Play Ball

I knocked in the go-ahead winning run in our temple’s season opening softball game Sunday, striking another blow for almost-over-the-hill ballplayers. 

To be truthful, I shouldn’t really categorize my effort as a “blow.” And “knocking in” conveys the image of a powerful drive. What really happened is I came to bat with one out and runners at the corners (that’s first and third for those who don’t know baseball parlance). The circumstance called for situational hitting, so, being a decent switch hitter, I batted lefty as a ball hit to the right side has more of a chance of scoring the runner from third. 

I took a mighty swing (that part is true). The ball dribbled just to the right of the pitcher’s mound. In my youth, I might have run fast enough to beat the throw to first. Or at least make the play close. At 66, I made it about a third of the way down the line before giving up. I was out but the runner on third scored, the second of our runs in a 4-1 victory. 

Between innings the umpire mentioned he considered calling me out for an illegal swinging bunt. He didn’t. Perhaps he had pity on me. I was, after all, older than him. 

Now that the major league baseball season has started I am back to my normal after-dinner cleanup routine. Normal, that is, when the NY Yankees are playing night games. As I wash the pots and pans I listen to the game on television.

Last Friday the Yanks were tailing the Boston Red Sox 3-0 early. I turned off the TV. Gilda asked why. I said I was not into self-inflicted torture, which watching the Yankees this year seems to be almost a certainty. Before going to bed around 11 I checked my iPhone to see the score. It was 3-2, the Yanks coming to bat in the bottom of the ninth. As Gilda was trying to go to sleep I put the set on mute and watched the futility until, until, until Chase Headley hit a game-tying home run to send the game into extra innings. 

I wasn’t tired so I kept watching, and watching and watching as inning after inning prolonged the contest. I stayed up through a 15 minute power failure at Yankee Stadium. In the 16th inning David Ortiz hit a solo home run for Boston. In the bottom of the 16th Mark Teixeira tied it with a home run. Gilda woke up, saw the TV was still on, asked what was happening, and went back to sleep. She woke up again after the 18th inning to learn Boston had once again gone ahead by a run and the Yankees had tied it up for a third time in their half of the inning. 

In the 19th inning Boston scored again while the Yanks did not. A game I had turned off around 8 pm Friday had lasted until 2:16 am Saturday. I had watched the last three hours and 16 minutes in silence. And self-inflicted torture.

Yankee Decision Time

Barring a physical setback, Alex Rodriguez probably will return to the NY Yankees’ active 25-man roster this week. Aside from giving the Bronx Bombers a hoped-for power surge, A-Rod’s return will give the team a major migraine as it tries to figure out a new batting order and, more sensitively, who will be demoted to make room for the slugger.

The decisions could mean the immediate end of 39-year-old Jorge Posada’s career as a Yankee, even after his career-day Saturday when he hit a grand slam and knocked in a total of six runs. Or the team could finagle the roster to reward Posada for his 16 years of service by keeping him active and sending down to the minors, or to the 15-day disabled list, a pitcher until baseball rosters can be expanded to 40 on September 1. Either way, based on his .237 batting average this year, which follows a .248 mark a year ago, it seems all but certain this is Jorge’s last year as a player in Yankee pinstripes.

Without Rodriguez in the lineup the Yanks have fared well. Their revamped batting order featuring Curtis Granderson in the three hole, followed by Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano, has proven quite potent. With A-Rod expected to return to the cleanup spot, the question becomes, where to put Granderson who is having an MVP-type year. He is tied for the major league lead in home runs, is first in runs scored and is second in runs batted in. He has shown he can hit lefties this season, thus negating a reason to have the switch-hitting Teixeira bat third.

Earlier this year manager Joe Girardi had to contend with questions about Derek Jeter’s spot in the batting order. Lucky for him (and the team), Jeter emerged from his funk when he returned from the DL, so leading off or batting second behind Brett Gardner is not a question anymore for the team captain.

Girardi has to deal with sensitive egos. In my mind he has two options. First, assuming he can talk A-Rod into it, he should bat him sixth against right-handed pitchers until he has proven his swing is back. Once that happens, Rodriguez and Teixeira should flip-flop. In other words, the batting order at the outset against righties should be: Gardner, Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Cano, Rodriguez, Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, Russell Martin. (Against lefties it would always be Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Cano, Swisher, Martin, Eduardo Nunez or Andruw Jones, Gardner.)

