Baseball's visual delights through the lens of a lifelong fan.
A Pie for Tex
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Time for a quick salute to Mark Teixeira, tonight's Yankee standout in their 4-3, 11-inning win over the Twins in Game Two of the Divison Series. In the decisive inning, the big 1st baseman starred on defense -- with two great plays (catching a line drive, then stopping a hot grounder and throwing home to nail a runner attempting to score) that kept Minnesota from scoring in a bases-loaded, none out situation. Leading off the bottom of the inning, he smacked a line drive homer that he called "a wallbanger," deflecting off the left field wall into the seats for the winning run. As has become the trademark of this Yankee club, "Tex" was smacked with a pie (actually a towelfull of whipped cream) by AJ Burnett during his post-game TV interview. A sweet ending to a dramatic Yankee win. When I went back to this year's images, I found a Spring Training preview of the righthanded swing that produced the walk-off homer. Wondering the last time a Yankees post-season contest ended with such suddenness? That was the Aaron Boone game against the Red Sox in game 7 of the 2003 League Championship Series.
When the subject of baseball in Brooklyn comes up, the discussion centers around Ebbets Field, the Flatbush venue most famously home to The Boys of Summer. Those legendary 1940s and '50s teams that featured such historic and beloved players as Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella and Gil Hodges. Ebbets Field hosted its last major league game in 1957 and was torn down during the winter of 1960. But decades earlier, just before World War One, the Dodgers were based in the Park Slope area and played at Washington Park. Once they moved out, the land was occupied by another stadium, which housed a different franchise. The upstart Federal League, which played in the 1914 and '15 seasons, had a Brooklyn team called the TipTops. Owned by a local baking magnate Robert Ward, whose company produced TipTop bread, the club took over the abandoned lot along 3rd Avenue and built a new brick and steel venue. The only no-hitter in the Federal League's two...
The Yankees bolstered their starting rotation with Thursday's signing of Marcus Stroman . The Long Island native, who spent 2019 and '21 with the Mets before moving onto the Cubs, brings a 77-76 career record to the Bronx, along with a recent loyalty to uniform number (?) zero. If he requests that, he'd become the third Yank to wear it, following the path of Adam Ottavino and Domingo German. Of course, neither of their Yankee tenures ended all that well -- Ottavino struggled badly in 2020, before reviving his career with the Red Sox and Mets; German's alcohol and domestic violence issues sabotaged such Yankee highlights as last year's perfect game. Can a number truly be lucky? You can understand kids in little league or high school ball wanting to wear 2 in honor of Derek Jeter or 7 for Mickey Mantle. But is there an heroic ballplayer associated with 0? The closest I recall comes from pro football, where the Oakland Raiders Hall of Fame center Jim Otto wore...
It's a return visit to the Mets' Florida home in Port St. Lucie, this time for a 2016 showdown with the Yankees. (Below), Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman chat during batting practice. Aaron Judge and Rob Refsnyder have their game faces on in the dugout... though neither would be in the starting lineup. (Above) A couple of Brooklyn natives that made their mark in New York baseball -- Lee Mazzilli and John Franco. (Below) Mets pitcher Josh Smoker makes friends by signing a few autographs. (Above) Mets reliever Jeurys Familia; (Below) 2nd baseman Neil Walker (Above) Curtis Granderson, one of the select few players to star for both the Yankees and Mets, getting ready for his third summer at Citi Field. (Below) Aaron Hicks came to the Yankees in a trade the previous November. 3rd baseman Chase Headley enjoying the Grapefruit League vibe, even against Mets ace Jacob deGrom. (Above) Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes watches where he hit one... so does Joe Girardi from the visitor's dugou...
Time for a quick salute to Mark Teixeira, tonight's Yankee standout in their 4-3, 11-inning win over the Twins in Game Two of the Divison Series. In the decisive inning, the big 1st baseman starred on defense -- with two great plays (catching a line drive, then stopping a hot grounder and throwing home to nail a runner attempting to score) that kept Minnesota from scoring in a bases-loaded, none out situation. Leading off the bottom of the inning, he smacked a line drive homer that he called "a wallbanger," deflecting off the left field wall into the seats for the winning run.
As has become the trademark of this Yankee club, "Tex" was smacked with a pie (actually a towelfull of whipped cream) by AJ Burnett during his post-game TV interview. A sweet ending to a dramatic Yankee win. When I went back to this year's images, I found a Spring Training preview of the righthanded swing that produced the walk-off homer.
Wondering the last time a Yankees post-season contest ended with such suddenness? That was the Aaron Boone game against the Red Sox in game 7 of the 2003 League Championship Series.
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