Jane Heller

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

Nice Interview!

As a relatively new resident of St. Petersburg (FL), I’m learning not only about the great baseball culture here but also about my fellow local writers and their love for baseball.

Here’s an interview that’s running in the latest issue of Creative Pinellas’s Arts Coast Journal, Pinellas County being home to St. Pete.

October 1, 2019 | By Margo Hammond

Writing About Baseball:
A He-Fan and She-Fan Face Off

. . .

St. Petersburg has had a long love affair with baseball — and so have its writers.

Since 1914 more Major League spring training games have been played in this city than in any other. From the St. Louis Browns to the Tampa Bay Rays, St. Petersburg has hosted nine teams. When Babe Ruth arrived in 1925 for spring training, half the town and a marching band came out to greet him (Ruth’s winter estate — a 7,381-foot mansion — recently went up for sale for $2.1 million).

In 2004 Ruth appeared as a memorable secondary character in Eckerd College history professor Lee Irby’s rollicking novel 7,000 Clams about a bootlegger and an IOU for $7,000 signed by the Babe. Baseball has loomed even larger in the works of St. Petersburg writers Rick Wilber, Jane Heller and Peter Golenbock who collectively have written scores of novels, memoirs, biographies, histories and short stories with a baseball theme.

                                             *                   *                  *

Every October as the baseball playoffs begin and I hear the announcers’ play-by-plays, I am transported back to a living room in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It is October 1962. My father is sprawled on an overstuffed green chair, peering at an RCA set with an impossibly small screen. Jack Brickhouse is yelling ‘Hey-Hey, Hey-Hey. The Cubs are winning.’

Of course, that never happened. In 1962 the Cubs lost a record-shattering 103 games. They never made the playoffs — they ended the season a whopping 42 1/2 games behind the National League winner, the San Francisco Giants who went on to lose the World Series to the New York Yankees. But in my reveries the Cubs are winners.

Baseball, time travel and altered history are things Rick Wilber understands well. A science fiction and fantasy writer, Wilber frequently goes back in time to write alternative history stories about Moe Berg, a baseball player who in real life was a spy. Four are collected in The Moe Berg Episodes.

Rick Wilber

Many have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, including “The Wandering Warriors,” a 30,000-word tale co-authored with Alan Smale, an Oxford-educated astrophysicist. Originally a cover story in Asimov and soon to be published as a novella, it features a retired Moe Berg traveling  back to ancient Rome to teach the Romans the game of baseball.

According to Wilber, on some ancient murals the Romans can be seen playing a game with a small ball. “So who knows? Perhaps Moe Berg did time travel.”

One of Wilber’s most unusual Moe Berg stories is a political satire that appears in the anthology Alternative Peace. The editors solicited stories that alter history in ways that make the world a better place. In Wilber’s story, called “Donny Boy,” Berg helps a a little boy catch Bobby Thompson’s ball in his game-winning home run in 1951.

That home run, known in baseball lore as The Shot Heard Round the World, so inspires little Donny Trump that instead of becoming President of the United States, he winds up as the much-reviled owner of the Mets.

Rich and Rick Wilber at Tropicana Field

“I was never a Mets fan,” admits Wilber. He grew up in St. Louis where his father, Del Wilber, played for the Cardinals. Later Del Wilber played backup catcher for the Red Sox. “When the Rays aren’t playing, I don’t find it hard to cheer on the Cardinals and the Red Sox.”

Wilber now, however, is a Rays fan, cheering them on regularly at Tropicana Field with his son, Richard Jr. “I take such a fatherly joy in taking my Down Syndrome son to the games. He eats a bad pizza. I eat a hot dog. He really knows his baseball. People are always coming up to him asking him questions and high-fiving him.” His son doesn’t like to stay for the whole game. “During the 7th inning stretch, we sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game” with lots of gusto together and then we leave. I rarely see the Rays for the 8th and 9th innings.”

Rick Wilber and his father, Del, when Del was the manager of the Triple-A Charleston Senators minor-league team in 1960. Rick Wilber was the batboy for that team.

Wilber’s work-in-progress again stars Moe Berg, a novel about racism called Alternating Currents. “All the Moe Berg stories are about his fight against racism — and we’re flirting with it again.”

Not all of Wilber’s baseball projects, however, have featured Berg. His first baseball story, called “The Kids in Question,” was published in 1988 in Spitball, a literary magazine devoted entirely to baseball. In 2009 his novel Rum Point was subtitled ‘A Baseball Novel.’ “One reviewer complained that it was too much murder mystery and not enough baseball,” says Wilber.

His father inspired one of Wilber’s novel (Where Garagiola Waits) and a memoir (My Father’s Game). When his father was dying, Wilber became his primary caretaker and remaining fan base. To engage his dad, who had played after all for the Red Sox, he appealed to their mutual distaste for the Yankees. 

“My dad was in an assisted living facility,” says Wilber. “I knew if I walked into his room and asked him, ‘What about those damned Yankees,’ he would be happy to talk about how much he hated the Yankees.”

                                  *                                    *                           *

Jane Heller, who only recently moved to St. Petersburg, has held fast as a New York Yankees fan.

“No matter what else this day brings, the Yankees swept the Rays yesterday and I’m basking in the afterglow. (Sorry, Peter Golenbock).”

That was Heller recently punking her friend and fellow New York Times bestselling author Peter Golenbock on Facebook.

