Yankees Shouldn't Have Had That Much Trouble vs. Rockies

The Colorado Rockies started the season 8-42. They were on pace to be worse than last year's Chicago White Sox, worse than the 1962 New York Mets, worse than any team since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders.

And now, the Yankees were coming into Coors Field on Friday night, to start a 3-game series, with their bats, swinging at altitude.

A funny thing happened on the road to utter annihilation... 

On Friday night, in the top of the 1st inning, Aaron Judge singled, and Paul Goldschmidt tripled him home. Judge hit a home run in the top of the 5th.

But those 3 runs weren't enough for Clarke Schmidt. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. In the bottom of the 4th, he gave up a walk, a wild pitch and a single for a run. He got the 1st 2 outs in the 5th, needing only 1 more out to qualify as the winning pitcher, and gave up 2 singles and a double, and fell behind 3-2.

Judge got 2 hits on the night. The rest of the Yankees combined, 3. Rockies 3, Yankees 2. It was the most embarrassing Yankee loss since... Game 5 of last year's World Series.

*

A response was needed on Saturday afternoon. It came. Judge homered in the 1st. It looked like all Max Fried would need, but not quite: He allowed 1 run in 7 1/3rd innings.

It was in the top of the 5th that the Rockies resembled the team that had lost 42 of its 1st 50 games. Austin Wells hit a leadoff single, Oswald Peraza doubled to score Wells, Goldschmidt drew a walk, Trent Grisham reached on an error to score Peraza, Judge was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up the double play (or the play at any base), Cody Bellinger hit a sacrifice fly to score Goldschmidt, Anthony Volpe singled home Grisham, Jasson Domínguez hit a sacrifice fly to score Judge, DJ LeMahieu singled, Wells doubled home Volpe and LeMahieu, Peraza walked, Goldschmidt singled Wells home, and Grisham doubled Peraza and Goldschmidt home, before Judge struck out to end the carnage. That's 10 runs, 7 hits, 2 walks, and an error. 

The Yankees added 2 more runs in the 8th, to make it 13-1. Too bad they couldn't take 2 of those runs and transfer them to the night before, to make it a 4-3 win. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.

*

Will Warren started the Sunday afternoon game. Over the 1st 4 innings, he allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. The Yankees gave him a 4-2 lead in the top of the 5th. Then the rain came, and there was a delay of over an hour.

When play resumed, both teams decided not to send their starters back out. Jonathan Loáisiga finished the 5th, but allowed a run in the 6th, and had to be bailed out by Mark Leiter Jr. J.C. Escarra came up with his 2nd RBI hit of the game in the top of the 8th, to make it 5-3. Devin Williams was a little shay in the bottom of the 8th.

Luke Weaver ran into trouble in the bottom of the 9th. He allowed a leadoff homer, got the 1st out, and allowed 2 more singles, before getting the last 2 outs. Yankees 5, Rockies 4.

*

So the Yankees took 2 out of 3 in Denver, but it shouldn't have been that hard. But then, as John Sterling said on the air until he retired last season, "You just can't predict baseball." That is, sometimes you can, but, often, you can't.

At any rate, the Yankees lead the American League Eastern Division by 6 games over the Tampa Bay Rays, 6 1/2 over the Boston Red Sox, 7 over the Toronto Blue Jays, and 14 over the Baltimore Orioles.

Today is Memorial Day, and, instead of a traditional afternoon doubleheader, they play at night, starting a series against the Los Angeles Angels, at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

May 25, 1975: The Warriors Are Golden

May 25, 1975, 50 years ago: The most stunning upset in the history of the NBA Finals is completed.

The Baltimore Bullets had made the NBA Finals in 1971, but got swept by the Milwaukee Bucks. They moved down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway to Washington in 1973. Well, not quite: After playing a few home games at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House while waiting for their new arena to be finished, they settled at that new arena, the Capital Centre in suburban Landover, Maryland, just outside the Capital Beltway.

They played the 1973-74 season as the Capital Bullets, before changing their name to the Washington Bullets. And, in 1974-75, led by Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, they reached the NBA Finals again. Their opponents would be another team that went through more name changes than was necessary. The Philadelphia Warriors were a charter franchise in the NBA in 1946, but moved to San Francisco in 1962. In 1971, they moved across San Francisco Bay to Oakland, but took on the name "Golden State Warriors."

