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Showing posts from April, 2017

More from Friday Night in the Bronx

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While Matt Holliday's 10th inning walk off home run capped off a memorable Yankees victory, there are plenty of other images worth sharing from this game. Above, during a difficult outing, CC Sabathia chats with catcher Austin Romine in the dugout, hoping to solve what was clearly going wrong. Below, everything's been going right of late for Aaron Judge. He connects on the first of two home runs against the Orioles. Moments later back in the dugout, Didi Gregorius hoists up Ronald Torreyes (the shortest Yankee) who gets to tower over the young slugger at high-five time. Finallly, Starlin Castro slips to one knee to watch his game tying 9th inning home run. 

Watch It Go!

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Matt Holliday, after making solid contact with a Jayson Aquino pitch, watches it land in the right field bullpen to give the Yankees, a thrilling and improbable 14-11 win Friday night. Orioles 3rd baseman Manny Machado also eyes that same ball, but with different emotions. On a warm, summerlike night, the Yankees trailed 9-1 and 11-4, yet never quit. Four homers, including a pair by Aaron Judge, built the comeback, and Holliday capped it in the bottom of the 10th with his first big Yankee moment. (Below) A splashy reception awaited the former Cardinal and Rockie as the Yanks moved into a 1st place tie atop the AL East. It's the first time they've led the division since August 24th, 2015.

Masterpiece

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Putting a couple of underwhelming early-season outings behind him, Masahiro Tanaka dominated the Red Sox Thursday night. The Yankees ace threw the second complete game shutout of his North American career, holding the Red Sox to three singles in a 3-0 Yankee victory. But don't let the final score fool you: he pitched with a 1-run lead most of the night; those insurance runs came on a 9th inning rally when Boston's Chris Sale wore down after passing the 100-pitch plateau. Tanaka never had to worry about reaching that perilous plateau. He threw just 97 pitches in game that would make commissioner Rob Manfred happy -- it ran just under two-and-a-half hours. ( This image of Tanaka comes from last August 13th at Yankee Stadium .)

Throwback Thursday: Fabulous '57 in the Bronx

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Another classic from my pal Dennis' collection -- what a majestic photo of the original Stadium! Quick: how many World Series champs are depicted on cover? 😉

The Heart and Soul...

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...of the Cardinals success the last dozen years has been Yadier Molina . The best of the three catching brothers from Puerto Rico, he joined the Cardinals in 2004 and has played on a pair of World Series champions. Considered baseball's top defensive catchers and one of its best pitch callers, Molina is the one over-30 star the normally thrifty Redbirds have granted a contract extension to avoid free agency. Even with a stumbling start in 2017, you almost instinctively expect the Cardinals to turn the ship around and jump back into the pennant race. And when they do, number-four will be right in the middle of things.

If Your Birthday is April 25th...

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...you share it with infielder Danny Espinosa . Seen here homering for the Nationals against the Mets last September, he's now with the Angels. Who else gets cake and candles on April 25th? Daniel Norris , the Tigers talented young lefthander.   Luis Cessa, one of the Yankees crop of pitching prospects. He went 4-4 last season.  Lew Krausse , the early '60s A's "bonus baby," who spent 12 years pitching in the majors. His father also named Lew, pitched for the A's in their Philadelphia days. There are a pair of sportscasters -- one real and one, "not quite." Joe Buck , FOX's voice of baseball since the network took over as the primary over-the-air network for our national pastime. Hank Azaria , who grew up a Mets fan in Queens, and drew from many of the baseball voices he absorbed from Bob Murphy onward, to create his IFC sitcom character Brockmire. And we remember... Bobby Estelella , and outfielder and 3rd baseman with the

Home Run Hybrid

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  Displayed at the New York Auto Show, this uniquely detailed Toyota Prius does everything but sing "New York, New York." The club, the ballpark, the skyline are all represented. Plus, it gets 50 miles a gallon!

Home Run Time

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This sequence begins with Odubel Herrera's 1st inning home Tuesday night against the Mets. The Phillies centerfielder watches it head for the fence in right center. It clears it below the Dunkin Donuts sign. After circling the bases, Herrera gets a dugout full of high fives, low fives and a few other types of fist and elbow bumps. That's about a dozen and a half teammates showing their enthusiasm. Finally, Herrera works his way to the end of the line and the Phillies have an early 1-0 lead. It wouldn't hold, but a four-run 10th inning explosion off Mets reliever Rafael Montero gave the Phils a 6 - 2 Citi Field victory.

Gone Six to Eight Weeks

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Does the name Jim Lonborg come to mind? How about Ron Gant? Aaron Boone? All were well known ballplayers whose careers were derailed by injuries away from the diamond. Are we about to add Madison Bumgarner to that infamous list? I was shocked to learn yesterday that the Giants ace lefthander -- seen here last October when he threw a complete game shutout over the Mets in the NL Wild Card Game -- will be out six to eight weeks after suffering a sprained joint in his left shoulder along with bruised ribs in a dirt bike crash in Colorado. Hold it! One of the most durable and talented pitchers in baseball, someone who had never been on the disabled list in his eight year career, winds up on the DL because of a dirt bike accident on an off day. Read that last sentence again. What was he thinking? You've always read about what a mature, well grounded guy he is. So he does something risky and flat-out foolish that puts his and his team's season in jeopardy -- not to mention the

Breaking Out of a Slump

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Mikael Franco came into Thursday night's game stuck in an oh-for-21 slump. But that was about to change. He came up with two hits -- including his third home run of the young season -- as the Phils took the rubber game from the Mets. Here's an odd stat, courtesy of Mets TV voice Gary Cohen. Franco's last six homers have come against the Mets -- three at the end of the 2016 season, and now the first three of '17.  Do you wonder what the record is for most consecutive homers against one opponent?   These images are from Tuesday's Mets/Phillies game (when Franco was stuck in his "oh-fer").