Both are New York natives. Golenbock came to St. Petersburg in 1989. Heller is a more recent transplant — a move she credits to Golenbock.   

Golenbock, who has taught courses on the influence of sports on American history, is a prolific writer, not only on baseball. But six of his 10 New York Times bestsellers have been about the boys of summer: Dynasty: The New York Yankees 1949-1964, The Bronx Zoo (with Sparky Lyle), Number 1 (with Billy Martin), Balls (with Graig Nettles), Idiot (with Johnny Damon) and House of Nails (with Lenny Dykstra).

He has also written about the Brooklyn Dodgers (Bums), the Boston Red Sox (Fenway), the Chicago Cubs (Wrigleyville) and the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns (The Spirit of St. Louis); a biography of George Steinbrenner and another of Billy Martin (which The New York Time said “reads like a Russian novel”), a novel about Mickey Mantle (7: The Mickey Mantle Novel), two children’s books (Teammates about Jackie Robinson’s first season as a Brooklyn Dodger and Brave in Every Way about Hank Aaron’s ordeal in breaking Babe Ruth’s career home run record), and a book about former major league ballplayers in the Senior Professional Baseball League.

Heller, on the other hand, has only written one book about baseball — from a fan’s point of view. She is best known for romantic comedies with such witty titles as Infernal Affairsand An Ex to Grind (14 of them have made the New York Times and U.S.A. Today bestseller lists, nine of them have been optioned for film or television).

Her latest book also has a clever title: You’d Better Not Die Or I’ll Kill You: A Caregiver’s Survival Guide to Keeping You in Good Health and Good Spirits. It’s a guide to caring for loved ones with a chronic or progressive illness. Heller’s husband has Crohn’s disease. Her mother, whom she cared for until her death, had dementia.

But her first non-fiction book — Confessions of a She-Fan: The Course of True Love with the New York Yankees — is a spirited tale about chasing after the boys of summer. It chronicles the season she and husband Michael took to the road to attend (nearly) every Yankees game. The book spawned a blog at janeheller.com — called, of course, Confessions of a She-Fan — and a screenplay.

                                          

Q&A with Jane Heller and Peter Golenbock

. . . 

I sent the New York Yankee-loving Jane and loyal-to-the Rays Peter — frenemies at the stadium but friends everywhere else — a list of the same questions to see if there was a difference between a she-fan and a he-fan. Below are their responses.

They only agreed on one thing: Mickey Mantle.

    

Jane Heller wearing a Yankees rain poncho at a game at Yankee Stadium that lasted for five hours. It poured until the final inning when the sun came out and the Yankees won.

Is there a difference between a he-fan and a she-fan?

GOLENBOCK: There is no difference between a she-fan and a he-fan. One she-fan I know was crazy enough to follow the Yankees around for a whole season and write a very good book about it. 

HELLER: Women are different than men in the way we are fans. Female fans view the game from a more emotional perspective. We are just as knowledgeable about the game as men, but we are as fascinated by the interactions between the players as we are about the velocity on a pitcher’s fastball. Some of us wear pink caps and jerseys, while others of us think it is maddening that we are consigned to our own color.

What we all share is a passion for the game, for our team, for our guys. I see us in every city and ballpark and hotel lobby, cheering and hanging out and snapping photos. We are teenagers and twentysomethings, soccer moms and corporate executives, baby boomers and seniors. We are everywhere.

. . . 

Why does baseball inspire writers more than any other sport?

Peter Golenbock and Wendy Sears Grassi in Rays’ DJ Kitty onesies

GOLENBOCK: I was born with the baseball gene.  To me baseball is not a game. It is a religion.  There are many Bibles, including Ball Four by Jim Bouton, The Glory of Their Times by Larry Ritter, and The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn. 

Baseball has rituals, songs, Gods and saints.  My first sports memory was Willie Mays’ catch in the 1954 World Series of the Vic Wertz blast to centerfield at the Polo Grounds.  Mickey Mantle and Jackie Robinson have been important religious icons in my life.  Baseball is, in fact, the kindest of all the religions. 

HELLER: Watching a baseball game is like reading a novel. There’s a beginning, a middle and an end. What purists also love is that there’s no time clock in baseball — a game lasts as long as it lasts until its conclusion. There are heroes and villains. There’s conflict, drama, a twist here, a turn there. The resolution is always a surprise.

Some players are, as in a good novel, characters you come to care about because of their personality traits and because they look like men who could actually exist in the everyday world, neither towering titans like pro basketball players nor pumped-up superheroes like pro football players. When I settle in to watch a baseball game, I’m ready to begin a new story.

. . .

What is your favorite fictional book about baseball?

GOLENBOCK: My favorite fictional book about baseball is Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella.  My second favorite work of baseball fiction is The Natural. The third one is Bang the Drum Slowly.

HELLER: The easy answer would be Bernard Malamud’s The Natural because it was the first baseball novel I ever read and it’s taken on almost mythical proportions over the years thanks to the movie version starring Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs.

But my favorite novel – the one I enjoyed the most – is The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. The story’s college baseball star, Henry Skrimshander, is a gifted shortstop, a prodigy destined for the major leagues, who suddenly, inexplicably, loses the ability to throw to first base. As a result, his life and the lives of those around him are upended. Not only did I find the writing engaging, but I felt drawn to Henry and the idea that someone could, seemingly out of the blue, lose his or her gift, and wondered how I would cope in that circumstance. The spell of the book hung over me for a long time.