Much like baseball's California Angels, who tried to draw fans Statewide in an effort to draw more fans than the nearby Los Angeles Dodgers, the Warriors weren't fooling anybody with their Statewide name. At least, unlike the Angels, they no longer had to compete with another team: The ABA's Oakland Oaks had moved in 1969, becoming the Washington Caps, and then the Virginia Squires in 1970.

Coached by former Boston Celtics star K.C. Jones, the Bullets went 60-22, and won the Central Division. They beat the Buffalo Braves in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and the defending Champion Celtics in the Conference Finals.

Coached by former Warriors player Al Attles, Golden State went 48-34, and won the Pacific Division. They beat the Seattle SuperSonics in the Western Conference Semifinals, and the Chicago Bulls in the Conference Finals.

In spite of having won 12 fewer games than the Bullets, and having lost 3 out of 4 regular-season games against them, the Warriors were the top seed in the West, while the Bullets were the 2nd seed in the East. Still, the Bullets were heavily favored, with many observers predicting a sweep.

They got a sweep, all right, but not in the direction they expected. Game 1 was played at the Cap Centre, and Phil Smith came off the bench to score 20 points in 31 minutes, and the Warriors won, 101-95.

The odds seemed to be against the Warriors, because the Oakland Coliseum Arena was unavailable, as they were hosting the Ice Follies. Games 2 and 3 were moved to the Warriors' former home, the Grand National Livestock Pavilion, a.k.a. the Cow Palace, across the City Line in Daly City, California. Not on their usual home court, could the Warriors possibly win?

Yes, they could; and, yes, they did. They erased an early 13-point Washington lead thanks to 36 points from Rick Barry, and won Game 2, 92-91. Barry, probably best known as one of the greatest free-throw shooters ever, scored 38 points in Game 3, and the Warriors won, 109-101.

Keith Wilkes, later to change his name to Jamaal Wilkes and help the Lakers win titles in the 1980s, held Hayes to just 29 points in the 1st 3 games. Over that stretch, the Warriors' bench outscored the Bullets' bench, 115-53.

Game 4 was played back in Landover, and featured a fight that was started when the Bullets' Mike Riordan fouled Barry hard. Attles, a former guard known as The Destroyer, ran onto the court to defend his fellow New Jerseyan -- Attles was from Newark, Barry from 2 towns away in Roselle Park -- and "took one for the team," getting physical with Riordan and getting thrown out of the game, so Barry wouldn't be. Assistant coach Joe Roberts coached the Warriors the rest of the way.

The fight seemed to take the fight out of the Bullets, as they blew a 14-point lead, and the Warriors won, 96-95. The San Francisco Bay Area had its 1st NBA Championship.

The District of Columbia would have to wait until 1978, when the Bullets beat the SuperSonics. The Sonics reversed that result the following year. The capital team, which renamed itself the Washington Wizards in 1997, the year they moved into the District proper, into what's now named the Capital One Arena, haven't been to the Eastern Conference Finals since.

The Warriors also struggled a lot, until the Stephen Curry era began, and they won 4 titles and made 2 other Finals. Indeed, given how much basketball talent came out of the D.C. and Bay areas, great high school players and great college programs, the pro team in D.C. has seriously-under-achieved, and so did the pro team in the Bay Area until 2015.

From May 25 to October 22, 1975, 150 days, not just the San Francisco Bay Area, but specifically the City of Oakland, held the World Championships of baseball and basketball at the same time. It was part of an extraordinary 10-year run from December 31, 1967 to January 1, 1978, that saw Oakland win 5 American League Western Division titles; win 10 AFC Western Division titles, and reach the AFL or AFC Championship Game 9 times, including 2 Championships; reach the NBA Western Conference Finals 4 times, winning once; culminating in winning 3 World Series, a Super Bowl, an NBA Championship, an ABA Championship, and a National Professional Soccer League Championship:

* Oakland Clippers, 1967 NPSL Champions.

* Oakland Raiders, 1967 AFL Champions, 1976 NFL Champions.

