Daily Archives: June 14, 2008

Watching the Yankees play in Houston seems unreal like something out of a video game.  The late afternoon light floods the place in odd, broken-patterns, and the Yankees’ dark helmets and black socks have never looked as menacing or sharp.  They actually look like Bronx Bombers.  It was especially noticable on HD TV.  Rodriguez and Giambi scoring on Jose Molina’s clutch RBI single, the sun shining off their helmets.  The YES replay used the angle behind the batter’s box that looks up the third base line. It was really brilliant.  Giambi’s Porn Stach of Doom has never looked nastier–he’s reaching Nick Nolte territory. 

And Alex Rodriguez has looked absolutely terrifying.  It’s scary to think what he’d do if Houston was his home park. In his first at bat tonight, he sliced a fly ball over the fence in right, and he didn’t even really get all of it.  Hunter Pence narrowed his sights on the ball as it approached the wall in right and he timed his leap expertly.  But an Astros fan wearing a red shirt went for the ball too, his glove knocked into Pence’s mitt and Rodriguez had himself a dinger.  It looked like a weak pop fly but he’s so strong he was able to muscle it out.  Scary.

The home run put the Yankees on the board after Mike Mussina gave up a three-run bomb to Carlos Lee in the bottom of the first.  But Mussina didn’t fold and he didn’t allow another run, going six, and pitching long enough to leave with a 5-3 lead.  Ross Ohlendorf (1 run), Kyle Farnsworth, and Edwar Ramirez finished it off and Mariano was able to take the night off.  Johnny Damon had three hits and is batting .324, Melky had a couple of hits too, and Robbie Cano and Wilson Betemit each had pinch-hit RBIs.  Let’s hope this is the start of something for Cano. 

Final Score: 8-4.     

The win puts the Yankees at 36-33, the first time they have been three games over .500 all season.  It was career victory #260 for Mussina, his 10th of the year.  Unless he completely melts down over his next couple of starts, he should be headed to the All-Star Game.  How unlikely is that?  Good for Mussina.  He’s earned it.  260 is an awful lot of wins.  He’s won ten or more games for seventeen straight years. 

Yeah, You Get Props Over Here.       

Mike Mussina has more than exceeded expectations of late but I fear that he’s due for a stinker, especially with that awfully short porch in left down in Houston.  Who knows? I’d love to be wrong. Here’s hoping the Yanks do the cookin’ tonight.

I’ve always prided myself on being an expert on Bobby Murcer, primarily because he and Thurman Munson remain two of my favorite Yankees of all time. After attending last week’s Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, I realize I don’t know as much as I think. Or perhaps I just don’t remember as well as I should. An informative presentation by Willie Steele of Cascade College, titled "America’s Yankee: Bobby Murcer’s Life In and Out of Baseball," provided me with several new nuggets of information relating to the former Yankee center fielder and all-around good guy.

*While I was certainly aware of Murcer’s connection to Mickey Mantle—with both being from Oklahoma, leading to inevitable and grossly unfair expectations for the young Murcer—I didn’t know that the Yankees staged three different "Mickey Mantle Days."

The first one occurred on September 18, 1965, a Saturday afternoon at the Stadium, with both Murcer and Mantle in the lineup that day. In fact, they batted back-to-back, with the 19-year-old Murcer sitting in the two-hole and Mantle hitting third. Both players played positions with which we no longer associate them, Mantle in left field and Murcer at shortstop. (Bobby played shortstop about as well as I figure skate.) Each man went 0-for-3 against Tigers pitching, which included a relief stint by Denny McLain. And neither man finished the game, a 4-3 loss to the Tigers; Murcer was lifted for a pinch-hitter (Tony Kubek), while Mantle gave way to a pinch-runner (the immortal Ross Mosschito).

*Though he’s remembered for his eloquent eulogy at Munson’s funeral, Murcer was not the only Yankee to speak at the service. Lou Piniella, who was friends with both players, also eulogized Munson. That really shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the closeness between "Sweet Lou" and Thurman. I still remember the scene from last summer’s The Bronx is Burning, when Munson and Piniella tried to hide from Billy Martin after secretly meeting with George Steinbrenner in an effort to save the manager’s job. Martin found the two players in the bathroom.

*Murcer was the Yankee teammate who gave Munson the nickname "Tugboat." Most of the Yankees called Munson "Squatty Body," which was both an endearing and derisive reference to Munson’s flabby build. "Tugboat" sounds just a bit more flattering. Once again, Murcer tried to be the nice guy in the Yankee clubhouse.

*In 1983, unusual roster circumstances led the Yankees to ask Murcer to retire. Somehow I must have forgotten the details to this story. An injury to Ken Griffey left him unavailable to play the outfield for a few days, but wasn’t considered serious enough to merit placement on the 15-day disabled list. In need of another outfielder, the Yankees wanted to recall a young prospect from Triple-A Columbus. Needing to clear out a roster spot, the Yankees asked Murcer, who was strictly a DH by then, to step aside. With no interest in attempting to play for any other team, Murcer agreed to retired gracefully. And, in the process, he just so happened to make room for another future Yankee great. The young outfielder waiting in the wings? Why, it was none other than Don Mattingly.

*Both Murcer’s mother and brother died of cancer. That’s partially why he remains so regretful over having recorded the country song, "Skoal Dippin’ Man," in the mid-1980s. Murcer has hosted an American Cancer Society golf tournament for years and remains committed to establishing a tobacco-free environment. He continues to do this while battling his own cancer, which arrived in the form of a brain tumor in December of 2006.

During his talk at the Hall of Fame, Steele also delivered a rousing endorsement for Murcer’s new book, Yankee For Life: My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes. I haven’t read the book yet, but just about every review I’ve seen has sung its praises. It remains on my must-read list for the summer of ’08.

Once again, it was a nice performance by Joba Chamberlain last night in Houston.

Pete Abraham has Chamberlain’s post-game interview while David Pinto explains why Joba belongs in the starting rotation.