Bronx, N.Y., July 6, 2007 — Something strange happened to the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins since they played a game in the Bronx Thursday afternoon, something that appears to have worn off on the visiting Anaheim Angels as well. (Market-driven alterations notwithstanding, by the way, they’ll always be the “Anaheim [or California] Angels” to me.) Following the Yanks’ 7-6 victory the day before, the Yankees, Twins, and Angels scored 53 runs among them Friday.

A blow-by-blow description of the scoring in the Yankees/Angels tilt would keep us here half the night. The Yanks scored two in the second and again in the eighth, and each team pushed across nine runs in the interim. The Yankees handed Andy Pettitte an 8-3 lead by the third, and he still held a 9-5 edge after five, but the 2007 tough-luck Yankee starter would not earn the win. Compared to the night Anaheim righty Bartolo Colon had, Pettitte deserves Cy Young consideration, but it was his second straight rough outing, making the months that he earned but four wins while his era hovered in the low 3.00’s even sadder.

But sad is not a feeling fans of the Yanks have now after wins in four out of five, and after this night’s victory, one where the bats came out in thunderous fashion. It is the Yankee Campions of 30 years ago that is feted tomorrow, not those from 80, 60 or 50. But with the huge new Stadium rising across 161st Street, who can say what ghosts roam the House That Ruth Built this Old Timers Day Weekend?

The Yanks smacked Colon for seven hard hits and seven runs in two-plus frames, and they didn’t stop there. A troop of four bullpenners were pounded for 12 more hits and another six scores. The Yanks went down in order three times on the night, but they sent five, six, six, seven and nine to bat in the other five frames they came to bat. All nine players had at least one rbi, with Jorge Posada plating three, and Alex Rodriguez slashing a two-run bomb. They each stroked three hits, as did Melky Cabrera, who is lately making multi-hit games something of a hobby.

Young Edwar Ramirez got the win once the one tally he allowed unfortunately cost Pettitte the “W.” But he looked good, and almost stopped the hard-charging Angels in their tracks until Chone Figgins beat him with a base hit up the middle in the Anaheim four-run sixth to forge a 9-9 tie. Undaunted by a following Yankee three-run reply, keyed by A-Rod’s bomb, the visitors rallied in the seventh, but it was Scott Proctor to the rescue, on one of his best nights in months.

Proctor came on once Ramirez had hit ex-teammate Robb Quinlan with a pitch to put two on with one down. The runners scampered up a base when Proctor uncorked a wild pitch with his second offering. The inning before Anahiem pushed across two in the identical circumstance, but the Yankee righty was up to the task this time. He struck out Gary Matthews, Jr. and Garret Anderson in succesion, then fanned yet another in a one-two-three eighth.

The Yanks reponded to that by plating two more for the final score, as Mariano Rivera took a seat and Ron Villone prepped for the ninth, another three-up, three-down Angels inning. The Yankees blasted the nemesis Angels 14-9, but that’s not to say they did everything right. Cabrera’s hard throw home after a Figgins single in the fifth sent the Angels third baseman to second, from where he would score on a single on the next pitch. Robbie Cano cost the Yanks a run and perhaps more when he missed third base scoring on what should have been a Miguel Cairo triple. There was no play on Robbie; he could have taken his time.

Johnny Damon, who played left with Matsui DH’ing again, got a poor read running from second on a Cabrera single to center in the sixth. Damon scored anyway when Matthews bobbled the ball, but Johnny’s hesitation cost the hard-charging Cabrera an rbi.

The Yanks did some things right too. Cairo opened quite a few eyes when he placed a perfect suicide squeeze to plate the slow-of-foot Posada in the third. And Jorge shocked everyone when he crossed to third from first on a Cano single in the fifth. Damon stole two bases and Cabrera one. Rodriguez quieted concerns about his physical status with the recent hammy tweak when he made two fine plays in the second, and Captain Jeter successfully pullled off his wheel and throw from the hole play yet again in the fifth.

And there are precedents for the Yanks both failing and succeeding on July 6. One start after losing a no-hitter 4-0 back in 1990, Yankee righthander Andy Hawkins extended his record for futility by losing 2-0 to Minnesota in twelve despite having thrown an 11-inning shutout. And as for scoring 14 runs, the Yankees did that in one inning in a 17-0 blanking of the Washington Senators on July 6, 1920.

The 53 tallies among the Yanks, Angels, and Twins Friday grow to 67 if you add in the White Sox who dropped two to Minnesota despite scoring 14 of their own in the first game. Something in the water in the Bronx perhaps, something catching that the Twins brought with them to Chicago’s south side? I don’t know the answer of course, but I can tell you that Yankee fans who have rooted through six hours and 53 minutes over the last two days face a long day in the Bronx Saturday. With the Ceremonies celebrating the greats of yesteryear starting before 2:00 pm, they figure to be in the Stadium another six-plus hours.

The black-and-white classic Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night premiered in London 43 years ago today. With all the ballpark time this week it’s an apt description of what the fans have been going through. Any chance we can get some of the water the players have been drinking?

BTW,TYW

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!