long day when he used just seven pitches to retire the home team on three soft grounders, but the blustery conditions gave the Yanks an early score when center fielder Kosuke Fukudome tracked Hideki Matsui’s long and wind-aided fly to right center leading off the second, only to have it trickle off his glove for an error. The Yanks displyed their first successful small ball in their new place as Jorge Posada moved Matsui up with a grounder to the right side and Robbie Cano drilled an rbi ground single up the middle. Once the grounder got past Harden, Robbie’s job was done even if an infielder flagged it down.
Soriano equaled matters off Pettitte with a third-inning lofty fly ball home run to left reminiscent of the way he used to hit them in Pinstripes, but then the Yanks blew the game open. Following a walk and a perfect Brett Gardner bunt single in the bottom half, Derek Jeter homered to right. One out later, new Yank Mark Teixeira blasted a bomb above the Mohegan Sun restaurant in center for a 5-1 lead. One frame later, Jeter failed to plate Cody Ransom from third with one out, but following a walk to Damon, Teixeira homered yet again for an 8-1 lead. It was heartening to see Tex warm to his new environment and also deliver after his teammate failed. But any real baseball fan knows that a team that gets used to failing at small ball by making up for it with home runs is a team likely to run into trouble against playoff-ready pitching somewhere along the line. But there is time to correct that.
Perhaps the windy and cold conditions had Pettitte off his game but he survived four innings allowing six hits, a walk, and the one run, then handed the ball off to free agent signee A.J. Burnett. The ex-Marlin and Blue Jay brought his “A” game to the park, much as he did most of March in Florida. Burnett retired nine straight, then wiggled out of a one-walk, two-hit eighth by striking out the side. A Shelly Duncan home run and back to back doubles increased the lead to 10-1, with the first double being a windblown John Rodriguez popup that had three fielders in short left falling all over one another.
The Yanks, I’m sure, feel subdued and somewhat embarrassed because the sound system in their Palace failed in the sixth inning, but I have to tell you that what followed was among the quietest and most pleasant four innings I have experienced in some time. Baseball is better when you can share it with your neighbors, but they all too often remain strangers among the decibels ballparks are determined to pipe in continuously these days. The team handled the situation with class and humor though and, despite the fact that we had no seventh-inning stretch (the horror!), a familiar presence that called himself Silent Eye Joey danced all over the giant screen after the seventh inning.
There was also a “Welcome Back Lou” video presentation before the top of the ninth, with the former Yankee line-drive hitter, hitting coach, and manager, and current Cubs manager, rewarding us with a big smile and a hearty wave. By then the chilly conditions had driven all but the most stubborn of fans either home or into the other diversions the new Stadium now has to offer. Brian Bruney and Phil Coke collaborated on a three-strike-out ninth, giving the Yankee staff 11 punch-outs on the day, and nine in the last five frames.
Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett added onto their impressive springs, the new Stadium revealed some of its finest secrets, and old heroes were feted. And the Yanks destroyed the visiting Cubs 10-1 on a very very blustery day.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!