Throwback Thursday: 2007

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From August 2007,  my one and only time seeing a regular-season game at RFK Stadium in Washington. The first of the round, multi-purpose stadiums that became a symbol of the 1960s, it was the home the last version of the Senators fled and the Nationals had to accept as their temporary home when the franchise moved from Montreal to Washington. But unlike its football tenant, none of its baseball teams every made the post-season. In fact only the 1969 Senators played above-.500 ball! Ten years ago, El Duque was a Met. Orlando Hernandez faces the Nats. And below, it's Shawn Green, in his final big league season, at bat for the Mets.

Gary Sanchez

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I caught this casual shot of the Yankees catcher in the dugout during Sunday night's game. His arm injury will keep him sidelined another three weeks. What's running through his mind? He's probably relieved that he'll miss the cold weather part of the schedule. By the time he returns, around the 10th of May, there won't be many night games played in the 40s with wintry winds blowing in. And sitting out the April portion of the schedule will likely keep him fresher and stronger when the Yanks are hopefully fighting for a playoff spot in September. The eight-game win streak had to be an odd thing for him to witness from the bench, as for the first time since his arrival, the team won without him. So what's he thinking? Probably, "I can't wait to get back!" And Yankee fans are in agreement.

Determination

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Look closely at the motion, concentration and exertion from Trenton Thunder pitcher (and Yankee prospect) Daniel Camarena. He turned in six innings of shutout ball Saturday afternoon, in a game the bullpen let slip away.

Jubilant

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Finally, two weeks into the season, Greg Bird had reason to jump for joy. A perfect night -- he homered, doubled and singled, and added a walk -- to lead the Yankees to their series-sweeping 9-3 victory over the Cardinals. More importantly, for the first time since his torrid Grapefruit League run, he looked like the up-and-comer the Yanks felt was the right choice to succeed the retired Mark Teixeira. He's sharin the high-five with Aaron Judge, whom Greg drove in with his 2nd inning rocket to the right field seats. A game like this can make you believe that Bird's 0-for-20 slump and 1-for-26 start are in the rear-view mirror

Another Impressive Yankee Prospect

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While shortstop Gleyber Torres draws the most attention among the Yankees AA prospects playing in Trenton, he wasn't the best looking hitter I saw on Saturday. 3rd baseman Miguel Andujar was. Making solid contact every time up, he contributed a pair of run-scoring singles against the Red Sox' Portland affiliate. Just 22, the Dominican native has been on a roll since opening day, driving in 13 runs in the first nine games. I wouldn't be surprised if Andujar keeps pace with Torres as they advance toward the majors.

Jerry Weinstein

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The skipper who took unheralded Team Israel into the second round of the World Baseball Classic is spending this season in Hartford. Jerry Weinstein gives the Yard Goats a high profile manager -- as well as one with deep experience in developing young players in both the college ranks and lower levels of the minors. No sign of any Mensch on the Bench so far in Dunkin Donuts Park, but the odds that the young prospects he works with will benefit from having one of baseball's Yoda-like figures overseeing their season.

Grand Opening

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Minor league baseball returned to Hartford, Connecticut Thursday night after a 64 season absence. After a year's delay, several lawsuits and cost overruns, Dunkin Donuts Park hosted the Hartford Yard Goats first home game. Judging by the sellout crowd and aisles full of smiles, the night was a success -- even with the home team losing 7-2. This is a night I didn't want to miss. Having been a baseball fan for 56 years, I have been to dozens of ballparks, spanning the major leagues, the minors, and spring training. But I'd never been on hand for the first game in a freshly minted venue. There's nothing newer than this kind of new. It was a kick to share this -- something unique, that can't quite be duplicated. Formerly based a dozen miles away in New Britain, this franchise has undergone an "extreme makeover," moving from a humble ballpark in a quiet suburban setting to a scaled down version of a major league stadium -- a mini-PNC or Camden Yards.

Throwback Thursday: 1959

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Here's another goodie from Dennis' collection. The 1959 Yankees program and scorecard has a great aerial photo of the Stadium. Notice how massive the left field bleachers appear from this angle. Same for "death valley," the huge territory that left fielders had to cover, and right handed batters had such trouble reaching. While the program itself is a classic, the season -- from a Yankee perspective -- wasn't. It was the only one of Casey Stengel's teams to finish in third place.

Power on Display

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A huge game Tuesday night for Yoenis Cespedes: the Mets go-to guy homered his first three times up at Citizens Bank Park; and then doubled in his fourth trip. That made him the first Met ever with two three-home run games. And he won't even mark his second anniversary in Flushing until August 1st! La Potencia wasn't alone in scorching the beleagued Phillies pitchers. Lucas Duda homered twice and added a single and double. Travis d'Arnaud and Asdrubal Cabrera also were a triple shy of the cycle. All told, the Amazins crushed seven home runs -- one short of the club record. Not surprisingly, they set it last summer with eight on another night they destroyed the Phils. But it was Cespedes shining the brightest -- much like his distinctive sleeves -- in the Mets 14-4 victory.