Tagged: The Natural,

Yeah, The Yankees Are Old And Boring All Right

Here’s what happened in the seventh inning of the Bombers’ rousing 5-4 comeback over the Twins.
An inside-the-parker. Right. The Yankees, who’d been down 4-1, tacked on another run thanks to Gardner’s speed.
But let me rewind the tape.
Phil Hughes wasn’t impressive, and who knows what his status will be once Wang returns. But aside from serving up a couple of homers to Morneau, he kept the Yanks within striking distance.
Jeter put us on the board with a solo shot, but it was Gardner who electrified the crowd. And he was only in the game because Damon got tossed in the third for expressing his displeasure with the ump. I’d never seen Johnny get mad, but he was really steamed at Wally “I Need Lasik Surgery” Bell.
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He was dumb to let his emotions get the better of him – we needed his bat, plus he had a nice little hitting streak going for himself – but it all worked out just fine. Melky moved over to left and Brett the Jet took over in center, and both contributed mightily. More on that in a sec.
A-Rod made his debut at the new stadium and walked four times. And Teixeira eased out of his slump, going 2-for-3 with a walk. They’re about to become a very good 3-4 combo.
Speaking of Tex, he had a hissy when Carlos Gomez ran outside the lines to first – twice – nearly clipping his arm off. Words were exchanged, along with menacing faces.
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After effective relief appearances by Albaladejo, Bombko, Edwar and Veras (am I really typing these words?), it was the bottom of the ninth with the Yanks still down by two runs and Joe Nathan on the mound for the Twins. Insurmountable? Not for the surprisingly scrappy boys in pinstripes.
Gardner: triple
Tex: single (RBI)
A-Rod: walk
Cano: intentional walk
Melky: THIS
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Watch. (I can’t. I get too choked up, although I do enjoy the part where Morneau kicks dirt in the dugout.)
If there’s anything more thrilling than a walkoff something, I’d like to know what it is.
During my segment today on Greg Marotta’s sports talk radio show “The Natural,” I was defending the Yankees against the rap that they’re too corporate.

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And too old.
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And don’t have enough heart.
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All I can say is they looked plenty frisky tonight, and I loved it. They’ve come back against Baltimore, Toronto and now Minnesota this week. More, please.
P.S. Thanks to everyone who entered the Flip Video Contest. The photos are so much fun. I’ll be posting them next week and you can all vote to pick the winner of the cam!

The Yankees Play Big Ball While I Multi-Task

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Gardner stole a base and our bullpen atoned for yesterday’s debacle, but today’s 6-5 victory over the Indians was all about home runs. It seemed as if everybody except the hot dog vendors went deep.
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And driving in the winning run was, of course, the Captain.
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Wasn’t I just saying the other day that he was as clutch as ever?
Joba wasn’t sharp or efficient, but he wasn’t cringe-worthy in the way that Cody Ransom has become cringe-worthy. Whenever C-Ran steps to the plate I do this.
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And how about that strikeout by Matsui when he came in to pinch hit for Ransom? Talk about a weak hack. I wish he could get a set of these. 
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During the top of the ninth, with Mo on the mound trying to preserve the Yankees’ one-run lead and me sitting on the living room couch watching the game, my phone rang. It was the producer of “The Natural,” the New Jersey-based sports talk radio show on which I’ll be a guest each week. He was letting me know that I was about to go on the air.
A dilemma ensued.
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Do I shut off the TV and leave Mo and the Yankees dangling, so I can focus on my radio gig and be coherent when speaking to a live audience? Or do I continue to follow the game while somehow doing the interview? I really didn’t want to miss the conclusion of Yankees-Indians. I also didn’t want to sound totally distracted and idiotic when my host, Greg Marotta, asked me questions. (I figured it wouldn’t be cool to go, “Hey, Greg. Can you wait a second? Mo is in his windup.”)
Guess what I decided to do?
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Right. I watched the game with the TV on mute and did the phone interview at the same time. If Greg noticed, he didn’t say anything – not even when Mo notched that final strikeout of DeRosa and I blurted out, in the middle of a comment about AJ Burnett, “Oh, wow! The Yankees just won! Woohoo!”
Remarkably, as of this writing, I still have my gig.