That’s the easy part of the A-Rod is back equation. Who gets jettisoned is much harder. I have a soft spot for Posada. I know baseball is a what-have-you-done-lately-for-me business. For the season, Posada has been mostly missing in action. But I’m not ready to discard one-third of the remaining core three players from the last five Yankee championships. Girardi stuck with Jeter during the first half and he’s supporting Mariano Rivera during his recent hiccups. My heart wants the Yanks not to disrespect Posada by releasing him.

That leaves a pitching reduction as the more probable option. I’m already on record as wanting to get rid of A.J. Burnett, but that’s not happening, unless they can convince him to go on the DL. As much as I have no confidence in him, Burnett is insurance should one of the other starting pitchers suffer a physical setback, as Freddy Garcia just did by cutting a finger and being unable to pitch his next start. Most probably management will return Hector Noesi to the minors until the September call-up. That could mean Hughes pitches out of the bullpen, reprising the Joba Chamberlain he’s-a-reliever-no-he’s-a-starter-no-he’s-a-reliever scenario that benefited no one. It’s not optimal, but it’s only a short-term assignment.

Yogi Berra once said, "Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical." Now that the Yanks are more physically fit with A-Rod’s pending return, their season will depend on how well they handle the mental part of the game.

There is one other option in the Posada predicament. A proud man, he could decide there’s no better way to end his Yankee career than with Saturday’s mega-day. After reliving it in his mind for more than 36 hours, he could choose to retire in dignity rather than the ignominy that surely will be attached to the rest of this season should he continue to play, or more probably, sit most days on the bench. Why not go out on top of the world, just like Ted Williams did by smashing a home run in his last time up?

Sure, Posada’s bat probably has more hits left in it. But it has far too many outs as well. Let Yankee fans remember the Posada of Saturday when they gave him a standing ovation curtain call following his bases-clearing blast. Let him announce his retirement prior to tonight’s game. It will show him to be the ultimate team player. In return, the Yankees could show their class by immediately naming him a coach for the rest of the season.

Baby, It's Cold Outside, But Let's Play Ball

Baseball season officially started today and with it came the regrettable return of an annual staple of the national pasttime—articles about the cold conditions in ballparks in the northern portion of the country.

Why do ballplayers and sportswriters make a big deal about the weather at the start of the season? Yes, it’s cold and often damp. But is it any different than weather in the fall, and isn’t it the point of the first 162 games to determine who will play in chilly, windy October when the championship is on the line?

So please, spare us all those stories. The only people who have a right to complain are the fans in the stands who must endure pseudo-frostbite conditions in March and April (while players sit on heated benches and can retreat into heated locker rooms between innings) for what too often are casual games. The results may be just as important statistically as late September contests, but it’s hard to convince most people early season games are the same as pennant race games. Maybe it’s residual heat left over from the summer, but it just seems fans are warmer in October than they are in March/April, even if the temperature is the same.

Now to highlights of the Yankees-Tigers Game, a 6-3 New York victory:

Derek Jeter’s contribution to the dialogue (let’s not call it a debate) about his efficiency as a shortstop showed up in the second inning when he failed to corral a hot shot to his left by Victor Martinez. It was ruled a hit, but Jeter’s inability to snare the one hopper and turn a double play set up the Tigers for their first run. On the other hand, Jeter later made one of his signature plays to his right, going deep in the hole, jumping in the air while turning to throw a strike to Robinson Cano to force a runner at second;

The Yanks weren’t sure Curtis Granderson would be healthy enough to be on the opening day roster. They’re glad he was as he played an all-star caliber game. The center fielder made a diving catch in the first inning, an over-the-head grab in the ninth, and a game-winning, lead-off, second-deck home run in the seventh. It was Granderson’s third consecutive opening day homer, the last two with the Yanks, the first with the Tigers;

A perennial slow starter, Mark Teixeira hit a three-run home run. Yanks are hoping Tex will not go into his typical April-May slump;

Teixeira’s blast gave C.C. Sabathia a 2-run lead but twice he couldn’t shut down Detroit, allowing the Tigers to tie the score before he was forced to retire from the mound after the sixth inning because of a high pitch count. Last year C.C. had trouble protecting multiple-run leads;

Russell Martin made an auspicious start as the new Yankee catcher. He had a hit and showed speed on the base paths by stealing third base and in a later inning scoring his second run tagging up from third on a shallow line drive by Jeter;

Cano won a Gold Glove award last year but made a senseless error covering first base on a bunt attempt, the miscue eventually allowing the Tigers to score their third run that tied the score and denied Sabathia a shot at a win;

The Yankees bullpen may well determine how far the team goes this year. Today it was spotless. Joba Chamberlain, Rafael Soriano and Mariano Rivera pitched no-hit ball in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings. It’s a long season. But today was exactly what the manager ordered;

Is baseball, or at least the Yankees, on an austerity program? In years’ past at the end of every half-inning the player catching the ball would throw it into the stands. But several times I thought I saw players bringing the ball back to the dugout.

