Yankees Elder Statesman

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, July 2- The only franchise in Major League
Baseball that recognizes and regular honors its history is the New York
Yankees. More than four dozen Yankees were at Yankee Stadium on a brutally hot
afternoon to take part in the 66th annual Old Timers’ Day ceremony on Sunday
afternoon.

Sunday’s contingent of former stars included Hall of Famers
Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Goose Gossage, Rickey Henderson and Reggie Jackson.
The widows of Thurman Munson, Elston Howard, Catfish Hunter, Jill Martin and
Bobby Murcer were there to visit with the teammates of their late husbands.

The eldest of the 2012 Yankees returnees was Jerry Coleman.
The 87- year old, a regular at the annual Yankees reunion, flew cross-country
from his native California to be in the Bronx for the event. The very good
humored San Diego Padres broadcaster said of the flight, “They
made the seats smaller. I had to sit like this.” He
then imitated someone clinching his body to be as narrow as possible.

He spoke with sincere gratitude of the treatment the former
Yankees received from the organization, “You wouldn’t believe all they do for
us, the transportation arrangements, the hotel, the meals and the cruise last
night.” Coleman’s description is valid as the
Marketing department led by Senior Vice President Debbie Tymon arranges all
such events with class and consideration.

Coleman humorously recalled his first game with the Yankees
in 1949, “The first play of the game was a
ground ball that went right between my legs. The next play was a one-hopper
that came to me and resulted in a double play. After that I said, ‘I’m saved.’”

Coleman’s playing career was far better than he likes to
joke. The second baseman’s first season was so good that the Associated Press
chose him as American League Rookie of the Year. In his sophomore season, he
received the Babe Ruth Award as World Series MVP.

When asked which of his teammates he was closest to, he
pointed to the man sitting next to him in the dugout, Dr. Bobby Brown. Brown,
one month younger than Coleman was a schoolmate of Coleman’s in San Francisco.
Brown, after his playing days ended, became a renowned cardiologist and later
President of the American League. Another teammate of the two, Charlie Silvera,
back-up catcher to Yogi Berra, was a childhood friend as well.

Coleman’s baseball career was twice interrupted for
military service. He was the only Major League player engaged in active combat
duty during World War II and the Korean War. He values the wartime service to
his country in much higher terms than he does his years in baseball.

The articulate Coleman spent seven years as a broadcaster
with the Yankees after his playing career concluded where he again teamed with
his double play partner, Phil Rizzuto.

After relocating to California, Coleman broadcast for the
California Angels for two seasons. In 1972, Coleman began a position he still
holds as a broadcaster for the Padres. He missed only one season as a
broadcaster, 1980, when he managed the Padres.

His excellence as a broadcaster earned him the Ford C.
Frick Award in 2005 and enshrinement in the broadcast win of the baseball Hall
of Fame. Currently Coleman does not travel with the Padres. He works
approximately 30 home games during the season.

Despite the difference in age, he appears close with the
players on the team. While sitting in the White Sox dugout before the “Old
Timers’  were introduced, the broadcaster engaged in very friendly
conversation and humorous banter with former Padres, Jake Peavy and Orlando
Hudson.

Anyone who gets the opportunity to converse with the
octogenarian will be enlightened, entertained and uplifted as I was on Sunday.

One can also learn a great deal more
of his interesting life by reading his 2008 autobiography, American Journey: My
Life on the Field, in the Air and on the Air.

(Photos by Gary Quintal)

Paulie’s Back in Pinstripes: Yankee legends braved the heat and returned to the Bronx to be a part of Old Timer’s Day. 

Yankee Old Timer’s Day

(Photos by Gary Quintal)

Paulie’s Back in Pinstripes: Yankee legends braved the heat and returned to the Bronx to be a part of Old Timer’s Day. 

