Bronx Bomber Ball

Photo credit: MLB.com The Yankees announced on February 22nd that they will be retiring No. 21 to honor the career of the great Paul O'Neill. O’Neill (who gave me my first-ever introduction to the Who’s ‘Baba O’Reilly’ as a kid as I’d watch him walk into the batter’s box) was a fan favorite especially for those of us who became Yankees fans thanks to the 1996-2001 group.  His continued commitment to the Yankees as a YES Network announcer (along with David Cone) is a reminder of a different time.  Per Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch , “Paul O’Neill Day” will be celebrated at Yankee Stadium, featuring a number retirement ceremony, on August 21, 2022 prior to the start of the Yankees/Blue Jays game schedule to take place (barring any delays related to the CBA negotiations).  O’Neill will go down as the 23rd Yankee to have his number retired, and all guests in attendance on August 21 will receive a commemorative ticket.  Over his nine seasons as a Yankee, O’Neill hit .303...

Yankees fans knew this day was inevitable, but that fact does not mean that we are not emotional over the fact that it's arrived.  Photo credit: Yahoo Sports

Late Tuesday evening, Jeff Passan of ESPN broke news that the New York Yankees were in agreement with free-agent shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. The one-year contract, which will pay Tulowitzki the league minimum salary, provides the Yankees with a stopgap option at SS while Didi Gregorius recovers from offseason Tommy John Surgery.   Passan also notes that this deal does not preclude the team from continuing to pursue Manny Machado. Free agent shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is in agreement on a deal with the New York Yankees pending a physical, league sources tell ESPN. Tulowitzki is expected to join the Yankees on a league-minimum deal, with the Toronto Blue Jays paying the remainder of his $20 million salary. — Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 2, 2019

Right now, Didi is the AL MVP.  Not only does it have a good ring to it, there is a strong possibility Sir Didi will make it happen if his April numbers are any indication of the type of season he will have.  Coming into this year all the talk was about the Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gary Sanchez. Didi had flown under the  radar all offseason, but after his torrid start to the season, has been anything but  unnoticed.   Photo Credit: Kathy Willens/AP Photo Didi Gregorius was just named AL player of the month for the month of April. How good was   he? He led the AL in  RBIs ( 30),  SLG ( .735), OPS (1.156), XBH (19), and was tied for first with   10 HR.   Two of his HRs (both three-run homers) and eight of those RBIs (career high) came on Opening Day, when he had an absolute slugfest of a game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Didi  was also at least top seven in the following major categories during the mon...

There are a few things about the Yankees that I’m very stubborn about, things that no matter how hard you debate with me I’ll just never change my mind on. For instance, Joe DiMaggio is the greatest baseball player the world has ever seen, if I ever have a son, I want him to grow up to be the man Lou Gehrig was, and the 1927 team is the greatest that baseball will ever see. However, while I am of the mindset the ’27 team is the greatest, there will never be a season more impressive than 1998. The team won 114 games in the regular season while losing only 48. They won the AL East by a mind boggling 22 games and went 11-2 in the playoffs sweeping the San Diego Padres in the World Series for the club’s 24th overall championship. Their win total regular season and postseason combined was 125 which is still a major league record to this day.   Photo Credit: Mlb.com

Since he was acquired in December of 2014, we have watched Didi Gregorius transform from a tentative young prospect tasked with replacing Yankee icon Derek Jeter into one of the energetic faces of this Yankee team and one of the favorites of the fanbase. Didi had a rough start to his Yankee career, but he steadied himself and has improved overall in each of the last three seasons. That tentative prospect is gone now and has been replaced with a comfortable and confident player who has become one of the centerpieces of this Yankee squad. On a team that featured Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, it was often Didi penciled into the cleanup role and coming up with clutch plays in key moments. After turning in his best season yet in 2017 it leaves us asking, how much better can Sir Didi get? Credit: David Dermer/Associated Press

So, the inevitable happened. The Red Sox agreed to a five-year deal with slugger JD Martinez. There is no surprise here, it was only a matter of time before the two were united. Photo Credit: Christian Petersen | Getty Images

Photo Credit: Christian Petersen | Getty Images Just last night, Giancarlo Stanton narrowed the list of teams in which he would waive his no trade clause to the Dodgers, Astros, Cubs, and Yankees. About 24 hours later, the Marlins and Yankees are making noteworthy progress on a potential trade to bring the reigning NL MVP to the Bronx, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports . Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic was the first to report that the Yankees were serious players for a Stanton trade, even saying that the smoke is real.

On this day in 1996 the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles squared off in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. It was the Yankees first appearance in the Championship Series in 15 years and with the team trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Derek Jeter stepped to plate. In what would be one of the first of many iconic moments in the career of the former Yankee captain, Jeter hit a deep fly ball to right field. Orioles right fielder Tony Tarasco retreated all the way to the wall and reached up for the ball, but right at the last minute a glove reached out of the stands and over the field of play to intercept the ball and bring it in to the first row. Credit: AP

We’ve written a lot about Didi Gregorius here this year and for good reason. The Yankees are a team filled with exciting young players with bright futures ahead of them and every day it seems that Didi’s future is as bright as just about any of them.  Simply put, Didi Gregorius is awesome and it would be a smart move for the Yankees to extend his contract now to ensure his place as a key member of this team for years to come. Credit: Jim McIsaac Getty Images

The Yankees entered Sunday afternoon’s contest looking to complete a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles as the offense looked to stay hot to wrap up the weekend. However, the Yankees spotted themselves an early 6-1 deficit and were unable to complete the comeback as they fell 6-4. Photo Credit: Seth Wenig | AP The Orioles struck first in the top of the second on a sharp RBI single up the middle by Austin Hays to score Chris Davis. Yankees starter Sonny Gray did a nice job of limiting the damage there, which in turn allowed Didi Gregorius to step up and tie the game with his third homer in three games in the bottom of the second. The blast was Gregorius’ 24th on the season, tying him with Derek Jeter for the single season record for homers in a season by a Yankee shortstop. Photo Credit: Seth Wenig | AP Gray gave the lead right back in the top of the third on a 3-2-2 RBI double down the left field line by Trey Mancini to score Manny Machado all the way ...