Yanks Jazz It Up Against Nomad Athletics

The Yankees played a home series this weekend, against the team currently known as simply "The Athletics" -- formerly Philadelphia, Kansas City and Oakland, and, they hope, soon to be Las Vegas.

Friday night was a "hole in the rotation" game, but Will Warren filled it well, pitching 5 shutout innings. The bullpen allowed just 1 hit and no walks the rest of the way. The Yankees only got 4 hits themselves, but 1 was a home run by Jazz Chisholm, 1 an RBI single by Cody Bellinger, and 1 an RBI single by DJ LeMahieu, and they won, 3-0.

But, on Saturday, they got handcuffed by former Yankee JP Sears, getting only 2 hits off him and 1 off reliever Jack Perkins. Clarke Schmidt, who pitched 7 no-hit innings in his last start, was not good, allowing 4 runs in 6 innings. The A's won, 7-0.

The Yanks made the A's pay dearly for that yesterday. Chisholm homered in the 2nd inning. The Yankees scored 4 runs in the 3rd, including a bases-clearing triple by Chisholm. Aaron Judge, who explained his drop from batting .400 to .356 with a bad back, hit home runs in the 4th and the 7th. Bellinger hit a home run in the 5th. And, just as it was a former Yankee who shut them down the day before, so, too, was this onslaught against a former Yankee: Luis Severino.

That kind of onslaught deserved some good pitching. Marcus Stroman came off the Injured List, and allowed just 1 run over 5 innings. JT Brubaker was awful in the 6th, but the rest of the bullpen pitched shutout ball, and the Yankees won, 12-5.

*

We are now past the numerical halfway point of the season. The Yankees are 48-35, on a pace to finish 94-68. They lead the American League Eastern Division by a game and a half over the Tampa Bay Rays, 3 over the Toronto Blue Jays, 8 over the Boston Red Sox, and 12 over the Baltimore Orioles.

On to Toronto for 4 against the Jays. Then, 3 in Flushing, including a 4th of July "day game after a night game," against The Other Team.

June 30, 1900: The Hoboken Docks Fire

June 30, 1900, 125 years ago: A fire breaks out on piers owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL), a German shipping company, on the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey. It kills at least 326 people.

The fire began when cotton bales stored on NDL's southernmost wharf caught fire, and winds carried the flames to nearby barrels of volatile liquids, such as turpentine and oil, which exploded in rapid succession. It burned NDL's Hoboken piers to the waterline, consumed or gutted nearby warehouses, gutted 3 of NDL's major transatlantic liners, and damaged or destroyed nearly two dozen smaller craft. Most of the victims were seamen and other workers, but included women visiting one of the ships.

The piers were at the foot of 3rd and 4th Streets, across the Hudson from West 12th Street in Manhattan, New York City. Pier C Park is on the site today. This is 5 blocks north of where the Hoboken Terminal of the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad was built in 1907, now serving New Jersey Transit and the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) system. 

NDL survived World War I, and barely survived World War II, with one remaining ship. It rebuilt, restored its place in international commerce, and merged with the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) in 1970, forming Hapag-Lloyd AG.

June 29, 1950: The Miracle On Grass

June 29, 1950, 75 years ago: The U.S. national soccer team beats England, 1-0 at Estádio Independência in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in the 1950 World Cup.

The England team had some of the greatest players in the world, including Stanley Matthews, "the Wizard of Dribble." But Matthews was kept out of this game, and that may have made the difference. Among England stars who did play in this game were Matthews' Blackpool teammate Stan Mortenson, Jackie Milburn of Newcastle United, Billy Wright of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Laurie Hughes of Liverpool, Tom Finney of Preston North end, Wilf Mannion of Middlesbrough, and goalkeeper Ted Ditchburn of Tottenham Hotspur.

Counting Bill Nicholson of Tottenham, who was much more honored for his managing of that team than for his playing, 6 of the players -- the others being Wright, Milburn, Matthews, Finney and Mannion -- would have statues dedicated outside their teams' stadiums.

The U.S. team was taken from various clubs in the top league in the country at the time, the American Soccer League. There was nothing like a "first division" as in European or South American countries. And none of them was still in college, although they weren't over the hill: One player was 38, the rest were between the ages of 21 and 31, coming from ASL clubs.

The U.S. got off to a good start in their 1st game, against Spain, scoring in the 17th. But the defense collapsed late, allowing 3 goals between the 81st and 89th minutes, and Spain won, 3-1. For the England game, Frank Borghi was in goal. In front of him were the fullbacks, Harry Keough on the right, Joe Maca on the left. In front of them were the halfbacks: Right to left, Ed McIlvenny, Charlie Colombo and Walter Bahr. Then the forwards: Right to left, Frank Wallace, Gino Pariani, Joe Gaetjens, John Souza and Ed Souza. Bahr was usually the Captain of this team, but, since he was British, McIlvenny was chosen as Captain for this game.

* 1 Goalkeeper: Frank Borghi, born April 9, 1925 in St. Louis, played for St. Louis team Simpkins-Ford.

* 2 Right Back: Harry Keough, born November 15, 1927 in St. Louis, played for St. Louis McMahon, later known as St. Louis Kutis.

* 3 Left Back: Joe Maca, born September 28, 1920 in Brussels, Belgium, played for Brooklyn Hipsano.

* 4 Right Halfback, Ed McIlvenny, born October 21, 1924 in Greenock, Scotland, played for Philadelphia Nationals.

* 5 Center Halfback: Charlie Colombo, born July 20, 1920 in St. Louis, played for Simpkins-Ford.

* 6 Left Halfback: Walter Bahr, born April 1, 1927 in Philadelphia, played for Philadelphia Nationals.

* 7 Outside Right: Frank Wallace, born July 15, 1922 as Frank Valicenti in St. Louis, played for Simpkins-Ford.

* 8 Inside Right: Gino Pariani, born February 21, 1928 in St. Louis, played for Simpkins-Ford.

* 9 Center Forward: Joe Gaetjens, born March 19, 1924 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, played for New York team Brookhattan.

* 10 Inside Left: John Souza, born July 12, 1920 in Fall River, Massachusetts. Played for Ponta Delgada, which was named after one of the Azores, off the coast of Portugal, and was staffed by Portuguese immigrants and their sons from Fall River and nearby New Bedford. Early in their history, to get around Massachusetts' "blue law" prohibiting playing professional sports on Sundays, teams like Ponta Delgada and the New Bedford Whalers would go just over the State Line, and play at St. Mark's Stadium in Tiverton, Rhode Island.

