The Yankees, Unobstructed

First, I think it's important to start off by apologizing to David Robertson. I have a long history of jinxing things, and poor Robertson never stood a chance. Just two days after I hailed the young reliever for giving up just one run since August, he fell victim to a grand slam.

I'm sorry, Dave.

But, if mentioning how good someone is in this column ruins them, maybe we can make it work the other way. So, the two Nicks — Johnson and Swisher — are struggling to come by hits. Johnson's pulling down a .158 average, and Swisher is hitting a clean .200. They just look bad.

If the world of baseball production really does revolve around me (and c'mon, it so obviously does), then the Nicks should start kicking into high gear pretty soon.

Time for a Yankees, Unobstructed first — talking about stuff that has nothing to do with the Yankees, at all.

Normally we don't talk about other teams on the Bronx News Network. But today an exception needs to be made. Last night the Mets and Cardinals played a 6 hour 53 minute, 20 inning, 120 out game. There are so many great numbers to pull from the affair.
Here are some good ones (courtesy of the sporting news):

• 11: Number of consecutive innings Francisco Rodriguez warmed up before entering the game in the 19th and blowing a save. Look, I said the Castillo bunt may have been Manuel's nadir.
• 110: Number of outs recorded before Jose Reyes became the first runner to score, on a Jeff Francoeur sacrifice fly in the 19th inning.
• 0: Number of times on base, combined, by Francoeur and Jason Bay in 14 at-bats.
• 2: Number of entire NBA playoff games (Hawks-Bucks and Celtics-Heat) played during Cardinals-Mets.

A Recap of the Ridiculous 20-Inning Cardinals-Mets Epic, By the Numbers

Today's completely useless trivia — courtesy of ESPN, who was obviously just trying to kill an extra three seconds — last night's Ubaldo Jimenez no-hitter was the first by anyone whose name starts with "U."

Back to the Yankees

This week the Yankees are heading to Oakland and Anaheim. I don't know if it's the Pacific air, the sushi snobbery or maybe distraction from being so near In-n-Out, but for the last couple of years the Yankees have been less than great on West coast roadtrips. Consider this a good test of their mettle. If they can pull two of three from both Oakland and Anaheim, then we can really feel comfortable with this April success.

NOTE: Make sure to check back every weekend for The Yankees, Unobstructed, BNN's weekly Yankees opinion column.

For more of Graham Kates' sports writing, check out his True/Slant blog "Coaches in the Crosshairs" (http://trueslant.com/grahamkates).

The Yankees, Unobstructed: A New Season Begins with Closure

This spring has been all about closure for the Yankees.

The old Stadium is finally coming down, the Joba Chamberlain debate seems to be settled and the terrible mid-decade trades of Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez have been rectified.

Much of the Yankees' spring training coverage has been spent dwelling on Joba. For the last few years the Chamberlain starter/reliever debate has been a bit of a tradition. He’s the Punxsatawney Phil of Yankees camp — sometimes we’d see the shadow of a potential starter, so we’d have to wait awhile to get him in the bullpen where he belongs — but this spring there was nothing.

He was competing with Phil Hughes for the fifth starting job, but only because Hughes is a bit of a Staten Island Chuck himself.

Wait. What’s that you say? The rodent metaphor is lame? Fine then, but just remember, you asked for it….on to Lord of the Rings!

Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez are the Merry and Pip of our tale. Separated from their friends by a series of unfortunate events several years ago, the two travelling hobbits have only just been reunited with the Yankees — having just missed out on the destruction of the Phillies at Mount Doom. Sure, while they were separated from the Yankees they crafted their own storylines and gained notoriety as capable, if eminently fallible warriors. But I think we all knew — or at least hoped — that we’d see them returned to the Shire.

Just a reminder. You asked for it.

Unfortunately for our hobbit friends, the land they returned to has vastly changed — having felt the unholy touch of the dark lord Sauron and his henchman, Steiner Collectibles. Yes, when Vazquez and Johnson arrive for the home opener, on Apr. 13, the old Yankee Stadium will be but a memory.

This seems like a good spot to discuss the rotting corpse of the old Yankee Stadium, and the replacement parkland it sits upon — but let’s call in a pro for this part.

TIME FOR A QUICK MID-COLUMN Q&A

As the founder and president of the New York City Park Advocates, Geoffrey Croft has often been a pain in the neck for City Hall, because of his willingess to closely examine plans for projects like the Yankee Stadium redevelopment. I spoke with Croft recently about the Yankee Stadium demolition and the replacement parks, a condensed version of our Q & A follows:

Bronx News Network: When all is said and done, how are the new parks going to compare to the old parks, in terms of green space?

Geoffrey Croft: Well, there’s no comparison. The community is losing three acres of parkland. They’re losing two ball fields, which of course is ironic. It’s just a sham. You know, the Yankees are having Bar Mitzvahs up there, and prize fights, and they’re doing Victoria’s Secret shows, and that’s what it is. It’s an event space, which the public were forced to give over to them for free. It’s the poorest congressional district in the United States, and you know, when Bloomberg was asked — at least he was honest about this — “would this ever happen in Central Park,” he said “no.

BNN: Shea was demolished in a few months and Giants Stadium has a similar timetable, what do you think makes Yankee Stadium different?

GC: Well, the politics. This administration has bent over backwards to serve the Yankees. Shea Stadium, the day after the season ended they started demolition. With Yankee stadium, we found out they had a deal to allow them to stay in the stadium for up to two years. These kinds of behind-close-doors deals are just so abhorrent.

BNN: What did you think when you saw all the coverage last year of Steiner Collectibles collecting tokens of stadium soil and cubes of turf — as someone who has advocated for speedy replacement of parks?

GC: When they were taking up the issue at City Council, only six seconds were spent talking about the actual parkland. So, it’s not about the parks, it’s not about the people, it’s about servicing the New York Yankees. So when Steiner has this deal, the City bends over backwards. There’s so little transparency in the fact that they’re taking their sweet time to remove all that while the public wasn’t getting their parkland.

BACK TO BASEBALL

The Yankees' season starts tomorrow in Boston. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 pm. That should give all you Easter revelers enough time to worship during the day, before returning to the living room alter for some Yankees-based exaltation.

If for no other reason, watch the game to see Boston's opening day starter Josh Beckett. Each time I see him, I’m awed by just how ugly a chinstrap can be. Great pitcher, ugly ugly facial hair. Just hideous.

It’s going to be a fun season.

NOTE: Make sure to check back every weekend for The Yankees, Unobstructed, BNN's weekly Yankees opinion column.

For more of Graham Kates' sports writing, check out his True/Slant blog "Coaches in the Crosshairs" (http://trueslant.com/grahamkates).