Bronx Bomber Ball

Like a majority of his teammates, Aaron Judge spent a good portion of the 2019 regular season on the Injured List.  An oblique injury early in the season left him on the I.L. from April through the end of June. Photo credit: Shore News Network

Prior to the start of Yankees Summer Camp, the Yanks’ once-faithful backup catcher, Austin Romine, bid the Bronx farewell and signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.   However, the Yankees go into the 60-game 2020 regular season with three catchers: Gary Sanchez, Kyle Higashioka and Chris Iannetta.  Photo credit: Newsday

Can you believe we’ve finally made it?   Despite all the animosity and ugliness surrounding the labor negotiations the past few months, the Major League Baseball Players association and MLB owners finally came to terms on the provisions to allow for a 60-game regular season in 2020 in the face of this global COVID-19 pandemic.   The 2020 season will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, with a shortened season, new rules, no fans in attendance, and a unique schedule that has teams only play other clubs in their geographic area.   But the important thing is we’re finally going to get real, meaningful baseball back in our lives this week, and I for one could not be happier. Photo Credit: Major League Baseball via Twitter

After landing the biggest fish in Free Agency this past Winter, the Yankees enter 2020 as the clear favorites in the American League East.  That is not meant to suggest that they have no competition, however, as New York was not the only team to improve during the offseason, with the Rays making their usual under-the-radar moves that will help them win and the Blue Jays made a big splash signing with Hyun-Jin Ryu.  Let’s dive into the predictions. Photo Credit: New York Post

Credit: cbssports.com A shortened season of baseball is better than no baseball at all, right?

What a sad day, I won't be retrieving any @TrentonThunder bats this season. I look out on the empty seats and I miss all the fans & the players. I can't wait until me and Dash can go out there and play baseball again. pic.twitter.com/oTqNcXbe8X — Rookie (@BatdogRookie) June 30, 2020 Heartbreaking. Yesterday, Minor League Baseball President Pat O’Connor announced there will not be a 2020 season. While unsurprising at this stage, it’s an unfortunate development that casts uncertainty upon not only the thousands of hopefuls not included in their respective team’s 60-player pool, but the world of baseball as a whole. With that comes the absolutely devastating realization that Rookie, the beloved bat-retrieving dog of the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate Trenton Thunder, will be out of a job until 2021. Photo Credit: Asbury Park Press For those unfamiliar with Rookie, bat dogs have been a staple of Thunder baseball since 2002. Rookie carried the legacy into its third...

Photo credit: Getty Images

Former Yankees First Baseman and General Manager, Bob “Bull” Watson, has passed away after a battle with kidney disease. Watson became the first African-American General Manager to win a World Series in 1996, after putting together the 1996 Yankees who ended the franchise’s 18-year drought without a World Series Title.  Watson and his successor, Brian Cashman (Photo by Michael  Schwartz) Watson also has a gold medal, as the Chairman of USA Baseball’s selection committee for the 2000 Olympics. Watson is still the only executive to hold a gold medal in addition to a World Series ring. As a player, Watson played 19 seasons, earning himself two All-Star Game appearances in 1973 and 1975 and receiving votes for MVP in three seasons. He played 14 seasons with the Houston Astros before playing a season with the Red Sox, and three each with the Yankees and Atlanta Braves. Watson finished his career with 1,826 hits, 184 home runs, and a .295 batting average across his 19 se...

Hideki Matsui joined the Yankees at the Major League level in 2003, and for three years, he didn’t stop playing -- picking up Rookie of the Year recognition in 2003, and was voted to the All-Star team in 2003 and 2004.  Photo Credit: New York Times

Alex Rodriguez's career will forever carry a dark cloud over it.  Despite winning 3 MVPs and carrying the 2009 Yankees to a World Series title, Yankees fans all know that A-Rod’s legacy is tarnished due to scandals and suspensions.  Some of his individual game career accomplishments often go forgotten as a result.  One such accomplishment came when A-Rod became the 11th MLB player to drive in more than ten runs over the course of one game.  The league record of 12, which still stands to this day, is shared by Jim Bottomley (set in 1924) and Mark Whiten (tied in 1993). Photo Credit' Julie Jacobson/AP Photo