Bronx Banter

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 20 hours ago
Bonzone vs a Rookie tonight in Seattle. There was no sun in New York today, just rain and wind. Anyhow, here's a nice picture to look at... ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 5 days ago
"I don't care how it looks," Derek Jeter said. "I'll take an ugly win over playing well and losing." (Kepner, New York Times) ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 8 hours ago
I've never been to Safeco Park, as I mentioned yesterday, but it is an easy ball park to romanticize. More than anything, it's the sound of the train that gets me. From my apartment in the Bronx I can both see and hear the subway in the disance. It is not an imposing sound, it is faint, but it is always there and I find it comforting. ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 20 hours ago
The Yankees called up Melky Cabrera before last night's game, but according to Pete Abe's article on Melky this morning, that had as much to do with the team's concern over Bobby Abreu having jammed his wrist sliding into second base on Thursday night as with Cabrera's performance over his three weeks with triple-A Scranton. ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 3 days ago
In 1954, the Yanks won 103 games but lost the pennant because the Indians were seemingly unstoppable. ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 6 days ago
Space is generally the most precious, sacred thing in the world for a New Yorker. You often don't get much of it, but even a couple of feet can feel generous when you are on a crowded subway car. Stand on any busy avenue and wait for the light to change. The traffic shoots by and then suddenly, for a break of fifteen to twenty seconds, the avenue is clear, almost deserted and you've got space to breath, space to move. ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 3 days ago
The Yankees jumped out to an early lead on Edwin Jackson and the Rays last night. After four innings, the score stood at 6-3 Yankees, but the next four frames went by without another tally. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Bobby Abreu worked Troy Percival for a 12-pitch walk, fouling of six full-count offerings before taking ball four. Abreu then stole second on Percival's 0-2 pitch to Alex Rodriguez, which was a ball. Rodriguez fouled off the 1-2 pitch, took ball two, then crushed a pitch down the left-field line that sailed over the foul pole. ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 3 days ago
Richie talks about how hard it was not to root for the Giants when he was working the visiting team dugout at the Polo Grounds: ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 3 days ago
I Kid, I'm a Kidder... ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 20 hours ago
Two outs, top of the eighth. Brandon Morrow, the Mariner's young right hander, was throwing a no-hitter against the Yanks. Hideki Matsui was on first, having drawn a walk, the third of the night against Morrow, who simply overwhelmed the Yankee offense with a live fastball and a tough breaking ball. Joe Girardi sent up Wilson Betemit, who hasn't been seen much in recent weeks, and Betemit quickly fell behind in the count. But then he ripped a line drive to right field for a double and the no-hitter vanished. Matsui scored and suddenly the Yanks were in the game, trailing just 3-1. In the ninth, Derek Jeter led off with a single against J.J. Putz, pronounced "Puts."* Bobby Abreu had a nice at-bat, working the count full, and then hit the ball hard to left center field. But the ball was tracked down and caught for the first out. Alex Rodriguez swung at the first pitch and hit a hard ground ball up the middle that was snagged and he was thrown out at first. Finally, Jason Giambi popped a ball close to the stands around third base, which Adrian Beltre snagged for the final out. ...

Source: www.baseballtoaster.com --- 2 days ago
It was nice to see the Yankees take two of three from the division leading Rays. It was nice to see them score 33 runs in their last four games. Unfortunately, neither really means much. They Rays still have a double-digit lead on Bombers, and the Red Sox are still 7.5 games ahead of them in the Wild Card chase, now with just 22 games left in the regular season. ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 3 days ago
I've souped-up a series of exclusive Bronx Banter takes on thesummer gatheringof the New York Giants Nostalgia Society. They are intended to be little nuggets of Noo Yawk Lovliness. ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 2 days ago
It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 3 days ago
By Greg W. Prince ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 3 days ago
My grand father was a circumspect, bookish man who believed that actively rooting for a sporting team was an essentially foolish activity, a waste of time. At least the impression I always got. He was the most passive fan you could imagine but he was a Giant fan because the Giants were New York's team when he was growing up. My father, hot-tempered and emotional, took after his mom's side of the family and rooted for the Dodgers, even though he was raised in Washington Heights. He was ten when Jackie Robinson joined the team, and liked to tell me that he was second to none as a Jackie Robinson fan. I heard the names Pee Wee and Pete Reiser and Cookie Wookie Lavagetto as a kid but I never heard about any of the Giants, other than Willie Mays. ...

Source: www.baseballtoaster.com --- 3 days ago
Perry Barber has umped fantasy camps and spring training games for years. This past winter, she worked home plate for a Mets-Cards exhibition, part of the first all-female umpiring crew to work a big league game. ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 4 days ago
Going, going... ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 4 days ago
Joe Girardi got some heat for taking Carl Pavano out of his last start after just 72 pitches despite the fact that Pavano had allowed just one run on three hits through six innings. I had no problem with it. The Yankees had a slim one-run lead, the one run Pavano gave up came in the sixth, he'd only struck out one batter, and the Blue Jays had been hitting the ball hard but right at the Yankee fielders all night. The Yankees won the game 2-1, but that didn't seem to take much heat off the Yankee manager. ...

Source: www.baseballtoaster.com --- 4 days ago
Thanks to the tireless word machine better known as Joe Pos, I caught up with Nick Dawidoff's recent feature on Johnny Mac for the New York Times Magazine. ...

Source: bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com --- 4 days ago
Alex Rodriguez is now tied for 12th on the all-time home run list with some dude named Michael JackSchmidt. Rodriguez has 1,588 RBI in his career. He's scored 1,591 runs. He may in fact be the most frustrating great player we've ever watched but there is no denying that he's great. ...