* Oakland Oaks, 1969 ABA Champions.

* Oakland Athletics, 1972, 1973 and 1974 World Champions.

* Golden State Warriors, 1975 NBA Champions.

All this, while, across the Bay, San Francisco lost the Warriors to Oakland, saw the Giants and the 49ers continually let their city down, and nearly lost the Giants to Toronto.

However, by the time that 10-year period ended, the City of Oakland would lose its NHL team, its ABA team, and its NPSL team; and set in motion the process that would eventually cause it to see its NBA team move back across San Francisco Bay, and lose its MLB team, and lose its NFL team, gain it back, and lose it again.

May 25, 1965: Ali-Liston II: The Phantom Punch

May 25, 1965, 60 years ago: A fight is held for the Heavyweight Championship of the World. It's not the greatest such fight. But it might be the most controversial. Certainly, it is the strangest.

Arguably, the most significant sports building in Maine is The Colisée in Lewiston, about 36 miles north of Portland. Not because it was home to the Maine Nordiques, a farm team of hockey's Quebec Nordiques, from 1973 to 1977. Not because it hosted the Lewiston Maineiacs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 2003 to 2011, before they moved to Sherbrooke from whence they came. Not because it hosted the Portland Pirates in the 2013-14 season while the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland was being renovated. Not because it is now home to another team named the Maine Nordiques, of the North American Hockey League.

No, it's because, after the Boston Garden balked at holding it due to both men's controversies, the rematch between Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali and former Champion Charles "Sonny" Liston as held at this arena, then known as the Central Maine Civic Center, on May 25, 1965. Built in 1958, it is the smallest building to host a Heavyweight Title fight: 3,677 seats.

Ali, born Cassius Clay, had taken the title from Liston on February 25, 1964 in Miami Beach. Shortly thereafter, he announced his name change and his conversion to Islam. Both men were shrouded in controversy: Ali due to his association with the Nation of Islam, Liston due to his status as an ex-convict and his suspected ties to organized crime. Lewiston was chosen as a site because boxing's governing bodies were committed to a New England venue, but nobody else in the 6-State region (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut) seemed to want it.

To make matters worse, the fight, originally scheduled for November 16, 1964, had to be delayed, as Ali needed surgery due to a hernia. So it was delayed to May 25, 1965, allowing all the simmering resentments to come to a near boil. There was even talk that the fight was fixed -- though both men's fans were suggesting it was fixed for the other.

The referee was former Champion Jersey Joe Walcott. Both fighters were booed upon their introductions. Midway through the 1st round, Liston threw a left jab, and Ali went over it with a fast right, knocking the former Champion flat on his back. Liston rolled over, got to his right knee, and then fell on his back again.

Walcott had a hard time getting Ali to go to a neutral corner. Ali initially stood over Liston, yelling, "Get up, sucker!" At this point, Neil Leifer of Sports Illustrated took the picture above, one of the most famous photographs in sports history.

When Walcott got back to Liston, and looked at the knockdown timekeeper, Francis McDonough, to pick up the count, Liston had fallen back on the canvas. Walcott never did pick up the count. He said he could not hear McDonough, who did not have a microphone. Also, McDonough did not bang on the canvas or motion a number count with his fingers. McDonough, however, claimed Walcott was looking at the crowd and never at him.

After Liston arose, Walcott wiped off his gloves. He then left the fighters to go over to McDonough. Waltcott later said McDonough had told him, "I counted him out. The fight is over." Nat Fleischer, editor of The Ring magazine, had no authority over the fight, but he backed McDonough up, saying the fight should be over. Walcott then rushed back to the fighters, who had resumed boxing, and stopped the fight, awarding Ali a knockout victory.

It remains one of the quickest heavyweight title knockouts in history. Many in the small crowd had not even settled in their seats when the fight was stopped. The official time of the stoppage was announced as 1:00 into the first round, which was wrong. Liston went down at 1:44, got up at 1:56, and Walcott stopped the fight at 2:12.

McDonough and Fleischer were wrong in their interpretation of how the rule should have been applied. Under the rule, the timekeeper is supposed to start the count at the time of a knockdown. The referee's duty is to get the boxer scoring the knockdown to a neutral corner, pick up the count from the timekeeper. and continue it aloud for the knocked down boxer.

