April 15, 2013: The Boston Marathon Bombing

April 15, 2013, 10 years ago: Two explosions go off near the Back Bay finish line of the Boston Marathon, held annually on Patriot's Day, the 3rd Monday in April, in commemoration of the Battle of Lexington & Concord that began the War of the American Revolution, on April 19, 1775.

The time was 2:49 PM. The race, the 114th edition of it, was won by Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia, in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 22 seconds; and, on the women's side, Rita Jeptoo of Kenya in 2:26:25. Jeptoo had previously won in 2006, and would again in 2014, but was stripped of the 2014 title for doping. Desisa would win again in 2015.

The winners crossed the finish line about 3 hours before the bombing. Desisa donated his winner's medal to the City of Boston, as a tribute to the victims.

The final count was 3 dead, 264 others injured. The perpetrators were a pair of ethnic Chechen brothers who had fled Russia, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Muslims angry at the continued U.S. military action in Afghanistan.

Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager from nearby Medford, Massachusetts, was killed by the 1st bomb. The 2nd bomb killed Lü Lingzi, 23, a Chinese citizen and a graduate student at Boston University; and Martin Richard, 8, from the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.

The brothers then claimed a 4th victim, killing Sean Collier, 27, a campus policeman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) across the Charles River in Cambridge, and stole a car. They got as far as Watertown, about 6 miles west of the bomb site, but the police caught up with them, and shot them both. Tamerlan, 26 years old, died at the scene. Dzhokhar, 19, was wounded, but got away, made it to a boat on a trailer, and was found by the police, barely alive.

He was tried and convicted, and sent to, and remains in, ADX Florence, the "supermax" federal prison in Colorado. Also there: "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski, 1993 World Trade Center bombing "mastermind" Ramzi Yousef, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols, Olympic Park and abortion clinic bomber Eric Rudolph, "20th 9/11 hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui, "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, and FBI/GRU double agent Robert Hanssen. No one has ever escaped from this prison.

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Every year, on the 3rd Monday in April, New England, and in particular the State -- excuse me, the Commonwealth -- of Massachusetts, celebrates Patriot's Day. They commemorate the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the start of the War of the American Revolution. (Lexington Green is 14 miles northwest of Boston's Downtown Crossing.)

On this day, the nation's oldest long-distance race is conducted, the Boston Marathon. So as to avoid the combination of traffic that would be generated by a Red Sox home game and street closures for the Marathon, on Patriot's Day, the Red Sox play the Major League Baseball season's only morning game, at Fenway Park, an 11:05 AM start.

The Sox had completed their game before the bombing, and beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-2. Jarrod Saltalamacchia had hit a home run, but the Sox blew a 2-1 lead in the top of the 9th inning. In the bottom of the 9th, with 1 out, Dustin Pedroia drew a walk, and Mike Napoli doubled him home with the winning run.

The Red Sox would ride the slogan "Boston Strong" -- and the steroids of David Ortiz -- to win the World Series in 2013. This was 4 years after Ortiz had been exposed as a cheat, yet was continued to be allowed to play, and was even awarded the Series' Most Valuable Player award, as the Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals in 6 games.

That night, I wrote this on Facebook:

Days like today, like 9/11, Newtown, Oklahoma City '95, the shuttle explosions, Jonestown... Days I'm not old enough to remember, Kent State, the assassinations of the 1960s, Pearl Harbor, the first time we saw pictures of the Nazi camps... Days like that far outnumber the civil rights gains, the Moon landings, the announcements of the great scientific discoveries.

And then you hear about the other side of those days. The people who ran into the fire. The ones who shielded the already shot, knowing they could be next. Today, it was people who had already run 26 miles, whose legs were exhausted, running to help people who lost legs.

Some people will ask, "Why did God let this happen?" The only answer I have is so that, once again, we could see that the worst in humanity has brought out the best in humanity.

A Few Dashed-Off Thoughts Before Thanksgiving Weekend

My mother thinks football on Thanksgiving is wrong, because players could get hurt, and have to spend the rest of the holiday in the hospital.

She has a point. Look at what the game is doing to its players -- without whom, there is no game.

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It occurred to me that one of the differences between New York and Boston is how each city treats its marathon race.

When Boston holds its marathon, it has to schedule a Red Sox game for 11:05 AM, the only morning start in the major leagues all season long, so the traffic for it doesn't affect the marathon. New York holds its marathon after the World Series, so that it can never clash with a baseball game.