* 11 Outside Left: Ed Souza, born September 22, 1921 in Fall River. Played for Ponta Delgada, although was believed to not be related to John Souza. "Souza" and its variant "Sousa" are common names in Portugal: The most famous American of Portuguese descent has been "March King" John Philip Sousa.

The U.S. team's manager was William Jeffrey, born on August 3, 1892 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since 1927, he had been the head coach of the soccer team at Pennsylvania State University (a.k.a. Penn State).

As a British citizen familiar with the English game, as well as that of the country he had adopted, Jeffrey told the press, "We have no chance," and called his team "sheep ready to be slaughtered." One of the English national newspapers, the Daily Express, wrote, "It would be fair to give the U.S. three goals of a start." Indeed, England's 1st half attack was so fierce that, if even half of their attempts had gone in, they would have been up at least 4-0.

Then came the 37th minute. McIlvenny made a throw-in. Bahr took it, and shot from 25 yards out. Williams moved to his right to get it. But before he could, Gaetjens threw himself forward, and headed it in to Williams' left.

Joe Gaetjens

One-nil to the Stars and Stripes. Years, later Bahr said, "The overwhelming majority was Brazilians, but they rooted for us the entire time. We didn't realize why until after. They were hoping we would beat England and that Brazil would not have to play England in the final game." (In hindsight, this may have been counterproductive, as Brazil also suffered a tremendous upset, losing the Final to neighboring Uruguay.)

The Americans' confidence had been seriously boosted, and they came out for the 2nd half like a house afire. They had another scoring chance in the 54th, but couldn't do anything with it. In the 59th, Generoso Dattilo, the Italian referee, awarded England a direct free kick, but Borghi saved Mortensen's shot. England was dominant for a while, and it wasn't until the 74th minute that the U.S. could get another shot.

In the 82nd minute, soccer history hung in the balance. Mortensen drove toward the penalty area, and Charlie Colombo brought him down. The way Keough described it, it sounds like Colombo should have been sent off. (No red and yellow cards in those days, but a player could be sent off for an egregious foul.) But the film cameras didn't get the foul into the highlights, so there's no way to know for sure.

England pleaded for the awarding of a penalty, but Dattilo didn't buy it, saying the foul was outside the area. He awarded a free kick. Ramsey took it, and Mullen headed it toward the goal. Borghi tipped it away. Again, the England players appealed to Dattilo, saying the ball had gone in, but he ruled that it hadn't crossed the line.

In the 85th, Peewee Wallace managed to draw Williams out of position, giving himself an empty net. But Ramsey managed to get in and clear his shot off the line.

Without much stoppage time, Dattilo blew his whistle. Final score: America 1, England 0. Or, as would be said in soccer circles, England 0-1 USA. No "Man of the Match" was given. Clearly, it was Borghi, who kept it from being about 7-1 in England's favor.

No one could believe it. Contrary to what we would expect today, not only was the game not broadcast live to the U.K. on BBC television, it wasn't even broadcast around the world on BBC radio. When the BBC reporter delivered the final score that night (it would have been around 10:00 PM, London time), many people remembered hearing it, and thinking it was an error: That it must have been England that won 1-0.

And in America? It was barely reported at all. Since 5 players were from St. Louis, Dent McSkimming of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wanted to cover it. He couldn't talk the paper into covering his expenses. So he applied for "vacation" time, paid his own way, and, when he got there, he discovered that he was the only American reporter at the game.

Soccer was so low on the totem pole of American sports at the time, the Post-Dispatch was one of the few papers to report the result at all. Not only had The New York Times refused to send a reporter, but, when they got the result from the Associated Press wire report, they refused to print it, figuring the report of the upset was a hoax.

The World Cup went on. On July 2, the Americans were knocked out of the tournament, losing 5-2 to Chile in Recife. And England fell to Spain 1-0 at the Estadio Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. Spain thus won Group 2, and only the 4 Group winners advanced to a knockout round.

The 1-0 win over England has been nicknamed "The Miracle Match." In a nod to the U.S. hockey upset over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics, known as "The Miracle On Ice," this game has been called "The Miracle On Grass." Given how many shots Borghi had to stop, Belo Horizonte '50 was much closer to being a miracle than was Lake Placid '80.

The U.S. and England have played only 1 World Cup match since, a 1-1 draw in Bloemfontain, South Africa in 2010.

The Miracle On Grass was hardly seen then, and it has hardly been seen since. But it might just be the greatest upset in American sports history. Not the most satisfying -- that remains the Miracle On Ice -- but the greatest.

Gaetjens eventually returned to Haiti. In 1964, he was one of thousands of people arrested by the government of dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier. He was never seen again, nor has his body ever been found, but it is presumed that he was executed in jail. So there is no known final resting place for the man who may still be America's greatest soccer hero.

Jeffrey died in 1966, Wallace and Ed Souza, in 1979, Maca in 1982, Colombo in 1986, McIlvenny in 1989, Pariani in 2007, Keough and John Souza in 2012, Borghi in 2015. Bahr was the last survivor, living until 2018. He was also the father of Matt and Chris Bahr, Super Bowl-winning placekickers.

Yankees Survive Frustrating Series In Cincy

The Yankees played an Interleague series with the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. It was very frustrating.

Aaron Judge hit a home run in the 1st inning to stake Allan Winans to a 1-0 lead on Monday night, but it didn't last. Winans is a typical Brian Cashman pickup: The righthander from Bakersfield, California turns 30 in August, didn't make the major leagues until just before turning 28, and had a grand total of 8 major league appearances, with a 1-4 record, a 7.20 ERA, and a 1.575 WHIP before the Yankees claimed him off of waivers this past Winter. There was no good reason to acquire him. And here, he was starting -- because Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman, intended for the starting rotation, are injured.

Making his Yankee debut, wearing Number 62, Winans wasn't terrible, but he was bad enough, going 4 1/3rd innings, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits -- but no walks. And the bats didn't help him or the bullpen: After Judge's homer, the Yankees did not score again, despite runners on 1st & 3rd with 1 out in the 2nd, a leadoff double by Cody Bellinger in the 3rd, 1st & 2nd with 1 out in the 5th, and 1st & 2nd with nobody out in the 8th. Reds 6, Yankees 1.

