Bronx, N.Y., June 13, 2004 — One of the statistics being loudly proclaimed in 2004 among Yankee fans and baseball enthusiasts in general is the amazing and growing number of games this Yankee team has come from behind to win when trailing by four runs or more. My question is this: If they come back from two down, and later by another three, does that game make the list? Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 12, 2004 — It would be easy to wax on about the wonderful rush of euphoria that exploded in a crowded Yankee Stadium Saturday evening. I am a Yankee fan, and of course I was delighted that the unheralded Bret Prinz had come on with no outs in the top of the seventh with Padres at first and third in a game the Yanks were leading 3-2, and got out of the jam. Almost everyone in attendance was. But what I liked most was the way he did it. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 11, 2004 — The Yankees last played the San Diego Padres in the regular season on the West Coast in 2002, right after a series with the Rockies. Both teams hit the heck out of the ball in Colorado that June, and the Yankees expected to do more of the same when they arrived in San Diego. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 8, 2004 — When Javier Vazquez was acquired from the Expos during the offseason, the Yanks got themselves a great pitcher with lots of skill, but one who had a losing record in six years in Montreal. They were confident in the skill, but Yankee fans had to wonder if the kid could win in the big city. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 4, 2004 — Fans of the Yankees from the last few seasons have been looking forward to Friday night’s game vs. the Texas Rangers all season, and they know why. There is the fact that ex-Manager Buck Showalter is at the Texas helm, but so was he last year. And lefthander Kenny Rogers, who as a Yankee was routinely hammered early and often in the 1996 playoffs, was starting. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 3, 2004 — It took young Javier Vazquez 27 pitches to negotiate a very tough fourth inning in the Bronx Thursday afternoon. That team from Baltimore may struggle with their pitching all year, but they are packed with guys who know how to have professional at bats. They may have come up with only five hits on the day, but very few plate appearances did not end up being battles themselves. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 1, 2004 — It’s been the talk of the Bronx and the whole Yankee world, the way team Captain Derek Jeter has been struggling at the plate this year, with fans who count themselves among the most faithful calling for at least a temporary shift down in the order. But the Yankee shortstop has been bouncing back strongly for more than a week, and Tuesday night in the Bronx it was largely behind his bat that the Yanks got their homestand off on the right foot. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 16, 2004 — I felt like a school kid hoping for snow when my eyes opened Sunday morning, except that Junior would be pleading for precipitation, while I was hoping for exactly the opposite. And on this day in the Bronx, I hit the motherlode! After a sweltering week of 80-degree highs, long wet spells, and booming thunderstorms, the Saturday evening weatherman had hedged his bets, calling for “partly cloudy with periods of showers.” The Yankee Stadium sky proved him oh so wrong. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 14, 2004 — Sometimes you go to a ballgame, and get to see a dominating pitching performance overcome a similar effort by the opposing hurler, or perhaps just a struggling offense. Sometimes your pitchers can’t get anyone out, but the lineup puts together dynamic and fruitful rallies, and you go home a winner because your guys simply outscored the visiting nine. Certainly most games feature a combination of small things performed well, where you pitch a little bit, the offense succeeds often enough, and your team survives because of a concentrated group effort. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 2, 2004 — Emerging from the Stadium tunnel to make my way down the steps to my seat on Sunday, I felt like Dorothy leaving her house after the twister: I walked out from the ballpark’s dark depths on a day that threatened all-day rain, and looked out to behold a beautiful Bronx afternoon dominated with blues and greens one finds on the sunniest of days in the Baseball Cathedral, under a vast expanse of blue sky dotted by but a few dark clouds. Continue reading →