Daily Archives: July 4, 2008

Here’s to one of the great days in Yankee Stadium history…

On yet another Fourth of July weekend with the Yankees facing the Red Sox, both teams are looking up at the Tampa Bay Rays, who may be end up being the craziest worst-to-first story in the Expansion Era. After today’s discouraging loss the Yankees are nine games behind the Rays.  Thursday night’s 7-0 debacle featured the following elements that rightly incurred the wrath of manager Joe Girardi:

• It marked the 28th time this season that the Yankees scored two runs or less.

• It was the third start Andy Pettitte made against a divisional opponent where he went five innings or less, gave up at least five runs and eight hits.

• LaTroy Hawkins tanked another mop-up appearance in what may or may not have been a showcase for a trade or release. One thing is sure is that his body language on the mound indicates that he does not want to be a Yankee, and a palpable sarcastic, "Oh, great, Hawkins," feeling permeates the stadium when he enters the game.

• It gave us the following sequence, buried near the bottom of GAK III’s writeup in the New York Post:

"It looked like we didn’t have a chance. After we got down it seemed like there was nothing there. We are not playing up to expectations and that’s not good. The Steinbrenners spent $200 million on us and we haven’t shown what we are made of." — Johnny Damon

The scary thing is that maybe this is what the Yankees are — a 45-41 collection of expensive parts incapable of an extended hot streak due to an inconsistent hitting and a rotation that stunningly includes Sidney Ponson.

"We have to get better. That’s the bottom line. Everyone has to get better and it starts with me. I’ll take responsibility for where we’re at. It’s my job and we have to get better." — Joe Girardi

* * *

I can’t even comprehend the A-Rod-Madonna / Cynthia Rodriguez-Lenny Kravitz love rhombus. The coverage is only going to intensify; it will only become a distraction if the Yankees continue to languish in mediocrity.

* * *

To the main focus of today’s column: My top 5 Fourth of July (or close to the actual day) Yankee Stadium moments. I wanted to limit it to games that I’ve seen and/or have occurred in my lifetime. Obviously, the most powerful moment is Lou Gehrig’s speech in 1939. That may have been the most memorable moment in the Stadium’s history.

The point of lists, though, is to spawn comment, and perhaps fuel argument. I’m curious to see your responses and editions to this list:

1. 1983: Dave Righetti’s no-hitter against the Red Sox. The day was a lot like today: muggy, overcast, threat of rain, sun mixed in. I asked Bobby Murcer about this game, and the story he told me involved Phil Rizzuto leaving the broadcast booth in the seventh inning to beat the traffic over the George Washington Bridge, and listening to the events unfold on the radio, with Frank Messer’s call.

2. 2004: It was July 1, but the game will forever be known as the "Jeter Dives Into the Stands Game." For me, it ranks as the greatest regular season baseball game I’ve ever seen. It had everything – Brad Halsey standing tall against Pedro Martinez, lead changes, great defense by both teams, and Joe Torre exhausting his roster to the point that he lost the DH. The unlikely hero: John Flaherty. For me, the most memorable moments, aside from Manny Ramirez’s two home runs, Jeter’s dive, and Flaherty’s hit, were A-Rod’s play in the ninth inning that had everyone in the ballpark thinking they’d seen a triple play, and Nomar Garciaparra’s conspicuous absence.

3. 2003: The Red Sox pounded the Yankees, 10-3. This game was memorable to me, though because in my opinion, it put David Ortiz on the map as a dangrous hitter. He hit two mammoth home runs on the Fourth, one off David Wells and another off Jason Anderson that would have been out in any MLB stadium. He hit two more home runs in the following game — a 10-2 Red Sox rout — beginning his reputation as a Yankee killer.

4. 1989: It was the 50th Anniversary of Lou Gehrig Day. The promotional giveaway was a 32-ounce plastic cup with a diagram of the stadium featuring some of the Stadium’s greatest moments. The Yankees faced the Tigers and won, 1-0. My greatest memories were watching Don Mattingly go 3-for-4, Luis Polonia getting picked off of first base in the first inning, and Jesse Barfield throwing a runner out from the right field corner.

