This past Thursday the wife and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. We got married, just the two of us, in the Bahamas. After the ceremony and the pictures, we returned to our hotel room. It was a Thursday afternoon. The wife went into the bathroom to wash up and I clicked the TV on and saw on the ESPN ticker that the Yankees were losing to the Indians. I turned the TV off and after the wife and I consummated the marriage we later turned the TV back on and saw that the Yanks had won, and that Alex Rodriguez hit a game-ending grand slam.
This afternoon the wife and I went downtown to enjoy massages. I e-mailed a Red Sox pal of mine and predicted one thing–that Freddy Garcia would get his tits lit, which was precisely what happened. I saw that the Sox scored twice in the first on my phone just as we arrived at the spa. Bad enough there was troubling news about Michael Pineda before the game. Dammit. I turned the phone off and didn’t turn it back on until we left a good while later. Score was 9-5. Swisher had just hit a grand slam after the Yanks trailed 9-0. Predictable, I thought. Well, at least they are making it respectable.
Little did I know that the White Sox pitcher Phillip–Don’t Call Me Humbert–Humber was on his way to completing a perfect game against the Mariners in Seattle. The Yanks were down 9-1 in the 7th, with one out and Russell Martin on first when Fox cut away to the White Sox game. By the time Humber had his perfecto and was interviewed for TV and Fox returned to Boston, Swisher’s grand slam got the Yanks back in the game. Runners were on the corners and Mark Teixeira was at the plate. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver were excited. Tex already had a solo homer and now, batting left-handed, he popped a three-run dinger over the Green Monster. Most of the damage was not televised.
The score stood at 9-8 when the wife and I got to the restaurant for dinner. The game was on the TV at the bar and so I stayed at the bar, with the wife’s blessing–she sat in our booth following on the phone–as we waited for our food. That’s where I saw the Yanks take the lead. And then some. The Bombers scored 7 in the 7th and 7 more in the 8th on their way to a ball-busting win that will not soon be forgotten. Games like this, even in April, are memorable. It was a rousing win for the Yanks and a punch-in-the-face loss for the Sox, “rock bottom,” according to Bobby Valentine.
Final Score: Yanks 15, Sox 9.
I couldn’t think of a sweeter anniversary gift from the so-called Baseball Gods.
Thank you. And the wife thanks you, too.
[Photo Credit: Corey Sipkin/N.Y. Daily News]
From Marc Carig:
Mark Teixeira could tell what the Red Sox were thinking as the lead slipped away. The crowd? Different story. "The crowd, it's been an interesting feel the last two days. I don't really hear them boo their own team very much here. I've been playing here for 10 years now and I don't know if I've ever heard them boo their team. That's the just weird feeling I got today.”
I really think the headline should have been "Tee-Hee!"
Great story, and happy anniversary. "Ball-busting win" is appropriate. I can think of a few games in the past that were won late, maybe by 1-2 runs, but nothing like today's barrage.
Wrong, Bobby. Rock bottom will be tomorrow after you get swept.
I saw someone refer to this as the Valentine's Day Massacre.
I like that
Hey, happy anniversary, Alex and Emily. Belated I guess (but it's still before midnight where I am).
Damn, I checked the score when it was 9-1, thought "Oh well, we'll win Game Three and take the series, anyway", and then thought no more about it till I got in just a few minutes ago. Man. Just soul-crushing for RSN.
But they'll survive. They survived 86 years of smack-down, after all. It's a pretty tough bunch.
Congrats on 5 years!!
Saw Pete Abraham's recap on the Extra Bases blog. He was killing the fans for singing to Neil Diamond in the midst of a humiliating loss, questioned the team for even playing it. Minor issue but funny anyways.
Really stupendous comeback and the usual sterling bullpen work. This team can go far!
I was heading out to dinner when I saw the stomach turning 9-0 score. I was so disgusted that my friend told me to stop following the score. After dinner, when I checked the score it was 9-8 and then more and more. What a comeback! I could not stop laughing.
Oh, when I was watching the highlights at home, I could not help noticing how many Yankee fans there were in the crowd. It always amazes me that Yankee fans flock to Fenway and cheer their team with no reservations. Very cool.
Also, watching the highlights, I noticed that Derek almost lapped Nunez. Odd. I guess, Derek was determined to score.
[7] Yeah, the hard core Red Sox fans really despise "Sweet Caroline" right now. I don't think they all hated it when the times actually were "so good", but right now singing it is like wearing a... well, you know.
[9] Nuñez was tagging, Jetes knew the ball would reach the wall. Apparently that's another thing Eduardo is not good at.
Does anyone visit 'Over the Monster'?
http://www.overthemonster.com/
UNREAL!
Their comments are hilarious!!!!!
However, it's hard to believe they call themselves fans.
Aside from leading the world in bridge jumping, they are just too happy to throw their most beloved players under the bus after all of 2 weeks.
Could you imagine Alex, Cliff, or ANY Yankees blogger being so unfaithful simply because we started 4-10?
Theses guys now want to dump Youkilis. YOUK!
Some are even ready to ditch Pedroia.
It's just amazing what poor fans they are.
My dude, Happy Anniversary!!! What a great game yesterday.
Congrats on 5 years!
I felt good going to the Hens game last night. Middle of the second inning and Yanks down a lot, I figured a team on a 6 game winning streak stood a better chance. Problem being, the Tigers called up the starter, so everything was in flux. Missed the comeback and the perfecto. You just can't predict baseball.
Great, great win. I had to get in the car when it was 9-1, and by the time I got home I figured the game was over. I checked the Banter game thread to see how it played out and couldn't believe what I was reading. Thankfully I had recorded the game, so I was able to soak in every delicious moment. Holy smokes.
[9] Immediately after the play the FOX cameras caught Jeter and Núñez in conversation. Jeter was fairly animated and clearly looked to be explaining to Núñez how he should have played it there.