. . .

What is your favorite non-fiction baseball book?

GOLENBOCK: The best book I have ever read, and I am reading it right now again, is Robert Caro’s stupendous biography of Robert Moses entitled The Power Broker.  The book that made the biggest impact on my life was The New York Yankees, by Frank Graham.  I read it (ten times) when I was 12 or 13. It was published in 1948. 

When I was working for Prentice-Hall in the summer of 1972, I walked into the office of the head editor of the trade book department and pitched a book idea to them. I told him I wanted to write the sequel to Graham’s Yankee book, which I wanted to call Dynasty. I talked my way into my first book contract.

HELLER: This one’s a tie. The first answer is Ball Four by Jim Bouton. The clubhouse antics Bouton described may seem tame by today’s standards, but in 1970 when the book was published, they were eye-opening. The book broke the cardinal rule in baseball: Never tell on your teammates. As a sophomore in college, I idolized my Yankees and Bouton exposed them as – shock and awe – a bunch of regular guys who do and say dumb and sometimes very funny things. I loved the book and I loved Bouton for having the guts to write it.

My second favorite is The Bronx Zoo, and I’m not just saying that because Peter Golenbock, who wrote the book with Yankees relief pitcher Sparky Lyle, is a friend. In the same way that Bouton ripped the lid off the closed clubhouse world of baseball, so did Lyle only in the most uproarious, truly memorable ways. The expression ‘You just can’t make this stuff up’ applies.

. . .

Which baseball park is your favorite?

Peter Golenbock’s Baseball and American Culture Class at Tropicana Field

GOLENBOCK: The old Yankee Stadium. As a teen I would ride the New Haven railroad from Stamford, Connecticut, to Grand Central Station and then I’d take the Lexington Avenue subway to the stadium. For $6 I could buy the best box seat in the house and then I would shmear the usher another $10 to sit in a box right near the dugout.  Today that same seat would cost $1,200.

HELLER: I should say Yankee Stadium, both the newer version and the place where I spent so much time from about age 10. But I love Camden Yards in Baltimore. It was one of the first ballparks – if not the first – to be built in the heart of a city’s downtown instead of out in the suburbs, and it was designed to resemble a charming old-time ballpark. There are better, newer versions now in other cities, as Camden is aging, but when I went on the She-Fan book tour, I looked forward to coming back to Camden Yards more than any other.

. . .

What foods do you eat when you are watching a baseball game?

GOLENBOCK: My favorite ballpark food is the hot dog. Currently as a season ticket holder, I can buy a hot dog for two dollars. I put on mustard, relish and more onions than most, and I go to town. But I will only eat one. They are very fattening.

HELLER: It’s sacrilegious, I know, but I don’t like hot dogs. At Yankee Stadium, I get a turkey sub. At Camden Yards, I go straight for the Boog’s Barbecue concession (Boog Powell was a Baltimore Orioles first baseman). Boog’s has the best barbecue, baked beans and coleslaw at any stadium. I’m salivating just thinking about it. At a Rays game recently, I tried the Impossible Burger. I’m all over the map, foodwise.

. . .

How does the experience of watching a baseball game change when you see it live rather than on TV?

GOLENBOCK: The difference between watching a game at the ballpark rather than on TV is the same as what it is like to sit in a cathedral rather than watch the service on TV. 

At the ballpark I am in a community with like-minded lovers of the game. At the game you can watch the announcers and reporters in the booth, the mascots on the field and players high-fiving each other, and as the game goes on you can communicate with all those sitting around you. 

At home you sit and watch and scream at the TV. It’s still fun, but it’s less of an experience. 

From the trailer for Jane Heller’s Confessions of a She-Fan book, with thanks to Photoshop

HELLER: There’s nothing like a crowd to energize a baseball fan. Experiencing a game with other people is a communal, social experience that can’t be matched when you’re sitting alone in front of the TV.

I feel the same way about going to the movie theater instead of streaming everything on Netflix. I love hearing my fellow fans cheering (or booing) – reacting, in any case. One of my favorite rituals at Yankee Stadium happens when the ‘bleacher creatures’ in the outfield chant the names of the Yankees players in a sing-song way just before the first pitch. ‘Der-ek Je-ter.’ The Yankees’ current star is Aaron Judge, and the bleacher creatures come decked out in old-fashioned long-white judge wigs.

I could do without the constant blaring of music from the speakers at all ballparks today – moments of silence are not the end of the world! – and I find the visual cues to clap demeaning. I think fans are too smart to be told when to clap.

. . .

Do you have any baseball rituals or superstitions?

GOLENBOCK: I have no rituals or superstitions.  I am a baseball atheist.

HELLER: I have many! Like the players, who are notoriously superstitious, fans have their nuttiness too. When the Yankees are in the playoffs, Michael and I will eat, say, pizza. If they win that game, we’ll have pizza for the next game, and so on. If they lose the first game, we’ll move on to club sandwiches. Which is another way of saying we have ‘lucky food.’ I’ll also wear the same jersey for each playoff game and change it only if the team loses – ‘lucky clothes.’

Superstitions are a fan’s way of attempting to control the outcome, since we’re just bystanders.

. . .

How did you end up in St. Petersburg?

Peter Golenbock

GOLENBOCK: I arrived in St. Petersburg the evening of October 31, 1989. I had driven from Ridgefield, Connecticut, to arrive in time for the first team meeting of the St. Petersburg Pelicans of the Senior Professional Baseball League. The league had eight teams, and I wanted to spend the season with one of them and write a book about the season. 

