Daily Archives: May 15, 2006

There’s not much to say about the Texas Rangers that I didn’t say a week or so ago. Despite getting swept at home by the Bombers, they remain in first place in the AL West (thanks to the Yanks’ just completed 2-1 series win over the second-place A’s), and they’ve made just one roster move, demoting spot-starter Robinson Tejeda in favor of righty reliever Scott Feldman last Monday.

Due to consecutive rainouts in Boston, the Rangers have played just four games since hosting the Yanks, dropping two of three to the visiting Twins before taking the rain-shortened opener in Fenway behind five scoreless innings by Kameron Loe. Adding in a scheduled off day this past Thursday and the Rangers have played just six innings in the last four days.

So, with nothing doing on the other side of the leger, I thought I’d take this opportunity to take a better look at the home town team, as they could use some lookin’ at given the events of the past week.

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No matter how far up you sit in Yankee Stadium, you always have the feeling that you are right on top of the action. On Saturday afternoon, I sat in row W (second to last row) with a great bunch of baseball fans–Mike Carminati, Chris DeRosa, loyal Bronx Banter readers Mike and Murray Markowitz, and their pal Alex. Mike Markowitz took a couple of flicks and in turn, I’d like to share ’em with you.

Check out the top left-hand corner and you can see the Grand Concourse.

Our Field of Dreams

The Gang (from right to left): That’s me, Mike C, Chris DeRosa, Murray and Alex.

The M&M Boys. Talk about taste. And dig the hat Murray’s rocking–it’s fabulously hideous. His wife made him buy it when they were vacationing in Holland.

Yup, these are the kind of Yankee fans I’m proud to have as friends. And yo, I’d rock a Bobby Meachum shirt, or at least a Pasqua or Pags joint any day of the week.

Although it was overcast for most of the weekend–with more rain due throughout the week, we’ve been able to steer clear of the wet weather that cancelled two of the three games in Boston (and shortened another). Saturday turned out to be sunny and breezy, as the Yankees edged the A’s 4-3, on the strength of home runs by Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. Taynon Sturtze appeared and was awful and is now on the disabled list. (Hey, at least he’s been replaced by Scott Erickson!) Kyle Farnsworth wasn’t brilliant, but he was better, and he worked around a critical error by Jeter to save the game by a run.

Randy Johnson’s pitching woes are still here. While he showed signs of improvement on a pink and gray Mother’s Day in the Bronx, Freddie Sez it is clear that Johnson is in the process of working through a career crisis of sorts. A first-ballot Hall of Famer, a dominating force like Johnson just doesn’t transform into Frank Tanana overnight. According to Tyler Kepner in the New York Times:

“A lot of it is probably mechanical,” [pitching coach, Ron] Guidry said, before pointing to his head. “Some of it is probably still up here.”

…”It’s absolutely frustrating to not be pitching the way I’m accustomed to pitching,” said Johnson, who has 268 career victories. “But I’ve been through a lot in my career, and that’s why I appreciate everything I’ve done in my career.

“If everything were easy, it would be easy. Right now is frustrating because I’m not pitching the way I’d like to or even close, and I realize that. Nobody has to tell me that.”

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Oakland’s starter, Danny Haren, was terrific, throwing a complete game. Final score: A’s 6, Yanks 1. The Yanks start the week tied with the Red Sox in first place with the well-rested Rangers team coming into town for a four-game series.