Daily Archives: June 25, 2009

It’s funny how things work. A couple of years ago I had a brief correspondence with Sadat X, one of my favorite all-time emcees, who was serving a stint in Rikers on a gun possession charge. I sent him my Curt Flood book, The Courting of Marcus Dupree and dozens of magazine articles. We exchanged a half-dozen letters. Though we didn’t keep in touch when he got out it was a cool connection.

This week a writing assignment came up and I had a need to get in touch with Sadat. I asked a friend who owns a record shop who knows Lord Finesse (a regular customer) who is good friends with X. Finesse came in to buy records today, gave my man Sadat’s number which was then e-mailed to me.

I got home this evening and called X. “Yo man, of course I remember you,” he said. “You just caught me bugging out over here, it’s all over the news and the Internet: Michael Jackson is dead.”

And that’s how I heard the news, just hours after the sad report that Farrah Fawcett died. I wasn’t jolted but not shocked. Michael Jackson was the biggest pop idol of my youth; he did not live life like he wanted to grow old. It’s almost as if he committed a long, public suicide for years. It was painful and absurd. He was seminal, an icon, a wonderful entertainer who was so deeply disturbed that he became a freak show. I felt even worse for Fawcett who has been sick for a long time. Still, they are both out of pain, and that has to count for something.

Sadat was great with me and pleased to help. When we finished talking, I called a bunch of people to talk about Michael and then went walked down to Broadway and 233, across the street from the I-HOP, to the Uptown Sports Complex, which is owned by a high school pal of one of Bronx Banter’s own–Dimelo. Small World, man. I hung out around the cages and took-in the place, the clanking sound of bats hitting balls echoing around me. The Yankee game was on the flat screen TV. I missed Alex Rodriguez’s first inning jack, but caught his RBI base hit in the third, and saw the Yanks jump out to a big lead. I also stayed long enough to see Andy Pettitte cough most of it away.

When I left, I popped up the block, across the Major Deegan and checked out a Kingsbridge Little League under the lights. Then, on my way home, I followed the game on my blackberry. I refreshed the gameday page every 15 seconds, and passed by a bar on 238th street when Rodriguez drove in two more runs with a bases loaded single. Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough was playing on the stereo. It was hot and muggy but a shiver ran down my spine.

The Yanks held on and won a barn-burner, 11-7, taking the series and returning to New York on a high note. A nice win on a mournful summer night.

This is how I react when my wife takes away the remote control while I’m watching a game:

Hey, another reason why the Internet rocks.

Here is Steven Zaillian’s script for Moneyball.

Have at it.

Every day, we see familiar poses and gestures on a baseball field–a batter’s ticks (the way he leans on his bat in the on-deck circle), a pitcher’s wind-up, the way a runner leads off first base. I especially enjoy watching the loose physical comradery and affection players display on the bench, like when Derek Jeter absent-mindedly drapped his arm around Tony Pena last night.  

Recently, I’ve been paying attention to the gestures that are less obvious but still common. As a kid, for instance, I loved the way Graig Nettles extended his right leg and swept the dirt in front of him, almost like a dancer, before each pitch was delivered.

The pose that has captured my imagination of late is when Francisco Cervelli stands up and fires the ball to third base after a strike out. He stands from his crouch and leans back on his right leg, left leg bent and raised in the air, arm cocked back. He pauses for a split second, exaggerating the move which looks almost like the Heisman pose.  But it is not defensive  in nature, just the opposite–it is a celebratory act of aggresion.  

It only lasts a brief moment and it is a non-play–the entire around-the-horn routine is a terrific non-play really. But Cervelli performs it with great relish. A few weeks ago, I caught Joe Girardi tell Michael Kay that Cervelli has actually burned Alex Rodriguez’s hand several times throwing the ball so hard down to third after a strike out.

What are some of your favorite routine poses or gestures?

