Man, it doesn’t get any easier for our boys, who return to the Stadium with heavy hearts as the Yanks play the first game at home since Yogi died. The loss is deeper now that they’re home. So there’s that. And then, when the game starts, Chris Sale will be on the bump for the White Sox who regularly slings nastiness all night. Yanks have never hit the guy.

But who said it was supposed to be easy?

And maybe Big Mike will be dyno-mite–ya never know.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Chase Headley 3B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Carlos Beltran RF
Chris Young LF
John Ryan Murphy C
Dustin Ackley 1B
Rob Refsnyder 2B
Brendan Ryan SS

Never mind the nitpickin’:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

The Jays are the better team right now. Want to assign blame? Can’t be on the Yankee players or their manager. You could look to the front office but for now, that’s not going to make us feel much better. More righteous, maybe; better, probably not.

Ivan Nova was good last night but Marcus Stroman was even better. The Yankee bullpen, enervated, absorbed the big blow–a 3-run home run by our old pal, Russell Martin. Course he hit the home run off Andrew Bailey one pitch after Bailey thought he had Martin struck out. But Bailey didn’t get the call and then he missed his spot. Martin didn’t miss the pitch.

Final Scored: Jays 4, Yanks 0. 

The home crowd was loud and they cheered and why shouldn’t they? Their team hasn’t made the playoffs since Christ was a Cowboy and the Yanks have been kicking the Blue Jays’ asses for years now.

That doesn’t mean we have to like it. A hard, unpleasant end to their season come October is chief on my wish list for these playoffs.

In the meantime, the Yanks limp home. But, they are still in the lead for the Wildcard game. The division looks out of reach but as we all know, it ain’t over ’til it’s over.

Picture by Bags

You have to think funny tonight, even if you’re also sad, because we’ve got Yogi in our thoughts and in our conversations. That’s a pretty good guy to have on the brain, don’t you think?

So let’s hope the Yanks win this one cause that’s another thing Yogi was about–winning. When it counted. Hardly anybody did it more.

Who the hell knows what to expect from Ivan Nova tonight. He looked lost last time out and now he’s got to face the Gashouse Gorillas. I mean, it really could be a long night. Guess that’ll just give the announcers more time to talk about Yogi. Might be worth listening to John and Suzyn tonight, come to think of it. That’ll be boozy n schmoozy.

Never mind the eulogizing, (there’s a game to play):

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Fabrizio Raschetti]

R.I.P Yogi.

Here’s the obit I wrote for SI:

Yogi. It’s hard not to smile when you hear his name. You might think of his goofy mug, with the crooked smile that looked as if it had been ripped from the funny pages. Then there’s the oddly-shaped wrestler’s body—squat torso, long arms—that inspired his first Yankees manager to call him “the Ape.” And of course then there were the malapropisms, some authentic, others invented by sportswriters, which he delivered in a monotone sprinkled with the flat A’s of his Midwestern roots.

If anyone didn’t like Yogi Berra, it could only have been someone who played on the teams he helped beat so relentlessly for 19 seasons. Then again, many of his opponents and their fans echoed the sentiments of my father, whose love for the Brooklyn Dodgers was matched only by his hatred of the Yankees: Once, when I asked him if he hated Yogi, Dad looked at me with incredulity. “How can you hate Yogi?”

As Mickey Mantle said, “He was the guy who made the Yankees almost seem human.”

Photo Via: N.Y. Times

I was walking past Madison Square Garden last night when I looked in the window of a restaurant and saw Alex Rodriguez batting on a the giant screen TV inside. He popped out but the Yanks had a 2-0 lead. By the time I got home to the Bronx–following the action on my Gameday App and listening to the radio call–the Jays had tied it. (Severino pitched well.) I watched the game with The Wife, doing my best to behave in the face of what seemed like pending doom.

The home crowd cheered like nuts when Rodriguez whiffed with the bases loaded in the 7th. The Yanks went ahead the next inning on a solo home run by Carlos Beltran (which was similar–just not as long–as the one he belted as a pinch-hitter last time the Yanks were up north), and then Dellin Betances courted disaster in the bottom of the inning. With a  man on second and two out he walked Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista and went 2-0 to Edwin Encarnacion. And those two pitches to Encarnacion weren’t even close. Beatances looked shook (when did he turn into the ever-dramatic John Wetteland?). But he gathered himself and spotted a fastball right over the plate and then threw another one in the same spot–Encarnacion swung through it. Betances put his man away with a slider, well out of the zone–Encarnacion missed it by a couple of feet.

The Yanks had runners on the corner with nobody out in the 9th, primed for insurance, when Ellsbury hit a fly ball to right field. Medium deep, I’d say. Bautista caught the ball and then uncorked a strike to home plate where Chris Young was tagged out to complete the double play. Just a great play by Bautista. The Jays got out of the inning without giving up a run.

Which was pivotal when, with one out in the bottom for the 9th, Dioner Navarro launched a home run into the left field seats.

Bring the noise, Toronto.