Carlos Rodón started on Tuesday night, and he was fantastic: 6 innings, non runs, 4 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts. Thanks to a leadoff home run by Ben Rice and a 2-run triple by Anthony Volpe in the 4th, he left the game with a 3-0 lead.

Aaron Boone should have left him in to pitch the 7th. But he'd thrown 88 pitches, and Cashman wouldn't let Boone leave him in. Instead, Jonathan Loáisiga came in, and let the Reds tie the game. In the top of the 9th, home plate umpire Mark Wegener made a bogus strike call on Jazz Chisholm, leading to him striking out swinging. As Chisholm took the field in the bottom of the 9th, he was still yelling at Wegener, who threw him out of the game.

In the 11th inning, thanks to the "ghost runner" rule, the Yankees got a run on a groundout and a wild pitch. But Mark Leiter Jr. couldn't get a single out, and the Reds won, 4-3.

This made the Wednesday night game a must-win. Max Fried pitched like he knew it: He went 7 innings, allowing 1 run, unearned, on 4 hits and 1 walk, striking out 7. He is now 10-2 -- 8-1 after Yankee losses. On that basis, he is already drawing comparisons to the 1978 season of Ron Guidry.

Chisholm redeemed himself with a home run. Trent Grisham and Jasson Domínguez each got 4 hits. Yankees 7, Reds 1, to salvage the finale of a frustrating series in Cincy.

*

Believe it or not, we are now at the halfway point of the regular season: The Yankees' next game will be the 81st out of 162. In spite of a recent slump, they lead the American League Eastern Division by half a game over the Tampa Bay Rays, 3 over the Toronto Blue Jays, 7 over the Boston Red Sox, and 12 over the Baltimore Orioles. In (Cliché Alert) the all-important loss column, the Yanks lead the Rays by 1, the Jays by 3, the Sox by 8 and the O's by 12.

Tonight, they begin a home series with the Athletics:

1901 Team born in Philadelphia

1955 Moved to Kansas City

1963 Threatened to move to Dallas

1964 Threatened to move to Louisville

1968 Moved to Oakland

1978 Very nearly moved to Denver

1979 Threatened to move to New Orleans

2025 Moved to Sacramento

2028 Scheduled to move to Las Vegas

Not our problem.

June 27, 1955: The Death of Harry Agganis

June 27, 1955, 70 years ago: Harry Agganis dies, ending what had been one of the most promising sports careers just as it was getting started.

Aristotle George Agganis was born on April 20, 1929 in Lynn, Massachusetts, outside Boston. Harry (a variation of "Ari" for "Aristotle") starred in baseball and football at Lynn Classical High School, and at Boston University, becoming one of a few athletes known as "The Golden Greek."

Cleveland Browns coach Paul Brown was interested in him as a potential successor to his Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham, selecting him in the 1st round of the 1952 NFL Draft. But he preferred baseball, and signed with his hometown team, the Boston Red Sox, for $50,000 -- half of what Brown was offering him.

After a star 1953 season with the Sox' Class AAA team in Louisville, he was brought up to the Red Sox for the 1954 season. Red Sox general manager Joe Cronin said, "He's colorful. He's a good competitor. And being a local boy, he can be a great drawing card." Wearing Number 6 and playing 1st base, he batted .251 with 11 home runs and 57 RBIs. Years later, Sox star Ted Williams would say, "Harry Agganis was on the verge."

But in 1955, he struggled. He was hitting .313 with 10 RBIs, but no home runs, on June 2. He never played again. He was taken to Sancta Maria Hospital in Cambridge, across the Charles River from Boston, with pneumonia. He stayed for 2 weeks, rejoined the team for a week, and then was readmitted with a viral infection. His doctor blamed it on his trying to return too soon. He showed signs of improvement, but on July 27, he suffered a pulmonary embolism, and died. He was only 26 years old.

Agganis Arena

Agganis was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974. Gaffney Street, on one side of BU's Nickerson Field, was renamed Harry Agganis Way in 1995. On the other side of Agganis Way, BU's 7,200-seat Agganis Arena was opened in 2005, named for him although he hadn't played basketball or hockey.

June 26, 2015: Obergefell v. Hodges

June 26, 2015, 10 years ago: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Obergefell v. Hodges that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples, by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Jim Obergefell was a high school German teacher in Sandusky, Ohio, who met IT director John Arthur in the early 1990s. Arthur developed ALS, a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's disease. Knowing he was dying, and wanting to make it legal and get the legal protections that came with it, the two men flew to Maryland, where same-sex marriage was legal, and were married on July 11, 2013. Arthur died on October 22, only 3 months later.

Jim Obergefell (left) and John Arthur, on the plane to Maryland

Due to Ohio's law banning same-sex marriage, Obergefell could not be listed as the legal spouse on Arthur's death certificate. So he sued Richard Hodges, who held the office denying Obergefell his rights, that of the Director of the Ohio Department of Health.

The Supreme Court's ruling struck down all State laws that barred same-sex marriage, most of which had been passed in the 2000s, during the Administration of evangelical "Christian" George W. Bush, as a backlash against the gains of the gay rights movement in the 1990s, during the Administration of President Bill Clinton.

It was a 5-4 vote. It was known from the beginning that Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, all militantly conservative Catholics appointed by Republican Presidents, would vote to uphold their religious belief, and not the 14th Amendment.

It was known from the beginning that the 4 Justices who had been appointed by Democratic Presidents -- Sonia Sotomayor, a Catholic; and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, all Jewish -- would recognize that the 14th Amendment took precedence over any State's law, and over anyone's prejudices, whether inspired by religion or not.

The question was over the remaining 2 Justices, both appointed by Republican Presidents: Chief Justice John Roberts and Anthony Kennedy. Kennedy had long been a "swing Justice," deciding cases that were otherwise split 4-4; and Roberts had sometimes surprised people who expected him to vote the conservative way, but ended up finding ways to reconcile the more liberal position with the Constitution.

Not only did both men side with Obergefell, but Kennedy wrote the majority opinion. He cited not merely "equal protection," but "equal dignity in the eyes of the law."

In the wake of the current Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022, striking down the national right to an abortion, Justice Thomas has said that he wants the Court to re-examine certain decisions he called "wrong," including Obergefell v. Hodges. In other words, with the Court now having a 6-3 archconservative supermajority, the greatest victory in the history of the gay rights movement may not be final.

