It's like New Year's Eve in the neighborhood right now... because the New York Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 2, to earn their 27th World Series Championship! CONGRATULATIONS to the greatest franchise in sports history!...
Posted in Notablog on November 5, 2009 12:02 AM
Last night, the New York Yankees won their 40th American League Championship Pennant, beating the LA Angels of Anaheim four games to two. The World Series opens in Da Bronx on Wednesday, October 28th against the Philadelphia Phillies. Yuck. I...
Posted in Notablog on October 26, 2009 11:57 AM
My favorite Yankee player just broke the all-time franchise hit record, held by the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig, for the past 72 years. Derek Jeter's single in the third inning---his 2,722nd lifetime hit---pulled him ahead of Gehrig, for the lead...
Posted in Notablog on September 12, 2009 01:12 AM
The Mets and the Yankees ended the 2008 season on losing notes yesterday; the Mets closed Shea Stadium to make way for the 2009 opening of Citi Field with a devastating loss to the Florida Marlins for the second straight...
Posted in Notablog on September 29, 2008 07:55 AM
Readers of Notablog know that I am a fanatic when it comes to the New York Yankees. Tonight, the 85-year old Yankee Stadium, "the House that Ruth Built," hosts the final regular season baseball game of its storied history. The...
Posted in Notablog on September 21, 2008 12:05 PM
Yankee fans have little to cheer this year; the team ain't gonna make the postseason, and the Ol' Stadium is being torn down at the end of the season, as a new one opens across the street for the 2009...
Posted in Notablog on September 17, 2008 06:50 AM
Thank goodness for DVR... 'cause some of us just keep fighting to stay awake for some of these events that seem to go on and on all night! Nevertheless, it was an event worth watching, if only because the 2008...
Posted in Notablog on July 16, 2008 10:27 AM
I was very deeply saddened by the loss of Bobby Murcer, a long-time Yankees player and broadcaster, and all-around-good-guy. Murcer had been battling cancer for quite a while, and his fans, and I count myself among them, were rooting for...
Posted in Notablog on July 13, 2008 09:54 PM
WPIX-TV, Channel 11 in New York City, celebrates its 60th birthday today. It was on this day in 1948 that the station began transmitting. This is a station that I grew up watching: Officer Joe Bolton, Jack McCarthy, Chuck McCann,...
Posted in Notablog on June 15, 2008 08:20 AM
Today marks the last Opening Day at the Old Yankee Stadium. Next year, a new ballpark opens across the street from the field of dreams. And in another week, Shea Stadium will have its last Opening Day, as the Mets...
Posted in Notablog on March 31, 2008 09:25 AM
There is a 50% chance for rain in the Big Apple, but it's all sunshine in Giants land today. The Giants parade up the "Canyon of Heroes" begins at 11 a.m. in celebration of their improbable victory over the New...
Posted in Notablog on February 5, 2008 09:15 AM
Many Yankee fans thought for sure that beloved Don Mattingly would become the new manager of the New York Yankees. It turns out that Donnie Baseball is not to be in the Bronx, and former Yankees catcher Joe Girardi (who...
Posted in Notablog on October 30, 2007 07:00 AM
Congratulations to Red Sox Nation for their second World Series championship in the new century. Looks like the beginning of the last century ... Perhaps the Bosox will try to deal a death blow to their hated rivals, the New...
Posted in Notablog on October 29, 2007 07:05 AM
Changes happening... some permanent... let me note a few: o Deborah Kerr, whom I loved in such movies as "The King and I," "An Affair to Remember," and "Quo Vadis," passed away on Tuesday, October 16, 2007. o Joey Bishop,...
Posted in Notablog on October 19, 2007 08:00 PM
Holy Cow, indeed! After a miserable start to the season, the Yanks came roaring back and have clinched the Wild Card in the American League. Post-season starts next week! Stay tuned!...
Posted in Notablog on September 27, 2007 06:15 AM
I'm so behind in my reading of the New York Daily News that I just discovered that Elizabeth Weitzman referred to me in a recent column of hers, which continues a series of enlightening articles she's been writing on people's...
Posted in Notablog on August 20, 2007 07:11 AM
Over the past two days, two of the most memorable personalities of my youth passed away. Yesterday, I found out about the passing of Merv Griffin, who is known best today as the producer of long-running game shows, such as...
