It Was Good to Be Back, To See Yankees Win

No, I don't know why the image was reversed.

Yesterday, for the 1st time in 529 days -- since January 6, 2020, a period that included the COVID-19 protocols, recovery from my 1st hip replacement surgery, and the most contentious Presidential election (and Presidential election aftermath) in American history -- I set foot in New York City.

And for the 1st time in 729 days -- since June 23, 2019, an Old-Timers Day followed by a nasty loss to the cheating Houston Astros -- I set foot in Yankee Stadium.

Dear God, was it good to be back -- and that was before I saw the game, which turned out to be a doozy. A doozy that a lot of people chose to miss: Despite all restrictions being lifted, only 23,985 fans came out to see it, a few hundred less than the previous night's "Re-Opening Day."

From my seat in Section 213, behind 1st base, I saw Domingo German start for the Yankees against the Oakland Athletics. For the 1st 4 innings, he didn't pitch badly, although he allowed home runs to Tony Kemp in the 1st inning and Matt Chapman in the 4th. But he allowed 2 more runs in the 5th, and it looked like too much for the recently quiet Yankee bats to overcome.

Nestor Cortes finished the 5th, and pitched the 6th and the 7th, without allowing any runs. Chad Green did so in the 8th. Strong efforts.

But the Yankees needed runs. Over the 1st 3 innings, they got none. But Aaron Judge led off the bottom of the 4th with a single, and advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch. Gary Sanchez flew out, but Giancarlo Stanton drew a walk. Gleyber Torres popped up, and it looked like a wasted opportunity. But Gio Urshela singled Judge home, and the Yankees were on the board. Rougned Odor struck out, so the 1 run was all they got.

They wasted a leadoff double by Clint Frazier in the 5th. But Gary Sanchez led off the 6th with a home run, to cut the deficit to 4-2. Again in the 7th, Frazier led off with a double. But a Brett Gardner popup and a DJ LeMahieu groundout made it look like this would be wasted, too. Not this time: Judge singled Frazier home. Sanchez drew a walk, and Stanton singled home Judge to tie it.

Urshela led off the 8th with a no-doubt-about-it home run to center field. Chad Gittens pinch-hit for Odor, and drew a walk. Tyler Wade pinch-ran for him, and took over at 2nd base for Odor in the 9th. Frazier walked. Gardner got a bunt down to advance the runners. And LeMahieu singled them home. 7-4.

Aroldis Chapman did what he usually does: Made the game a little too interesting before getting serious. He struck out Elvis Andrus. Then he threw what should have been a called strike 3 to Mark Canha, but home plate umpire Sean Barber called it ball 4.

Barber's strike zone had been all over the place, all game long. This was after the Yankees had swept the Toronto Blue Jays despite atrocious ball-and-strike calls in all 3 games. Finally, Aaron Boone decided enough was enough. He came out of the dugout, and told Barber what was on his mind. What was on Barber's mind was... not much. Except, "You're outta here!" He threw Boone out of the game.

Aside from the game's final pitch, seeing Boone stand up for his players got the biggest cheer of the game, even more so than the Sanchez and Urshela home runs. 

Jed Lowrie flew out to right. But Matt Olson singled, and Ramon Laureano singled home a run. Now, it was a 2-run game, with the tying and go-ahead runs on base.

The batter was Matt Chapman. No relation to Aroldis, a black Cuban to Matt's white native of the Los Angeles suburbs. Aroldis fanned him on a 103 mile-per-hour pitch, the fastest in the major leagues in 2 years.

Yankees 7, Athletics 5. WP: Green (2-4). SV: Chapman (15). LP: Jesus Luzardo (2-4).

The series concludes this afternoon. Jordan Montgomery starts against Sean Manaea.