Earlier I had attended the organizational meeting in Palm Beach at The Breakers Hotel. Of the eight teams, I chose to spend the season with the West Palm Beach Tropics, managed by Dick Williams, the former A’s and Red Sox manager. But a day later I was told by the Tropics PR guy they didn’t want me because of the book I had written, Personal Fouls, that had gotten basketball coach Jim Valvano of NC State fired.  The PR guy was a friend of Valvano.

When I called league founder Jim Morley to ask what I should do next, he said, ‘I own the St. Pete Pelicans.  Spend the season with the Pelicans.’  I arrived the night of the 31st, driving down the Bayway, when I saw the Don Cesar Hotel as the sun was going down.

‘This is where I want to spend the rest of my life,’ I said to myself.

I have done that.  And I spent the season with the Pelicans, who won the only Senior League championship that year.  My book, The Forever Boys, is a chronicle of that season.

Jane Heller

HELLER: In May of 2007, I wrote a piece for the New York Times sports section in which I announced that I was divorcing the N.Y. Yankees on the grounds of mental cruelty — they were in last place in their division and breaking my heart.

As a diehard fan who’d watched every game, the players looked lethargic, error-prone, mediocre — especially compared to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (their name in 2007), whose players were young and frisky and eager. The article generated so much attention that it was the number-one emailed story the week it ran.

What stunned me was that while I had intended the piece to be humorous, making the case for how a devotion to a baseball team was similar to a romantic relationship, much of the feedback accused me of being a traitor, a turncoat, a bandwagon fan. The commotion caught the attention of an editor at Rodale, who offered me a book contract. The hook? I would hit the road after the All-Star break and go to every Yankees game in every city for the rest of the season in an attempt to discover what true fandom was. I loved the idea and regarded the book as my ‘Eat, Pray, Love Does Baseball.’

Over the next four-plus months, the Yankees traveled numerous times to St. Petersburg to play the Rays and my husband Michael, who joined me on the adventure, and I stayed at the Vinoy each time, because the team stayed there. We strolled around Beach Drive and the general downtown area and really liked what we saw.

When a sportswriter friend, the bestselling author and local, Peter Goldenbock, met us for coffee one afternoon, he extolled the virtues of the city and said, ‘If you like it now, wait until you see it ten years from now.’ Ten years went by. Michael and I were thinking of selling our house in Connecticut and moving to a warmer climate.

‘What about St. Pete?’ we said simultaneously. And here we are.

. . .

Have you ever switched your loyalty from one team to another?

HELLER: I’ve been very disappointed by the Yankees front office from time to time, whether it was because they tried to keep me at arm’s length while I was writing the She-Fan book or because they were among the last teams to have a Gay Pride night or because they traded away a favorite player. And though I was drawn to the Rays in 2007 when I wrote the article for The Times, I’ve never wavered in my loyalty to the Yanks.

The Rays are my ‘second team.’ I root for them if the Yankees aren’t in the mix.

GOLENBOCK: I was a New York Yankee fan all my life until moving to St. Petersburg.  The Devil Rays began play in 1998, and I have been a loyal Rays fan ever since. 

I do not understand the fans who have lived in Tampa Bay most of their lives but continue to root for their childhood teams. I figure that most of these people also cheat on their spouses. Because of them, we may lose our beloved team to another market, if you want to call Montreal a market.

“New Yankee Stadium: Great Hall” with Mickey Mantle banner by peterjr1961 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

. . .

Who is your favorite baseball player of all times?

GOLENBOCK: Mickey Mantle was and is my favorite baseball player. 

Since I was a little boy, Mickey Mantle was THE star of the Yankees.  He helped the Yankees win pennants in 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964. When I interviewed him for Dynasty, he was humble and honest and I never forgot what he told me. 

My novel entitled 7 is the story of Mickey’s life the way he would have told it if he had had the balls to do so. When he died in 1995, it was as though a family member had died. 

HELLER: Easy one. Mickey Mantle AKA “The Mick.”

When I was growing up in a New York suburb, Mickey Mantle was the handsome young star of the team. I was madly in love with him and kept a poster of him on my bedroom wall. I told my mother I would marry him someday. (Never mind that he was already married and I must have been six years old.)

Mickey was The Natural – a golden blond god who could do it all (hit, run, field) better than anyone, and my crush on him lasted for years. It pained me as an adult to watch him drink himself to death, but my memory of his greatness as a player will never die.

Yankees-Rays: A Fun Rivalry

The series with the Rays had just about everything, including good starting pitching, clutch hitting, a benches-clearing tiff, a Boone ejection and, best of all, enough “W’s” to put the Yankees safely in front of the Rays by eight games by the time it was all over (Boston is ten back.) There’s always tension and emotion when the two clubs play these days, and I really enjoy it.

I loved the way this team never seemed to give up, and in yesterday’s double-header, particularly in the nightcap, I loved the station-to-station hitting. I love homers too, of course, but moving players around the diamond was something the Yankees weren’t so good at in previous years.

German has really distinguished himself as a pitcher we can count on, and Urshela is just plain on a tear. Do we still need that starter before the deadline? Absolutely, if we’re going to step up and win this thing. The clock is ticking, Cashman. Keep working those phones.

