Bronx, N.Y., June 26, 2011 – The weather gods smiled on the Bronx Sunday afternoon on one of the most special Yankee days of the year, as the Old Timers came and entertained us – and each other – yet again. Five Yankee widows and 47 Old Timers were feted, and retiring Yankee trainer Gene Monahan came in for special attention. Before the longtime Yankee staffer was given a string of gifts including a Garth Brooks 10-gallon hat and concert, a multi-signed Nascar helmet, a trip to the Alps, a sitdown lawnmower and a Ford truck (perhaps with a dog?), laughing taped interviews with stars like Derek Jeter – “he’s been here 100 years, I think” – and Don Mattingly – “he worked on Babe Ruth, you know” – set a loving and comical tone.

All the stars were welcomed, particularly first-timers Lou Piniella (back lots of times, but not as a Yankee Old Timer), Bernie Williams, and Joe Torre. (For what it’s worth, Joe got the longest applause, but Bernie’s was louder.) The 2-0 win by the Bombers over the Clippers was a delight, with Bernie reaching David Wells for a booming double and Tino Martinez following with a home run to right off David Cone in the first. The Williams at bat was a long one, with Bernie not finding his pitch until he fouled off several two-strike pitches, though it wasn’t as tense as all that. No one walks or strikes out in these affairs. They’re pretty casual, though I think Jeff Nelson’s pitching for both teams was a new wrinkle even for this game.

There were three perfect game throwers in attendance, Mr. October, Bern Baby Bern and Sweet Lou as well. And both Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra looked hale and hearty, if a bit frail. Don Larsen did seem a bit wobbly. The Yankee family holds dear their older stars, and the last few years have been particularly fraught. Aside from the loss of Bob Sheppard and George Steinbrenner in 2010, acknowledged at the last Old Timers Day, Gil McDougald, Freddy the Fan Schulman and Ralph Houk passed last year. And how did I miss that we lost dear Cora Rizzuto last October?

More clouds rolled in for the official ballgame that followed, but in 2011 it still ranked as one of the best baseball days, even if rookie Rockies righthander Juan Nicasio did his best to make it a trying experience. Watching him throw almost exclusively high 90s heat, the veteran fan in me that has easily attended 30 Old Timers Days kept saying, “The Yanks will catch up to a fastball,” but it was getting nerve-wracking when Alex Rodriguez’s deep fly to right for the first out of the home fifth brought Nocasio’s mark to 13 up, 13 down. Through three innings, Ivan Nova had been almost as good, with the Yanks down 1-0 on the first of two Ty Wigginton home runs. But the Rockies scored two more in the fourth on a Chris Iannetta home run, a walk, an error, and sac fly.

With the Bombers down 3-0 the lack of offense became worrying, but Robinson Cano followed A-Rod’s long fly with a single to right, the first Yankee hit, and Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada home runs tied it 3-3. Both clubs scored in the sixth, the Rocks on Wigginton’s second home run, and the Yanks on an A-Rod rbi single. This came off Colorado righty Matt Belisle, who replaced Nicasio after Brett Gardner’s superb drag bunt single and stolen base and a walk to Curtis Granderson. At 4-4, and with Nova out after six, the game belonged to the bullpens.

Although the Yanks eventually scored six runs, it would be inaccurate to say they broke out after the early struggles against the Rockies rookie. No Yankee had more than one of the seven team hits, six different players scored runs, and five drove in runs because two came on the Swisher jack. Eduardo Nunez plated the game winner in the seventh following a rare Troy Tulowitzky error, scoring pinch runner Chris Dickerson (in for Posada after a walk) on a single. with one down. Lefty Matt Reynolds came on to stifle that rally, but he would be replaced by Matt Lindstrom in the eighth once the former fell victim to Mark Teixeira’s 22nd home run, insurance the Yankees would not need, though it made me and a lot of other fans more relaxed.

The Yanks had one of their best days of the long, frustrating eighties on June 26, as on this day in 1987, the team came back from a 9-0 deficit to Roger Clemens and the Red Sox, finally winning 12-11 in 10 innings. And with Kay Murcer among the five Yankee widows in attendance, it’s good to look back to June 26, 1979, the day the Yanks traded with the Cubs to bring the beloved Bobby Murcer back into pinstripes. In other June 26 sporting news, Ingemar Johansson of Sweden captured the world heavyweight boxing title from Floyd Patterson on this day in 1959.

And fighting in the squared circle is a good way to look at the Yankee victory this day, because while the Yankee offense scored two key runs off Colorado’s three “Matts,” Belisle, Reynolds and Lindstrom, the pinstriped pen performed almost perfectly. Although Luis Ayala was reached for an Iannetta single to start tthe seventh, Boone Logan came on and retired three straight, two of them lefties. But the relief work got nothing but better, as David Robertson and Mariano Rivera struck out five of six batters to totally dominate the visiting Rocks in the eighth and ninth.

Mariano, in particular, looked sharp, as he had looked funny four hours earlier as he directed the befuddled Monahan out to the mound to throw the ceremonial first pitch before the Old Timers game. Not only did the three straight K’s give Mo his 20th season save, once Rivera took the mound he became tied for 12th all time in mlb pitching appearances.

So now through four interleague series, the Bombers have won two of three in every one, and the win kept them in first place, a fitting spot for them that they earned just in time for their big day. And how did they do it? With relievers including Hall of Famer Goose Gossage, Jeff Nelson, Luis Arroyo, Brian Boehringer, George Frazier, and Ramiro Mendoza in attendance, they out-penned the Rockies. Or perhaps they “pinned” them.

They Took Them to the Matt(s)

BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!