In 2022, Obergefell ran for the Ohio House of Representatives. Hodges served in that House from 1993 to 1999, albeit in a different district. Running as a Democrat against a Republican incumbent seeking a 3rd term, Obergefell lost the election.

June 25, 1950: The Korean War Begins

June 25, 1950, 75 years ago: Troops of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- a.k.a. North Korea, a Communist nation, and by no means democratic or a republic -- cross the parallel of 38th degrees north latitude, and invade the Republic of Korea -- a.k.a. South Korea, which is capitalist, but hardly free.

Two days later, President Harry S Truman announced that American and other NATO forces would come to the aid of South Korea. The next day, North Korean troops took the South Korean capital of Seoul. A total of 15 United Nations countries came to the South's aid: America, Canada, Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Greece, Turkey, Colombia, Ethiopia, South Africa, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.

On September 15, Korea had its "D-Day," as General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, despite being 70 years old, personally led an amphibious landing at Inchon. Within weeks, not only was Seoul liberated, but the North's troops were backed up to the Yalu River, separating the Korean peninsula from the People's Republic of China.

That country then intervened on behalf of its Communist "little brother." The war became a stalemate, lasting 3 years. Truman ended up relieving MacArthur of duty in April 1951, for disobeying orders, replacing him with Matthew Ridgeway. He commanded UN troops in Korea until May 1952, when he was transferred to command U.S. troops in Europe. He was replaced as UN commander by Mark Clark, who held that role until the Armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, by which point Dwight D. Eisenhower was the President.

About 327,000 Americans served in the conflict, and 36,574 were killed, with another 103,000 wounded but surviving.

Kim Il-Sung, the founder of the DPRK, remained in power until his death in 1994. His son, Kim Jong-Il, was then in charge until his own death in 2011. And his son, Kim Jong-Un, is now in charge, and is every bit as bad as his father and his grandfather. The military is well-supplied, but the civilians are poor, and many are starving.

Not that Syngman Rhee, the founder of the ROK, was a saint. South Korea may have been capitalist, but it was hardly democratic. He remained in power until being deposed in 1960, and died in 1965. South Korea's path to democracy has been difficult, including the assassination of President Park Chung-hee over fears he was bringing dictatorship back in 1979; and the impeachment and removal of his daughter, President Park Geun-hye, on corruption charges in 2017.

MacArthur died in 1964, Eisenhower in 1969, Truman in 1972, Clark in 1984, and Ridgeway in 1993. South Korea's leading General, Chung Il-kwon, served as Prime Minister from 1964 to 1970, and lived until 1994. Kim Il-Sung operated as his own commanding General.

Coming between the epic of World War II and the more recent national trauma of the Vietnam War, Korea became "the forgotten war." Even the TV series M*A*S*H, running on CBS from 1972 to 1983, didn't help much, as details were frequently gotten wrong.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial, Washington

A memorial to the American troops of the Korean War opened in 1995 on the National Mall in Washington, across from a counterpart to the Vietnam War, between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Surviving veterans are now age 90 and up.

U.S. forces remain on South Korean soil. These included an engineering unit to which my father was assigned in 1967 and 1968.

June 24, 1995: New Jersey's Champions

June 24, 1995, 30 years ago: New Jersey got a sports World Championship it could call its own.

The National Hockey League approved the sale of the Colorado Rockies to an ownership group led by Dr. John McMullen, a naval engineer who was then also the owner of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros, on May 27, 1982. The NHL also approved the team's move from Denver to the Brendan Byrne Arena, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex, in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. On June 30, the new name of the team was announced: The New Jersey Devils.

On October 5, 1982, they played their 1st regular-season game, home to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and it ended in a 3-3 tie. Three days later, they hosted the team that was geographically, but not yet emotionally, their rivals, the New York Rangers, and got their 1st win, 3-2.

Their early days were tough. They started their 2nd season 2-20. On November 19, 1983, they went to Edmonton to play the Oilers, who were on their way to their 1st Stanley Cup, and lost 13-4. Wayne Gretzky, now the best player in the sport, told the media after the game, "Well, it’s time they got their act together. They’re ruining the whole league. They had better stop running a Mickey Mouse organization, and put somebody on the ice."

It's hard to argue that he was wrong. Nevertheless, for those of us who were Devils fans from Day One, it pissed us off. From November 29 to December 17, we went on a pretty good run, going 5-3-2. On January 15, 1984, we had a rematch with the Oilers at the Meadowlands, and the place sold out. Many fans came wearing Mickey Mouse hats, the "ears" hats sold at Disney World. We lost, but this time, it was only 5-4. On January 27, we went back to Edmonton, and got a 3-3 tie.

It took until 1988 for the Devils to make the Playoffs for the 1st time -- not counting 1978 as the Rockies. We clinched in overtime of the last day of the regular season, then beat the crumbling New York Islander dynasty in the 1st round, then upset the Washington Capitals to make the Conference Finals, driving a superior Boston Bruin team to the full 7 games.

That series was highlighted -- or lowlighted, depending on how you look at it -- by a confrontation after Game 3. Devils head coach Jim Schoenfeld, formerly a take-no-shit defenseman for the Buffalo Sabres, had had it with referee Don Koharski, who seemed to give the Bruins every break. He yelled at Koharski in the tunnel, with fans able to see. Koharski fell, got up, and accused Schoenfeld of pushing him. Schoenfeld yelled back, "You fell, you fat pig! Have another doughnut! Have another doughnut!"

The Devils missed the Playoffs in 1989, but made it again in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993, failing to win a round each time. In 1992, they lost to the Rangers in 7 games in the 1st round. In 1994, they beat the Buffalo Sabres, and then the Bruins, and faced the Rangers in an epic series. It went the full 7, and Game 7 went to double overtime, before Stephane Matteau scored to put the Rangers into the Stanley Cup Finals.

It was the greatest hockey game I've ever seen -- and my team lost it, to the team I hate the most. In that sport, anyway.

*

A defeat like that can crush a team. Or it can show them just how close they are, and remind them that they do not want to feel like that again. The 1994-95 season was delayed due to a labor dispute, and when the regular season was over, the Devils were the 5th seed in the NHL Eastern Conference.

Head coach Jacques Lemaire and assistant coach Larry Robinson had both been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame already, for their play with the 1970s Montreal Canadiens. Lemaire had won 8 Cups with them; Robinson, 6. They knew how to build a winner.

