Air Quality & Yankee Quality Both Bad

The Yankees started a homestand last night, against the Chicago White Sox, with the haze from a wildfire in Quebec drifting over the Northeast, causing New York City's worst air quality since the 1960s. People not used to seeing the sky that color, the skyscrapers that shrouded in smog, or the air that dirty and hard to breathe, compared it to apocalyptic movies.

For those of us who do remember the 1970s and '80s, when the joke was that the crosswalk signs switched from saying "WALK" and "DON'T WALK" to "BREATHE" and "DON'T BREATHE," it was an unfortunate reminder of what life was like before the Environmental Protection Agency and its safeguards kicked in.

To make matters worse, before the game, the Yankees put Aaron Judge on the 10-Day Injured List, because of the toe he injured making that catch against the Dodger Stadium gate. And Nestor Cortés was put on the 15-Day Injured List. So the Yankees not only went into this series without them, but will also be going into the weekend series against the hated Boston Red Sox without Judge, Harrison Bader, reliever Jonathan Loáisiga, and 3 guys who were supposed to be in the starting rotation: Cortés, Carlos Rodón and Frankie Montas.

Clarke Schmidt started last night, and allowed only 1 run over the 1st 4 innings. But he allowed 2 in the 5th, before finishing the 6th. But it didn't matter much, since the Yankees didn't hit. Lucas Giolito pitched 6 no-hit innings. ChiSox manager Pedro Grifol handled it the way Brian Cashman would have had Aaron Boone handle it: He saw that Giolito had thrown 100 pitches, and threw his chance at baseball immortality out the window, and brought in a relief pitcher, Joe Kelly.

Kelly struck out the 1st 2 batters he faced. But he walked Willie Calhoun, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled Calhoun home. Jose Trevino singled, but Calhoun could only get to 3rd base, and Jake Bauers grounded out.

The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the 8th. Josh Donaldson led off the 9th with a home run, but 3 straight groundouts sealed the Yankees' defeat. White Sox 3, Yankees 2. WP: Giolito (5-4). SV: Liam Hendriks (1). LP: Schmidt (2-6).

The series continues tonight. As of 1:00 this afternoon, the Yankees had not chosen a starting pitcher, but it will likely be Jhony Brito. Lance Lynn will start for the Pale Hose.

December 2, 1970: The Environmental Protection Agency Begins Operation

December 2, 1970, 50 years ago: The Environmental Protection Agency begins operation. For over half a century, it has -- when the federal government has cared enough to properly fund it -- improved America's land, air and water. And we really needed it.

From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, pollution had been as American as doctoring the baseball, uninspected hot dogs, crabapple pie and a Chevrolet without seat belts. The occasional minor effort had been made before 1970, 2 notable examples being Franklin Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, and Lady Bird Johnson's urging of her husband Lyndon to get Congress to pass the Highway Beautification Act to clean up America's roads (including reducing the number of eyesore billboards).

The 1962 publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson led to President John F. Kennedy putting some of her recommendations in motion. By the late 1960s, environmental activism had become serious. President Richard Nixon figured that out: Signing the EPA into law was not just good policy, it was good politics. He knew that some of the men running against him in 1972 would have run on the environmental issue, and he took it off the table. 

Sadly, Carson did not live to see this. Her investigations into pesticides led to her exposure to them, and she was already ill with cancer when the book was published. She was unable to attend most of the ceremonies for the awards she received.