Posted in Notablog on August 14, 2007 07:45 PM
Spring Training is here, and that means that as the Yankees take Legends Field in Florida, Soap Opera takes Center Stage! The media has been all over the changing relationship between Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez and shortstop Derek Jeter....
Posted in Notablog on February 21, 2007 10:24 AM
Song of the Day: If You Go Away, words and music by Jacques Brel (English translation by Rod McKuen), speaks of a "summer day" ... which is precisely what I'd like right now. There's not too much to complain about...
Posted in Notablog on February 1, 2007 08:59 AM
Readers of Notablog know that I'm a huge New York Yankees fan and a big Derek Jeter fan, and let me just say that, with regard to yesterday's balloting for the American League Most Valuable Player Award, in which Jeter...
Posted in Notablog on November 22, 2006 05:51 AM
There's a long, long way to go, but yesterday the postseason started off with a bang for Yankee fans. The Yanks took the opener of their division series against the Detroit Tigers, 8-4. MVP candidate Derek Jeter was terrific, going...
Posted in Notablog on October 4, 2006 06:24 AM
The Mets have won the National League East for the first time in 18 years. And the Yanks have taken the American League East for the ninth straight year. (And after a 25-game hitting streak, Captain Clutch is an MVP...
Posted in Notablog on September 21, 2006 06:57 AM
Okay. Please put your rationality to the side. We're talking baseball fanaticism here. And the utility of good luck charms. And the disutility of curses! Last summer, I expressed jitters with regard to the newly proposed Yankee Stadium, which will...
Posted in Notablog on August 18, 2006 05:59 AM
Song of the Day: Thou Swell, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers, is a classic song, first heard in the 1927 Broadway musical, "A Connecticut Yankee." It was also heard in the 1943 revival (audio clip from that...
Posted in Notablog on July 8, 2006 12:05 AM
Tom Stone continues to post draft chapters on his all-time baseball teams. Yesterday, he posted on his selections for the Yankees All-Time Team, and I largely agree with all his choices. If Alex Rodriguez ever comes into his own at...
Posted in Notablog on June 18, 2006 08:26 AM
Notablog readers don't need to be reminded that Derek Jeter is one of my favorite Yankees of all time. Well, the Yanks are currently losing to the Kansas City Royals, 7-5; the game is in rain delay. But this much...
Posted in Notablog on May 26, 2006 10:43 PM
The New York Mets won their opener, 3-2, hosting the biggest Opening Day sellout crowd in their history at Shea Stadium, with 3B David Wright hitting an opposite field home run. And then, last night, the New York Yankees rocked...
Posted in Notablog on April 4, 2006 07:00 AM
The World Champion Chicago White Sox opened the 2006 baseball season with a win last night. Today, weather permitting, the New York Mets open their season at Shea Stadium, and the Yankees open their season on the road, in Oakland....
Posted in Notablog on April 3, 2006 07:31 AM
With a dismal forecast by the Groundhog, and the biggest snowfall in New York City history, with temperatures entering the 60s today, and dropping back down to the 20s tonight, we're not quite sure what season it is. But yesterday,...
Posted in Notablog on February 17, 2006 09:30 AM
I am only a casual football fan; my passion remains baseball, and I'm counting the days to February 14, 2006. Yes, it's Valentine's Day. But it's also when pitchers and catchers report to Yankee Spring Training Camp. As football goes,...
Posted in Notablog on January 6, 2006 09:50 AM
The whole freaking world is falling apart, I know. The Iraqi elections have emboldened a religious element with ties to Iran. Iran has a President who spouts anti-Semitic garbage, boasts about nuclear ambitions, and bans Western music. The Transit Worker's...
Posted in Notablog on December 21, 2005 07:11 AM
Song of the Day: Vogue features the words and music of the remixer and producer Shep Pettibone and pop icon Madonna, who recorded the song. This dance track, bathed in a pop-house beat, captures the once-underground phenomenon of "voguing." In...
Posted in Notablog on November 25, 2005 12:02 AM
Alex Rodriguez, third baseman for the NY Yankees, edged out Bosox DH David Ortiz to become the 2005 MVP of the American League. Read all about it here. As I expressed here, I'm somewhat ambivalent about A-Rod's MVP. He had...
Posted in Notablog on November 14, 2005 03:46 PM
Notablog readers know that Ron Guidry is one of my favorite Yankees of all-time (see here, for example). I was really sorry to see pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre leave the Bronx, but good news for the Yanks: Guidry has taken...
