Bronx Bomber Ball

  Opening Day is finally here, and boy are those words so sweet.   Major League Baseball battled through a pandemic last season which shortened the season to just 60 games and had empty stadiums throughout the regular season, but we’ve finally turned the corner in this fight against COVID-19 and MLB clubs will welcome back fans (albeit in limited capacities) starting tomorrow, April 1st.    The Yankees are locked and loaded and ready to finally achieve their decade-long goal of bringing home World Series title number 28.

It’s obvious that pitching has been an issue for the Yankees over the past few years. It’s early, but through Spring Training, this year seems a little bit different. Starting from the top, you’ve got the ace, Gerrit Cole. The 300 million dollar man. He’s going to be leaned on a lot all year. Expect big things from him every five days on the mound. He is the leader of this staff. So far this spring, through 12 innings, he’s 3-0 with a 3.55 ERA and adds in 19 strikeouts. These are numbers we’re looking for, and we can only expect more during the regular season.

As we close in on Opening Day, it’s time to start taking inventory of the non-roster invitees at camp this spring and take some stock in who will and will not be breaking camp with the big-league club on April first.   The first player in our preview series focuses on 13-year veteran OF/1B Jay Bruce.

The 2019 season could not have started much better for the Yanks. It was a beautiful day in the Bronx, the weather was perfect, the Yankees were back, and they had the perfect opponent in front of them; the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles lost 115 games last season, and it appears that they will reach that mark once again this season. The Yanks made the most of this, and were clicking all day, as they win the first game of the year by the score of 7-2.  The Yankees set the tone in the first inning, as Judge and Stanton both got base hits, to set up the clean up hitter Luke Voit. Voit was a great story last year, but there were no guarantees that Voit would continue to be that guy. Well, Voit showed that he’s still the guy, as he blasted a three-run home run into Monument Park, to give the Yankees an early 3-0 lead.

Baseball is back at the Bronx, after five months, 15 days, and seven hours of anticipation (but who’s counting?), the Yankees will don their pinstripes in The Cathedral of Baseball on East 161st Street. This will be the first chance for most Yankee fans to see their team up close in person, and with all the hype surrounding this team this offseason, between the trade for Giancarlo Stanton and the anointing of the best bullpen in baseball, the Bronx Faithful are chomping at the bit to finally see their Bombers take on the Tampa Bay Rays.  CBSSports.com

Yankee fans, we did it. We finally made it to Opening Day. The long, cold offseason has ended and meaningful Yankees baseball has returned, and it retuned with an exclamation mark. Led by the 2017 NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton and his two long balls and Luis Severino's stellar outing, the Yankees dominated the Blue Jays win Aaron Boone’s first game of his career as a manager.   Photo Credit: AP

I attended my first “Bleacher Creature” game in 2008 against the Toronto Blue Jays. The crowd was electric, and chanted “you get paid in monopoly money” at Vernon Wells for nine innings. It is almost symbolic that 2018’s Opening Day, and my first betting tip article for the Bronx Bomber Ball, comes against those same Blue Jays.  Unlike Vernon Wells, the goal here is to make some real cash. Photo Credit: AP