It’s Break Time

I was going to post last night, but I was still sulking over the Yankees’s two losses here to the Rays. I purposely didn’t go to any games during this series because whenever I go to the Trop, the Yanks lose and I didn’t want to be a jinx. The first two games went beautifully; I stayed away and we won. Not so for Games 3 and 4, and both were very winnable – and frustrating. Boston seems to have picked up steam and the Rays are flush with their two victories over us, and our lead in the division has shrunk. Not what I wanted to happen before the All-Star break.

I know, I know. We’re still out in front. And this team has played brilliantly no matter who’s injured. But there’s still a big item on Cashman’s To Do list that need checking off as we prepare for what is likely to be a grueling second half: another starter. Everybody knows we need one. I’d like us to get Scherzer, naturally. But any guy with a low ERA and a live arm will do.

I’d also like Encarnacion to hit more than the occasional homer. Sure, he came to the Yankees leading the leagues in homers, but it seems to me his outs far exceed the homers he’s hit thus far. Maybe he just needs to get acclimated to NY.

I’d like Judge to cut down on his strikeouts. He’s been hitting some majestic bombs, but didn’t he used to get singles and doubles too?

I’d like Didi to get hot. He’s a streaky hitter who goes on a tear with homers and then slumps at the plate. Consistency, please.

I’d like Chapman to stop the high-wire act every time he closes. Jeez, he gives me heart attacks.

I’d like Stanton to finally get healthy and stay healthy.

And I’d like someone to figure out what can be done to get Severino back. At this rate, I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll ever see him pitch again.

As for the All-Star game itself, as I’ve said many times, it’s not my thing. (Forget the Home Run Derby. Not a fan of that at all.) So I’ll be spending the break enjoying Wimbledon and other pastimes, and will look forward to baseball later in the week.

The Big Sweep

Gosh, it’s nice to be able to use the broom image again. And it’s particularly nice to use it against the Rays, with whom we’ve been dueling for first place. There’s no doubt about who’s in first now: the Yankees are — by 3 1/2 games. Not a huge lead, but the best one yet.

Clearly, the Yanks have the Rays’ number at the Stadium. They absolutely dismantled the Rays during the sweep. They’ve been less successful at the Trop, but we’ll see how that goes next month when they come back to town. Also clearly, Blake Snell, the Rays’s ace, did not have a good day, while CC won his 250th game – quite a milestone.

Tanaka had a complete game. Haap was great. Which goes to show that when you have good starting pitching, good things come of it.

On the offensive side, what can I say about yesterday’s Janer, in particular? TWELVE runs. Torres’s first grand slam. Sanchez’s show of power. And LeMahieu continues to impress. I really don’t want to lose either him or Maybin. And by the way, the Yankees’ hitting coaches must be really good this year, because Maybin, for one, was talking about how he got to the Yankees batting, like, .120 and with a few tweaks he’s on a roll.

Now the Yankees take on the Astros, which should be a great test of how the team is gelling. Again, pitching will be key, and Boone hasn’t announced his starter. (Please don’t let it be Cessa.)

 

A Slugger Comes to Yankeeville

I thought we were getting a starting pitcher. We ended up with a home run leader, who has clobbered the Yankees in the past. I’m not unhappy – why not get a DH who can clobber – but the acquisition of Encarcion does complicate things.

Brett Gardner will be the odd man out in the outfield with Stanton and then Judge back and healthy. Fine with me to use Gardy as a late-innings defensive replacement in left field and as a pinch runner, but it may not be fine with him. Poor Clint Frazier was sent down to Scranton because he really was deemed unnecessary. But I’m for anything and anybody who makes the team stronger.

I’m just not sure that acquiring sluggers makes us stronger.

Well, of course it does in the offensive department. But what good is bashing 10 runs (as we did in Chicago during a split of the 4-game series) if the pitching staff will give those 10 runs right back to the opponent?

I keep reading that Cashman is out there searching for a starter or two. Is it really detective work? How long does it take to zero in on somebody and just PAY HIM? The Yankees can afford to shell out some money for a couple of starters. They need to do it soon. Paxton bounced back yesterday with a decent game against the White Sox, but I still think he’s wobbly, as is CC, as is Tanaka, as is Happ, and Chad Green as our “opener” just doesn’t thrill me.

Now is the time to act. We have a big series at the Stadium with the Rays starting tonight. It’s been a seesaw battle for first place in the division, but right now we’re a half a game ahead. I’d love to put them in the rearview mirror and end the series with more daylight between us. Fingers crossed.

Ortiz and More

Before I get to the state of the Yankees, I need to send out healing thoughts to David Ortiz after he was shot in the abdominal area yesterday in the Dominican Republic. Apparently, he underwent a six-hour operation, but is now in stable condition. It’s always a shock when a member – especially such a high-profile member – of the baseball community suffers a sudden injury or illness, and I was certainly shocked to learn about Ortiz last night. He was our nemesis for so many years, but he’s said to be one of the good guys. I hope he’s back on the MLB Network team soon.

As for our boys, good for them for salvaging the series in Cleveland with a late win, but now we’re deadlocked in a tie for first place with the Rays and seemingly falling apart – despite the welcome return of Didi. With German now joining the Injured List and Keuchel signing with the Braves, the need for a starter (or two) couldn’t be more essential. Get on it, would you, Cashman? (Tanaka is only on paternity leave; he’ll be back. But let’s hope he’ll be back in better shape than when he left. He hasn’t been all that great.)