(Editor's note: Don't worry. I won't be chronicling every Yankees game this year.)

Random Thoughts

Less for More: The Commerce Department reported this morning retail sales rose 0.4% in August, a better than expected showing, indicating consumer spending and the economy might be firmer than originally thought. Among the sectors of the retail industry said to be doing well are dollar stores, department stores and warehouse clubs.

I can vouch for the warehouse clubs. I’m a big Costco shopper, but I did notice one troubling change in the retailer’s merchandise offering. In case you’re not aware of it, bathroom tissue—toilet paper, in the more common vernacular—is among the best sellers at Costco. A bundle of Charmin Ultra Soft contains 30 rolls. But the Charmin rolls now being sold are just 173.2 sq. ft. long, down 7.6% from the 187.5 sq. ft. of two months ago. The price, however, has not gone down. It’s gone up, by 50 cents (2.6%) to $19.99.

Costco is not alone in practicing a strategy of reduced content. Indeed, it’s most often the supplier that makes the decision to package less product (e.g., that 13 oz. can of Maxwell House coffee is history; it now holds just 11.5 oz.). Some companies are honest enough to reduce the container, thus alerting the buyer to the switch. Most, however, just give you less for your money. They usually couch their actions by claiming less product is preferable to higher shelf prices.

Of course it’s a bogus claim, since the actual price per unit goes up. They just assume most consumers will be too dumb or indifferent to notice their wallets are being wiped clean.


Sports Break: There’s no better way to watch a football game than to pre-record it. You can zip through commercials and, more importantly, minimize the air time of the inane announcers (this also works for baseball games. Just remember to record the show following any game as extra innings, overtime, or just slow execution usually means the game runs longer than the allotted broadcast time. You don’t want to miss out on that, hopefully, exciting finish).

When I began following football in the early 1960s, I used to watch the NY Giants on TV with the sound off (sorry Chris Schenkel) while listening to the radio broadcast of the game. Marty Glickman did the WNEW Radio play by play, Al DeRogatis the color commentary. DeRo analyzed the action and often predicted what the next play would be. One of the worst losses in Giants football history was the day in 1968 NBC tapped DeRogatis as the color analyst for its national broadcasts.

It’s generally agreed football is more action-packed than baseball. Each game takes roughly three hours to complete. Yet, if you do a time and motion study of the average nine inning baseball game and four quarter football game, they contain about the same amount of real playing time, about 15 minutes. That’s leaves about two hours and forty-five minutes spent thinking about what pitch to throw, meeting in the huddle, television timeouts for commercials, and changes of sides each half inning and football quarter.

In other words, you can save about two hours of your life by recording a baseball or football game and watching it later. As long as you keep yourself in a media blackout, your pleasure will be sustained. During last year’s World Series, I set the DVR to record Game 3 and told my dinner companions I was on a media blackout. One of them didn’t hear, as she cheerfully informed me on the drive home she just checked her Blackberry and the Yankees were winning 6-2 (on the way to an 8-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies). Needless to say, I was more than a little upset. But at least the Yanks were winning.

I’m not too sure about this year. After the Yanks’ fourth straight loss (and third walk-off loss during this road trip) and their displacement from first place by the Tampa Bay Rays, I’m not too confident about their chances in the post-season. They just don’t seem to be a team of destiny this year. Suspect starting pitching and nagging injuries might do them in. Plus, their batters seem to go through sustained cold spells. After being super in August, Mark Teixeira is back to his early season funk. Derek Jeter is decidedly not Derek Jeter these last two months. And Robinson Cano has lost his batting eye discipline.

Getting back to football, I thought the Giants-Carolina Panthers game was as professional as watching two junior varsity teams play. It’s a long season. Hopefully Giants receivers will hold onto more balls and the offensive line and running backs will show more life. The defense, however, looked decent. But they were going up against a less than great quarterback. This Sunday against Peyton Manning will be more instructive.


Evidence suggests that hummingbirds have returned to White Plains. But I’ve yet to have a sighting.

White Plains is a stopover on their migration south for the winter, so I put out the red liquid food in late August. The nectar keeps dropping in the bottle, but so far not one hummingbird has chosen to hover when I’m around.

I’m getting lots of other birds dropping by the birdseed feeders even though I stopped the handouts about two months ago when coyotes started prowling the neighborhood. About 5 am I heard one or more coyotes howling (don’t ask why I was up at such an ungodly hour).