Bronx, N.Y., June 15, 2003 — Mike Mussina used a simple strategy in besting the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday. He threw his best stuff, right from the very beginning, and went after the St. Louis hitters, whom we all had to fear were about to break out with a string of line drives. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., June 10, 2003 — You had to admire the numbers, and much more, the quality of the pitching, as Mike Mussina dispatched the Houston Astros through the first four innings Tuesday night. Notching the 12 outs while pitching to one man over the minimum, and throwing just 52 pitches, the 17 balls meant that he was throwing two strikes for every ball. He threw first-pitch strikes to eight of the first 11. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 27, 2003 — I was a mess thinking about Tuesday evening’s upcoming Yankee/Red Sox tilt in the Bronx Monday night after having spent some seven hours in the rain-soaked Borough earlier that day, witnessing the unfortunate outcome of Roger Clemens’s first attempt at his 300th win. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 25, 2003 — Hit It Hard. Hit It Where They Ain’t. The Yankees finally got one half of the equation right today. If only they hadn’t trespassed against the third commandment — You Gotta Hit ’em When It Counts. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 19, 2003 — The solution was so simple, it was laughable. Here we were, losers of three series in a row. We had gone from a start of 18-3 to a span of games during which the record slipped to 9-13. Our starters, unbeatable a few short weeks ago, couldn’t buy a win. And the offense had gone completely south. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 17, 2003 — It seems impossible that it has been five years since I witnessed David Wells’ perfect game from the Tier boxes in the Bronx. And it was seven years ago this week that Doc Gooden no-hit the Mariners. Mid-May is a crazy time in a baseball season, too far in to ignore the implications, but oh so far from the season’s conclusion. Continue reading →

TRENTON, N.J., May 7, 2003 — I like to put many of my columns under the heading “The View from Box 622,” because it is from a seat in that Tier Box in Section 12 (on the third base side just before the beginning of the visitors’ dugout) that I see about 40 Yankee games a year. It can be very good foul-ball territory, particularly when effective righty pitching causes a slew of lefty batters in the Stadium, and I have gotten two foul balls in that box myself. It also has a great view of the Yankees in their dugout, of the first base line, and of the way that fans on the right-field side of the park choose to root for the team. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 4, 2003 — I was going to entitle this column “Cry If I Want To,” in honor of the sixties pop star Leslie Gore, born Friday in 1946, who informed all who were willing to listen (and in 1963 that was plenty of people) that, yes, it was her party, and yes, she could cry if she wanted to. Leslie had just lost that elusive dreamboat Johnny to the horrid Judy; I was red-faced in the aftermath of the Yanks’ first series loss of 2003. We just finished playing the best of the West in six games at home and now head west for the road versions starting Tuesday. Even though we did split the six games, we lost the most recent three-game set. We faced six front-line pitchers (and not even the best six) and only managed to match the six hits we got off the first starter Gil Meche, in seven innings on Tuesday, once in the next five games. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., May 1 — After the early rain today I was ready for a big night in the Bronx. The weather was warm if spotty, the Yankees are playing great ball, the incomparable Mr. Mussina was pitching and, as opposed to yesterday, I already had my Box 622 ticket and would not have to purchase another. The Yankees are hitting, they are catching the baseball and they are running the bases, and the pitching has been exceptional. And all this without the one and only Mariano Rivera, whom I had finally seen make his 2003 debut last night. Continue reading →

Bronx, N.Y., Apr. 30, 2003 — This game was over in less than a half hour and 59 pitches. The Yankees backed their starter, Andy Pettitte, into a corner on the game’s third pitch, when Bernie Williams failed to take charge on Ichiro’s popup to short center. The back-pedaling rookie shortstop Almonte would take the “E,” but it was Bernie’s ball and the fact that it ticked off Erick’s glove shouldn’t change that. The speedy Ichiro was off and running on Andy’s first pitch to Randy Winn, and there we were, coming off being shut out the night before, with the go-ahead run on third with nobody out. But nobody told Andy the situation was dire, and he simply delivered 13 strikes in the next 16 pitches, and strode off the mound with the scoreless tie intact and three strike outs on his ledger. Continue reading →