Jacques Lemaire

And general manager Lou Lamoriello was building one. In goal was Martin Brodeur, a Montreal native, whose father, Denis, had been Canada's goaltender at the 1956 Winter Olympics, and had long been the photographer for both the Canadiens and baseball's Montreal Exops. His backup was Chris Terreri, who had played at Providence College when Lamoriello was the head coach there.

Martin Brodeur

The defense was led by Scott Stevens. Playing for the Capitals, Stevens had been one of the dirtiest players in the NHL. But he had matured, and figured out the difference between aggressive and dirty. The Devils acquired him in 1991, and he so impressed everyone that Bruce Driver willingly gave up the team captaincy the next season.

"Guns don't kill people, Scott Stevens kills people"

Driver had been with the Devils since the team's 2nd season, 1983-84. So had another defenseman, Ken Daneyko. So had right wing John MacLean, whose overtime goal in the last game in 1988 got the team its 1st Playoff berth.

In addition to Stevens, Driver and Daneyko, the defense included exciting young players Scott Niedermayer and Shawn Chambers, and a tough Swede -- yes, Don Cherry, they do exist -- named Tommy Albelin.

In addition to MacLean, the forwards included Neal Broten. At this point, Ken Morrow of the Islanders was the only member of the U.S. team that won the Gold Medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics to have won the Stanley Cup. Broten, whose brothers Aaron and Paul had also played for the Devils, was looking to become the 2nd.

Neal Broten

There was also Bobby Carpenter, who made the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school player in the Boston suburbs in 1981, a cover whose caption called him "THE CAN'T-MISS KID," and suggested that he might be the best American hockey player ever. He wasn't exactly hit with "The Dreaded SI Cover Jinx," as he did make an All-Star Game. But this was his 14th season in the NHL, and aside from the 1990 Finals with his hometown Bruins, he had never gotten close to the Stanley Cup.

There were more connections to the Canadiens. Wingers Claude Lemieux and Stéphane Richer had played on the Habs' 1986 Stanley Cup winners, making them the only former Cup winners on the '95 Devils. Another winger, Tom Chorske, had also played in Montreal.

Claudie was a bit of a dirty player, but I loved him, for 3 reasons: He scored goals, he didn't take any shit, and he seemed to up his game against the 2 teams Devils fans hate the most: The New York Rangers (a.k.a. The Scum), and the Philadelphia Flyers (a.k.a. The Philth).

"One, two, Claudie's coming for you.

Three, four, he'll knock you out and then he'll score."

Wingers Mike Peluso and Bobby Holík, and center Randy McKay formed a forward line known as the Crash Line, the unit Lemaire sent out when he needed a little aggressiveness. Another winger was Bill Guerin, the 1st Hispanic player in NHL history, preceding future Devil Scott Gomez. And Jim Dowd, from the successful hockey program at Brick Township High School in Ocean County, was the 1st New Jersey native to play for the Devils.

Jim Dowd

On May 11, 1995, while the Devils were in the 1st round of the Playoffs, the NBC sitcom Seinfeld aired the episode "The Face Painter." Patrick Warburton played David Puddy, a mechanic who was dating Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Jerry Seinfeld (playing a fictional version of himself) had gotten tickets for Game 1 of a Playoff series with the Rangers at The Garden (suggesting that the episode took place the year before), and took Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) and Elaine, who took Puddy.

It turns out, Puddy is a Devils fan, from New Jersey, and not only is he wearing a Number 30 Martin Brodeur jersey, but he's painted his face in Devils colors, and he ends up making a spectacle of himself. In real life, Warburton was born in New Jersey, in Paterson, Passaic County, but grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles.

Patrick Warburton as David Puddy

During the episode, a broadcaster announces that a Devils goal has been scored by Richer. Richer also scored 2 goals, including the overtime winner, in my 1st live NHL game, a 5-4 Devils win over the Rangers at The Garden on December 23, 1992. This guy hated the Rangers so much, he even scored against them on sitcoms.

Stéphane Richer

Speaking of sitcoms: In 1993, on an episode of Living Single, East Orange native Dana Owens, a.k.a. Queen Latifah, became the 1st person to wear a Devils jersey on a scripted TV show. Her character, Khadijah James, wore Number 1, and the name on the back was the name of the magazine she published and edited: "FLAVOR."

Now, the Devils had to back up Puddy's claim: "Don't mess with the Devils, buddy! We're Number 1! We beat anybody! We're the Devils! The Devils! Haggggh!"

*

They faced the Bruins in the 1st round, and beat them in 5 games. The clincher, on May 14, 1995, was the last competitive sporting event at the Boston Garden, after 67 years as the home of the Bruins and 49 years as the home of the NBA's Boston Celtics, who had already been eliminated from their league's Playoffs.

In the next round, the Pittsburgh Penguins were the opponents. Mario Lemieux was sitting the season out due to injury, but Jaromir Jagr was at his peak. The Devils didn't care. Claude Lemieux, no relation to Mario, had only scored 6 goals in the shortened regular season, but was the biggest reason the Devils won this series, also in 5 games. Game 4, at the Meadowlands, was won with Broten scoring in the 3rd period to tie it and in overtime to win it.

Then came the Conference Finals. The Devils had gotten that far in 1988 and 1994, but faltered both times. This time, it was against another geographic rival, the Philadelphia Flyers, who had eliminated the defending champion Rangers in the preceding round.

The teams split the 1st 2 games, with the road team winning each time. Game 5 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, on June 11, 1995, may be the key game in the history of the Devils' franchise. It was 2-2 with 44 seconds left in regulation. Claude Lemieux struck again, firing a wobbly shot from the blue line, about 65 feet. Flyer goaltender Ron Hextall never saw it.

The Spectrum may never have been so quiet. I was not. I saw that goal at the Ruby Tuesday restaurant at the Brunswick Square Mall in my hometown of East Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. When that puck went in the net, I jumped and yelled. And nobody told me to be quiet. It was then that I knew that the Devils had finally taken Central Jersey away from the Rangers. The 1994 Cup win by the Broadway Blueshirts -- or Broadway Boozehounds -- no longer mattered. South Jersey may still have been Flyer country, but from the New York State Line to Interstate 195, New Jersey now belonged to the Devils.

The Devils held on to win, 3-2, and clinched their 1st Conference title at the Meadowlands 2 days later, on June 13.

The Devils had now won 8 Playoff games on the road: In Games 1, 2 and 5 in Boston; Games 2 and 5 in Pittsburgh; and Games 1, 2 and 5 in Philadelphia. This was stunning, but it suggested they had a chance in their 1st-ever Stanley Cup Finals.