Boston built a statue of one of its Marathon winners. In New York, the Marathon is always on a Sunday in Autumn, and we forget who won it within hours, as we move on to watching the Giants win and the Jets lose.

A bombing at the Boston Marathon killed 3 people, and the next year's marathon became a cause célèbre. Which is understandable. But a hurricane kills over 100 people in the New York Tri-State Area alone, and the marathon is canceled, and, 4 years later, we have to be reminded that this particular effect of the hurricane even happened.

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Bob Gain died last week, at the age of 87. He was a member of the only University of Kentucky football team to win the Southeastern Conference title outright, in 1950, the 1st SEC title won as a head coach by Paul "Bear" Bryant, before he moved on to Alabama. Kentucky would also win a share of the SEC title, with Georgia, in 1976.

Gain was a defensive tackle, playing the 1951 season with the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League, and then the next 13 seasons with the Cleveland Browns, reaching the NFL Championship Game in 1952, '53, '54, '55, '57 and '64, winning it in 1954, 1955 and 1964.

He was a 5-time All-Pro, and a member of the College Football, Cleveland Sports and West Virginia Sports Halls of Fame -- but not, as yet, the Pro Football  Hall of Fame. He had also served in the U.S. Air Force in the Korean War.

UPDATE: Cain was cremated, and thus has no final resting place.

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Tomorrow morning, Dear Old Alma Mater, East Brunswick High School, the Big Green, the Green Wave, Da Bears, plays its annual Thanksgiving "Battle of Route 18" against Old Bridge, the Knights, the Purple Bastards, The Scum.

We're 2-7. But it wouldn't matter: In 2004 and 2009, we qualified for the Central Jersey Group IV Final (and, both times, ended up winning it on the weekend after Thanksgiving), and still lost to them. We beat them in 2005 and 2010 -- but only those 2 times since 1994.

2016 has been a horrible year for many reasons. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to give thanks for a tremendous upset?

UPDATE: No such luck.

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Hours until The Arsenal play again: 6, this afternoon at 2:45 (this evening at 7:45, their time), at the Emirates Stadium, in a Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain.

Hours until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving game: 25, tomorrow morning at 10:00, at the purple shit pit on Route 9.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: See the previous answer.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 3, this Saturday night at 7:00, away to the University of Maryland at College Park. One of these 2 new teams that made the geographic and competitive mistake of joining the Big Ten has to win, right?

Days until the New Jersey Devils play another local rival: 18. Their 1st game this season with the New York Rangers will be on Sunday night, December 11, at Madison Square Garden. Their 1st game this season with the Philadelphia Flyers will be on Thursday night, December 22, at the Prudential Center. By a quirk in the schedule, the New York Islanders, a team they usually play several times a season, don't show up on the slate until Saturday night, February 18, 2017, at the Prudential Center.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: Unknown, but if schedule patterns hold, it will be on Sunday, March 5, 2017, which is 102 days from now.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": Unknown. We may not see the 2017 MLS schedule for weeks, so we don't know when we'll next play New York City FC, the Philadelphia Union, D.C. United or the New England Revolution.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 121, on Friday, March 24, 2017, home to Honduras, at a venue and time TBA, in a CONCACAF Qualifying Match for the 2018 World Cup. It will be the team's 1st match in the 2nd run as manager for Bruce Arena, now that Jurgen Klinsmann has finally been fired! Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty -- and U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati -- we're free at last! But is it too late to qualify for the World Cup?

Days until the Yankees' 2017 season opener: 130, on Sunday, April 2, at 8:00 PM, away to the Tampa Bay Rays. A little over 5 months.

Days until the Yankees' 2017 home opener: 138, on Monday, April 10, at 1:00 PM, home to the Rays.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series: 153, on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, at 7:00 PM, at Fenway Park.

Days until the next North London Derby: 157, on Saturday, April 29, 2017, at White Hart Lane. A little over 5 months. It could be moved to the next day, Sunday, April 30, to accommodate the TV networks. It is also possible that Arsenal could face Tottenham again sooner than that, through an FA Cup pairing.

Days until the next World Cup kicks off in Russia: 568, on June 14, 2018. Under 19 months. Now that Klinsmann has been fired, our chances have improved, but did he already ruin them?

