May 14, 1951: TV's 1st Sitcom Is Blacklisted

Gertrude Berg (left) and Philip Loeb

May 14, 1951, 75 years ago: American TV's 1st sitcom is canceled, because its creator and star stood up for her co-star when he was blacklisted.

Gertrude Berg had created the radio program The Rise of the Goldbergs for NBC radio in 1929. From the beginning, she played Molly Goldberg, described by an announcer as "a woman with a place in every heart and a finger in every pie." In 1936, it moved to CBS and became simply The Goldbergs.

According to the show, Molly lived at 1038 East Tremont Avenue in The Bronx, New York City, with her husband Jake, their son Sammy, their daughter Rosalie, and Molly's Uncle David. The generation gap was typical of immigrant families in America at the time: David, who came over on the boat, was still very much an "old country" man; Molly and Jake, who had grown up in New York, wanted to be Americans without giving up any of their Jewish heritage; while Sammy and Rosalie wanted to be totally assimilated.

Berg was not averse to incorporating serious real-world issues which affected Jewish families. One 1939 episode addressed Nazi Germany, including a rock through the family window as the Goldbergs had their Passover Seder. Other episodes during World War II alluded to friends or family members trying to escape the Holocaust.

But these were sporadic deviations from the show's main theme of family, neighborhood and the balance between old world values and new world assimilation. Molly shows viewers the strong matriarch she is by constantly helping others with their dilemmas, and proving to be the hero time and time again.

The role of husband Jake Goldberg was originally played by Himan Brown, and later, James R. Waters. When Waters died suddenly in 1945, Berg resisted recasting the role. Instead, she simply had Molly refer to Jake, occasionally setting up dialogue in which his reply was not heard when she spoke to him.

On September 26, 1949, The Goldbergs premiered on CBS television, and it is considered to be American TV's 1st "situation comedy" or "sitcom." Philip Loeb was cast as Jake. Eli Mintz played Uncle David, Larry Robinson played Sammy, and Arlene McQuade played Rosalie.

Each episode began with Berg opening her window and yelling to a neighbor, "Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Bloom!" Mrs. Bloom was never seen, and was thus TV's first unseen character, paving the way for the titular detective's wife on Columbo, Phyllis Lindstrom's husband Lars on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Carlton the Doorman on Rhoda, the bullying Gooch on Diff'rent Strokes, Norm Peterson's wife Vera on Cheers, and Niles Crane's wife Maris on Frasier.

Berg, now 50 years old, continued to write every episode. By this point, World War II was over, and the State of Israel had won its war of independence. But she knew that hearing about situations was one thing, while seeing them was another. So she avoided issues that could be considered political, while still using Jewish mannerisms. It worked: Not only was the TV version of the show a hit, but, in 1950, she won the 1st Emmy Award for Best Actress.

(The transition from sound to pictures was a reason that Amos & Andy, one of the most popular radio shows, didn't make a successful transition to TV: It was one thing for white Americans to hear white men pretending to be black men for comedic effect, it was another thing to see black men, and they didn't like it.)

But, shortly after that, Loeb was named as a Communist in the publication Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television. He denied it. But General Foods, whom Berg had personally recruited as the show's main sponsor, demanded that Loeb be dropped from the show. She refused. On May 14, 1951, CBS aired the show's 2nd season finale, and received word that General Foods had canceled their sponsorship. CBS canceled the show.

Berg didn't give up. She tried to find other sponsors, but none would stand up for Loeb. Finally, Loeb sacrificed himself, telling Berg to go on without him, and to recast the character. On January 7, 1952, 8 months later, NBC agreed to pick up the show, with Harold Stone playing Jake. Robert H. Harris took over the role the next season, and played it for the rest of the show's run.

The show continued into 1955, when the family moved from The Bronx to Haverville, a fictional suburb, presumably also in the State of New York. In-universe, the family's adjustment was initially difficult, but they and their new suburban neighbors soon adapted to each other. In reality, though, the move was the death knell for the show, as the viewers now saw the Goldbergs as fish out of water.

The final episode aired on February 26, 1957 -- pretty much mirroring the move of baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles at the end of the year. This would be mirrored in the 1991-93 CBS series Brooklyn Bridge, created by Gary David Goldberg (no relation), about a Jewish family in Brooklyn, and the show's final episode discussed the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, 10 days after the last game at Ebbets Field, and 4 days before the Dodgers officially announced the move.

Philip Loeb did not last as long as the show that made him famous: In 1955, he took an overdose of sleeping pills. He was 65 years old. Berg lived until 1966, shortly before her 67th birthday. Mintz, who played a character a generation older than Molly and Jake, was actually younger than either Berg or Loeb, and lived until 1988. Harris lived until 1981, Stone until 2005, Robinson until 2006, and McQuade until 2014.

In 2013, ABC debuted a sitcom titled The Goldbergs. Aside from the title, and the family's obvious Jewishness, it had nothing in common from the original show. It was more like Brooklyn Bridge, in that it was created by someone with the surname, Adam Goldberg; and took place in the past, in this case in the 1980s, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. It ran for 10 seasons.

May 13, 1976: The Last ABA Game

David Thompson (left) and Julius Erving

May 13, 1976, 50 years ago: The New York Nets beat the Denver Nuggets, 121-106 at the Nassau County Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Hempstead, New York, and win the American Basketball Association Championship in 6 games.

(The Nassau Coliseum is in the Town of Hempstead, in Nassau County, on Long Island, but its mailing address is Uniondale, NY.)

For the Nets, coached by Kevin Loughery; Julius Erving, known as Dr. J, scored 31 points, John Williamson 28, Brian Taylor 24, Jim Eakins 15, Bill Melchionni and Tim Bassett each scored 4, Al Skinner 3, Rich Jones 2, and Ted McClain 1.

For the Nuggets, coached by Larry Brown (with some irony, a Nassau County native): David Thompson, known as "Skywalker" before there was a Star Wars, led all scorers with 42 points, Dan Issel 30, Chuck Williams 14, Monte Towe 6, Ralph Simpson and Bobby Jones 4 each; and Byron Beck, Marvin Webster and Gus Gerard 2 each.

This turns out to be the last game in ABA history. It is also the last game that Erving plays for the Nets.

Before the 1975-76 season began, the Memphis Sounds, who had been the Memphis Tams (1972-74), the Memphis Pros (1970-72), and the New Orleans Buccaneers (1967-70), moved again, becoming the Baltimore Claws, but only played 3 exhibition games before being folded by the league for nonpayment of fees. The San Diego Conquistadors became the San Diego Sails, but folded 11 games into the season; the Utah Stars, only 2 seasons removed from a Finals berth and the 1971 ABA Champions, folded 16 games in.

So only 7 teams completed the season: The Nets, the Nuggets, the San Antonio Spurs, the Indiana Pacers, the Kentucky Colonels, the Spirits of St. Louis and the Virginia Squires. The ABA required the remaining teams to each put up $75,000 before merger talks with the NBA, and the Squires didn't, folding, and ending what remains Virginia's last sports team with major league pretensions. (The Washington Commanders have their offices and training camp in Virginia, but, as of the 2022 season, their stadium is in Maryland.)

Despite being 1 of only 2 teams, the Pacers being the other, to play every ABA season under the same name and in the same metro area, and being only 1 season removed from an ABA Championship, the Colonels folded. Team owner John Y. Brown Jr., who bought Kentucky Fried Chicken from "Colonel" Harland Sanders and made it a nationwide brand, took a $3.3 million payoff from the NBA.

Brown took the money he received for the Colonels and used part of it to purchase the NBA's Buffalo Braves, which he later parlayed into ownership of the Boston Celtics. In 1979, he was elected Governor of Kentucky. To this day, no major league team in any sport has called Kentucky home, unless you count Racing Louisville FC of the National Women's Soccer League.

The Spirits' demise was a bit more interesting. The team known from 1967 to 1969 as the Houston Mavericks, and from then until 1974 as the Carolina Cougars, were owned by brothers Ozzie and Daniel Silva, textile magnates, who had previously tried to buy the NBA's Detroit Pistons. They had planned to move the Spirits to Salt Lake City if the NBA would accept them. It didn't, thinking both St. Louis and Salt Lake City too small as markets. However, in 1979, the NBA did not stop the New Orleans Jazz from moving to Salt Lake City.

In June 1976, the ABA owners agreed, in return for the Spirits of St. Louis ceasing operations, to pay the Silnas $2.2 million in cash up front, in addition to a 1/7th share of the 4 remaining teams' television revenues in perpetuity. As the NBA's popularity exploded in 1980s and 1990s, the league's television rights were sold to CBS, and then NBC, and additional deals were struck with the cable networks TBS and TNT, league television revenue soared into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

From 1976 to 2012, the Silnas collected approximately $255 million from the NBA, despite the fact that the Spirits never played an NBA game. (Nor has the NBA placed a new team in St. Louis since the Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968.) In 2014, the Silnas reached agreement with the NBA to greatly reduce the perpetual payments, and take a lump sum of $500 million. Ozzie died in 2016, at the age of 83. As of May 13, 2022, Dan is still alive, 77 years old, and still receiving money from the NBA, even though he hasn't owned a pro basketball team in 46 years.

When the 1976-77 season begins, the Nets, the Nuggets, the Pacers and the Spurs were in the NBA. But, as a result of having to pay an entry fee and a territorial indemnification fee to the Knicks, the Nets sold Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Nets went from the best team in their old league to the worst in their new one, while Dr. J helped the Sixers reach 4 NBA Finals, including in that 1st season, winning the title in 1983.

The Nets changed their name to the New Jersey Nets in 1977, moved to the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, then to the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford in 1981, then to the Prudential Center in Newark in 2010, and finally to the Barclays Center in 2012, becoming the Brooklyn Nets. They reached the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003, but, for the most part, due to poor drafts, poor trades, and internal dissension that occasionally breaks them up, they have been an NBA failure.

However, it should also be noted that the 1976 ABA title was the last league championship won by a basketball team in the New York Tri-State Area until the New York Liberty won the WNBA Championship in 2024. The Knicks won the NBA in 1970 and 1973, the Nets won the ABA in 1974 and 1976. Since then, between them, they are 0-4 in NBA Finals, winning just 6 Finals games in 40 years. The Nuggets didn't even reach the NBA Finals until 2023, finally winning it.

The NBA never adopted the ABA's red-white-and-blue ball, keeping their traditional orange. But in 1979, they adopted the 3-point field goal, which the ABA had, as had the American Basketball League of 1961-62.

Jason Collins, 1978-2026

On February 23, 2014, the Brooklyn Nets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 108-102 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Jason Collins played 10 minutes and 37 seconds for the Nets, and he didn't score any points. He did, however, have an offensive rebound, a defensive rebound, and a steal.

This appearance made Collins, who, in the off-season, publicly revealed that he is gay -- also known as "coming out of the closet," or "outing yourself," and was not, at the time, signed to any team -- the first openly gay athlete in major league sports in North America.

Presuming, of course, that you do not include MLS, Major League Soccer, as "major league." Robbie Rogers had already played for the Los Angeles Galaxy since coming out. So far, the reaction to him has been positive. But in the traditional "Big Four" North American sports, Collins was the first. And it appeared that, on that night, the L.A. fans -- presumably, many of whom had cheered Rogers -- treated Collins no worse than they treated any other opposing player.

A few other athletes have come out after retirement. Collins, knowing that he could still have a shot at signing with a new team, but also that teams might shy away from signing him if they knew, chose to be honest, and let them know. The Nets decided that it didn't matter, that it wasn't an indication of bad character, and that he might still be able to help them win, and they signed him.

Born on December 2, 1978 in Los Angeles, Jason Paul Collins was an All-American center at Stanford University. He had previously played with the New Jersey Nets from 2001 to 2008, before their 2012 move to Brooklyn. He played the 2nd half of the 2007-08 season with the Memphis Grizzlies, 2008-09 with the Minnesota Timberwolves, 2009-12 with the Atlanta Hawks, most of 2012-13 with the Boston Celtics, and the end of that season with the Washington Wizards. He ended up playing 22 games for the Nets, starting only 1, and never played again.

In that 1st game for the Nets, he wore Number 46. For his remaining games with the Nets, he wore 98, as he had with the Celtics and the Wizards. He wore it in memory of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who was murdered for being gay in 1998. Having proven his point, he announced his retirement on November 19, 2014.

Glenn Burke, who played baseball in the 1970s, didn't "come out" while he was playing, because, in his own mind, he was never "in." Baseball fans at large didn't know he was gay, but his teammates knew, and most of them didn't care. Unfortunately, he played for 2 bigoted managers, Tommy Lasorda and Billy Martin. Lasorda ordered him traded away from the Los Angeles Dodgers; and Billy Martin, with the Oakland Athletics, had him sent down to the minors, burying him and prematurely ending his career.

One day, people who are gay will not have to face the choice of announcing it, or keeping themselves in the closet because they're afraid of repercussions. One day, we will hear that someone is gay, and we'll say, "So what? It doesn't make a difference. It's his (or her) business, not ours."

Until then, anyone facing the choice that Jason Collins and Robbie Rogers have made -- not being gay, but revealing it -- will need more Collinses and Rogerses, to move people's hearts and minds forward. Such people will advance our society in the same way that Jackie Robinson did on race, to the point where the only thing that matters is, "Can he play?"

If a player is a good player and a good teammate, then I don't care if he's a purple Buddhist from Mars in a ménage-a-trois with a college kid and a teddy bear: His personal life doesn't matter, and he can play on my team. If a player is exactly like I was as a young man, except with talent, but not enough to make it at the major league level, then I'd cut him.

I'd rather have a gay player on my team than an anti-gay player.

Jason Collins died of cancer today, May 12, 2026. He was only 47 years old. 

Yanks Swept In Milwaukee

One worthwhile criticism of this year's Yankees is that they haven't done well against teams over .500.

Of course, one good reason why those teams they have beaten are under .500 is that they've played the Yankees.

The Yankees played the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field (formerly Miller Park) this weekend. The Brewers have won the last 3 National League Central Division titles, and made the Playoffs in 7 of the last 8 seasons. They are a Playoff contender again.

While there were hopeful signs for the Yankees, it was a bad series. On Friday night, highly-touted prospect Spencer Jones, an outfielder who bats and throws lefthanded, about to turn 25 and from the San Diego area, made his major league debut. Wearing Number 78, he started as the designated hitter, and went 0-for-2 with a walk.

Max Fried and the Brewers' Jacob Misiorowski both pitched 6 innings. Fried was roughed up for 5 runs. "The Miz," still only 24 years old, allowed 2 hits and 2 walks, and struck out 11. Shane Drohan finished the 3rd-hit shutout. The Yankees never even got a runner to 3rd base. Brewers 6, Yankees 0.

On Saturday, Cam Schlittler pitched 6 shutout innings, and Paul Goldschmidt went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs, including his 375th career home run, allowing him to pass Rocky Colavito on the all-time list, and tie the still-active Manny Machado. But the rest of the Yankees combined only got 4 hits, and the game went to extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, with Max Schuemann as the "ghost runner," Ben Rice, returning from a brief injury, struck out. Aaron Judge was walked intentionally to set up the double play. Cody Bellinger flew out. Ryan McMahon singled Schuemann home, but Judge was thrown out at 3rd base. Unwritten Rule of Baseball, or, perhaps, Cliché Alert: Never make the 1st or 3rd out of the inning at 3rd base. 

In the bottom of the 10th, neither Fernando Cruz nor Tim Hill could hold the Brewers: Walk, flyout, single, fielder's choice, sacrifice fly. Brewers 4, Yankees 2.

Yesterday, Carlos Rodón came off the Injured List, and made his 1st start of the season. (We're still waiting on Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt.) He could have used another minor-league rehab start as a warmup: He only went 4 1/3rd innings, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits and 5 walks, striking out 4.

In the 1st inning, Aaron Judge hit his 384th career home run, passing Larry Walker on the all-time list, and tying Harold Baines. In the 2nd, José Caballero, and was singled home for Jones' 1st major league hit, and his 1st major league RBI. It was 2-0 Yankees.

But Rodón got into trouble in the 4th, and the Brewers took a 3-2 lead. Rodón was shaky again in the 5th, and Aaron Boone brought Jake Bird in to bail him out. In the 6th, Judge and Bellinger drew walks, but Judge was caught stealing. Jazz Chisholm doubled Bellinger home, tying the score, but had Judge still been on base, he would have scored, too. This turned out to be a rare mistake by Judge, and a big one.

The Yankee bullpen held the Brewers off until the bottom of the 9th. David Bednar came in, and struck Joey Ortiz out, and struck Jackson Chourio out. But he gave up a home run to Brice Turang. Hell, Aroldis Chapman, Luke Weaver, Clay Holmes or Devin Williams could have done that. Anyway, Brewers 4, Yankees 3, and the Yankees were swept.

We are one-quarter of the way into the regular season. The Yankees are 26-15, a pace to go 103-59. But we're a game, 2 in (Cliché Alert) the All-Important Loss Column, behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division.

It could be worse: The Mets still have the highest payroll and the worst record in Major League Baseball.

Tonight, the Yankees begin a series away to the Baltimore Orioles.

*

May 10, 1876: The Centennial Exhibition

Memorial Hall

May 10, 1876, 150 years ago: The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, opens in Philadelphia, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in the city, on July 4, 1776.

Officially named the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, it was held in Fairmount Park, along the Schuylkill (SKOOL-kill) River, northwest of what's now known as Center City, on fairgrounds designed by Herman J. Schwarzmann. Nearly 10 million visitors attended the exposition, and 37 countries participated in it. It ran until November 10, when colder weather made keeping it going impractical.

A 1,000-foot Centennial Tower was proposed, but never built. (World's Fairs that did build towers have included the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris with the Eiffel Tower, the 1939 New York World's Fair with the Trylon, and the 1962 Century 21 Exposition in Seattle with the Space Needle.) But the right arm and torch of the still-incomplete Statue of Liberty were on display, and fees collected to stand in the torch and view the fair helped raise money for the Statue's completion.

There was an Agricultural Hall, a Horticultural Hall, a Machinery Hall, a Women's Pavilion, and a few other themed exhibition areas. Among the new products shown for the first time at this fair were Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, the Remington No. 1 typewriter, Heinz ketchup and Hires root beer.

The Exhibition was intended not only to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of American independence, but to show that America was coming out of the economic depression that had been caused by the stock market's Panic of 1873. The celebrations were meant to peak on Centennial Day, July 4, 1876. Unfortunately, that was the day that word reached Philadelphia by telegraph of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, where Native American tribes routed the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in the Montana Territory, putting a damper on the big day.

The fair was a mixture of the Gilded Age and the pain of the depression brought about by the Panic of 1873, and the strain that the Wild West was putting on the nation.

One of the few remaining buildings from the Exhibition is Memorial Hall. Since 2005, it has housed the Please Touch Museum, an interactive museum for children.

Bobby Cox, 1941-2026

No manager in the history of Major League Baseball has been thrown out of more games than Bobby Cox: 158, plus 3 more in postseason play. Which I was surprised to learn: He never seemed all that argumentative to me.

Robert Joe Cox (not "Robert Joseph") was born on May 21, 1941 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and grew up in Selma, California, outside Fresno. Like Mickey Mantle, Allie Reynolds and Bobby Murcer, he was an Oklahoma native who went on to play for the Yankees. Unlike them, however, he would not be a great player. His destiny would be in a different role, for other teams.

He was originally signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but before he could reach the major leagues, was traded to the Yankees. He played in 135 games of the 1968 season, making him a teammate of Mantle in the Mick's last season; and 85 games in 1969, playing mostly 3rd base, although he made 6 appearances at 2nd base.

He played and managed in the Winter league in Venezuela, which led the Yankees to let him manage in their farm system, starting in 1971. He won Pennants in the Eastern League with the 1972 West Haven Yankees, and in the International League with the 1976 Syracuse Chiefs. For the 1977 season, the Yankees called him up, and made him their 1st base coach. They won the World Series.

The Atlanta Braves signed him as their manager for 1978, but it didn't work out, and he was fired after the 1981 season. The Toronto Blue Jays signed him for 1982, and they were building something. In 1985, he took them to the American League Eastern Division title, edging the Yankees for it. But he blew a 3-games-to-1 lead in the AL Championship Series, and the Jays were beaten by the Kansas City Royals.

The Braves decided to bring him back, not as field manager, at first, but as general manager. The Jays let him go, and he was still the GM in 1990, when he fired manager Russ Nixon, and made himself the manager. He then hired John Schuerholz as his replacement.

With Cox in the dugout, and Schuerholz in the front office, the Braves then went on one of the most successful runs any MLB team has ever had. They won the National League Western Division title in 1991, '92 and '93. Realignment and the Strike of '94 meant no Division title in 1994 -- MLB doesn't recognize first-place finishes from that season -- but they won the NL Eastern Division title in 1995, '96, '97, '98, '99, 2000, '01, '02, '03, '04 and '05.

In 1991, they won their 1st Pennant since moving to Atlanta in 1966, their 1st Pennant since 1958 in Milwaukee. They lost a thriller of a World Series to the Minnesota Twins. They won another Pennant in 1992, but lost the Series to the Blue Jays. They won another Pennant in 1995, and, this time, won their 1st World Series in Atlanta, their 1st title since 1957 in Milwaukee. They won the Pennant again in 1996 and 1999, but, each time, lost the World Series to the Yankees, managed by the man who'd succeeded Cox the 1st time he'd managed the Braves, Joe Torre.

Cox never won another Pennant. He remained the Braves' manager though the 2010 season, in which he won 1 last NL East title. Overall: 2,504 wins, 2,001 losses, 16 Division titles, and 5 Pennants. But, despite having managed future Hall-of-Famers Phil Niekro, Ted Simmons, Bruce Sutter, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Chipper Jones, Fred McGriff, Andruw Jones and Billy Wagner, he only won 1 World Series.

Bobby Cox was married to Pamela, and had 8 children. He is 1 of only 4 managers to be named Manager of the Year in each League. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Braves retired his Number 6.

He died today, May 9, 2026, at the age of 84.

Yankees Overcome Replacements to Mess With Texas

The Yankees played a 3-game midweek series at home against the Texas Rangers. Once again, they messed with Texas.

On Tuesday night, Elmer Rodríguez made his 2nd major league start. He didn't get out of the 5th inning, showing that he's not ready. Brent Headrick had to finish the 5th, and pitch the 6th. He ended up as the winning pitcher.

Starting out down 3-0, the Yankees got a run in the 1st inning, and Ryan McMahon tied it with a 2-run home run in the 2nd inning. Jazz Chisholm hit a home run in the 6th, and Cody Bellinger hit a 2-run double in the 7th. Paul Goldschmidt homered in the 8th, his 374th career home run. The Yankees won, 7-4.

Will Warren had been pitching surprisingly well, going 4-0, before Wednesday night. He simply didn't have it, giving up 6 runs in 4 innings. In contrast, the Rangers started Nathan Eovaldi, the starting pitcher that Brian Cashman gave up on after the 2016 season. Since returning to the majors in 2018, he has always driven the Yankees crazy. This time, he went 8 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits, the run coming on a home run by Aaron Judge.

It was the 383rd of his career, passing Frank Howard, Jim Rice and Ryan Howard on the all-time list. Next up is Harold Baines with 384. But it wasn't enough: Rangers 6, Yankees 1.

The Wednesday afternoon game started out badly. Ben Rice missed another game with a bruised hand. Then, David Weathers had to be scratched as the starting pitcher due to illness. So Paul Blackburn, usually a reliever, started the game.

Then on the 1st play of the game, Jasson Domínguez made a great catch of a drive hit by former Met Brandon Nimmo. But he crashed into the left field wall, and will be on the Injured List for "at least a few weeks" after an MRI revealed a low-grade sprain of his left AC joint.

So Cody Bellinger was moved from right field to left field, Amed Rosario was moved from 3rd base to right field, and Ryan McMahon was put at 3rd base, replacing Domínguez in the 6th slot in the batting order. Judge was the DH, and the Yankees didn't want to give up the DH, so Judge didn't go to right field. And, since Rosario was playing 3rd instead of shortstop, Max Schuemann was playing shortstop instead of Anthony Volpe.

So now, the only Yankees in their preferred positions were Paul Goldschmidt at 1st base, Jazz Chisholm at 2nd base, and Trent Grisham in center field.

 And here's what Blackburn gave up: The aforementioned long fly ball, a walk to Ezequiel Duran, who was then caught stealing 2nd, a walk to Corey Seager, he hit Josh Jung with a pitch, and got Joc Pederson to ground out. He did not go back out for the 2nd inning: It was determined that he, too, was injured. So, without warning, this became a "bullpen game."

The new pitcher was Brendan Beck, making his major league debut. At the age of 27. And a half. Not a good sign: Most pitchers who are going to make it do so younger than that. He was born during the Yankees' 1998 American League Division Series win -- over the Rangers. He's a righthander from the San Diego area, and a Stanford graduate.

Wearing Number 89, he pitched 3 innings, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks, with 1 strikeout. Not a good performance. Basically, all he did was eat innings.

I can hear the late, great John Sterling now: "You know, Suzyn (Waldman), you just can't predict baseball." And I can also hear the late, great Phil Rizzuto: "I tell ya, Bill White, this is unbelievable, this is givin' me agita. Holy cow."

Fortunately, the Yankee bullpen did the job the rest of the way: Tim Hill, Headrick, Jake Bird and Camilo Doval pitched 5 scoreless innings.

And the Yankees unloaded the lumber. Goldschmidt and Bellinger both hit triples in the 1st inning, to make it 1-0 Yankees. Duran tied it with a home run in the 3rd, and gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead with an RBI groundout in the 4th.

Then came the bottom of the 6th. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Bellinger led off with a walk. Then came a single by Rosario, a popup by Chisholm, a walk by McMahon, a double by Grisham, a strikeout by Schuemann, a single by J.C. Escarra, a walk by Goldschmidt, a single by Judge, and a single by Bellinger. 7-2 Yankees.

Schuemann, a 28-year-old utility infielder from Derek Jeter's hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan, played with the Athletics the last 2 seasons. He doubled home a run in the 7th. McMahon singled home a run in the 8th. Headrick was named the winning pitcher.

Despite a rough start, the Yankees won, 9-2, taking the series from the Rangers, and going 6-1 on the homestand. They are 26-12, half a game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, and tied with the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs for the best record in baseball.

Today, the Yankees called up Spencer Jones, their 6-foot-7 slugging prospect, to replace Domínguez on the roster. And they have gone on a roadtrip, starting with a weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Come on you Bombers!