5. 1998: A 4-3 victory over the Orioles that was the fifth victory in a 10-game run that spanned the All-Star break. There was bad blood from earlier in the season (the bench-clearing brawl that saw Darryl Strawberry pummel Armando Benitez following his plunking of Tino Martinez). Chad Curtis’s base hit in the sixth inning put the Yankees on top, and El Duque, making just the sixth start of his career, shut the O’s down.

Honorable mention: 2002: This game is memorable to me, not for anything that happened on the field — Raul Mondesi hit his first home run as a Yankee as part of a 7-1 victory that capped a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians — but for a goofy family bonding episode. I was editing that day’s game for YES Network.com, and during a break in the postgame while waiting for my writer to file, I was playing with my nephew — he was five months old at the time. In a moment while I held him over my head, he gave me a look as if to say, "Gotcha, Uncle Will," and he spit up onto my face. I closed my eyes and mouth just in time.

Next week: Yankee Panky is on vacation, trying not to get seduced by the Kaballah workings of a pop icon.

The Red Sox stepped all over the Yankees again today, 6-4.  This one featured a rain delay to sustain the misery for Yankee fans. Alex Rodriguez got to Josh Beckett in the first, lashing a two-run double into the left field corner, but grounded out as the go-ahead run with the bases loaded in the seventh.  He didn’t have much help around him either as the Yanks only got six hits. 

They couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead.  Kevin Youkilis tied it in the third when he hit a long fly ball to left field.  Johnny Damon tracked the ball and jumped up to catch it as he reached the wall.  The ball popped out of his glove and momentarily rested on top of wall.  Then, like one of those miracle putts that find a way to fall (Caddyshack), the ball dropped off the wall and landed next to Damon on the ground.  The tying run scored and Youkilis was on third with a triple.  Damon left the game.  Two innings later, Mike Lowell cranked a three-run jack, enough to do the Yankees in.  Even an umpire’s gift in the ninth didn’t help much.

I think the Yankees are upset, I think they are mad, just like the Sox were upset and mad after being swept by Tampa. It’s just that the Sox are a better overall team than the Yankees.  Ten years ago, the Yankees always seemed to take advantage of other teams’ mistakes.  Now, the Yankees are the other team.  And the Sox are the defending World Champs.   Boston has been a brilliant reaction to the most recent Yankee Dynasty–they built a sleeker, more efficient version of the Yankees.     

My cousins came over this afternoon.  We made these killer ribs in the oven from a Cook’s Illustrated recipe–Lapsang Souchong black tea is used for smoke.  They brought over a black-eyed peas salad and I made a cous cous salad.  It was all simply delicious.  So at least the food, and the company, was good.

The Yanks were thoroughly out-played last night. Today, they get Josh Beckett. Could be a long weekend.

Regardless, here is something to kick off the game in style.

Have a safe and Happy holiday, everyone and Let’s Go Yan-Kees!. 

I often felt like I was being jipped when I was a kid. Whatever I had, it never seemed to be enough. Didn’t have enough presents, stuff, didn’t get enough attention, not unless I was acting the fool. It’s part of the territory when you are a twin, I suppose. So I often was envious of the “things” that my friends had–a t-shirt, or a pair of sneakers, a book or a guitar. I remember my friend Matt Cantor being at Yankee Stadium twenty-five years ago when Rags threw his no-hitter against the Red Sox. Normally, it would have been just the kind of thing that had me green with envy. I don’t recall much about that day–I’m sure I watched the game, but I don’t have a clear memory of it. What I do remember is feeling happy that Matt got to see it in person. At that point, Yankee pleasures came in small doses, and this was surely an unexpected surprise–the great Wade Boggs stuck out to end the game no less. I was not jealous that I wasn’t the one at the game, I was just excited that someone I knew was there. Hey, if it wasn’t me, might as well have been Matt, who a die-hard Yankee fan.
Twenty-five years ago. Jeez. Think I’ll go change my diaper now and put in my teeth.

Couple of nifty birthday’s today, including Satchmo’s even though he was born on Aug 4th:

How about our very own Boss George Von Steingrabber:

It’s easy not to think about the Boss these days.  He isn’t brought up much.  His sons are running the family business now.  But he turns 78 today and has always been very proud of being a Patriot, a Yankee Doodle Dandy.  Here’s wishing the old guy a happy birthday.  Yeah, he just might be one of these after all: