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Final Grapefruit League Stop: Dunedin

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My two weeks of spring training ball wrapped up with a visit to TD Ballpark in Dunedin, where the Blue Jays hosted a mostly minor league version of the Yankees.   It was great seeing Jose Trevino back in action.  The 2022 All Star ramped things up slowly this spring after missing much of last season with a hand injury. (Below:) While I have yet to see winter acquisition Alex Verdugo on the field, I did get my first look at Trent Grisham , who'll likely slot in as the club's 4th outfielder.   Anthony Volpe was the only other Yankee regular who made the trip to the East Coast as well as the one to Dunedin (about a half-hour from Steinbrenner Field).  He's still working on that flatter swing, in order to make better contact and improve on last year's .209 batting average and 167 strikeouts. (Below) Those on hand noticed something different about  Oswaldo Cabrera .  Instead of his usual 95, he was wearing 33... according to several media reports, he brought the wrong unifo

Phillies in Clearwater

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It was a picture perfect Monday as the Phillies hosted the Yankees at Baycare Ballpark -- a thousand miles and 25 degrees from South Philadelphia -- with seven members of their likely opening day lineup in action along with co-ace Zack Wheeler . With a sellout crowd of almost 10,000, Phillies phans were treated to a pitchers duel, initially between Wheeler and New York prospect Clayton Beeter   -- seen here with Bryce Harper taking his lead off first place. Alec Bohm is entering his fifth season as the Phils' regular at 3rd base.  (Below:)  Bryson Stott thrived after moving to 2nd, after the in 2023 signing of Trea Turner.   It was a day packed with impressive pitching:  Beeter and Luis Gil stood out for the Yankees, as did Wheeler and top Phillies prospect Mick Abel.  The Yankees, on a two-run 8th inning homer by Oscar Gonzalez, grabbed the lead and held on for a 2-1 victory.

If Your Birthday is March 8th...

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 ...you share it with Tommy Pham .  The well-traveled outfielder began 2023 with the Mets and ended it with the surprise-NL pennant winning Diamondbacks -- where he homered in the Division Series, Championship Series and World Series. And we remember a pair of headline-making stars of the past: Dick Allen : the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year and seven-time All Star as one of the game's most feared sluggers while starring for the Phillies and White Sox. Jim Bouton : the New Jersey native who starred for the last two Yankee pennant winners of the '60s, but fell apart in 1965, the year the Mantle/Berra/Ford dynasty collapsed.  His Ball Four  was the first of the great baseball "tell all" books -- although in retrospect, it's more genial and affectionate about the game Bouton clearly loved.  He later enjoyed a good run as a New York TV sportscaster.

Pre-season Subway Series: Focus on the Mets

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The Yankees wrapped up their East Coast of Florida visit Tuesday when they took on the Mets at Port St. Lucie.   It was a perfect sun-splashed day.  Tylor Megill was the first in the Amazin's parade of pitchers.  Rebounding from a disappointing 2023, he authored three shutout no-hit innings, striking out six and surrendering just a pair of walks. While the Yanks didn't send superstars such as Judge, Soto and Cole, and the Mets had already farmed out such exciting prospects as Gilbert, Acuna and Williams, there was plenty for fans to focus on, starting with  Starling Marte   and newcomer  Harrison Bader   -- again sporting a beard --  who'll be the next to join the circle of those who have played for both the Yankees and Mets. Francisco Lindor  and Pete Alonso were in the lineup. Late in the game, longtime Mets minor league catcher  Hayden Senger  took over for  Francisco Alvarez . After jumping out to a 5-0 lead fueled in part by some sloppy Yankee fielding, the Mets held

Yankees under the Lights Monday Night

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It was a rare Grapefruit League night game at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium as the Marlins drew a packed house of just under 7000 for the Yankees. Spencer Jones has generated a lot of buzz in the early going.  The tall lefty power hitter -- who at 6-foot-6 has drawn comparisons to the young Aaron Judge -- impressed in Monday night's Yankees win over the Marlins.  A well-hit single, a walk and capable work in center field.  There's still room for improvement -- he was picked off 1st in the 5th inning by Miami's Edward Cabrera.  But the 22 year old, with a just a year and a half of pro ball under his belt, looked like a keeper. Austin Wells made the cross-state trip as well.  He also singled, but more importantly, teamed up well with Clarke Schmidt  for four dominating innings.  Schmidt  was the story of the night.  I know, it's spring training, it was again the Marlins and it was only four innings.  But the righty looked ultra impressive -- throwing one hit shutout ball

Rainy Sunday in the Sunshine State

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Sunday, Florida's Gold Coast did not exactly feature "Chamber of Commerce Weather."  A threat of passing thunderstorms turned into a gloomier reality of soaking showers an hour or so before first pitch, without much relief. The Nationals and Marlins felt confident enough to post lineups as fans arrived at CACTI Ballpark.  The bullpens were crowded with pitchers and catchers apparently getting ready, but you couldn't shake that sense of doubt.  Just as an aside, is the use of orange balls in the bullpen something new?  I can't recall seeing them used in practices at any major or minor league park. Finally, a few minutes after 1, the sad message came from the public address announcer, "No game today."  The weather only got worse as we got back to our car and rolled onto I-95, capped by this cloudburst a few miles from our friends' home. 

If Your Birthday is March 1st...

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...you share it with Oswaldo Cabrera .  The Yankees utilityman impressed enough at the tail end of 2022 (a season that begin for him at Triple-A Scranton) and during spring training that he was the club's opening day left fielder.  But he stumbled out of the gate and never found his hitting groove.  With Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo having beefed up the Yanks outfield, Cabrera is hoping to become the team's "Swiss Army Knife," filling in all over the diamond, without the heavy expectations of 2023. Also in our March 1st birthday circle: Michael Conforto , the former Mets outfielder beginning his second year with the San Francisco Giants.  Joe Mantiply , who pitched in one game for the 2019 Yankees, before joining the Diamondbacks, where he's worked out of their bullpen the past four seasons -- including an appearance against the Rangers in last year's World Series. And we remember: Rom Klimkowski,  who pitched for the Yankees in parts of the 1969, '70 and &#

My First Grapefruit League Game of the Year

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That first hot dog and beer has to accompany my first game of the year.  Conversely, I never eat hot dogs during the off season. They just seem out of place in the middle of a cold, grey winter.   Yesterday at Port St. Lucie, I caught the Mets hosting the Cardinals.  Perfect weather was just the start at Clover Park. Mets fans have to be thrilled seeing Starling Marte in the lineup, after injuries wrecked his 2023 season. Slugging 1st baseman Pete Alonso enters his walk year hoping to land a contract extension and stay in Flushing.  Miles Mikolas  — last year’s NL leader in hits and earned runs allowed — was the Cardinals starting pitcher -- and tossed a pair of shutout innings. (Above:) Right in front of my seat in Section 4, a nice close-up of Alonso in the field... (Below) St. Louis outfielder Dylan Carlson takes a big cut at a Reid Garrett pitch. Finally, a look at a pair of long-shots to make the Mets roster: (above) If DNA mattered as much as OPS or WAR, Trayce Thompson would

Spring Training Memory: 2009

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Today, I punch the rewind button to 2009 and one of Florida's "lost ballparks."  Osceola County Stadium in Kissimee was the Astros pre-season home for 31 years, until they joined the Nationals in a larger, plusher venue in Palm Beach.  On March 18th, 2009, I caught the 'Stros hosting the Yankees -- below, a big swing by  Shelley Duncan , then a promising power hitter and today, about to begin his second season managing the Yanks' top farm club at Scranton-Wilkes Barre.   Above:  Johnny Damon getting ready for his first Yankee season -- which would inaugurate the new Stadium with the franchise's first World Series title since 2000 -- who'd have expected that title to be the Yanks' last one until now??