Fireworks

(Photos by Gary Quintal) 

Independence Day came early this year as Bronxites celebrated the birth of our country. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and State Sen. Jeff Klein held the annual Salute to America fireworks event at Orchard Beach on Friday. In addition to a host of fireworks which rivals Macy’s annual event, Bronxites were treated to the sounds of Alive N Kickin’.

Crackin' Up

Yankees Bullpen Fails to Save

White Sox Win, 4-3

(Maybe it's the heat but Yankee fans weren't the only ones who exhibited strange behavior. The bullpen blew Ivan Nova's stellar performance. Photos by Ken Carozza)

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, June 29- The Yankees relievers in the ninth inning of Thursday night’s contest failed to preserve a 3-1 lead. A three-run homer by Dayn Viciedo of Chicago ended the Yankees five-game winning streak and the six-game winning streak over the White Sox. New York remained five games in front in the American League East as every team in the division lost on Thursday.

Yankees starter Ivan Nova made a strong attempt to win his sixth straight decision. The 25-year old pitched 7.1 innings. He gave up only a single run during his impressive stint on a two-out home run to Alejandro de Aza in the fifth. He surrendered five other hits, walked three batters and fanned five.

The Sox threated Nova only in the fourth as base hits put runners on first and third with no one out. A short fly to Center and a double play ended the threat without a run being scored.

Chicago starter Dylan Axelrod also pitched an outstanding game. Axelrod only faced difficulty in the fourth and fifth frames. A-Rod doubled to lead-off the fourth. After two batters were retired, Nick Swisher and Raúl Ibañez walked to load the bases. Eric Chavez grounded to third to end the inning without a Yankee run.

The Yankees put their first runs on the scoreboard after two were retired in the following inning. Curtis Granderson singled. He scored on A-Rod’s second double in two innings. Rodriguez crossed the plate on a double by the next batter, Robinson Cano.

A two-out homer by Mark Teixeira, his 13^th of 2012, in the bottom of the eighth put the Yanks ahead, 3-2.

The outcome was determined in the top of the ninth as the White Sox put three on the board against Yankees relievers. The Yankees pen men entered the contest second in the majors in ERA and second in allowing inherited runners to score.

Alex Rios began the ninth with a single off Cody Eppley, who retired the final batter in the eighth. Yankee skipper Joe Girardi then brought in Clay Rapada. The lefty did what was hoped for, got A.J. Pierzyinski to ground to the pitcher for what appeared to be an easy double play. Instead of two men being out, Rapada threw the ball into center field. David Robertson a righty, then came into the game and gave up the winning blow.

In the post-game press conference, Girardi faced a barrage of questions regarding his use of the relievers. Of not using closer Rafael Soriano, who has 17 saves in 18 opportunities this year, “I can’t run him out five out of six days after the very tough day yesterday and get him hurt.”

Explaining why he didn’t begin the ninth with Robertson, he said, “We’ve only used him once back-to-back. I’m going to be cautious.”  Robertson was on the disabled list from May 15-June 14.

Adam Warren of the Yanks will make his Major League debut in the second contest of the four game series on Friday night. He will face Jose Quintana (2-1) will a minuscule Era of 125.

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BP Hails Supreme’s Upholding of Obamacare

(Views on the News)

The following statement is from Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. on the ruling by the Supreme Court upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:

“Today the Supreme Court delivered a major victory for the American people by upholding the‘individual mandate’ of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act today.

“This is an important law that affects millions of residents across the country. In a Borough where a high percentage of residents are uninsured, it is imperative for this law to remain so that Bronxites can access and afford the care they need. According to the Bronx Health Link, had the bill been upheld in its entirety, about 99,000 Bronx residents would have gained insurance coverage, and the uninsured rate would have gone down from 21 percent in 2009 to 14 percent. Moreover, up to 70,000 more New York State residents would have been eligible for Medicaid starting in 2014.

“It is because of this law we have made a fundamental and transformative change to how those with preexisting conditions will receive the care they so desperately need. It is because of this law we have taken a substantial step in fixing a broken system.