*

But it would be against the Detroit Red Wings. This team was loaded. It had the best regular-season record. It had future Hall-of-Famers: Steve Yzerman, Paul Coffey, Viacheslav Fetisov (who had been a Devil from 1989 until earlier that season), Nicklas Lidstrom, Dino Ciccarelli, Mark Howe, Sergei Fedorov.

And some players who perhaps should be in the Hall: Keith Primeau, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Darren McCarty, Kris Draper, Mike Vernon, and another 1980 Gold Medal winner, Mike Ramsey. And a couple of tough guys: Mike "Krusher" Krushelnyski and Stu "the Grim Reaper" Grimson.

Fetisov, Fedorov, Kozlov and Konstantinov would be joined the next year by Igor Larionov, forming "The Russian Five." Larionov would later help the Devils win a Cup, and is also in the Hall of Fame. He wasn't there yet in 1995, but it didn't make a difference: The Wings were good, fast, and tough.

June 17, 1995: Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals is held at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The Red Wings are in the Finals for the 1st time in 29 years, and looking for their 1st Cup in 40 years. The Devils are in their 1st Finals. Something's got to give.

When the Devils players are introduced, each one, it seemed to me on TV, was greeted not with actual boos and hisses, but a shout of "Boo, hiss!" Even though this was my team, I thought it was brilliant. It was years before I found out that the actual shout was, "Who cares?" That was disappointing.

But the noise in "The Joe," combined with all the hype the Wings had rightly gotten, for being one of the most talent-laden teams ever, and their 8-0 record at home in these Playoffs, had me wondering if the Devils were even going to win a game.

In the Fox TV booth, Dave Maloney, a former New York Ranger captain, said, "I like the Wings in 7." Given what we were up against, I would have gladly taken that.

A funny thing happened on the way to defeat: Richer and Ciccarelli traded power-play goals in the 2nd period, and then, early in the 3rd, Lemieux continued one of the hottest postseason streaks ever. Devils 3, Red Wings 2. It was the Devils' 9th road win of the Playoffs, their 1st Stanley Cup Finals win ever, and the theft of the home-ice advantage for the series. Three wins to go.

June 20, 1995: Game 2. A goal from Dowd with 1:24 left in regulation, plus an empty-netter, gave the Devils a 4-2 win. It was their 10th road win of the Playoffs, a new record.

Nobody can believe it. New Jersey fans are shocked. Detroit fans are shocked. Fans of the NHL's other 24 teams are shocked. Two wins to go.

And yet, while all this was going on, there was a rumor that the Devils would be sold and moved to Nashville, where what's now known as the Bridgestone Arena was going up. This would be one hell of a betrayal by the NHL. Sure, in the movie Slap Shot, the Charlestown Chiefs were being moved just as they were threatening to win their minor league's championship, but that was the movies. This was real life.

Would we really lose our team at the moment of greatest glory? In all of major league sports history in North America, that had (and still has) happened only once: Despite winning the 1945 NFL Championship while playing in a great football city, the Cleveland Rams hadn't been drawing well -- soldiers not yet being fully demobilized from World War II had something to do with it -- and moved to Los Angeles for the 1946 season.

But, for now, the Meadowlands was still home, and the Meadowlands Marauders were coming home, up two games to none. (I made up the name "Meadowlands Marauders." Nobody else ever called the Devils that. I now call them the Mulberry Street Marauders, since the Prudential Center is on Mulberry Street in downtown Newark. I even have a Facebook page with that name.)

June 22, 1995: Game 3. Because of the lockout that delayed and shortened the season, this was the 1st NHL game played after the Summer Solstice. It was also the 1st Finals game in any sport played at the Brendan Byrne Arena. (The Devils would also reach the Finals there in 2000 and 2001, the Nets in 2002, and both teams in 2003.)

One of the things that amazed me was how many fans came to the Arena wearing the former jerseys, the red and green ones, that had been switched to scarlet and black for the 1992-93 season. It was as if they were sending the message: "We remember what it was like to be so bad, which is why it now feels so good to be so good."

Nobody expected the Devils to beat the Detroit Red Wings 2 straight in Detroit, but they did. So, by this point, nobody is surprised when the Devils take a 5-0 lead, on goals by Driver, Lemieux (his 13th goal of the Playoffs, after scoring only 6 in the regular season), Broten, McKay and Holík. The Wings scored 2 late goals, but it didn't matter. The Devils win 5-2. One win to go.

If they could do it, it would be the 1st World Championship for a New Jersey team. Sure, the New York Giants had won Super Bowl XXI in 1987, and Super Bowl XXV in 1991, while playing in Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. But they still officially kept "New York" as their name. This, if it could be finished, would be a World Championship for New Jersey. The Devils would be New Jersey's Champions.

The Meadowlands had never been louder. That record will last just 48 hours.

*

June 24, 1995. It was a Saturday. The temperature stayed in the 70s in daylight, and dropped into the 50s that night. I did not yet have a Devils jersey, but I had a shirt with red and black stripes, which I had worn to my 1st live NHL game, because it was Devils colors. They won that night, so I'd worn it to every live game I'd been to since. It didn't always work. But it felt right to wear it on this night, even though it had long sleeves and it was the 1st week of Summer.

The Brendan Byrne Arena, as the Meadowlands arena was then known, had a hockey seating capacity of 19,040 -- convenient for mocking the Rangers, until they broke their "Curse of 1940." (For basketball, it was 20,089.) There was no way I was going to get inside: Getting to the arena was possible, but the scalpers would be charging prices far outside my price range.

So I set my VCR to record WNYW-Channel 5, the Fox station in New York, and decided to go to my original hometown, Bloomfield, in Essex County. With Route 3, which passes the Meadowlands Complex, being just to the north of town, this would put me reasonably close. I went to the Town Pub at 378 Broad Street, ordered dinner (this is one detail I don't remember), and, as the Fox broadcast began at 8:00, began ordering Red Dog beer (this, I do remember), because I'd gone to the Yankees' home opener 2 months earlier, and tried it then, and liked it.

Mike Emrick, the Devils' usual broadcaster, and former Rangers goalie John Davidson broadcast for Fox, but there was so much noise in the Town Pub that we couldn't hear them. As home teams did in the NHL at the time, the Devils took the ice wearing white jerseys at home, while the Wings did so in red. Just 1 minute and 8 seconds into the game, Broten scored. But only 55 game-seconds after that, Fedorov tied it up.