Today’s news is powered by Nat Bailey Stadium’s “Sushi Race”:

• Jose Veras has been traded to the Indians for the ubiquitous “cash considerations”.

[My take: And you thought the Yankees had question marks in THEIR bullpen?]

• The return of Cody Ransom!:

Cody Ransom, who played 15 games for New York before he suffered a severe right quadriceps injury, was reinstated from a rehab assignment at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and rejoined the club at Turner Field.

In a corresponding move, Angel Berroa was designated for assignment.

“This was tough, just because I’d never been on the DL,” Ransom said. “I’d never been hurt. This was something new. Once I started playing games, it was better.”

Ransom struggled as he filled in for Rodriguez, who was coming back from right hip surgery performed on March 9 and would not return to the lineup until early May.

Ransom batted .180 (9-for-50) before he was injured running the bases in an April 24 game at Fenway Park, and later, he revealed that the quadriceps had bothered him since Spring Training.

[My take: DFAing Berroa is definitely “addition by subtraction”, regardless of what Ransom can provide.]

• Brian Cashman showed up in Atlanta:

What Cashman is in Atlanta to achieve is getting the Yankees — losers of nine out of their past 13 — back on track. Too early to seriously engage in the trade market, the GM believes that the answers to their offensive woes are all currently within the clubhouse.

“We’re struggling right now, mostly with the bats,” Cashman said. “It’s not going to last, I promise you that. We’re too good for it to last. The last three weeks of poor play is mostly to do with our offense. We’ve got to get our offense going. We’re pitching real well, but unfortunately, we’re letting that good pitching go to waste.”

(more…)

Hey, the Yankees stopped sucking for a few innings! It was probably because I wasn’t watching. I caught up thanks to the miracle of Tivo, though, and much to my pleasant surprise, saw the Yankees beat the Braves 8-4, behind a solid Joba Chamberlain start and some timely (well, a week or two late, but you know what I mean) second-half hitting.

Despite some hard-hit balls, the Yankees had settled into their comfortable routine of doing nothing against National League pitching – in fact, two Braves pitchers were teaming up for a perfect game through five. Then suddenly, in the sixth inning, the Yanks got some of those run thingies we’ve been hearing so much about. The first one came when… wait, this can’t be right. Francisco Cervelli hit a home run?

Cervelli’s solo shot, his first in the bigs, tied the game at 1-1. Rookies usually try to act all cool and nonchalant in this scenario, but Cervelli was obviously pumped. His homer came immediately after Brett Gardner got picked off first base on a truly lousy call, and Joe Girardi got thrown out for arguing. I don’t necessarily buy that this move “fired up the team,” but hey, can’t hurt to try, right?  Jeter and Damon followed with singles, Teixeira was sorta-intentionally walked, and A-Rod struck… whoops, sorry, force of habit. A-Rod hit a two-run single: 3-1 Yanks.

The game stayed close for a few innings, but New York clung to the lead. After Joba lost it a bit in the 7th, Phil Coke, a shaky Brian Bruney, and one Mariano Rivera kept things under control (with Mo striking out all four batters he faced, and lining out to center field, awesomely, amid much fanfare). And the Yankee hitters pursued an exciting new strategy which involved tacking on additional runs in order to give their team a cushion. Yeah, it’s different, but I think they may be on to something.

“Everybody is happy,” said Cervelli after the game, “everybody wants to play baseball. So things happen.”

As a side note, one of my favorite things about interleague play (though not so much this year, thus far) is watching the facial expressions of NL batters who haven’t previously faced Mariano Rivera. Ah. Believe the hype, fellas, even now.

Despite the sarcastic tone of this post, I should say that I don’t think the Yankees are in such a dire position just yet. After all they’re still tied for the Wild Card, it’s still only June, they’re due for a few wins against the Red Sox, and we’ve already seen this year that they’re capable of going on a big run.

They probably shouldn’t wait any longer to do it, though.