Days until the 2018 Congressional election: 713. Just under 2 years, or 24 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 789, on January 9, 2019. A little over 2 years, or 25 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 1,141, on January 8, 2020. A little over 3 years, or 37 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 1,339, on July 24, 2020. Under 4 years, or 44 months.

Days until the 2020 Presidential election: 1,472. Just under 4 years, or 48 months.

Here's to You, Mr. Robinson(s)

Since the Yankees were not scheduled for April 15, the anniversary of Jackie Robinson's major league debut, they celebrated Jackie Robinson Day yesterday, the next day, and the symbolism was heavy.

Of course, there was heavy symbolism that had nothing to do with Jackie Robinson.  It was a solidarity between the city where he made his debut, New York, and the city in which he could have made his debut, Boston, if only the Red Sox' owners had remembered their city's battles for liberty.

Before the game, a moment of silence was held for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombs, the three now confirmed as dead, the 170+ listed as injured, their loved ones, and the city and metro area as a whole. As shown in a photo that went viral, rivalries didn't matter last night.

The Yankees also played the Red Sox' singalong song, Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" -- which, retroactive creepiness aside, really doesn't have anything to do with Boston, Massachusetts or New England. If it were an MLB team playing in Charlotte, North Carolina ("sweet Carolin'"), it might be different. But it was a good gesture to a city in mourning. After all, at the first game at Fenway after 9/11, someone held up a sign saying, "TODAY, WE (HEART) NY."

The Yankees played the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the 2001 World Series didn't matter, either: The only man who had played in any of those games who was still with his respective team was Mariano Rivera. (Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte are currently injured.)

Ivan Nova started for the Yankees, and he was very solid for 4 of his 5 innings. But he fell apart in the 3rd, and loaded the bases with nobody out. He only let 2 runs score, but after 5 innings, Joe Girardi looked in his binder and it said, "Enough." Over the last 4 innings, Boone Logan (I am serious, and don't call me Shirley), Joba Chamberlain (I said don't call me Shirley!), David Robertson and Mariano Rivera pitched 4 innings, allowing only one baserunner (a single by Robertson).

The Yankees struck back in the bottom of the 4th. Lyle Overbay led off with a single. Chris Stewart, catching in place of Francisco Cervelli -- apparently, Nova is one of these diva pitchers who needs a "personal catcher," and you better be as good as Steve Carlton if you want to demand that from me -- added another single. After Brett Gardner struck out, Robinson Cano hit a blast to right-center field, giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

In the 7th, Kevin Youkilis (another overage destroyer who again vindicated Brian Cashman) led off with a single. Travis Hafner (ditto) doubled him over to 3rd. Vernon Wells (in this case, not ditto) grounded to short, and the ever-slow Youk couldn't score. The Diamondbacks intentionally walked Ichiro Suzuki, loading the bases. But Eduardo Nunez flew to center to get the run home, and that was the final.

Yankees 4, Diamondbacks 2. WP: Nova (1-1). SV: Rivera (3). LP: Brandon McCarthy (0-2).

So the score was 4-2 -- 42, Jackie Robinson's number. The winning run was driven in on a home run by Robinson Cano, who claims his parents named him after Jackie, and who wears Number 24 because it's the reverse of 42.  Of course, this being Jackie Robinson Day, every player on each team was wearing 42. And the last out was notched by Mariano Rivera, the last player to have been grandfathered in to be allowed to wear 42 regularly.

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The Yankees are now 7-5, a game and a half behind the Red Sox, who won last night in their first game since the bombing, 7-2 over the Cleveland Indians. As "bad starts" go, this isn't so bad at all. Indeed, since starting 1-4, the Yankees are 6-1.

The Baltimore Orioles are 2 back; the pesky Toronto Blue Jays, new pitching acquisitions and all, are 3 1/2 back; and the Tampa Bay Rays may finally have figured out what happens when you trade away too many players to regain dollars, 5 back.

The Mets are now 7-6. For all of Met fans' early trash talk, their bums no longer have a better record than we do.

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The Yankees and the National Hockey League announced that, in connection with Super Bowl XLVIII being held at the Meadowlands next February, Yankee Stadium II will host 2 NHL games the preceding week.

On January 26, 2014, the New York Rangers will play the New Jersey Devils. On January 29, the Rangers will play the New York Islanders.

In each case, the Rangers will be the visiting team. Although, while the Devils and Islanders will have the games included in their season-ticket packages, I seriously doubt it will sound like a home game for either: The Ranger fans will no doubt snap up all the other tickets. Presuming a season-ticket base of 15,000, that will leave 35,000 seats, and these will be the biggest home games The Scum have ever had.