“But there is more work to be done; by striking down the Medicaid expansion we have missed a tremendous opportunity to impact those areas with the greatest economic need. We must continue push Congress to make the needed reforms to Medicaid so that more Americans can receive benefits under this important program.

“We thank the President for his leadership. Residents in our Borough and those across the country will have greater rights and protections when it comes to healthcare. Today is a victory for all Americans,” said Bronx borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

Filter Plant, Homeless Shelter Debates Heat Up

COMMUNITY BOARD

NEWS N’ VIEWS

by

Father Richard F. Gorman

Chairman

Community Board #12 (The Bronx)

Summer has arrived. 

Officially, it came at 7:09 p.m. on Wednesday evening, 20 June 2012. Even if we were not aware of the official starting time for the season, we have already witnessed indications of its advent.  School is out and our children are on their annual 10-week hiatus from pens, pencils, and books for reading, writing, and arithmetic. We had our first blast of “triple-H”  --  as in “H”azy, “H”ot, and “H”umid  --  weather. The Fourth of July is upon us and already there is talk of expeditions for sales at shopping malls and of excursions to a favorite park site or beach front.  Swimming pools have had pool covers and tires subtracted and chlorine to the water added. Barbeques have lost their cold weather coat. Yes, it is time for relaxation, refreshment, and renewal. Now is the moment to cast routine aside and take a break from the humdrum of the usual.

I am afraid, though, that such is not going to be the case for us folks at the Town Hall Headquarters of Community Board #12 (The Bronx) this Summer. In addition to the usual Summertime public safety and quality of life issues  --  and those problems have already begun to rear their ugly head  --  many other concerns appear not to be taking Summer vacation at this point.  For example, in my column last week, I related to you some of the controversies that continue to attend the construction of the Croton Water Filtration Plant in what used to be Van Cortlandt Park’s Mosholu Golf Course and Driving Range. It never ceases to amaze me how the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (N.Y.C.D.E.P.) can find every nickel it needs  --  not to mention literally tens of millions of dollars  -- to accommodate its unquenchable thirst for additional funding in order to cover the ever-escalating costs of this behemoth of a project. N.Y.C.D.E.P. even knows how to spend our money in covering the costs of projects connected to the Croton Water Filtration Plant that proved to be unnecessary  --  e.g., the force main that was supposed to run the length of our Borough from the plant site to Hunts Point, for the most part under Webster Avenue. Meanwhile, there is not a solitary cent from the City of New York  --  and specifically, its Department of Environmental Protection (N.Y.C.D.E.P.)  --  to honor the commitments made to the people of the Borough of The Bronx, such as building the long anticipated pedestrian bridge in Van Cortlandt Park! What must Bronxites do to get the Bloomberg Administration and N.Y.C.D.E.P. to abide by its promises to the people, not to mention legislative actions of the New York City Council? Must we occupy a park on Wall Street or scream at night outside the Mayor’s Manhattan townhouse?

While we are on the matter of the Croton Water Fleece-the-Taxpayer Project, at last week’s June meeting of the Croton Filtration Monitoring Committee (C.F.M.C.), N.Y.C.D.E.P. representative Mark Lanaghan matter-of-factly announced that there would be no Summer meeting of the Monitoring Committee and that he would only be attending quarterly meetings of the Monitoring Committee henceforth.  The absence of a Summer C.F.M.C. Meeting is no great deficiency as the Monitoring Committee only met once during the Summer since its inception. When “YOURS TRULY” was C.F.M.C. Chairman last year, I called a Summer meeting since N.Y.C.D.E.P. was completely closing down and totally tearing up Goulden Avenue during July and August. I felt that convening a meeting of the Monitoring Committee would provide local residents with a public forum at which to register any complaints or inconveniences arising from the street closure as well as affording the C.F.M.C. an opportunity to keep an eye on it.  

