Yankees Start Spring Schedule With A Couple Blasts, But Fall Short Vs. Jays

Mike Tauchman connects on a solo home run. Provided by New York Yankees.

The Yankees opened the spring training schedule on Sunday afternoon with a bang, as they got a couple of dingers from unlikely sources, but lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-4, at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

Baseball Books: "Escape From Castro's Cuba" & "The Best Team Over There"

Baseball season is upon us, making it a good time to read up on the history of the game, its most compelling personalities, or stories about the sport's effect on the world. Two new books fit the bill, Escape From Castro's Cuba: A Novel by Tim Wendel, and The Best Team Over There: The Untold Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Great War by Jim Leeke.

Yankees Open Spring Training Schedule On Sunday

Brett Gardner in the batting cage. Photo provided by New York Yankees.

The Yankees worked out at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa Bay on Saturday in anticipation of their first spring training game, Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Books: "Drowning In Screen Time" On The Ever-Growing Reliance On Devices

Drowning In Screen Time: A Lifeline for Adults, Parents, Teachers, and Ministers Who Want to Reclaim Their Real Lives

By David Murrow

Salem Books, an imprint of Regnery Publishing; paperback; $16.99

The trend was already heading to people revolving their world around electronic devices, and the pandemic brought that reality into stark contrast. 

Books: "The Upstairs House" By Julia Fine

The Upstairs House

By Julia Fine

HarperCollins Publishers/Harper; hardcover, 304 pages; $26.99; available today, Tuesday, February 23rd

Julia Fine is the author of the critically-acclaimed What Should Be Wild, which was shortlisted for the Bram Stoker Superior First Novel Award and the Chicago Review of Books Award. She teaches writing in Chicago, where she lives with her husband and son.

Books: "Raceless" By Georgina Lawton

Raceless

By Georgina Lawton

Harper Perennial; paperback, 304 pages; $17.99; available today, Tuesday, February 23rd 

Georgina Lawton is a journalist, speaker, and writer, whose work has appeared in VICE, Marie Claire, Refinery29, Bustle, The Times, Stylist, and Time Out, and was previously a columnist for The Guardian. 

Yankees Spring Training: Gerrit Cole Setting The Tone

Gerrit Cole in action on Monday. Photo provided by New York Yankees.

The Yankees enter the 2021 season with their usual sky-high expectations, with a championship-or-bust mentality, and the player that best exemplifies that is pitcher Gerrit Cole.

Mets Sign Another Solid Starter, Taijuan Walker, To Two-Year Contract

The Mets welcome Walker on Twitter (@Mets).

The Mets have stocked up pitching this offseason, mainly reliable arms like Carlos Carrasco, and they added another name to that category, Taijuan Walker, on Saturday.

Devils Name Nico Hischier 12th Captain In Team's History

Nico Hischier wearing the captain's C on Saturday. @NJDevils.

Before the Devils' Saturday afternoon game against the Buffalo Sabres, they team appointed Nico Hischier as their new captain. It is his first game of the season as well, as he missed the team's first 11 games due to a leg injury. 

Yankees Have First Workout Day of Spring Training

Yankees pitchers on the field on Thursday. Provided by New York Yankees.

A baseball fan uses two words to get them through the long winter, "pitchers and catchers," and when spring training arrives, the new season brings a sense of hope, especially if your team is a World Series contender like the Yankees.

NFL Legend Lynn Swann Chats With National Football Foundation

Lynn Swann is best known for being part of the Pittsburgh Steelers dynasty in the 1970s and as an announcer on ABC's Monday Night Football. He is currently the president of Swann, Inc., a marketing and consulting firm.

Yankees Pitchers & Catchers Arrive At Spring Training

Yankees Manager Aaron Boone during his Zoom chat on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of New York Yankees.

Two of the sweetest words to a baseball fan, that partly show the hope of spring as well as a way to get through the long winter, are "pitchers and catchers," that when they arrive at spring training, the hope of the new season is here.

Tebow Time Is Over For Mets

Tim Tebow in 2019 spring training. From @Mets Twitter.

Tim Tebow, former NFL quarterback and longtime Mets minor-leaguer, announced his retirement from baseball on Wednesday. The Mets did extend Tebow an invite to spring training this season.

Yankees Create Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Yankee Stadium's famous facade. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Yankees recently announced that they have created the New York Yankees Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the Yankees-CUNY (City University of New York) Partnership Program.

Books: Gripping Novels From Andrew Mayne, Charles Todd, & J.A. Jance

Morgan Library. Photo by Jason Schott.

This is President's Week, a good time for a midwinter's break, and there are three new novels out Tuesday that are perfect to curl up with: Black Coral, by Andrew Mayne; A Fatal Lie by Charles Todd; and Missing And Endangered, by J.A. Jance.

Book Chat: With Theo Gangi, Co-Author Of "Kingston and the Magician's Lost and Found"

Kingston and the Magician's Lost and Found

By Rucker Moses and Theo Gangi

G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers; hardcover, $17.99; available Tuesday, February 16th

Theo Gangi is a novelist, and writing teacher based in Brooklyn, where he lives with his wife, young son, and their dog. He directs the MFA program at St. Francis College. He has written several acclaimed novels and short stories, and worked on shows for Netflix.