Hillsborough and the Boston Marathon

Note: I wrote this the same day as the bombing, so these were early details. 

April 15, 1989: A terrible mistake in opening the wrong gate leads to the deaths of 96 people and injuries to 600 at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, at the start of an FA Cup Semifinal, on neutral ground, between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Most of those hurt were Liverpool fans.

Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, who had fought in the army of his native Rhodesia as a majority-black population won a civil war and made it into the nation of Zimbabwe, felt his soldier's training kick in, and ran to help -- but the police stopped him. They wouldn't let him be a hero.

The tragedy haunts Merseyside to this day. But, what's worse, the British government covered it up, and even used the national media to smear the Liverpool fans, saying that they caused the deaths of their compatriots. It was only late last year that the government officially apologized.

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April 15, 2013: Two explosions go off near the Back Bay finish line of the Boston Marathon, held annually on Patriot's Day, the 3rd Monday in April, in commemoration of the Battle of Lexington & Concord that began the War of the American Revolution, on April 19, 1775.

(I added the picture after the fact.)

Here's what I know at the moment, about 3 1/2 hours after the explosions: Two people are confirmed dead. Many others, an indeterminate number, are injured. Between Boston Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Tufts Medical Center, and Brigham and Women's Hospital, at least 71 people are being treated.

Two explosions went off. A third explosive device was found, not having exploded, and was disarmed.

As Grobbelaar tried to do, 24 years ago today, runners came across the finish line, and, seeing what had happened, ran to help -- after running over 26 miles. Some even went to the hospitals to donate blood.

There was also a fire at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, across town in Dorchester, but it was quickly put out, no one was hurt, and it appears not to have been connected.

This morning, a fire was reported at Citi Field in New York, but it was also quickly put out, no one was hurt, and no areas that are accessible by fans were affected. It is very unlikely that this fire was connected to what has happened in Boston.

So far, no one is known to have claimed responsibility.

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There are some reasons why Boston and Liverpool are comparable as cities. Both have maritime traditions. Both were major centers of the 19th Century Industrial Revolution, including the textile industry. Both have large and insular Irish communities, whose journeys from poverty to middle class were long and hard.

The biggest sports team in town means "everything" to the people -- and now, both the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool Football Club are owned by the same people, John W. Henry's Fenway Sports Group. Each city has an influence in its respective country that far surpasses its size. (Boston: 625,000, metro area 7.6 million; Liverpool: 465,000, metro area 1.4 million.) But, as far as I know, unlike Boston, Liverpool has no connection to any of its country's revolutions, successful or otherwise.

Not being British, I saw ABC News' coverage of the Hillsborough Disaster that Saturday evening, April 15, 1989, and I then forgot about it until I got interested in English soccer, nearly 20 years after the fact.

This happened 6 months before the Loma Prieta Earthquake interrupted the 1989 World Series in San Francisco. The much-maligned Candlestick Park held, protecting 60,000 people, although nearly a hundred people died elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area.

There were stadium accidents in America early in the 20th Century, but nothing like Hillsborough has happened here since then.

The closest analog to what just happened in Boston was the Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta in 1996. That also killed 2 people, and injured 111. This appears to be roughly a match for that. It took 2 years, including one man falsely accused, and some other killings before Eric Rudolph was identified as the bomber, 7 years, until 2003, before he was arrested. He is in a "supermax" federal prison in Colorado, and the only way he's ever getting out is in a coffin.

So should it be with whoever left the explosives at the Boston Marathon. 

Those explosions, and the Hillsborough Disaster, are linked by date and by the fact that they were at sporting events.

But at Hillsborough, the crime was in the authorities covering their asses and blaming the victims. It was cruel, and it was cowardly.

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In America, we cringe at the thought of April 15, as it is the deadline day for our federal taxes. But, as sports fans, we celebrate April 15 as the anniversary of the Major League Baseball debut of Jackie Robinson, and the reintegration of the game.

Britain treats April 15 -- or "15 April," as they would write it -- with great solemnity, with moments of silence, with calls for "Justice for the 96" (often abbreviated to "JFT96"), and with the singing of a song which had already become an anthem of joy for Liverpool Football Club, but in 1989 became an anthem of sorrow, comfort, and recovery, the signature song from Rodgers & Hammerstein's Broadway musical Carousel: "You'll Never Walk Alone."