As far as Mr. Lanaghan’s “four-meetings-only” decree, it is any surprise that he and his bureaucratic cohorts would disregard the majority decision of the Monitoring Committee to conduct monthly meetings if N.Y.C.D.E.P. ignores with impunity legislative decisions of the New York City Council?  Curiously, Bronx Community Board #7 Chairman Paul Foster, who is serving as Monitoring Committee Chairman for 2012, is neither as surprised nor outraged at this disrespect to his C.F.M.C. confrères as is “YOURS TRULY,” who vigorously challenged Mr. Foster on his determination to forget about Mr. Lanaghan’s impertinent effrontery until the Committee’s September gathering. 

Fortunately, Council Member G. Oliver Koppell, also a member of the Monitoring Committee, has indicated that he will again approach N.Y.C.D.E.P. Commissioner Carter Strickland on this issue as I trust will our Borough President of The Bronx, The Honorable Ruben Diaz, Jr., who weighed in along with Council Member Koppell in support of the Monitoring Committee’s majority vote to meet on a monthly basis.

Closer to Town Hall, however, after months of no news, there is no good news about the homeless colony being planned for the intersection of Bronx Boulevard and East 238^TH Street/Nereid Avenue in the Wakefield section of Bronx Community District #12.  

On Monday morning, 18 June 2012, Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond paid a visit to me and District Manager Carmen L. Rosa at Town Hall accompanied by his aides Douglas C. James and Alex T. Zablocki.  Commissioner Diamond is well aware of our continued opposition to the homeless facilities to be operated by PROJECT RENEWAL at 4380 Bronx Boulevard and by THE DOE FUND at 555 Nereid Avenue/East 238^TH Street in the shuttered Sergeant Joseph A. Muller United States Army Reserve Center (Muller U.S.A.R.C.). Nonetheless, Community Board #12 (The Bronx) is prudently pursuing a two-pronged approach in this regard. While seeking every avenue available to prevent either or both shelters from ever opening, the Community Board will simultaneously engage in a respectful dialogue with Commissioner Diamond and the New York City Department of Homeless Services (N.Y.C.D.H.S.) in an effort to pre-empt altogether, or at least to mitigate, any injurious impact upon the local neighborhood due to the operation of these shelters. Issues such as the congregation of the shelter residents on sidewalks outside of these facilities for purposes of recreation, socialization, or smoking; the presence of security measures, such as cameras, within and without the facilities; staffing levels; and the involvement of shelter residents in the daily life of our neighborhood were discussed. The lack of straightforward and ongoing communication with the proposed operating agencies of these facilities as well as the operators’ need for recurrent participation in Community Board and in other meetings and events in Bronx Community District #12 were examined as well. I wish to thank most sincerely N.Y.C.D.H.S. Commissioner Seth Diamond for his courtesy and respect to me and to Ms. Rosa in coming to Town Hall in order to confer with us on a contentious matter. Perhaps, Mr. Lanaghan and Commissioner Diamond’s fellow supposedly “civil” servants at N.Y.C.D.E.P. could learn a lesson or two (2) from him on how to deal maturely with the taxpayers who pay their salary

Commissioner Diamond’s appearance at Town Hall presaged, and, perhaps, was in his anticipation of our impending receipt of correspondence from Federal agencies involved in the closure and the transfer of the Muller U.S.A.R.C. to Mayor Bloomberg and to Borough President Diaz that likewise arrived at Town Hall last week. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (U.S.H.U.D.) has written to Mayor Bloomberg indicating that, since the procedures for legally transferring jurisdiction of the Muller U.S.A.R.C. to the City of New York have been suitably complied with, the City’s Department of Homeless Services (N.Y.C.D.H.S.) may now proceed to utilize the former National Guard base for homelessness assistance. Concurrently, an official in charge of the Environmental Division of the 99^TH Regional Support Command of the United States Department of the Army corresponded with our Borough President in order solicit concerns relative to the environmental impact upon the neighborhood as a consequence of the transfer and the re-use of the Muller U.S.A.R.C. Appropriate courses of action have been undertaken and/or are being contemplated relative to both of the issues addressed by the aforementioned letters  --  viz., adherence to the prerequisites of the transfer process and the environmental safety of the site. Our side is certainly at a disadvantage, but we are neither out of options nor ready to throw in the towel as of yet.

