Since you are still snowed in, this is what it was like at Legends Field today.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but it was a chilly 66 degrees. Chilly if you are from Florida. Perfect if you just escaped the snowstorm like I did Sunday, after a few days of R&R at home.
This was a rare treat for Yankee fans today at Legends. They got to see their favorite team take batting practice and it didn’t cost those fans a penny.
Usually, the Yankees take BP inside the mini-stadium before the visiting team and before the gates are open, so the fans are still outside the park, but on Sundays, Joe Torre gives his team an extra hour of home time. Since the Pirates were hitting in the mini-stadium, the Yankees hit on the practice field, so fans didn’t have to pay to get into the mini-stadium. They could stand behind the fence and watch BP for free and since the Yankees were starting their A-team, they got to see A-Rod, Jeter, Damon, Giambi and all the hitters.
And if you were there early, you got to see ageless Frank Howard do what he does best. Hit ground balls to the infielders, starting with Alex Rodriguez.
“He’s the best,’’ A-Rod said after being hit a ton of ground balls. You can’t wear out Hondo.
When they first got started, Howard, who is coming off knee-replacement surgery, was hitting bullets to A-Rod, prompting Rodriguez to yell out to Howard, “Line Drive hitter.’’
Howard responded with “I hit more line drives now than I ever did.’’
Because of Joe Torre’s balky knee he has a golf cart, just like George Steinbrenner, only Torre’s vehicle says “Joe Torre’’ not “GMS.’’
Along the right field line Michael Kay was signing autographs. YES is doing games the rest of the way and Kay is ready for another year of taking on SNY and the Mets. “We’re going to go one better than SNY,’’ Kay cracked. “We’re going to have six guys in the booth.’’
The Yankees are in mid-season form in one regard already, the ceremonial first pitch.
Randy Maris’, Roger’s kid, threw out the first pitch; it was caught by Rudy Guiliani, who was standing alongside Yogi Berra. Not a bad lineup.
As for the game, Derek Jeter’s swing looks right, Jason Giambi took advantage of a tired Zach Duke and hit a high fastball for a grand slam in a seven-run fourth, Alex Rodriguez then tripled and most importantly, Mike Mussina started and pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only three hits.
And yes, Mo Rivera pitched a perfect inning, it took all of six pitches.
The Pirates looked like the Pirates; the Yankees looked more like themselves under the perfect blue sky.