We don't yet know the extent of the harm done on Boylston Street. More could end up dying from their injuries. We don't know who did it. But, as President Obama just said in his first public statement on the attack, we will find out who did this, and we will punish them.

In the first game at Fenway Park after the 9/11 attacks, a pair of fans held up a banner saying, "TODAY, WE (HEART) NY."

At this time, all of us in this country, including in the New York Tri-State Area, stand with the people of Boston. What we think of the area's teams is, for the time being, irrelevant.  All that matters is finding the guilty, and tending to the innocent.

Boston is a great American city, and we should all be with them now.

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UPDATE: The final count was 3 dead, 264 others injured. The perpetrators were a pair of ethnic Chechen brothers who had fled Russian, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Muslims angry at continued U.S. military action in Afghanistan.

The brothers then claimed a 4th victim, killing a campus policeman, Sean Collier, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) across the Charles River in Cambridge, and stole a car. They got as far as Watertown, but the police caught up with them, and shot them both. Tamerlan, 26 years old, was killed at the scene. Dzhokhar, 19, got away, made it to a boat on a trailer, and was found by the police, barely alive.

As I'd hoped, he was sent to, and through Spring 2023 remains in, ADX Florence in Colorado, where Eric Rudolph is also incarcerated. Also there: "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski, 1993 World Trade Center bombing "mastermind" Ramzi Yousef, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols, "20th 9/11 hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui, "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, and FBI/GRU double agent Robert Hanssen.

No one has ever escaped from this prison.

And on July 29, 2021, Andrew Devine died in Liverpool at age 55. The coroner ruled that his death was due to the long-term effects of the injuries he suffered in the Hillsborough Disaster. With his death, the slogan "Justice for the 96" and the hashtag #JFT96 became "Justice for the 97" and #JFT97.

If This Is the Yankees' Annual "Bad Start"...

NOTE: I wrote this after the winners of the 2013 Boston Marathon were certified, but before the bombing.

The Yankees faced the Baltimore Orioles this weekend, the team which, last season, pushed them for both the American League East title and the AL Division Series. And the Yankees took 2 out of 3.

The game they lost, naturally, was the one I paid to see.

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On Friday night, the Yankees fell behind 1-0 in the top of the 3rd, but in the bottom of the inning, got the run back on a Brett Gardner walk, a Robinson Cano single, and a Kevin Youkilis single. In the 5th, Francisco Cervelli walked, Gardner sacrificed him to 2nd, and Cano singled him home. The Orioles tied it up in the top of the 7th, making it 2-2. It seemed as though a good performance by CC Sabathia was going to go to waste.

But Cervelli -- Did somebody say the Yankees don't have a catcher? -- led off the bottom of the 7th with a walk. William Nathaniel Showalter III, the former Yankee manager now Bucking up the O's, replaced starter Miguel Gonzalez with Troy Patton. The 5th-inning pattern repeated, and Gardner bunted Cervelli over to 2nd. Cano grounded out, and then the O's intentionally walked Youk to set up the double play. But Patton hit Travis Hafner with a pitch -- and since that loaded the bases for the hot-hitting Vernon Wells, it was almost certainly not intentional.

Wells hit one to center field, and Adam Jones -- not to be confused with the football player/criminal of the same name, nicknamed Pacman -- muffed the ball. All 3 runs scored, and that was the final: Yankees 5, Orioles 2. WP: Sabathia (2-1). SV: Mariano Rivera (2). LP: Gonzalez (1-1).

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Saturday was a bit chilly. There's something strange about going to a baseball game during daylight and needing a jacket. But colder than the air was Phil Hughes' pitching. Even from my seat in Section 420c, high above home plate, I could see that Hughes had nothing. He had trouble throwing strikes, and the strikes he did throw got hit hard.

In the 1st, he allowed a double to Nate McLouth, a walk to Nick Markakis, and a force-groundout to Jones. 1-0 Baltimore. In the 2nd, he allowed a homer to Ryan Flaherty, a single to McLouth and a double to Manny Machado. 2-0 Baltimore, and it might've been even worse if McLouth hadn't been stupid enough to run on the throwing arm of the still-potent Ichiro Suzuki.

The Yankees got those runs back in the bottom of the 2nd. Hafner led off with a home run, his 3rd. After Jason Hammel got Wells and Ichiro out, J.J. Hardy threw away a Cervelli grounder, letting him get to 2nd, and Lyle Overbay singled him home to tie it up.