The relievers have been spotty too. Betances isn’t coming back any time soon, and the others are hit and miss. Which puts pressure on the offense to overcompensate for runs given up.

On the plus side, the Yankees have done a remarkable job despite losing so many players to injury. I never dreamed we’d be near first place with so many stars out and yet here we are. So grateful to LeMahieu, Urshela, Maybin, etc. for filling in so admirably.

Looking forward to taking on the Mets. I think.

The Calm Before the Storm

After last night’s cruel and frustrating one-run loss to the Padres, the Yankees are only one game in front of the Rays for first place. I know. Given all the injuries and the fact that Boone is playing musical chairs with the lineup and the starting rotation, first place is a major accomplishment.

But I hate losing one-run games, especially since the Yanks mounted a late comeback only to fall short.

Also, it’s the Padres. I mean come on. We really need to beat them in today’s finale.

Because Boston comes in for the weekend. No, they’re not the big, bad Boston of old, but they’re 6 games back and 6 games can disappear in a hurry. They’re hungry to topple the order of things – and to right their miserable start to the season. Besides which, the Rays just don’t lose very often.

Paxton is making his return from the I.L today, but he’s said to have lingering problems with his knee and that he’ll have to “play through the discomfort” for the rest of the season. Does that sound promising to you? Me neither.

CC is said to be returning in time to pitch Sunday’s game, but he, too, has knee issues.

Management seems thrilled with the tag team approach to pitching, with Chad Green as our opener and God only knows who to follow him. That method works for the Rays, but I’d much prefer a steady diet of starters – i.e. a real rotation.

But it’s only May, I keep reminding myself. Almost June. Plenty of time for our players to get healthy. Plenty of time for Judge. I’m waiting for Judge. I miss Judge.

First Place and a Janer!

I take full credit for the weekend series win against the Rays at the Stadium. Why? Because when I went to see the two teams tee off at the Trop last Saturday night, the Yanks lost and I vowed to stop jinxing them. Even though this weekend’s series was televised on our local sports network here in Tampa/St. Pete, I did not watch on Friday night and the Yanks won. Yesterday, I couldn’t help myself and turned on the TV – and we lost. Today I compromised by listening to the audio only and we won.

And it was a satisfying win to say the least. Following the Rays’ playbook and trotting out a bunch of relievers instead of using a starter, the Yanks were dealing in risky business. And with the score tied at 5-5, I was sweating. But the boys prevailed 13-5.

It amazes me how this cast of mostly supporting players has rallied together to put themselves in first place, even if it doesn’t last long. Gardner, Hicks and Sanchez had a nice offensive day, but it’s the no-names who impress me the most. Kudos to Cashman – and I don’t usually “kudos” him – for pulling together guys like LeMahieu, Morales, Urshela, Estrada, Maybin and, of course, Voit.

As the team heads down to Baltimore for four games, I hope the winning will continue. Let’s go, Yankees. Clap clap clap.

 

 

My Jinx at the Trop Continues, But We Won the Series

It was throwback Devil Rays tropical shirt giveaway night on Saturday for my return to Tropicana Field, and as I was handed one at the entrance I said to my husband, “I don’t think I’ll ever wear this.”

The Yanks had won on Friday night behind a pretty good performance by German, but I approached Saturday night with trepidation. My record at the Trop isn’t good. I honestly think the Yanks have lost every single time I’ve been there. Still, I was hopeful with CC on the mound and Gio Urshela hitting like crazy.

Sadly, we couldn’t rev up our offense and a reliever named Nestor Cortes (???) coughed up runs late in the game that cost us. The result was another “L” for me. Not that I didn’t enjoy seeing the boys or the game. We had good seats. There’s a new restaurant this year that offers the Impossible Burger, the non-meat patty that’s all the rage with those of us who avoid red meat. And the Rays fans are always happy when their stadium is packed – even if it’s because the Yanks or Red Sox are in town.

I wasn’t there yesterday for the finale, and I’m glad. I watched on TV and that power outage lasted waaaay too long. The Yanks busted out and scored 7 runs and Tanaka was stellar in getting the win, but do the Rays ever need a new stadium. It’s sad. They deserve one. They’re a very good team and I expect we’ll be battling them all season.

In My Backyard

After taking three of four games from the Mariners at the Stadium, the Yanks will begin a weekend series in St. Pete at the Trop. I’m always excited when they come here, even if this time I won’t recognize all the players (Urshela, Ottavino, Maybin, etc.). I’ll be at the game Saturday night so look for me behind the visitor’s dugout.

The Rays are in the first place – by a mere game-and-a-half – and have been playing well. This will be an important series for many reasons, not the least of which is the Yankees need to prove they can beat the top-tier teams. Therefore, beating the Rays will matter. I was hoping to see Happ pitch, but since he was on the mound last night, that’s not happening. Is Paxton coming off the IL  for the series? That would be nice. CC? Tanaka? German? Whoever is pitching Saturday night needs to bring his “A” game because I don’t want to watch in misery. Some run support would be nice, too.

Will post pics after my Saturday night adventure.

 

Poor Didi. Poor Us.

Didi’s headfirst slide into home plate won Saturday’s game against the O’s. It also cost us his services, most likely for the WC game. When I read that the Yanks not only lost the finale of that series yesterday but also announced that Didi’s slide caused torn cartilage in his right wrist, all I could say was, “A kick in the gut.” That’s what it felt like. He’s the lynchpin of the infield and in the lineup. Sure, Gleybar can move to shortstop or Hechavaria can start there, but there’s no replacing Didi at such an important time. Boone said they’re giving him a cortisone shot to see if it alleviates the pain/inflammation enough that he can still play. I’m doubtful. Torn cartilage hurts and usually requires surgery.

