New York Yankees – Hands on History!

What: Hands on History

Who: New York Yankees

Where: Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York, USA

When: 23rd September 2018 and periodically next year.

The New York Yankees have a new fan event. It is not as expensive as their “Yankees Insider” in which I’ve previously been involved but it is more expensive than their Stadium Tour which I have seen at both the exquisite old Yankee Stadium (now sadly gone forever) and in their more recent home across the road. Is it for you? Let me explore it and help you make a decision…

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New York Yankees: Last days of the season

Baltimore are the worst team in Major League Baseball but the Yankees are hardly the best.

Who: New York Yankees

What: Baltimore Orioles @ New York Yankees 

Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

When: 21 to 23 September 2018

So, the end is near, as some singer or other once said. The last three home games of the regular season and Yankee Stadium is certainly filling up slowly. In fact, in a worst case scenario, these could be the last home games for the Yankees until next year. If they continued to struggle until the end of the season, they could lose home-field advantage to the Oakland A’s for the wild card playoff. And that is only a one game match-up…

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Red Sox Take American League East – at Yankee Stadium

Who: New York Yankees

What: versus Boston Red Sox 

Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

When: 18 to 20 September 2018

Well, surely the Yankees – after their disappointing series loss against Toronto – couldn’t bounce back and manage to win the series against Boston — and still allow the Red Sox to clinch the AL East in the Bronx? Well, if anyone could, these contrary Yankees could. Read on…

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Toronto Trip Up the Yankees

Who: New York Yankees

What: versus Toronto Blue Jays

Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

When: 14 to 16 September 2018

The plan must have been fairly simple as the Yankees returned to the Bronx for a nine-game home-stand – take 2 or 3 from Toronto, beat Boston 2-1 and blast past Buck Showalter’s weaker-than-ever Baltimore Orioles where a sweep seemed more than possible. What could go wrong?

Well, first of all, the Yankees evidently didn’t reckon on a gutsy, scrappy Blue Jays’ performance and their own all too apparent second half failings.

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From the Majors to the Minors, it all matters

Who: Staten Island Yankees

What: Staten Island Yankees versus Brooklyn Cyclones

Where: Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St George, Staten Island, New York

When: Early September 2018

The Yankees have one of the highest ranked farm systems in Major League Baseball (MLB) and the New York Yankees General Manager, Brian Cashman has made it clear that this major league team’s future success depends on that factor more than it does on bringing in high-priced free agents in the prime (or after the prime) of their career.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in August (2018)

The Yankees used 8 starters in August. The bullpen was more consistent than the rotation but even there the Yankees lost Aroldis Chapman to the disabled list in the second half of the month. The Yankees had hoped to solve some of their pitching problems by the moves they made at the no-waiver trading deadline but whilst J.A. Happ exceeded expectations, Lance Lynn looked less and less reliable as the month went along.

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in August (2018)

The Yankees form had taken a dip by the time the season reached August and the dog days. From a .281 batting average (BA) in the month of July, they fell to a team .240 in the eighth month and a 17-13 win/loss record. Part of this was due to under-performance (let’s all say Greg Bird together and shake our heads sadly). Part of this was due to injury (Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, although whether in Sanchez’s case that’s a blessing or a curse remains to be seen) but mostly it is down to over-performers coming down to earth. However, that tandem of wonder-rookies, Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar are still playing everyday and still showing great ability (at least offensively). Read on…

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Alvin – A True Star on All Kinds of Levels

Commemorating the life of Alvin Stardust, I think I heard somewhere that tributes were being sought for an event which is to be held in the town of his youth, Mansfield. The suggestion may have come from Dave Harness who functioned as Alvin’s road manager during the latter part of his career and who I count as a friend but, anyway, I read it somewhere. It got me to thinking on what I’d want to say.

I can’t be at the opening day of the event because of a writing commission which is going to take me to New York for a month, but I hope to visit it thereafter, but I thought to gather my thoughts here and now.

I’d written an obituary of sorts about Alvin at the time of his passing which can be found elsewhere on the internet including here:

https://twilightdawning.com/2014/10/29/good-rockers-can-never-die/

which covers his career in broad-strokes, so maybe something about my inter-action with the man.

Back in the mid-90s my agent rang me and asked me if I would be at all interested in interviewing “an old glam rocker called Alvin Stardust”(!) while he was on tour and specifically at his show in Croydon at the Fairfield Halls. What my caller didn’t realise was that when I was 9 I’d seen Mr Stardust on Top of the Pops and become convinced that he was the coolest man in the world. It was a moment that has affected me right to this very day and I guess I knew from that moment that I’d be forever “dressed in black” myself.

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Wives may be merry and yet honest too

What: The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare

Who: The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)

Where: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST), Stratford-Upon-Avon, England

When: 14th August 2018

This new production of Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor is quite perplexing in places but I found it a whole lot more enjoyable than their current Romeo and Juliet. And I think audiences in general will concur.

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New York Yankees – The Pitchers in July (2018)

The Yankees had a difficult month on the pitching front with some of the stalwarts they had depended on all year suddenly losing form. Let’s see who came to the forefront and who was added to the corps to keep the machine a-running:

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