Daily Archives: April 3, 2005

Baseball is back in the Bronx, and boy does it feel good.

Becky and I headed up to the stadium early last night. The idea was to beat the traffic, nab a choice parking spot, and hightail it to Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too in Harlem for some down home cooking before the game started. Best laid plans, you know.

We hit the road about 4:30 and didn’t have too much traffic to deal with across the GW, but our preferred parking lot was full by the time we drove by around 5:40. We eventually settled on a lot in front of a strip mall further up 161st and caught the 4 and the 2 down to Miss Mamie’s, arriving at about 6:15. After inhaling their complimentary cornbread (served too hot to touch) and devouring some fried (for me) and roasted (for Becky) chicken, mac n’ cheese, collard greens and cornbread stuffing, washing it all down with a couple of Stewart’s rootbeers and some of Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Punch, we dropped our green on the table and split for the Stadium at about 7:10.

We then waited for the 2 train for 25 minutes. You see there was some sort of watermain break in midtown and the northbound trains just weren’t running with any sort of regularity. After a 3 train finally showed up at 7:35 (we needed a 2), we bolted for the B & D two blocks across town, only to find out that we’d have to go downtown one stop to go uptown at all, and those trains weren’t exactly running on a rush hour schedule either.

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Open Thread

So Cliff and his girlfriend are sitting out there in the bleachers. It’s raining lightly here in the Bronx, but you know they are going to get this game in. Emily and I are making homemade pizza, chillin in the crib, amped for another season to commence.

For those of you who are surfing around tonight, feel free to leave your thoughts and observations in the comments section below. As Aaron Gleeman likes to say, “Happy Baseball.”

Let’s Go Yan-Kees.

On Friday I wrote in this space that Kevin Brown’s achy, breaky back was acting up and could lead to his being moved into the delayed fifth spot in the rotation with Jaret Wright taking over his starts against the Orioles on Friday and in Boston a week from Wednesday. Yesterday that switch became official. Today, WFAN’s Sweeny Murti reports that the Yankees have placed Kevin Brown on the 15-day disable list. Some may take this as a sign that Brown’s back is in particularly dire shape, but it’s actually an excellent job of roster management on the part of the Yankees and, if Brown is able to come back (no pun intended) on schedule (don’t hold your breath), could work out better for the team than their original plan to have Jaret Wright hang around doing nothing until April 15.

You see, Wright’s (and in turn Brown’s) first start was supposed to be April 15 in Baltimore. In reality the Yankees wouldn’t need a fifth starter until April 17, as Pavano and Mussina can pitch on the 15th and 16th on full rest as the rotation is currently set up (swap Wright and Brown, of course). Of course, Brown will not be eligible to come off the DL until April 18, so the Yanks will need a spot start out of Tanyon Sturtze in Baltimore, but that seems a small price to pay to have a full 25-men at Joe Torre’s disposal over the first 12 games of the season.

Best of all, that twenty fifth man will be . . . Andy Phillips! Hot diggity dawg! I suppose it would be too much to ask for Torre to revise his Opening Night line-up one more time to have the hot-hitting righty Phillips start over either the left-handed Giambi at first or the left-handed Womack at second against the left-handed David Wells. Still, look for Phillips to pinch-hit for Womack if Not My Wacko comes up in a key spot tonight. Meanwhile, let’s hope that, during this early part of April, Phillips is given the first base starts against lefties (the Orioles have two in their rotation: Erik Bedard and Bruce Chen) over the struggling Tino Martinez. Any opportunity for Phillips to prove himself with the big club can only be a good thing for the Yankees, so while there should be legitimate concern about Brown’s back, this shakes out as a pretty good deal for the Yankees, at least for now.

For those looking for tonight’s final 25-man rosters, just click below.

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The rain has calmed down significantly. Saturday was bananas here in New York city. Not only did rain steadily all day long, but the winds were brutal, leaving the streets paved with broken, and subsequently, abandoned umbrellas. Still, there was a warmth in the air that we haven’t felt yet.

It’s colder this morning and the drainage system at Yankee stadium is earning its pay today, let me tell you. With the NCAA men’s finals tomorrow night, you know that MLB wants to get this game in this evening. Cliff C will be in the house, braving the elements, as well as Red Sox Nation (although I don’t know how many Sox fans make their way into the bleachers…actually, I’m curious if there will be fewer Dominican fans rooting for Boston now that Pedro is gone, all due respect to the home town kid, Manny Ramirez).

Joe Torre has made out the starting line-up that will face Boomer Wells:

Jeter SS
Rodriguez 3B
Sheff RF
Ruben, Ruben DH
Godziller LF
Jorge C
Giambi 1B
Bernie CF
Womack 2B

Of course, tonight is the New York debut of The Big Unit. Here’s to a good game, and kicking off what we all hope will be another compelling season!