Now, one thing you should know about The Wife. In the almost 14 years since we’ve been together she does not find self-pity arousing. I know this sounds crazy, but I’ve never been able to get any action by playing the sympathy card (curious, but women just don’t find it sexy). Now, I’m not saying she felt bad for me, but when the 9th inning ended and the game went into extra innings she turned to me and gave me a choice: baseball or bed.

Now, the disgust was starting to wash over me but I stopped myself right there–am I crazy?–and clicked the TV off and The Wife and I went and had some fun. When we were finished I turned the game back on to see what’d happened and there was Andrew Miller still pitching, 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th, the Yanks now leading 6-4. Turns out Greg Bird slapped a 2-2 change up just over the wall in right field for a 3-run home run. Encarnacion got a measure of revenge nailing a solo shot off Miller but Miller got the last word when he retired Navarro on a fly ball to left to end the game.

Say it like, John: Yankees win, Thhh-uuuuu Yankees Win!

Yanks turn to ‘Lil Luis to come up big. In his short time in the majors this’ll be Severino’s third start against the Blue Jays. Last one didn’t work out too well for him or the Bombers.

Here’s hoping he bounces back this evening.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Dustin Ackley 2B
Didi Gregorius SS

Never mind fretting:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

Yeah, he’s still really good. David Price handled the Yanks last night and a rough first inning for Adam Warren was more than enough to give the Jays a 4-2 win. Alex Rodriguez put together a good at bat against Price with one out and the bases loaded in the third but stuck out.

“I had some good pitches to hit, fouled them off, and when you get your pitch, you can’t foul them off that many times,” Rodriguez told reporters after the game.

In the eighth, with two men on and one out (Brett Gardner, called out on a questionable third strike), Rodriguez whiffed again.

These games against the Jays have a very 1985 feel to them.

Fortunately, the wildcard exists to give the Yanks hope.

Who needs a preview? We know it’s David Price vs. Adam Warren. We know the Yanks need to go up to Toronto and sweep the Jays.

We know we’ll be root, root, rooting our asses off.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Chase Headley 3B
Greg Bird 1B
Didi Gregorius SS
Dustin Ackley 2B

Never mind the autumn chill:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

C.C. Sabathia gave up consecutive doubles to start the game last night. Both came on 0-2 pitches. I figured it was going to be a long night. Instead, that was the last run Sabathia allowed. He went six innings and kept his team in the game against Matt Harvey who was predictably stellar. Also predictable was that he didn’t last long. Harvey pitched 5 innings and left with a 1-0 lead. The favors did not stop as Chico’s Bail Bonds took over for the home team as the Mets kicked the ball around to the tune of 4 errors. A pair of 3-run home runs–Dustin Ackley, Greg Bird–helped put it out of reach as the Yanks pounded the Mets, 11-2.

Yanks gain a game on the Jays and win the season series against the Mets. Yeah, staying up late worked out last night.

Picture by Bags

And you thought tonight was going to be hype because of Matt Harvey. Well, the Jays lost this afternoon so this is a big one for the Yanks, no matter who starts for the Mets. Yanks win, they’ll go up to Toronto two-and-a-half out. (Regardless, they’ll be without their Ace.)

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Dustin Ackley 2B
Didi Gregorius SS
CC Sabathia SP

Never mind counting sheep:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

Two home runs and a gang of pitchers gave the Yanks a 5-0 win over the Mets on Saturday in Queens. The first home run, a 3-run jammie, came from Carlos Beltran in the first inning; the other one came in the sixth, courtesy of Brain McCann.

Joe Girardi earned his paycheck and got his win. Thor was impressive and the Mets threatened a few times but they never scored.

Even better, the Red Sox rallied in the 9th then survived a Jose Bautista home run to beat the Jays. I watched it and found myself cheering David Ortiz. That was weird.

Sox and Jays are currently tied at 3 this afternoon. They’re in the 7th now.

Let’s Go Bo-Sox!

Picture by Bags

I went upstate last night to hang with my niece and nephew–my bro’s family–so I missed the game. Mercifully, it turns out. I checked the score on my phone, of course, but turned it off when it was clear this was going to be another hard-luck loss for the Yanks and another hard-earned, well-played, fortuitous win for the Mets.

The Hell you want to sit through that for? Okay, I came back later to see how it ended–more pain. But I wasn’t going to let the Yankees’ misfortune get in the way of our good time so I let it go at: Fey.

Anyhow, I’ll be watching the game this afternoon, root, root, rooting for the visitors. It’s all about Big Mike. That dude shows up, I like the Yankees’ chances. If he’s not, we’re looking at the Yankees’ getting their asses swept. Go up to Toronto DOA and oy fuggin’ veh. Maybe Jacoby can show up to play, hah? And maybe Bird gets into one. How bout you, Headley?

Thor is not untouchable but he’s also no joke. The kid can dial it up.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Dustin Ackley 2B
Didi Gregorius SS
Michael Pineda SP

Never mind the open sores:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

The Yanks turn to their ace, Masahiro Tanaka tonight in Queens.