But onward. I’ll be at the Trop tonight for the start of the series against the pesky Rays. Obviously, I’d like to see a win.

Someone Is Celebrating and It’s Not the Yankees

The Yankees tried to sweep the Red Sox and avoid letting them clinch the AL East on our soil, but they couldn’t manage a win in the finale. So be it.

There were some positives to take away from this series.

Severino pitched well – better than he has in ages. Happ continues to dominate the Red Sox and provide an overall consistent arm in the rotation. Luke Voit continues to mash and infuse the team with tons of energy, making Bird a distant memory. Andujar may have his shortcomings on defense, but he can hit, really hit. Stanton’s grand slam last night broke him out of his slump. And, of course, Judge is back in the lineup; he may not have found his stroke yet, but he’s getting there.

On the negative side, Gary Sanchez. Period. Please can we trade him? What good is he to this team? If he were hitting a ton, I’d say OK, maybe he can DH now and then. But he hasn’t hit for real, not in a long time. And his defense is atrocious. As Kaat said last night on MLB Network, pitchers don’t want to throw to a guy they can’t trust and Boone would be well served to use Romine in a one-game playoff. Another negative? Tanaka. I would not use him to start a one-game playoff at Yankee Stadium. He gives up too many early runs. The shaky bullpen. Honestly, every time Betances takes the mound, I worry. Ditto: Chad Green. Chapman is back but let’s see how he does after the layoff. And Sheffield may or may not play a role in important situations.

With the A’s freaky 21-run win over the Angels yesterday, we’re only a whisper in front of them in the WC standings. This thing could go down to the wire.

I’ll be at the Monday night game when they open the series against the Rays – Section 1, Row Q at the Trop. I’ll try to will them to victory, but this race is on them.

Just Ugh

RAYS 3, YANKEES 2

Yankees Leave Florida With No Homers and a Bigger A.L. East Deficit

Image
Aaron Judge hit a single in the first inning on Wednesday, but the Yankees were unable to get a big hit when they needed one in a loss to the Rays.CreditMike Ehrmann/Getty Images

By Peter Kerasotis

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As usual for a team hitting home runs at a record pace this season, it was the long ball that decided the Yankees’ game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.

The problem for the Yankees, though, is that they did not hit any — not Wednesday, and not at all in this three-game series. And after a 3-2 loss at Tropicana Field, they were headed home having lost two of three in the series after being swept by the Rays the last time they faced them on the road.

“Get out of Tampa,” Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner said succinctly in a somber clubhouse moment after he struck out to end the game.

But it isn’t just in Tampa — or St. Petersburg, to be precise — where the Yankees have struggled to hit home runs. In their five games since the All-Star break, the Yankees have just one homer — their fewest in a five-game stretch since June 10-15, 2016. It also was the first time they did not homer in a series of at least three games since Sept. 2-4, 2016.

They failed to get one even against a cobbled-together lineup of pitchers that the Rays were forced to deploy after they traded away their scheduled starter earlier in the day. Tampa Bay’s offense got all of its runs courtesy of two sixth inning homers: a Kevin Kiermaier two-run blast off Yankees starter Luis Cessa, followed two outs later by a solo shot from C.J. Cron, off Jonathan Holder.

“It’s a tough loss — frustrating,” Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said. “There were a couple of losses in this series that could have gone either way.”

But the Yankees’ inability to get a big hit in crucial situations — either via long ball or otherwise — did them in. Both losses to the Rays came by one run.

That the Boston Red Sox have kept their foot on the accelerator with the best record in baseball accentuates every Yankee loss. The latest setback dropped the Yankees to 64-36, five and a half games behind Boston, who was scheduled to play the Baltimore Orioles later Wednesday. The Red Sox also acquired the pitcher who was set to start for the Rays on Wednesday — the power right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, a former Yankee — hours before the game.

“We can’t worry about what other teams are doing, especially when we’re not playing them,” Gardner said. “We haven’t played the way we can. I still feel that the best is yet to come.”

With Eovaldi headed to Boston, the Rays started reliever Ryne Stanek, who pitched a scoreless first inning, fanning two of the 10 Yankee batters who would eventually strike out.

The trade forced the Rays to scramble in other ways, too. They pitched reliever Sergio Romo in the eighth inning, then played him at third base for the first out in the ninth before reinserting him on the mound to get the game’s final two outs.

“Do I get credit for a hold and a save?” Romo said, only half-jokingly. “That was cool. I can now say that I played third base in a major league game.”

The moment briefly overtook Romo when he returned to the pitcher’s mound.

“I was feeling kind of giddy, feeling like a little kid when you’re super excited,” he said. “But then I threw a first-pitch ball and I was like, ‘O.K., let’s go. Lock in.’ I got back in the pitching mode quickly.”

The Yankees did get a key reinforcement before the game: the rookie second baseman Gleyber Torres, who had been rehabbing a right hip strain. He went 0 for 3 in his return, but he did walk and score one of the Yankees’ two runs.