Mets Sign Pair Of Arms To Bolster Bullpen

Citi Field. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Mets wasted no time adding reliable arms to their bullpen in the wake of the news that Seth Lugo needs surgery and is likely to miss the start of the season.

Mets Memo: Villar Signed, Seth Lugo Needs Surgery & Spring Training Invitees Announced

 

Tools of the trade in the Mets dugout. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Mets have had a busy start to the weekend, as they signed infielder Jonathan Villar on Friday, and on Saturday morning, they announced that pitcher Seth Lugo will be having elbow surgery and is likely to miss the start of the season, and released their spring training invitees. 

10,000th Vaccine Dose Given Out At Yankee Stadium

Lissette Gonzalez after receiving the milestone vaccine. Photo credit: Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.

The 10,000th Covid-19 vaccine dose was given out on Friday at Yankee Stadium, as they reached a big milestone to complete its first week as a mass vaccination site.

Mets Add A Pair Of Outfielders

Citi Field in the summer of 2019. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Mets had a busy Wednesday night, as they signed free agent center fielder Albert Almora, Jr., and acquired top outfield prospect Kahlil Lee from Kansas City.

Books: "Answers In The Form Of Questions" On Jeopardy!

Answers In The Form Of Questions: A Definitive History and Insider's Guide to JEOPARDY!

By Claire McNear

Twelve Books; hardcover, 272 pages; $28.00

Claire McNear is a sports and culture columnist for The Ringer, where she has covered very diverse things from a Property Brothers cruise to the Washington Nationals' 2019 World Series run. Like many people, she was brought up watching Jeopardy! every night, and she started this book, as well as her regular column on the show for The Ringer, to attempt to realize her lifelong quest of shouting out the answers before her parents.

Yankees Sign Darren O'Day

Darren O'Day.

The Yankees added a solid reliever to their already stacked bullpen, as they signed free agent right-hander Darren O'Day to a one-year contract, with a player option for the 2022 season.

March Madness Schedule Announced

This year's NCAA Men's Basketball Championship will be one unlike any other, as it will be played entirely in Indiana, with 55 of the tournament's 67 games in Indianapolis. Since it is in a bubble, and the teams do not need to travel, the schedule has also been changed up. 

Books: "Your Story, My Story" By Connie Palmen

Your Story, My Story: A Novel

By Connie Palmen - translated by Eileen J. Stevens and Anna Asbury

Amazon Crossing; hardcover, 206 pages, $24.95; paperback, 206 pages, $14.95; Kindle eBook, 201 pages, $4.99; audiobook, 7 hours, $25.19

Connie Palmen was born in Sint Odilienberg, the Netherlands, and studied literature and philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. The Laws was her debut novel, which was voted European Novel of the Year and was short-listed for the 1996 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In 2019, Vienna, Austria chose it for their "One City. One Book." campaign. She is also the author of The Friendship, which won the AKO Literature Prize, Lucifer, and an autobiographical novel, I.M.

Books: "Dark Towers" On The Saga Of Donald Trump and Deutsche Bank

Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump and an Epic Trail of Destruction - Updated Edition

By David Enrich - Finance Editor, The New York Times

Custom House; paperback, $16.99

David Enrich has been consistently breaking news about Deutsche Bank in his role as Finance Editor of the New York Times, and now he shares the full, riveting story of the world's most infamous bank and its shadowy connections to Donald Trump's business empire. 

Mets Dodge A Bullet On Bauer

Trevor Bauer. @BauerOutage.

Trevor Bauer, the best pitcher on the free agent market, announced on Friday afternoon, in a slickly-produced YouTube video, that he would be joining the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers instead of the Mets.

Yankee Stadium A Vaccination Site For Bronx Residents

Yankee Stadium. Photo by Jason Schott.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that Yankee Stadium will be a mass vaccination site starting this Friday, February 5.

Books: "Lincoln's Mentors" By Michael J. Gerhardt

Lincoln's Mentors: The Education of a Leader

By Michael J. Gerhardt

Custom House; hardcover, $29.99; available Tuesday, February 2nd 

Michael J. Gerhardt is the Burton Criage Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has testified more than twenty times before Congress, spoken to the entire House of Representatives during President Bill Clinton's impeachment in 1998, and rose to prominence in December 2019 when he was one of four constitutional scholars called by the House Judiciary Committee during President Donald Trump's impeachment proceedings. In 2015, he became the first legal scholar to serve as the Library of Congress' principal adviser in revising the official annotation of the United States Constitution.

Books: "The Women's History Of The Modern World" By Rosalind Miles

The Women's History Of The Modern World

By Rosalind Miles

William Morrow Paperbacks; 432 pages; $16.99; available Tuesday, February 2nd

Rosalind Miles, Ph.D., is a critically acclaimed English novelist, essayist, lecturer, and BBC broadcaster. She is the founder of the Center for Women's Studies at Coventry Polytechnic in England. Miles is the author of Who Cooked the Last Supper? The Women's History of the World, and this book is, in essence, a follow-up to that illuminating work.