Nevertheless, Liston was down for 12 seconds -- 2 seconds fewer than Gene Tunney was down in his "Long Count" fight with Jack Dempsey in 1927. But Liston was no Tunney. He was more like the Mike Tyson of his era: Show him that you're not afraid of him, and that you can hit him, and he would fold, or even start cheating. In his 1st fight with Ali, he tainted his gloves to try to blind Ali. In the 2nd fight, he never got the chance to cheat.

Some people wondered if Ali had even hit Liston, or if Liston had gone down on his own, quitting the way he'd quit on his stool between the 6th and 7th rounds of their 1st fight. The suggestion was that he lost on purpose for more money from gamblers -- in ring parlance, "took a dive." The film shows this not to be the case: It clearly shows that Ali's punch was no "Phantom Punch." Instead, it had lifted Liston off the canvas entirely. Liston didn't dive: He fell, from being hit.

James Braddock was Heavyweight Champion from 1935 to 1937. He said of Ali, "I have a feeling that this guy is a lot better than any of us gave him credit for. It isn't the knockout punch that sticks in my mind as much as a punch he let go earlier... It was a right to Liston's jaw, and it shook him to his shoetops. For all we know, it could have been the one that set up the knockout."

Rocky Marciano was Heavyweight Champion from 1952 to 1955. After seeing the replay, he said, "I didn't think it was a powerful punch when I saw the fight from ringside. Now, I think Clay, seeing the opening, snapped the punch the last six inches." But he still didn't think the punch was hard enough to be a knockout, only a knockdown.

Liston had 16 more fights, winning 15 of them, 14 by knockout. So the suggestion that "He was never the same fighter" is ridiculous. But he never got another shot at the title, not even after Ali was stripped of it in 1967, following his refusal to accept being drafted into the U.S. Army. Of course, by then, Liston was officially 35 years old -- but Walcott had been 37 when he won the title. Liston died in 1970, also under mysterious circumstances.

McDonough died in 1968, Fleischer in 1972, Walcott in 1994.

May 25, 1935: Babe Ruth's Last Hurrah

May 25, 1935, 90 years ago: Babe Ruth has his last good game. It is the icing on the cake of his legend.

George Herman Ruth Jr. had started his career in Boston, with the 1914 Red Sox. He became a star with them, and was sold to the New York Yankees for the 1920 season, becoming the biggest star in the history of North American sports.

But he wanted to manage, and the Yankees wouldn't let him. After the 1934 season, Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert gave him his release, so that he could seek a managing job elsewhere. Judge Emil Fuchs, owner of the Braves, desperate for attendance in the Great Depression, told Ruth he would be "assistant manager" to Bill McKechnie for 1935, and would become manager for 1936, with the promise of a part-ownership of the team. The Sultan of Swat jumped at the chance, and returned to Boston.

The Babe was often very gullible, but he wasn't stupid. He soon saw that McKechnie wasn't listening to him in the slightest -- not that he needed to, having already won a World Series managing the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925 -- and that the Braves had absolutely no intention of making him the manager the next season. (McKechnie remained their manager through 1937, and won another World Series managing the Cincinnati Reds in 1940.) The Great Bambino was nothing more than a drawing card to the Braves, and he figured it out.

To make matters worse, the 40-year-old Ruth hurt his elbow, making it difficult to swing. When he wasn't in pain, he could still hit. He hit a home run on Opening Day, April 16, giving the Braves a win over the New York Giants. He hit another on April 21. But then the injury got worse, and he went into a slump. By the time he hit his next home run, an entire month later, he was batting just .149.

On May 25, the Braves played the Pirates at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. In the top of the 1st inning, Ruth came to bat against Charles "Red" Lucas, and hit a home run off him, making the score 2-0. Lucas pitched to only 5 batters, getting 1 out, before Harold "Pie" Traynor, the Pirates' Hall of Fame 3rd baseman now also serving as manager, took him out due to a nagging injury that had already cost him all but 1 of his 1st 8 starts, and would cost him 3 more in June.

Guy Bush ("Guy" was his real first name, not a nickname) was brought in, and he pitched the next 6 innings, although not very effectively. Ruth batted against him in the 3rd inning, and hit another 2-run homer. Ruth singled home another run in the 5th. In the top of the 7th, once more against Bush, Ruth hit a drive over the right-field stands at Forbes Field, making him the 1st player ever to do that. It was considered the longest home run ever hit there, and it was the 714th home run of his career, and his 2,873rd hit. Overall, he went 4-for-6 with 6 RBIs on the day.

It wasn't enough: The Pirates won, 11-7. The Pirates' last pitcher, and the winning pitcher, was Ruth's former Yankee teammate, eventually a fellow Hall-of-Famer, Waite Hoyt.

Legend has it that, thinking it wasn't going to get any better than that, he retired right after that game. Maybe he should have. But he didn't. The next day, he pulled a muscle playing the field. He continued to try to play every day, but that homer over the Forbes Field roof wasn't just his last home run, it was his last hit.

On May 30, at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, the Braves were swept in a Memorial Day doubleheader by the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-6 and 9-3. It wasn't much of a matchup. The Braves would finish 8th and last, winning only 38 games and losing 115, the most of any NL team between the 1899 Cleveland Spiders and the 1962 New York Mets. The Phillies were much better, but still finished 7th, at 64-89 -- and, by their standards, that was a good finish.

The Braves' season was so bad, that for the 1936 season, they decided to, as would be said today, rebrand: They changed their name to the Boston Bees, and the name of their ballpark from Braves Field to National League Park, a.k.a. the Bee Hive. The new names never caught on, and the old ones were restored in 1941.

Basically, the only reason to go to these games was to see Ruth -- and he didn't play long. He started the 1st game, in left field, batting in his usual 3rd position. In the top of the 1st inning, batting against rookie Jim Bivin, he grounded to 1st baseman Dolph Camilli, who made the putout himself.

In the bottom of the 1st, Ruth was unable to get to a fly ball, and it dropped in for a hit. The next batter, Lou Chiozza, hit another fly to left. Not only couldn't the Babe catch it, but it rolled past him, all the way to the wall. While he wasn't always the fat man of the public imagination, by this point, his gut and his pulled muscle rendered him as slow as molasses.

When he finally got to the ball, Chiozza was trying to stretch it into an inside-the-park home run. With the left arm that had won 94 games as a pitcher still strong, Ruth threw the ball to 3rd baseman Pinky Whitney, who threw to catcher Al Spohrer, and Chiozza was out. Ruth got credit for an assist.

It was his last statistic. Instead of going back to the dugout, he walked to center field, where both teams' clubhouses were located. The fans, realizing he was taking himself out of the game, gave him a standing ovation. Three days later, he announced his retirement.

Ruth was lucky that there was no constant replaying of his fielding, so he wasn't embarrassed the way Willie Mays was with the New York Mets, and Johnny Unitas was with the San Diego Chargers, both in 1973. Or Joe Namath was with the 1977 Los Angeles Rams. Or any number of boxers having one last fight too many, like Muhammad Ali against Larry Holmes in 1980. There was no ESPN to show him as a Boston Brave, the way they showed Michael Jordan as a Washington Wizard, or Jerry Rice as a Denver Bronco, or Roger Clemens in his 2nd go-round with the Yankees.

The Babe never did get an offer to manage a major league team. The Brooklyn Dodgers hired him as 1st base coach in 1938, but they really hired him to hit pregame batting practice, as they were in a rebuilding year, and were desperate for attendance. Ruth played in old-timers' games to raise money for war bonds at Yankee Stadium in 1942 and 1943, batting against Walter Johnson, and that was it. He died of cancer in 1948.

Around the Horn: The Final Win Totals

Yesterday was the final episode of Around the Horn on ESPN, which began on November 4, 2002. Originally hosted by Max Kellerman, and then from February 2, 2004 onward by Tony Reali, it started out as sports' answer to The McLaughlin Group, and became something more insightful and more beloved.

The show ran for a little over 21 years, with over 5,000 episodes. Of those, 4,953 were hosted by Reali. As was pointed out, that was more shows than were hosted by Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Springer or David Letteerman -- and Reali is only 46 years old.

Here are the final win totals:

1. Woody Paige, 688 (Tony symbolically bumped him up to 700)

2. Tim Cowlishaw, 551

3. Bill Plaschke, 428

4. Kevin Blackistone, 386 (1st among nonwhite panelists)

5. J.A. Adande, 339

6. Jay Mariotti, 329

7. Jackie MacMullan, 259 (1st among women)

8. Israel Gutierrez, 228

9. Bob Ryan, 224

10. Frank Isola, 192

11. Bomani Jones, 160

12. Pablo S. Torre, 138.75

13. Michael Smith, 137

14. Clinton Yates, 135

15. Sarah Spain, 127

16. Mina Kimes, 89

17. Ramona Shelburne, 61

18. Courtney Cronin, 52

19. Harry Lyles Jr., 48

20. Jorge Sedano, 47.5

21. David Dennis Jr., 44

22. Emily Kaplan, 43

23. Kate Fagan, 42

24. Justin Tinsley, 41

25. Michael Holley, 34

26. Kevin Clark, 29

27. Jemele Hill, 23

28. Monica McNutt, 22

29. Elle Duncan, 19

30. Bill Barnwell, 19

31. Jim Armstrong, 18

32. Marcel Louis-Jacques, 17

33. Joon Lee, 10 out of 49

34. T.J. Simers, 10 out of 65

35. Gene Wojiechowski, 9

36. Jen Lada, 7

37. Charlie Pierce, 5 out of 13

38. Josh Elliott, 5 out of 23

39. Jon "Stugotz" Weiner, 4 out of 16

40. LZ Granderson, 4 out of 19

41. David Jacoby, 3 out of 5

42. Domonique Foxworth, 3 out of 8

43. Lindsey Thiry, 3 out of 11

44. Kimberley A. Martin, 2 out of 4

45. Adam Schefter, 2 out of 5

46. Tony Reali, 2 out of 7 before he was host

47. Martenzie Johnson, 2 out of 12

48. Christine Williamson, 1 out of 1

49. Malika Andrews, 1 out of 1

50. Bruce Arthur, 1 out of 1

51. Lil Wayne, 1 out of 1

52. Mark Cuban, 1 out of 1

53. Dianna Russini, 1 out of 4

54. Richard Justice, 1 out of 5

55. Bob Glauber, lost his only appearance

56. Andy Katz, lost his only appearance

57. Mark Kiszla, 0-for-2

58. Jean Jacques Taylor, 0-for-4

59. Ron Borges, 0-for-4

60. Dan Shanoff, 0-for-5

61. John Powers, 0-for-5

Most appearances: Paige, 2,965, to Cowlishaw's 2,114, Plaschke's 1,758 and Blackistone's 1,608. MacMullan's 891 was the most by a woman.

Best winning percentage, with at least 50 appearances: Kevin Clark, 31.5 percent, to Michael Smith's 30.3. Elle Duncan led women with 30.2.

Most points per show was won by a woman: Emily Kaplan, 23.7, to Jackie Mac's 23.0.

All of the current panelists, and several former panelists, were brought back to do one last "Face Time" on the final show, or, at least, during the final week. With a cloud still over him, Mariotti was not one of them. 

May 24, 1935: The 1st Major League Night Game

May 24, 1935, 90 years ago: For the 1st time, a night game is played in Major League Baseball.

It's important to add the qualifier that it was the 1st in MLB. On September 2, 1880, competing teams of department stores in Boston played each other under lights in nearby Hull, Massachusetts. The Negro Leagues had been playing under lights since at least 1928.

On April 28, 1930, in the Class A Western Association, the Independence Producers of Kansas and the Muskogee Chiefs of Oklahoma played the 1st official minor-league night game in Independence. And on February 21, 1931, the 1st night game involving major league teams was played: The Chicago White Sox beat the New York Giants, 11-6 at Buffalo Stadium in Houston.

One of the minor-league teams that had played night games was the Columbus Red Birds of Ohio and the American Association. Larry MacPhail had been their general manager, and knew that night games, played when more people weren't working and could see games, had saved some minor-league teams during the Great Depression.

Now, he was the GM of the Cincinnati Reds. In the 1934-35 off-season, the National League had voted to allow teams to play up to 7 night games per season. He decided to make the 1st one a Friday night game at Crosley Field, when the Reds, not doing too well, were to play the Philadelphia Phillies, who were doing even worse.

Before the game, there were a performance by an American Legion band and fireworks. With the ceremonies over, and the Sun set, a prearranged method for turning the lights on was carried out. President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed a button at the White House, and the connection with Crosley Field was made, turning on 632 lamps in 8 metal stanchions, totaling over 1 million watts of light, and bringing cheers from a crowd of 20,422, in a ballpark that then seated 26,060. (It would top out at a little over 30,000.) National League President Ford Frick threw out a ceremonial first ball.

Paul Derringer, then the Reds' ace, started for them. The Phillies' starter was Joe Bowman. In the bottom of the 1st, Billy Myers doubled, moved to 3rd on a groundout by Lew Riggs, and got home on a groundout by Ival Goodman. In the bottom of the 4th, Billy Sullivan singled, was singled over to 3rd by Harlin Pool, and scored on a groundout by Gilly Campbell, making it 2-0 Cincinnati.

In the top of the 5th, Al Todd singled, was moved over to 3rd by a Mickey Haslin single, and Bowman grounded into an error that scored Todd. The Phillies were within 2-1. A great catch of a Dolph Camilli drive to center by Sammy Byrd saved a run, to hold that score. And it held until the end, as Derring pitched a complete game -- lasting 1 hour and 35 minutes.

The rest of the majors were slow to adopt night games. MacPhail would be the catalyst again: He moved on to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938, and broke the "gentlemen's agreement" banning radio broadcasts of regular season games in New York City. He brought the Reds' broadcaster with him, Walter Lanier "Red" Barber. He also rebuilt the Dodgers' farm system, making them competitive for the first time since the mid-1920s. And he seriously fixed up Ebbets Field, including the installation of lights.

The 1st major league night game in New York City was played at Ebbets Field on June 15, 1938. Appropriately, the opponent was the Reds. Johnny Vander Meer, who had pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Bees (as the Braves were known from 1936 to 1940) at Crosley Field 4 days earlier, pitched another, becoming the only major league pitcher ever to throw back-to-back no-hitters. The Reds won, 6-0.

On May 16, 1939, the 1st night game in the American League was played, at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Athletics lost to the Indians, 8-3. Having moved from Baker Bowl to Shibe the previous year, the Phillies were now able to play home games at night, and did so on June 1. But they also lost, 5-2 to the Pirates.

Later in 1939, on June 27, the Indians played their 1st night game, beating the Tigers 5-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium; and the White Sox played the 1st night game in Chicago, on August 14, beating the Browns 5-2 at Comiskey Park.

Four teams had their nighttime home debuts in 1940: The Giants on May 24, beating the Bees/Braves 8-1 at the Polo Grounds; the Browns on the same day, the 1st night game in St. Louis, losing to the Indians 3-2 at Sportsman's Park; the Pirates on June 4, beating the Bees/Braves 14-2 at Forbes Field; and the Cardinals, also on June 4, losing to the Dodgers 10-1 at Sportsman's Park.

The Yankees and the Senators played their 1st home night games against each other: At Griffith Stadium in Washington on May 28, 1941, a 6-5 Yankee win; and at Yankee Stadium on May 28, 1946, a 2-1 Senators win. The 1st night games in Boston came on May 11, 1946, with the Braves losing 5-1 to the Giants at Braves Field; and on June 13, 1947, with the Red Sox beating the White Sox 5-3 at Fenway Park.

The last AL team to get lit was the Tigers, on June 15, 1948, beating the A's 4-1 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium). The Cubs were the last holdouts, by plenty. The Wrigley family long claimed that the lights would disturb the neighborhood around Wrigley Field. Finally, with the threat of not being allowed to play home games in the postseason due to the demands of TV networks for prime-time ratings, the Tribune Company, which had bought the team from the Wrigleys in 1981, relented. On August 9, 1988, the Cubs played their 1st home night game, beating the New York Mets, 6-4.

Yankees Mess With Texas by Long Ball, Good Pitching

The Yankees followed up their 2-out-of-3 with The Other Team with a 3-game home series with the Texas Rangers. On Tuesday night, Will Warren took a 5-hit, 1-walk, 10-strikeout shutout into the 6th inning. But, because he'd thrown 101 pitches, and Aaron Boone uses a chart to handle pitchers, instead of, you know, common sense like a normal manager, he took Warren out. Fortunately for him, Mark Leiter Jr. finished the 6th and pitched the 7th, and Devin Williams pitched the 8th, without allowing a run.

For the Rangers, Patrick Corbin, who had given the Yankees trouble before, would not be so lucky this time. Ben Rice hit a home run in the 2nd inning, and he added an RBI with a sacrifice fly in the 4th. Anthony Volpe doubled home a run in the 6th. Trent Grisham singled to lead off the 8th, and Aaron Judge hit a home run to make it 5-0. Ian Hamilton ran into trouble in the 9th, and Boone had to bring Luke Weaver in to close it out, 5-2.

Ryan Yarbrough was permitted to throw only 81 pitches on Wednesday night. He went 5 full innings, allowing 1 run on 3 his and (I love typing these words for a Yankee pitcher) no walks, striking out 8. But 2 home runs by Jake Berger put the Yankees in a 3-1 hole going into the bottom of the 7th.

Time for the long ball again. Cody Bellinger hit one out in the 7th, Judge singled home a run in the 8th, and Jasson Domínguez won it with a long home run in the bottom of the 9th: Yankees 4, Rangers 3. Having pitched a perfect top of the 9th, Weaver was the winning pitcher.

Then came the dreaded DGANG: Day Game After a Night Game. After the night before, not an easy win, all signs pointed to a struggle for the Yankees.

Sometimes, you win the struggle.

Despite the weekday, a 12:35 PM start, and rainy weather, a crowd officially listed as 43,450 came out to the big ballyard in The Bronx. They saw a dandy of a pitching dule, between current Yankee Carlos Rodón and former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi. Rodón went 6 innings, allowing no runs on 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 8. He was permitted to throw 105 pitches.

But the Yankees struggled against Eovaldi. Of course they did. They always do. He also went 6 innings, allowing only 1 run on 5 hits and 1 walk. But that 1 run was the 1st major league home run by Jorbit Vivas, off a 101-MPH fastball from Eovaldi to lead off the bottom of the 5th.

All right, you primitive screwheads, listen up! If Jorbit Vivas can hit a home run off a 101-MPH fastball, I don't want to hear one more damn word about how Babe Ruth wouldn't be able to hit today's pitchers! He would make physical therapy for whiplash more common than Tommy John surgery.

Anyway, the bullpen held up: Leiter pitched a scoreless 7th, Williams a perfect 8th, and Weaver a perfect 9th. Yankees 1, Rangers 0. The Yankees not only messed with Texas, they swept 'em. Yee ha.

The Yankees are now 30-19, on a pace for 99 wins. They lead the American League Eastern Division by 5 games over the Toronto Blue Jays, 6 over the Boston Red Sox, 7 over the Tampa Bay Rays, and 13 1/2 over the Baltimore Orioles.

This is despite not having one single appearance for Gerrit Cole (and they won't, all year), Luis Gil (might return to the starting rotation in mid-June), or Giancarlo Stanton (might be back in early June). Oswaldo Cabrera is likely out for the season. Jazz Chisholm Jr. might be back in early June. When Marcus Stroman will be available again is anybody's guess.

Tonight, the Yankees begin a roadtrip, in Denver to face the Colorado Rockies. As bad as the Chicago White Sox were last season, going 3-22 to start the season and 41-121 for the season -- setting a new AL record for losses in a season, and surpassing the 1962 Mets for the most since 1899 -- the Rockies have been even worse: They are 8-42, on a pace for 26-136 -- which would surpass the 1899 Cleveland Spiders for the most losses, if not quite the worst winning percentage, in major league history.

And the Yankees will be hitting in Coors Field, at altitude.

Then again, last year, the White Sox did win 1 of their 6 games against the Yankees, so, you never know.