Summer may be the time for vacation, but there will be no vacation for Community Board #12 (The Bronx) on any number of concerns confronting our neighborhood. Hopefully, all will be able to find cool spots and moments from the hot weather that comes with this season. Your Community Board promises to maintain a cool head as it deals with these and several other hot topics during July and August.

Until next time, that is it for this time!

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Andy’s Down!

Yankees lose Pettitte and sweep Indians; 

Sabathia also on the DL

By Rich Mancuso

BRONX, NEW YORK, June 27- Yankees manager Joe Girardi arrived at the ballpark early Wednesday and felt good about his team. But a few hours later after New York swept a three-game series from the Cleveland Indians, he never envisioned losing starting pitchers CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte to injuries.

Pettitte, the starter Wednesday afternoon in the Bronx was lifted in the fifth inning when he was hit in the leg on a line drive off the bat of the Indians Casey Kotchman with the Yankees trailing 2-1.

Later in the sixth inning, in a game the Yankees would eventually won, 5-4, Girardi was informed that Pettitte had sustained a left ankle fracture. The left hander who returned in early May, after a brief one-year retirement, was placed in an ankle boot and will be out of action for the next six weeks.

Pettitte, who was once again in command, allowing two runs in four innings, and his injury was the last thing Girardi and the Yankees expected to hear. Earlier the team placed Sabathia on the disabled list with a strained left groin.

Sabathia, 9-3, developed discomfort on his left side in the fourth inning Sunday in his last start against the New York Mets.

“A bad day for lefthanders today,” commented Girardi to the media after his team won their fifth straight, and 15^th in their last 18 games. “Guys will have to step it up,” he said.

And the Yankees, who have dealt with adversity with their pitching staff, are expected to overcome this setback to their rotation. Before the season they lost newly acquired starter, Michael Pineda the entire season due to right rotator cuff tendinitis.

All-time saves leader Mariano Rivera, had surgery last week for a torn ACL of the right knee. He is not expected to return this season from the freak injury he sustained shagging fly balls in the outfield last month before the Yankees took on the Kansas City Royals at Kaufman Stadium.

“If we have to score some runs, we’ll score some runs,” said Girardi about being without two-thirds of his starting rotation. New York got another home run Wednesday, the 18^th of the season from Robinson Cano in the sixth inning.

The home run gave the Yankees a 4-3 lead, their 117^th as a team which increased their major league high

Sabathia is expected to miss two starts and return after the all-star break in mid July. “I wanted to go out and pitch Friday, but it’s early in the season and I want to be healthy,” he said.

Right hander Freddy Garcia will once again fill the void and be one of the guys that Girardi hopes will step up. Garcia, (2-2) could get the start Friday which was scheduled for Sabathia.

He came on with two outs in the fifth inning after Cody Eppley and Clay Rapada got the first two outs. The Yankees also will bring up right hander Adam Warren (5-5) with a 3.86 ERA at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

He could get the start Friday, with Garcia filling the spot for Pettitte who was scheduled to pitch again Monday night when the Yankees open their next road trip at Tampa Bay.

Warren is slowly getting an opportunity to be in the spotlight and the Yankees say they will not rush the youngster into a major role. Though with the unexpected injuries to Sabathia and Pettitte, and with the Yankees not looking to go outside the organization for help, Warren is expected to also fill the void.

“I would prefer to not go outside,” said Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman when asked about acquiring pitching help. “Let’s play it out and see.”

Added Girardi, regarding how his other healthy starters may have to step up, “They can’t make starts for Andy. That’s the thing they have to understand,” referring to Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes and Hiroki Kuroda.

And if the trend holds, the Yankees will survive this latest round of adversity as the Chicago White Sox come to the Bronx to start a four-game series Thursday night.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

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