At 13:01 of the 1st period, Coffey scored a shorthanded goal to make it 2-1 Wings, and, for the 1st time since the final horn of Game 3, clinching on this night was in doubt. What we did not yet know was that the Devils' defense, led by Stevens, would be up to the task, and the Wings would not score another goal that counted for 104 days.

At 17:45, Shawn Chambers tied it back up, and the 1st period ended 2-2. After Fox came back from commercial, I heard the bar break out into boos, and I looked up to see Emrick and Davidson interviewing NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. I joined in.

The next day, back at home, I ran the tape back, and listened to the interview. The crowd at the Meadowlands, seeing the interview on the arena scoreboard, and believing that Bettman favored the Devils' alleged proposed move to Nashville, chanted, "Bettman sucks!" Emrick asked him about this, and he said, "Never let it go unsaid that hockey fans are passionate!"

The key moment of the game came at 7:56 of the 2nd period. The Devils attacked, and the puck came to Broten. Lefthanded, he tried to shovel the puck past Vernon, who blocked it. He tried a 2nd time, but whiffed on the puck. He tried a 3rd time, and this time, as the instant replay showed, the puck sort of jumped over Vernon's left shoulder, and in.

The best still photo I could find of the goal

It had been 15 years since the native of Roseau, Minnesota participated in the "Miracle On Ice." Now, he had scored what stood to be a Stanley Cup-winning goal.

The 2nd period ended with the score still 3-2 to the Devils. In the 3rd, Sergei Brylin hit a slap shot at 7:46 that seemed to clinch it. At 12:32, Chambers spun and hit a lefty shot that Vernon never saw. The Stanley Cup was in a room somewhere under the stands, and as we roared in that Bloomfield bar, we couldn't hear the goal horn, but Fox put a camera on the Cup.

New Jersey Devils 5, Detroit Red Wings 2. The emotions were flowing. Peluso, one of the tough guys of the era, his long stringy black hair making him look like a member of Mötley Crüe, looked even more so: He was crying over having achieved his dream. He wasn't the only Mike P. in North Jersey with tears of joy in his eyes that night: I did, too.

Mike Peluso, around 11:00 PM, June 24, 1995

As the seconds ticked down, I made sure I looked at my watch so I would always know the exact time that it happened. It was 11:09 PM. Don't bet me. The clock ran out, and, as I learned the next day when I ran the tape back, Emrick said some of the most beautiful words I've ever heard, words I couldn't possibly have heard with all the noise in the bar at 11:09:

The championship to New Jersey! The Devils win the Stanley Cup!

The perfect words for the moment. As Trenton radio station WKXW, 101.5 FM, liked to say, "New Jersey 101.5. Not New York. Not Philadelphia. Proud to be New Jersey." I dearly love New York City. I love Philadelphia, too. I don't like their hockey teams, but I love the cities. But I was born and raised in New Jersey, and raised to love my home State.

Now, New Jersey was World Champions, and a team called the Devils had put me in Heaven. Indeed, the official NHL highlight film for the Finals would be titled Heaven.

A red carpet was laid out from the players' tunnel to center ice, and a table placed on it. The Conn Smythe Trophy, named for the old-time Maple Leafs head coach and general manager, and given to the Most Valuable Player of the Playoffs, was put on the table. Bettman came out, and got booed again. He announced that the Trophy had been awarded to Lemieux. There were a few good choices, but he was the definitive choice.

Then the Stanley Cup was brought out, by 2 employees of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, men wearing tuxedos and white gloves. They put it on the table as the fans went wild, always dreaming of seeing the Cup in their building. Now, it was here.

Bettman started talking again, and got booed again. He praised McMullen, Lamoriello, Lemaire, and the team in general. Then he turned to the Captain, and said, "Scott Stevens, this is for you!"

The Commissioner always gives the Cup to the Captain. It is then up to the Captain to decide who gets it next. Stevens knew it should go to the 3 guys who had been there almost from the beginning: MacLean, then Driver, then Daneyko.

Given the role he would eventually occupy in hockey history, it might surprise younger fans to know that Brodeur didn't get it until halfway through. When it was his turn with the Cup, McKay nearly dropped it. (Following the 2nd win in 2000, Stevens gave it to McKay first, since he'd been going through a rough patch.) Lemaire got it last. He'd won 8 Cups as a Canadiens player. This made 9.

I'm not old enough to remember the 1969 World Series -- I was born 2 months later -- but the Devils' '95 Cup win was similar: The team from the New York Tri-State Area had been laughed at for its first few years, then it made an unexpected run to the final, faced an absolutely loaded establishment team, and ended up toying with them, resulting in an unexpected, joyful win that was clinched at home.

But neither win was a "miracle": Both the '69 Mets and the '95 Devils outworked their opponents, and fully deserved it. One major difference: Lemaire was already in his sport's Hall of Fame. Gil Hodges, manager of the '69 Mets, still isn't in his. Also, Jacques chewed a lot more gum than Gil.

It was a long ride home. A bus from Bloomfield back to Penn Station in Newark. A train back to New Brunswick. It was too late to take a bus back to East Brunswick, but I had enough money for a taxi. I don't remember what time I got home. It didn't matter. I was brimming with joy.

There was no ticker-tape parade. The team just had a celebration in the parking lot, in front of the arena. That's another good thing about the team's 2007 move to the Prudential Center: If they ever do win another Cup, they can have a parade up Newark's Broad Street.

Did I say, "move"? Within a few days, it was announced that McMullen had no intention of selling the team, and Nashville had to wait until the 1998-99 season for the Predators to debut.

That red-and-black-striped shirt? I also wore it for the Devils' clinchers of the 2000 and 2003 Stanley Cups. And, while it's not Yankee colors, I thought, why not? I wore it for the Yankees' clinchers of the 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009 World Series.

It hasn't always worked, though. It didn't work for the Devils in Game 6 or Game 7 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals. It worked in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals, the Adam Henrique Game, but not Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. It didn't work for the Yankees for Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, or Game 6 of the 2003 World Series, or Game 7 of the 2004 American League Championship Series. And, while it's (sort of) Rutgers colors as well, it's only worked for their football team about half the time.

I still have the shirt. It's got a few small holes in it, and it doesn't fit me anymore, since I'm considerably heavier than I was in 1995. (Even by the 2009 Yankee win, it was too small for me.) I've joked about raising it to the ceiling in my bedroom, like a retired uniform number. But I will never throw it away.