Never mind the hype:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

Dellin Betances doesn’t have the fine control he had last year. He’s still tough though. Dude came in the game in the 7th inning with nobody on and two out and walked the bases loaded. Gasp. Then, he struck James Loney out on 3 perfect pitches–breaking ball, fastball (pea at the knees, inside corner), breaking ball in the dirt (swinging). Tuesday’s hero, Nick Franklin couldn’t get a bunt down against Betances with a man on and nobody out in the 8th. He popped the pitch up–it was caught and the runner nailed off first. And that was the last moment of tension for the visitors. Greg Bird hit a moon shot in the 9th to push the Yankees’ lead to 3-1 and Andrew Miller struck out the side to end the game.

Yanks have the day off and then visit Citifield this weekend, followed by 3 in Toronto.

Onward. 

[Photo Credit: Daniel Shea via MPD]

Chris Archer pitches well against the Yanks. Last time, they got the better of him, late in the game. I’m sure he’ll be on point tonight. Let’s hope Luis Severino matches him.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Dustin Ackley 2B

Never mind the dome:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

Nothing is a lock. The Yanks making the playoffs is not a lock. They keep losing games like last night–not enough hitting, not enough pitching–and they can easily find themselves missing the wildcard altogether.

They’ve got to deal with Chris Archer tonight–good luck–and then the Mets and Blue Jays. Yup, it’s not hard to imagine the Yanks missing the playoffs if they don’t get their shit together.

Picture via This Isn’t Happiness

Yeah, the Rays can’t hit but they’ve got a pair of tough pitchers the next couple of nights.

Adam Warren goes for the Yanks.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B

Never mind the nonsense:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Picture via the Always Awesome This Isn’t Happiness]

The Yankees didn’t get their first hit until the top of the 8th inning last night so you can imagine how we felt round these parts. In the words of Bob Gibson, “shitfuckpiss” about summed up the mood. No-hit by Erasmo Ramirez, believe it. Never mind the fine performance C.C. Sabathia delivered–one of his best of the year–this was pitiful. Or was it unlucky? The Yanks hit the ball hard, it found gloves. But our frustration was real. And it deepened when the Rays scratched together a run in the bottom of the 8th.

It peaked in the 9th after Dustin Ackley singled and then the slumping Jacoby Ellsbury hit the first pitch right at the first baseman who started a double play.

Worst loss of the year, I thought, though I didn’t say it out loud because I say that roughly a dozen times each season and the effect seems to be lost on The Wife. Self-pity doesn’t get me anywhere with the woman.

But there it was, a sure candidate for worst loss of the year. Then Brett Gardner walked and stole second. He came round to tie the game when Alex Rodriguez pounded a line drive to right center field, good for a double.

I got my ass off the couch, threw my fists around in the air like a spaz and clapped loud enough to clear the room of all cats.

Brain McCann was walked intentionally and then Slade Heathcott–who’d come in as a pinch-runner for Carlos Beltran in the 8th–swung at the first pitch he saw, a high fastball out over the plate. He hit it to left field and it kept going until it landed in the first row, a 3-run home run. Now, I was up again, and yelled loud enough to make my throat scratchy the rest of the night.

To celebrate improbable 4-1 win? It was worth it.

[Photo Credit: Brian Blanco/Getty Images]

Yanks are in Tampa for 3 vs. the Rays. The Trop has not been kind to our boys in recent years. Let’s hope that changes starting now.

It’s ol’ CC on the bump.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Brendan Ryan 2B

Never mind the catwalks:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Ian Hughes via This Isn’t Happiness]

I was at the barber shop this afternoon waiting to get my haircut when the game started. There are two big screen TVs at the barber shop and I watched the first couple of innings of the Yankee game with the other men. There were three barbers working and four guys waiting including a dude with a Mets shirt who said he was a Yankee fan.

There were two guys ahead of me which made me impatient. I wondered how the Jays were going to humiliate the Yanks today when Kevin Pillar answered my question with a diving catch to rob Carlos Beltan of a double in the first inning. By the time I got in the chair for a haircut the Yanks scored a run on a sacrifice fly with one out and now Didi Gregarious hit a fly ball to medium-shallow center. It didn’t look deep enough to score Alex Rodriguez from third but as soon as Pillar caught the ball Rodriguez tagged.

A sprint. An exercise Rodriguez has done thousands of times in his life. But now he’s an old man and he doesn’t have many of these left. He’s still a large, athletic man and he ran with his head down as fast as he could. Rodriguez slid head first into home, hands stretched out ahead of him, before the tag arrived, and he was safe.

He let out a whoop and everyone in the barber shop laughed and smiled. Those who’d missed it now looked at the replays. All of the barbers stopped cutting and watched. They smiled and laughed, then went back to what they were doing and didn’t talk again.

(In some ways, I bet Rodriguez will feel as good about that play as any all season–in all it was a memorable day for him).

I got home a few innings later, had lunch, then attended to the Sunday chores as Masahiro pitched 7 scoreless. There’s no doubt about it–Tanaka is the ace of this team and he pitched accordingly. There was no agita today as the Yanks beat the Jays without incident, 5-0. They’re 3.5 behind in the East, 3 ahead of Texas for the first Wildcard spot, 4 up in the Wildcard overall.

It was a weekend to forget but today’s win was a great relief.