Entries Tagged 'New York Yankees' ↓

1917-2007

My earliest baseball memories are of the Yankees and of Phil Rizzuto’s voice. I know that Mel Allen is considered “The Voice Of The Yankees”, but it’s Scooter, who, along with Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, my dad, POP POP, and my Uncle Mike, introduced me to baseball. I’ve been in love with the game ever since. Thanks for the memories Scooter, you’ll be missed.

After a ridiculous week of going 0-for-20-something, Alex Rodriguez finally hit his 500th career home run during the first inning of the Yankees 16-8 win over Kansas City this afternoon.

With this distraction finally behind us, maybe we can finally see the Yanks concentrate completely on securing a spot in the playoffs.

Derek Jeter’s 7th inning triple during the Yankees 8-3 win over the Red Sox at the Stadium last night was his 2,116th career hit for the Yankees. Jeter is now ahead of Yankee legend Joe DiMaggio for fifth place on the Yankees’ all-time hits list. Quite the accomplishment, but it’s all in a day’s work for a player who will someday take his place among the all-time Yankee greats.

Meanwhile, taking two of three from Boston this week could be one of the few bright spots of what is proving to be the toughest season in many a year. It’s definitely a season of transition, but after so many years at the top - or just near it - it was always bound to happen sooner or later. People have been calling for Joe Torre’s head, and perhaps going with a new manager may be the way to go, but personally, I’d rather wait until the end of the season to make that change. It’s the least that Joe deserves.

With a surprise appearance in George Steinbrenner’s personal box at Yankee Stadium, Roger Clemens announced to a sell-out crowd that he has re-joined the Yankees, and expects to make his first start in about three to four weeks.

Take a quick look at the schedule for three to four weeks from now, and who do you see? Why, it’s the Boston Red Sox. Hmm, seems as likely a time as any.

While the pitching staff has been decimated by injuries, Alex Rodriguez is the sole reason the Yankees have a winning record after fourteen games. After all that’s been said about the guy, it seems that just maybe he’s finally settling in as a Yankee. A walk-off grand slam during the first week of the season seems to have been just the tip of the iceberg, as A-Rod now leads the majors in home-runs (10) and RBI (26).

Oh, and the end of yesterday’s game at The Stadium against the Indians is the stuff of legends. Allow me to set the scene:

It’s the bottom of the ninth. The Indians had tacked up four runs in the seventh to take a 5-2 lead, and added one in the top of the ninth for good measure. Cleveland reliever Joe Borowski retired the first two Yankees he faced in the bottom of the ninth. So it was that with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the following took place:

Wow. Just wow.

After weeks of speculation, Major League Baseball, at a press conference held at City Hall in Manhattan, announced that the 2008 All-Star Game will indeed be held in the Bronx next summer.

With the Bombers’ move to the new Yankee Stadium set for April 2009, the choice to hold the festivities in one of the most famous buildings in sports during its’ final season was an obvious one.

While on the subject of the Yanks, single game tickets went on sale on Wednesday. I figured I was relatively safe getting tix for a game against Pittsburgh, but when I bought them earlier today, I ended up having to settle for tickets in the family section of the bleachers. Looks like I’ll be going for some walks!