Daily Archives: September 30, 2003

Bob Ryan has a piece on the Yankees today in the Boston Globe, and remembers how excited New York was when the Bombers finally made it back to the playoffs in 1995.

Ben Jacobs offers his analysis of the Yanks-Twins Serious, and he is on point as usual.

If you have some time to kill before the start of the game today, go over and check out Jay Jaffe’s last posting of the regular season. It is a treat (so what’s new?).
Also, if any readers are watching the game today, if you would be generous enough to give me updates and details via the comments section below, I sure would appreciate it. It’ll help me fill me in when I have a moment to sneak a peak at the score.

Thanks, and let the games begin.

I know this may not be the right time for non-baseball stories, but I did want to mention the passing of Elia Kazan. Kazan was one of the most influencial theater and film directors of the 20th century. A member of the Group Theater in the 1930s, Kazan was one of the founders of The Actors Studio. He directed the stage versions of “Skin of Our Teeth,” “Death of a Salesman,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” Kazan also made his mark in the movie world, directing the film version of “Streetcar” as well as “On the Waterfront, ” “Viva Zapata!” and “East of Eden.”

Kazan is perhaps most famous for naming names during Communist witch hunt of the early 1950s. The Times had an excellent, and even-handed appreciation of the director, who was 94, in yesterday’s paper. It’s well worth reading, as Kazan is well worth remembering.

If you haven’t seen “On the Waterfront,” I suggest you rent it once the season ends. (Check for Fred Gwynne–aka Herman Munster—in a bit role as a gangster in the begining of the movie.)

It isn’t chilly this morning in New York: it’s cold. But the skies are blue and it should be an absolutely beautiful day for playoff baseball. I’m going to be stuck at work, so I’ll miss the damn thing. But if I have to miss one game, I suppose Game 1 is a safe bet.

The Yankees have been playing well and so has Minnie. New York isn’t overly confident, and the Twins aren’t cowed. Mike Mussina has owned the Twinkies during the course of his career, and Johan Santana is a devastating young pitcher who seems to be unfazed by the pressure he faces this afternoon. All the makings of a good game, right?

The local papers are filled with special sections today. Most of them aren’t telling you anything you probably don’t already know, but if you are interested, head over to BaseballNewsstand.com and check it out.

Peter Gammons gives the Bombers “props”—heh heh—in his latest column. He also hits the nail on the head when he writes about the great expectations facing this year’s squad:

The greatest barrier facing the Yankees is that they have to win. In George Steinbrenner’s world, losing is not an alternative. If they win, they did their job, like a GM assembly worker, or a toll taker on the Garden State Parkway. If they lose, Phinneas T. Boss will …

… be quoted a lot.