Posted in Notablog on November 5, 2005 12:35 PM
Well, it's little consolation for being knocked out of the postseason so quickly, but... the first of the postseason honors are coming in, and my favorite Yankee, shortstop and Captain of the team, Derek Jeter got his second straight Gold...
Posted in Notablog on November 1, 2005 09:55 PM
As readers of Notablog might recall, I indicated some weeks ago, in this essay that "we picked up a special Yankee uniform and matching cap" for Blondie because Halloween was "coming, after all, and she needed a new costume." Well,...
Posted in Notablog on October 31, 2005 08:39 AM
Patrick Giles was a writer. His articles appeared in the NY Times, Newsday, Interview, and so many other periodicals. I first met Patrick online on one of those contentious e-forums. We had a few things in common: We were both...
Posted in Notablog on October 25, 2005 06:50 PM
Yeah, yeah, I'm disappointed in the Yankees' loss last night to the Angels. The "Waitil Next Year!" refrain is starting to make me sound like an old Brooklyn Dodgers' fan. I could go on and on about why I think...
Posted in Notablog on October 11, 2005 09:05 AM
The 2005 baseball postseason is set: Of most interest to this New York fan, the Yankees are headed out West to play the Angels. (If the rumors are true, some NY baseball greats might be joining the Los Angeles Angels...
Posted in Notablog on October 3, 2005 08:44 AM
The New York Yankees win the Eastern Division of the American League, beating Boston today, and heading to the postseason for the 11th straight year. Lots more to follow. It's just great to achieve this AL title (and Boston is...
Posted in Notablog on October 1, 2005 04:51 PM
Last night, Alex Rodriguez set the Yankees' single-season club home-run record for right-handed hitters: he hit the 47th home-run of the season, eclipsing Joe DiMaggio's record 46 HRs. (And the Yanks have moved one game up, into sole possession of...
Posted in Notablog on September 29, 2005 08:20 AM
Readers of Notablog are familiar with the humanity inherent in my "Rose Petal Assumption," that is, the assumption that it is possible to find "one rose petal in a pile of manure." It makes for a wonderful way to bridge...
Posted in Notablog on September 24, 2005 10:15 AM
A few summers back, I was going through a particularly difficult period. Everything seemed to be going wrong on so many levels. The weather was miserable. My health wasn't too great. Friends and family were in distress over other life...
Posted in Notablog on September 20, 2005 11:08 AM
Okay, I'm not a total Comic Book Geek; I did score 82% "comic pure," which does not make me a Comic Book Geek by any stretch of the imagination. But clearly, there is still 18% "comic corruption" in my soul....
Posted in Notablog on September 14, 2005 09:41 AM
Song of the Day: Let's Get it Started is credited to six writers, including Jamie Gomez and Allan Pineda of the hip hop hybrid group known as Black Eyed Peas. It has become a rhythmic anthem of sorts in many...
Posted in Notablog on July 12, 2005 08:24 AM
From the very first moment that he took the field in 1995 to his full Rookie of the Year season in 1996, from his naming as MVP of the 2000 All-Star Game and 2000 World Series to his naming as...
Posted in Notablog on June 18, 2005 10:37 PM
I watched the whole YES Network press conference, with all those self-congratulating politicians, as the Yankee brass unveiled their plans for a new Stadium, this one a retro-design that harks back to the original 1923 cathedral of baseball. Okay, so...
Posted in Notablog on June 16, 2005 07:47 AM
Rather than clutter up previous Notablog posts (here, here, and here) with endless updates, I'm republishing today's SOLO HQ comments (from here) as a separate entry. This has been an interesting discussion for me, because I'm in the midst of...
Posted in Notablog on June 3, 2005 10:57 AM
Derek Jeter led the New York Yankees to a win over the Detroit Tigers, 4-2, with one of those classic catches that will be shown on sports highlight shows for eons ... along with his many other spectacular plays. Yanks...
Posted in Notablog on May 26, 2005 10:58 AM
Well, it was an enjoyable "Subway Series" between baseball's New York Yankees and New York Mets. Yanks took two of the three games at Shea Stadium, including the last one pitched by Pedro Martinez (formerly of Red Sox Nation). Though...