But right away, Hughes gave it back: Homer to Markakis, single to Jones, double to Chris Davis, groundout by Matt Wieters, RBI groundout by Hardy. 4-2 Baltimore. A one-out double by Cano was wasted in the bottom of the 3rd, and in the top of the 4th, Hughes allowed a homer to Nolan Reimold and a double to McLouth. Boos abounded in The Bronx.

Finally, at 5-2 Baltimore, Joe Girardi's binder told Joe that it had seen enough. He pulled Hughes for David Phelps. Phelps retired the next 6 O's, and only allowed 1 hit over 4 innings. Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless 8th and David Robertson a scoreless 9th, and Wells homered in the 6th to bring the Yankees to within 5-3 -- 2 runs, or "a bloop and a blast" as John Sterling likes to call it. But the Yankees wasted a leadoff single by Gardner in the 7th, and Ichiro and Overbay singles in the 8th, and that was that.

WP: Hammel (2-1). SV: Jim Johnson (5). LP: Hughes (0-2).

I don't think the problem is in Hughes' head. I do think he came back from injury too soon. I would give him another chance, but if he blows that, Phelps should get his spot in the rotation.

"Good morning, Mr. Phelps. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to be the starting pitcher against the Toronto Blue Jays, and pitch better than Phil Hughes would. Because he would self-destruct in 5 seconds."

Cost me $41 to see this game -- and that was just the game ticket. Throw in the bus ticket to New York and the Subway fare, and we're talking $65.

*

Last night, however, the Yankees had a rarity: A complete game by their starting pitcher. And a shutout, no less. Hiroki Kuroda was masterful, allowing only 5 singles, and no walks. No Oriole got on base more than once.

The O's own Asian pitcher, the Taiwanese lefthander Wei-Yin Chen, was nearly as good, except for the bottom of the 5th. Brennan Boesch led off with a single, and Cervelli followed with the same. After an Overbay flyout got Boesch to 3rd, Jayson Nix flew to right, and the sacrifice got Boesch home. For all the world, this was feeling like it would stay a 1-0 game.

Gardner had another idea. He hit a screamer down the right-field line, and it hit the pole for a home run. Sterling invoked the great WABC-Channel 7, later WCBS-Channel 2, sportscaster Warner Wolf: "It hit the fair pole! If it's a fair ball, then don't call it the foul pole." 3-0 Yankees, and that was the way it ended.

WP: Kuroda (2-1). No save. LP: Chen (0-2).

*

So the Yankees have a day off, before starting their 1st Interleague series of the season, welcoming their 2001 World Series opponents, the Arizona Diamondbacks -- who, hopefully, left their steroids behind in Phoenix.

Tomorrow night at 7: Ivan Nova starts against Brandon McCarthy. Wednesday night at 7, CC against Wade Miley. (I know, it sounds like the name of a bad country singer. Well, he is from Louisiana, so he probably likes country music.) Thursday night at 7, Hughes -- for the moment, he's scheduled to make this start -- against Patrick Corbin.

This afternoon, as is the custom, New England, and in particular the State -- excuse me, the Commonwealth -- of Massachusetts, celebrates Patriot's Day. Every year, on the 3rd Monday in April, they commemorate the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the start of the War of the American Revolution. (Lexington Green is 14 miles northwest of Boston's Downtown Crossing.)

On this day, the nation's oldest long-distance race is conducted, the Boston Marathon. So as to avoid the combination of traffic that would be generated by a Red Sox home game and street closures for the Marathon, on Patriot's Day, the Red Sox play the Major League Baseball season's only morning game, an 11:05 AM start. That game has already concluded, and the Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-2. The Marathon, as has usually been the case the last 20-odd years has been won by African runners: Lelisa Desis of Ethiopia was the men's winner, and Rita Jeptoo of Kenya is the women's winner.

Republicans are probably thinking the woman from Kenya is actually from Hawaii.

Anyway, the current AL East standings are as follows:

Boston 8-4
New York 6-5, 1 1/2 back, 1 in the loss column, with a game in hand
Baltimore 6-6, 2 back
Toronto 5-7, 3 back
Tampa Bay 4-8, 4 back

Since starting the season 1-4, we have since gone 5-1. If this is the annual "bad start" the Yankees have had since 2005, if this is the bad start we were "doomed" to have with all our early-season injuries, I have to say, I can live with it.