The Shirt, and the Jersey that replaced it

Because it's a reminder of the night that my little hockey team grew up. Expansion team no more. "Mickey Mouse organization"? Get outta here with that crap. The New Jersey Devils had won a title. And would win another. And another. (Still waiting for another, though.)

But, as has been found out by...

* The 1916 Montreal Canadiens
* The 1918 Toronto Maple Leafs (then the Toronto Arenas)
* The 1928 New York Rangers
* The 1929 Boston Bruins
* The 1934 Chicago Blackhawks
* The 1936 Detroit Red Wings
* The 1974 Philadelphia Flyers
* The 1980 New York Islanders
* The 1984 Edmonton Oilers
* The 1989 Calgary Flames
* The 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins
* The 1996 Colorado Avalanche
* The 1999 Dallas Stars
* The 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning
* The 2006 Carolina Hurricanes
* The 2007 Anaheim Ducks
* The 2012 Los Angeles Kings
* The 2018 Washington Capitals
* The 2019 St. Louis Blues

* The 2023 Vegas Golden Knights and

* The 2024 Florida Panthers...

There will never be another 1st one. And on this night, New Jersey fans found out. The Devils won the Stanley Cup.

The Championship to New Jersey.

Maybe the Yankees Have Snapped Out of It

The Yankees began a series with the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium on Monday night. Clarke Schmidt went 7 2/3rds shutout innings, allowing only 4 hits, walking none. Fernando Cruz finished the 8th inning, and Devin Williams pitched a scoreless 9th.

Except the Yankees didn't score, either. Jazz Chisholm got 3 hits, the returning-from-injury Giancarlo Stanton 2, the rest of the team only 3. Jonathan Loáisiga pitched a scoreless 10th inning, but he allowed a run in the 11th, and the Yankees lost, 1-0.

On Tuesday night, Will Warren went 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and no walks, striking out 11. It was a pitching performance deserving of a win. Except Stanton got 2 hits, the rest of the team only 2, and the Yankees lost, 4-0.

Ryan Yarbrough started on Wednesday night. He went 5 1/3rd innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk. Again, the starting pitcher deserved a win. Cody Bellinger got 2 hits, Chisholm 1, and the rest of the team none. Bellinger and Chisholm each hit a solo home run. The Angels won, 3-2.

This concluded a run of 65 innings in which the Yankees scored just 7 runs, 6 of them earned. The opposing pitchers' earned-run average over that stretch was 0.83.

Sometimes, a day game after a night game is the worst thing that can happen to a team. This time, Thursday afternoon brought the offensive attack they needed. Bellinger got 3 hits. Paul Goldschmidt and Trent Grisham each got 2 hits including a home run. Carlos Rodón pitched 6 solid innings, and the Yankees won, 7-3.

*

Friday night wasn't so lucky, as the Baltimore Orioles came in. Max Fried went 6 strong innings, and Aaron Judge hit his 27th home run of the season. But the rest of the team didn't hit enough, and the Orioles won, 5-3.

Friday was also the day my twin nieces, Ashley and Rachel, graduated from high school. Saturday was the day of their graduation party, and it was difficult to keep track of the Yankees' game. And what a game to keep track of. Schmidt walked 2 batters and hit 1, but, through 7 innings, he had a no-hitter going.

But he threw 103 pitches, matching a career high. And manager Aaron Boone took him out, not letting him try to finish the no-hitter. Boone brought in JT Brubaker.

Who? Jonathan Trey Brubaker is 31, and from Springfield, Ohio. Springfield is the small city about halfway between Columbus and Dayton that Donald Trump brought into the spotlight in last year's Presidential campaign where he told a very stupid, bald-faced lie about the immigrants living there: "They're eating the dogs! They're eating the cats!" And despite the city's Mayor -- a Republican -- telling the world that it was a lie, enough of the country bought this lie to put Trump back into office.

Like CC Sabathia, JT Brubaker doesn't use periods for his initials. Unlike CC, he is not going to the Hall of Fame: From 2020 to 2022, the righthander pitched in 63 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates, going 9-28 with a 4.96 ERA. He missed the 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery.

Sounds like the perfect kind of pitcher for general manager Brian Cashman to acquire, which he did at the end of Spring Training 2024, at least only giving up another nonentity for him. He made only 8 rehab appearances in 2024, with 4 different Yankee farm teams. If you're thinking, "Mike, that is not a recommended way to handle a pitching trying to come back from a significant injury," you're right. He was called up after 10 minor-league appearances this season -- all starts.

And here, Cashman had Boone bring him in to relieve. The 1st batter he pitched to as a Yankee was former Yankee catcher Gary Sánchez. He's one of those all-or-nothing hitters: Despite having 186 home runs to his credit at age 32, his lifetime batting average is just .224, and he came into this at-bat hitting .186. He led off the top of the 8th inning by hitting a clean line-drive single to center field, breaking up the no-hitter. Brubaker did manage to finish the game without allowing any more hits, or any runs.

The best Yankee pitching performance since Domingo Germán's perfect game, 2 years earlier, deserved good run support. It got it: Grisham, J.C. Escarra, Ben Rice and Anthony Volpe all hit home runs, and the Yankees won, 9-0.

And yesterday, Warren pitched into the 7th, allowing only 2 runs, but trailed 2-1 when he left. Ben Rice led off the bottom of the 8th with a single. Bellinger grounded out, advancing Rice to 2nd. Stanton singled him over to 3rd. Goldschmidt pinch-ran for Stanton. Chisholm doubled home Rice and Goldschmidt, and Chisholm then scored on a fielder's choice by DJ LeMahieu.

Yankees 4, Orioles 2. Fernando Cruz was the winning pitcher in relief. Maybe they've snapped out of it. But not fully: Judge, who had been flirting with a .400 batting average, is now batting .367. Unfortunately, Yarbrough went on the Injured List.

*

This season, the Yankees are 45-32, for a .584 winning percentage, a pace to win 94 1/2 games. When they score at least 4 runs, they are 37-10. When they don't, they are 7-22. They lead the American League Eastern Division by 2 1/2 games over the Tampa Bay Rays, 4 over the Toronto Blue Jays, 6 over the Boston Red Sox, and 12 over the O's.

Next up, a roadtrip to Cincinnati to play the Reds. Then, they come home to face the Whatever City They're In This Season Athletics.