Posted in Notablog on May 24, 2005 08:59 AM
No, not Yogi Bear! Yogi BERRA! He turns 80 years young today. And his Yogi-isms still crack me up. Happy Birthday to a great Yankee! Comments welcome....
Posted in Notablog on May 12, 2005 09:32 AM
Some people, who admit to their own obsessions, have noted my obsession with baseball, and have wondered when I'm going to explain the sport's "dialectical significance," along with its "singular place in the fabric of liberty and of our nation’s...
Posted in Notablog on April 17, 2005 04:59 PM
I know, I know, it's still very early ... but that was fun. The Bosox tied the game in the 9th inning, and Derek Jeter came up in the bottom of the 9th, the Stadium bathed in spring sunlight, and...
Posted in Notablog on April 5, 2005 04:47 PM
Okay, we've got a long way to go. But it was still nice seeing pitcher Randy Johnson make his debut at The Stadium. It was still nice seeing shortstop, and Yankee captain, Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees beat...
Posted in Notablog on April 4, 2005 10:32 AM
Song of the Day: Take Me Out to the Ball Game, composed by Jack Norworth in 1908 (and re-fashioned in 1927), is a perennial baseball park favorite, and one of my all-time favorites too... because it reminds me of my...
Posted in Notablog on April 3, 2005 01:00 PM
Song of the Day: Give My Regards to Broadway, music and lyrics by that great Irish composer, George M. Cohan, was immortalized by another great Irishman, James Cagney, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of the composer in...
Posted in Notablog on March 17, 2005 06:33 AM
Yesterday, I posted the following comment on SOLO HQ, which is worth reproducing here at Notablog. It also elicited additional follow-up starting here and continuing here (with a response from me here about a television interview I gave back in...
Posted in Notablog on March 10, 2005 08:52 AM
In the world of games and sports, big congratulations to two winners today: Ken Jennings, who, after 66 appearances on "Jeopardy," has cumulative winnings of $2,197,000, making him the biggest game-show winner ever. And to former Yankee second baseman and...
Posted in Notablog on November 4, 2004 07:30 AM
I'm ecstatic over the results of yesterday's vote! Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter won his first Gold Glove! (See follow-up "Go Jeter!" comments at L&P.) As for that other race, the one in which President George W. Bush won four more...
Posted in Notablog on November 3, 2004 10:16 AM
Just a note to mark the passing, this past week, of the great baritone Opera singer, Robert Merrill, who, in addition to performing regularly at the Met, sang the National Anthem at Yankee Stadium for three decades. He died, apparently,...
Posted in Notablog on October 31, 2004 10:18 AM
I have some follow-up thoughts about the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry in today's L&P post: "The Fall Classic." Check out the comments too....
Posted in Notablog on October 22, 2004 09:43 AM
... it doesn't feel all that good. And what a loss it was for Yankee fans. But who am I to talk about losses? Not in the face of a history of enormous losses by the Boston Red Sox, who...
Posted in Notablog on October 21, 2004 08:36 AM
The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are tied at three games each in the American League Championship Series. The winner meets the National League champ in the World Series. Boston pitcher Curt Schilling was the big winner...
Posted in Notablog on October 20, 2004 09:53 AM
The Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, and advance to the American League Championship Series to face their long-time rivals, the Boston Red Sox. See my post at L&P: Here We Go Again.......
Posted in Notablog on October 9, 2004 09:33 PM
Whether the Yankees ultimately win or lose this division series with the Minnesota Twins, last night's game, for Yankee fans especially, was the quintessential example of October baseball. A thrilling, dramatic extra-inning game in Da Bronx, as Derek Jeter, Alex...
Posted in Notablog on October 7, 2004 07:29 AM
(Yes, #36: I neglected to take into account the two songs I picked on 9/11/04; so the titles have been corrected, and even the daily listing here has been corrected to reflect the change.) Song of the Day: Here Come...
Posted in Notablog on October 5, 2004 07:29 AM
In addition to some brief observations about the New York Yankees' post-season, I have some observations on another game: the game of politics. Check out my Liberty & Power (L&P) post on Kerry's growing affection for neoconservative foreign policy prescriptions:...
Posted in Notablog on October 4, 2004 12:25 PM
Congratulations to the New York Yankees, who won their 100th game of the season last night, along with the Eastern Division of the American League. The game was won on Bernie Williams' walk-off 2-run homer, the 241st home-run of the...
Posted in Notablog on October 2, 2004 01:40 PM