At 10:00 PM, it is now almost three hours after my children typically fall asleep. As I tiptoed out of their room for the sixth time tonight a few minutes ago, having been slyly manipulated by the two-year-old and head-butted and throttled into submission by the one-year-old, I found my skull pounding all over except for this void in the front-center of my brain, from whence everything important I once knew was surely flooding into the abyss.
These kids have worn me down to nothing but a steaming pile of nerves. If the Yankees were slogging their way through nine innings of not-hitting Ryan Rowland-Smith right now, I would probably be standing in a pile of broken electronic equipment. But they already did that today, and thanks to CC, Mo, and Arod, they won, 4-2, so they are the least of my troubles.
For seven innings, the game sped along without much offense to gum up the works. The Yankees threatened a big first inning when Jeter sharply singled off Hyphen’s foot and Swisher whacked one in the left center gap. I actually thought a blowout was in the offing. But weak results from Teixiera and Rodriguez and a nifty over-the-shoulder catch from Josh Wilson at SS robbing Robbie of a ribbie limited the Yanks to one measly run.
From there, nothing much happened except an un-rob-able bomb from Cano in the fourth. Even though the Mariners have a weak offense, their recent binge on Yankee pitching coupled with a slumping Yankee lineup placed a lot of weight on CC’s big shoulders. He responded marvelously. He allowed two corking rips to Milton Bradley, but avoided any trouble apart from one tough spot in the second. With Bradley on third and one out, CC really bore down to keep Josh Wilson from tying the game. After seven pitches, including a great change-up which Wilson spoiled with an emergency hack, CC got the harmless pop out and preserved the lead.
It stood 2-0 in the eighth when CC walked the leadoff man on four pitches. Not a good sign, but I also didn’t want to see Joba Chamberlain in that spot, so really not much to do but watch and wait. CC couldn’t get a glove on Ichiro’s grounder through the box, but he still had a good shot to get out of it as he faced Branyan with runners on first and second and two outs. Then Posada gagged a ball to the backstop which turned Branyan’s subsequent single into a game-tying basehit.
Strangely, I felt supremely confident in the heart of the Yankees order headed to the bottom of the eighth. Perhaps it is because I own Aardsma in fantasy baseball and know how much he blows. When Arod muscled a short homer over the right field wall, I realized I never really even had time to get mad at the guys for coughing up the lead. And then when Mariano was shaking hands after his 13-pitch ninth inning cakewalk, it was a good day. The video of the last strikeout of Josh Wilson should be put in a time capsule – the cutter moving off the outside edge toward infinity; Wilson’s bat pointlessly waving in the other direction.
Sabathia was the stopper they needed him to be, and Arod came up big on demand as well. Good day at the ball park. Bad night for bed time (and recaps).
[Reposting]
Hey, Team, was at the game today! Brought along my kiddo and his friend.
Second trip, first this year.
Is it me or are crowds less into games than they used to be?
Like for example, the SECOND I saw Jorgie let that ball get behind him I was overcome with a feeling of dread that the whole fucking ballgame got away from us in that second. (I was right, of course.) But the thing is, it felt like I was the only one in a stadium full of Yankees fans who actually noticed, let alone cared!
Also, the clapping with two strikes thing seems to have nearly died completely.
We were sitting way the fuck out down the right field line for about half the game (those were our assigned seats) and we were perched out more or less above the plate for the other half.
Also, Robbie’s shot? Fucking beautiful. Sooo fluid. So effortless.
Sabathia’s ability to change speeds looks soo impressive in person. Real wizardry.
Alex’ shot was *powerful.* Such strength.
And finally, Mariano Rivera. My God. I swear to God I was nearly in tears watching him. My kid asked me what was wrong, we won and I told him I was simply in awe. As he was pitching I made sure to keep him focused, “That’s Mariano Rivera, one day, when you’re a grown up, you’ll be able to say you saw him. You’ll never see his like again so pay attention. Watch his delivery. So perfect. That’s Mariano Rivera.”
And finally, I found it really hard to leave after the game, as always, because I’m just so transfixed by the enormous green field. Really, is there anything more beautiful than a baseball field? *Especially* in the Bronx! Such an oasis.
In other words, we had a fabulous time, overpriced crappy food and nonstop noise and advertising notwithstanding.
I was in Atlantic City from basically first pitch of Tuesday's game to last pitch of today's game, so I missed this debacle of a series.
Probably for the best
Might have been a bad night for bed time but this recap was a beaut.
" the cutter moving off the outside edge toward infinity; Wilson’s bat pointlessly waving in the other direction."
that's great stuff, sir.
[3] damn. you beat me to it.
this recap was VERY well written and a joy to read. esp. that endquote about Mo.
now, get some sleep, jon!
2010 BoSox taking a page from the 2009 Mets:
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2010/07/varitek_injury.html
"A source with knowledge of the injury has confrmed Varitek has a broken bone in his foot and will miss six weeks."
Don't know if anyone's watching Rays - Twins, but the umpires are having a rough day out there
[6] not watching, but was just about to post. damn, i keep getting dusted over here!
rays were about to lose, now about to win. i guess the officiating is helping out the devil fishes...?
[5] really? i thought cash was just to back up vagitek. all those injuries and no fuckett and they still have the best offense in the league and our on our six. god, i hate the fucking shit sox and that stoopid ballpark they play in. (sorry, i've just never ever liked it, regardless of 'landmark' status. i'd hate the fens if some innocuous national league team played there...)
hinch and byrnes are out in the desert. kirk gibson is the snakes' new field manager...
[5] Does this mean I'm not going to be able to watch Varitek dress up like Wonder Woman on Sunday?
Glad to see I wasn't the only moron who thought ARod hit a game winner. Me and America's Boyfriend, on the same page apparently.
His quote in NY Post:
“I thought I hit a much bigger home run than I actually did,’’ Rodriguez said of the two-run blast that gave the Yankees a winning 4-2 margin. "I hit it and looked at A.J. (Burnett) and (Andy) Pettitte and they weren’t jumping over the railing. At that point I thought we probably had one more half-inning to play. Pretty embarrassing.’’
[1] good show, weeping. Glad you and the kids got to witness the 9th Wonder of The World: Mo, and a couple nice home runs. re: the lack of intensity among the crowd - I think that's fairly common during weekday matinees. I'm guessing there were a lot of camp kids from the 'burbs, and summer tourists at the Stadium. Surprised there weren't enough in-the-know fans to demonstrate that you get your head in the game, and your hands together when we've got 2 strikes on 'em. This, coming from the nincompoop who didn't know what inning it was... heh.
[1] [11] I agree with Sliced...the matinees are usually more subdued, but the new Stadium does not rock quite like the old one. I think there are a few reasons for that. About 10,000 fewer fans is likely the biggest reason, but the structure of the stadium is a close second. Instead of having all those extra fans hanging closely over the field, the tiers are now pushed back further, which probably allows more of the sound to escape.
I also think the newness of the place still serves as a distraction, but that should eventually fade.