Winter Haven, FL, March 6 — The best news to come out of the Yanks’ first loss of the spring season, 6-5 to the Indians in Winter Haven, is perhaps the performance of Phillip Hughes in his second time out. Despite the fact that he took the loss, the second best report concerns the work of Russ Ohlendorf. The two prospects pitched the fourth through seventh innings and posted four strike outs, and should have been clear with no runs scored and just three hits. Continue reading
Then Came Bronson
Tampa, FL, March 5 — The first surprise I was confronted with as I entered Legends Field under a dazzling cloudless sky Monday was the number of front-line Tigers who had made the trip to Tampa from Lakeland. Jim Leyland pencilled the names Ivan Rodriguez, Placido Polanco, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Guillen, Brandon Inge, Sean Casey, and Curtis Granderson into his starting lineup, handed the ball to Justin Verlander to pitch the first, and used both Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney to pitch late innings to protect a slim lead. Continue reading
The Perils of Pavano
Clearwater, FL., March 4 — A lot of good things happened as the Yanks won their fourth straight spring game Saturday, 10-5 over the Phillies in Clearwater. Carl Pavano pitched two effective, though not dominant, innings. Jeff Karstens and Luis Vizcaino threw well later in the game, 18-year-old outfield prospect Jose Tabata showed some signs in left, Melky Cabrera notched his first three hits of the campaign, and Kevin Whelan posted his second save is as many appearances. Continue reading
The Kids Are Alright
Tampa, FL., March 3 — Pitching dominated over hitting yet again on Saturday in Tampa, as the Yanks needed a late three-run rally to overcome the visiting Pirates, 4-3. But while the arms dominating was business as usual, the milieu in which the game was played was anything but. Light rain fell in the morning and then again late in the game, and temps ranged in the 50s for much of the afternoon. Continue reading
Maddon Madness
St. Petersburg, FL., March 2 — The 6,500-plus fans attending the Devil Rays spring home opener vs. the Yankees in St. Petersburg today were doubly blessed, particularly the many Yankee fans among them. On the one hand the widely predicted showers coming from the north and west never arrived. And coming from the east, almost the entire starting roster of the Bombers appeared, making the brief road trip often reserved to just a handful of the frontline players. Continue reading
Take Me Out
Tampa, FL., March 1 — I felt something was missing as I took my seat in steamy Legends Field today for the opener of the 2007 Spring season. Slathered in sunscreen and clad in shorts for the first time in months, I scanned the rosters of the Yankees and the visiting Minnesota Twins, eagerly awaiting the scheduled 1:15 first pitch with pencil and scoreboard poised for action. But I was minus the reams of minor league stats and big-leagues documentation I had pored over and printed out in anticipation of the big day, because that research was in the one of my two checked bags on the flight from New York, the bag that failed to appear once we landed in Tampa. Continue reading
Winter Stadium Signs
Bronx, N.Y., January 27, 2007 — Yankee individual-game tickets go on sale Wednesday, a fact that brought to mind the annual January 2 birthday pilgrimage to Yankee Stadium I took almost four weeks ago. As anyone who has known me for any time can attest, I am convinced that minus the occurring-every-four-years February 29, my birth date is the year’s worst. Lost in the Christmas/holiday crush some years, far removed from the glorious baseball days of summer, it’s also usually the day one goes “back to school” early in life, and “back to work” afterward. Continue reading
The Boys of Spring
Bronx, N.Y., January 14, 2007 — One of the highlights of the 2006 Yankee season for this avid fan came in a sleepy Florida town in front of a crowd barely 6,000 strong. On March 5, Joe Torre took the ball from Mike Mussina in a 1-1 game vs. the Toronto Blue Jays with two down in the third and a man on second. There was no question that the tall righty that took Moose’s place was nervous; his second warmup pitch sailed over Jorge Posada’s head and smacked the screen — hard. But Philip Hughes dispatched dangerous Toronto portsided first sacker Lyle Overbay on a bouncer to second on just two throws. Continue reading
The Captain Crunches the Bengals
Bronx, N.Y., October 3, 2006 — A not so funny thing happened in the Yankees/Tigers tussle in Game One of the ALDS Tuesday night. As expected, Chien-Ming Wang gave the Yanks a good, not stellar start. The 12 hits Yankee bats stroked against starter Nate Robertson were about par for the bashing club’s course. Fulfilling manifold predictions, the vaunted Yankee lineup threw a crushing rally at Detroit. But totally messing with the pregame script, the Tigers responded to six straight Yankee hits that tallied five runs leading off the home third by rallying to make the series opener a battle. Continue reading
Baseball Inferno
Bronx, N.Y., September 27, 2006 — There is no truth to the rumor that Bernie Williams gestured to right center field with a 2-1 count in Sunday’s ninth inning. And further, the double he subsequently stroked there did not start the game-winning rally 50,000-plus hoped to see. Continue reading