Bronx, N.Y., August 30, 2003 — I knew I would be annoyed when I sat down to watch the Yankees/Red Sox game on Fox TV’s national feed Saturday afternoon. But I expected it would be a tense and closely fought contest, and I anticipated a low-scoring game too. Two out of three ain’t bad. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 28, 2003 — It might have been downright creepy Thursday afternoon in the Bronx, except for a couple of very obvious factors. Strange phenomena notwithstanding, the Yanks jumped on rookie White Sox lefty Neil Cotts for five big runs in the first, a lead they would never relinquish, and it happened to be just about one of the most gorgeous days there has ever been. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 24, 2003 — Had I written a column after the Friday evening opening contest of the four-game series with the Orioles, the title might have been, “Who Let the Air Out?” The weather was hot and forbidding, and the air barely breathable that night, but the Yanks were up early, 3-2, on Johnson and Soriano homers, and there was actually a light breeze wafting over the Stadium’s upper deck. But then the air left, and so did the offense, as the Yankees seemingly sleep-walked their way to a 4-3 loss.. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 19, 2003 — The number three plays a huge part in the game of baseball, what with nine innings, three outs in an inning, three strikes in an out. So it seems a good thing that the Yanks victory over the Royals was so dominated with threes and multiples of three. To begin with, the game went nine, the Yankees scored six and the Royals three. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 16, 2003 — Ladies and Gentlemen. The Circus has come to town!

And that’s exactly the mindset required to enjoy and appreciate Saturday night’s 5-4 Yankees win over the Orioles. It was a game that started with the usually abysmal Sterling Hitchcock giving up a first-inning run on a sac fly to Tony Batista, a player who was batting out of order, but then if neither manager Mike Hargrove nor Joe Torre are going to pay attention, why should the players? Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 7, 2003 — I’m sure I don’t need to go into any length trying to describe to Yankee fans how depressing it felt to witness the ninth inning of Wednesday’s 5-4 loss to the Rangers from the Upper Deck in the Bronx. Enthusiasts prone to wager a buck or two on the ponies will tell you that a race in which your horse gets blown out right from the gate is painless, but the experience of being nipped just once in the stretch, or at the wire, is a whole night worth of pain. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., August 5, 2003 — Although it would be overstating the case to say that the Yanks prevailed over the Rangers in the Bronx solely because of another dominating Roger Clemens performance, it’s not really far off. True, Roger didn’t answer the bell for the eighth inning, while in his last game he went the distance, and threw a shutout. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 31, 2003 — Well, Cashman and the braintrust win the argument, at least for one day. The discussions among Yankee fans in the big city Thursday were consumed by the late moves, where the Yanks traded a prospect pitcher they had to this point refused to part with for a third baseman, a young veteran who will at best match the guy preceding him with the glove, and who, it must be admitted, should give them some more offense, even if just a little bit. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 28, 2003 — The coverage was everywhere to see if you checked the right section of the newspapers on Sunday. Here it was the 50th anniversary of the armistice that “temporarily” ended the hostilities that became known as the Korean Conflict, and there was collective dismay and frustration that that hard-fought border was still, after all these years, yet to be founded and established in international treaty. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., July 24, 2003 — It’s always hard to take a clear view at a homestand without seeing it all through the prism of the last game. In this case, the last contest was a stinker and, although Sterling Hitchcock may finally have pitched himself off the team with a very good outing, it would be difficult to find much more positive that came from it. Continue reading →