The Yankees also got a solid start from Cessa, who is vying for a permanent spot in the Yankees’ rotation after replacing the struggling Domingo German — now in Class AAA after a poor start against the Mets last week. Cessa was cruising with a shutout through five innings before a flat changeup found the fat part of Kiermaier’s bat and the hitter deposited it in the right-field stands.

It wasn’t the first changeup Cessa had thrown to Keirmaier in the at-bat. “He threw me the same pitch and I swung right through it,” Keirmaier said. “That’s not the way to make a living, missing pitches you’re supposed to take advantage of. When he threw me the same pitch again, I got a hold of it.”

After Cessa was lifted one out later, Holder struck out the first batter he faced before surrendering a solo home run to Cron. The Yankees had pushed across a run home in the second and eighth innings, and had two base runners in the ninth, but couldn’t manage a big hit when they needed one.

“The Rays scored those few runs in the sixth, but that shouldn’t be enough to hold us down,” Gardner said. “We have to play better baseball. We didn’t have a great game collectively.”

Added Boone: “We have to move on quickly and go get home and kick off a nice home stand. I know our bats will start coming around. We’re close to breaking free — close to breaking out.”

Yankees-Rays: Another Loss at the Trop

I wasn’t there this time; I didn’t want to jinx the Yanks as I feared I did last time they came to St. Pete. I needn’t have worried. They jinxed themselves. Or, should I say, Gary Sanchez jinxed them with his sloppy, lazy playing. Brace yourself for a rant.

I’ve been quiet on the blog during the All-Star break because I don’t watch the game or the home run derby. And earlier in the month, I was glued to Wimbledon, tennis fan that I am. But now I’m letting my frustration fly: the Yankees are blowing it. They were keeping it close with the Red Sox, having a really entertaining battle with their rival for the division lead. Now? They’ve squandered that lead.

Tonight, Severino had an uncharacteristically bad outing, but it kicked off with Sanchez’s run-scoring passed ball, and it looked to me as if the two of them were having a heated discussion about it in the dugout. Not good.

Fast forward to the ninth inning. The Rays had gotten off to a great start in the game but the Yanks came all the way back to within one run with bases loaded. On the final play, Sanchez chugged – seriously, I could run faster than he did – to first base for the last out, ending the opener of the three-game set. If there’s one thing I can’t abide, it’s lack of hustle. It was my problem with Cano, and now it’s a problem and has been a problem with Sanchez. I hate to say it, but I think we’re looking at another Jesus Montero situation. Sanchez will probably be benched or fined for tonight’s stink-up, but he should be traded for a starting pitcher. I’m done watching him be talked to and disciplined. I’m done sensing that pitchers don’t want him to catch them. I’m just done.

Now that I’ve gotten all that off my chest, it’s on to tomorrow’s game. Let’s hope for a better result before this season slips away.

A Reverse Sweep – Not Good!

After Andujar’s homer in today’s finale against the Rays and Stanton’s later on, I thought maybe it would set the tone, there would be offense and we would fend off the Rays to avoid being swept. Wrong. Into extra innings the Yankees stumbled, missing chance after chance to score more runs, even though the bullpen kept them in the game. Well, until Shreve gave it all up with that walk off homer. My heart sank at the sound of the crack of the bat.

I know the Yankees won’t win every game. I also know they won’t always beat teams they should beat. But they really looked flat this weekend. With Sanchez hurt and possibly headed for the DL, we’re another bat down, not that he was on fire or anything. And I’ll say it again: WE NEED A STARTING PITCHER. Yes, the kids show promise, but they’re inconsistent – too inconsistent for a serious pennant race.

I hope this malaise they’re showing doesn’t carry over into the Phillies series, but there are likely to be pitchers over there the Yankees have never faced and we know how they don’t do well against those. Grrrrrr.

But I’ll end on a positive note. The team is good. They are. In the long run, they’ll be fine.

Now That Was a Great Sweep

It’s one thing to beat teams you’re supposed to beat, but the Mariners came into the Bronx and presented stiff competition. So when Chapman threw the last pitch of today’s game and nailed down the sweep of Seattle, it was thrilling. It was thrilling to prevail in the tight games all series long. It was thrilling to come from behind. It was thrilling to see Stanton have his “signature” Yankees moment with the walk-off in last night’s game. It was thrilling to beat King Felix. It was thrilling to watch Torres and Andujar and Hicks, etc do so well. And it was thrilling that German wasn’t a flash in the pan. “Lasagna,” as they call the Nicaraguan pitcher, is still a work in progress but a talented one. For now, it’s ok to have the kids starting, but come playoff time, we’ll need a veteran arm to take us deep into games. I know, I know. I’ve already beaten that drum here and Cashman’s looking, so I’ll stop.

Tomorrow night the Yanks will be here in St. Pete to play the Rays and I’ll be at the Trop – down in front on the visitor’s side – hoping to see a Janer. I’ll have my Judge jersey on, so wave at the TV if you see me :)

Moving Hiatus

I’m moving – as in right this minute – and will have to take some time off from the blog to deal with the joys (not!) of packing, moving and unpacking over the next week or so. Michael and I decided we were done with winter in CT and are making the switch to FL (St. Pete) full time. The good news, aside from no more snow, is seeing the Yankees at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa and whenever they play the Rays at the Trop.

While I’m off the grid, I’ll be checking scores and hoping for all good things for our boys.

Back soon!

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About Jane Heller

Jane Heller is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her fourteen breezy, witty novels of romantic comedy and suspense are now entertaining millions of readers around the world, along with her two books of nonfiction.