Back In The Bandbox
So.. anyone still have a problem with it?
. . . besides this guy:
- Got to see Joba, Hughes and Aceves before the game. Joba is a funny
dude. Buttons, by the Pussycat Dolls, was being played in the stadium
at one point [yeah..] and in the midst of the meet and greet Joba was
jamming, bobbing his head and probably two seconds from busting out
dance moves. He was the last guy to leave from the gate and took a six man
entourage with him, while Aceves could’ve walked out of the Great Hall alone. All three walked right past me, and were all huge and brolic enough to have me scared to touch them..
-
Speaking of scary.. I know I’ve said it before but A.J. is the ultimate
badazz. Even when the guy laughs or smiles, which he was oddly doing a lot of
during BP for some reason yesterday, he still manages to look sinister.
I was having a convo with a friend about him and brought up something I
would’ve liked to see during interleague. First off, I would’ve gotten
a kick out of seeing A.J. go to bat with biker gloves.. but I would’ve
given every dime I have to see an opposing pitcher have the nerve to
hit him. I can picture Burn just breaking the bat on his knee,
walking to the mound, standing 6 inches away from whoever threw the pitch and just staring
him down till the guy ran away or pissed his pants.. and A.J. then taking his place at first base.
- About the game.. How about that dandy Andy? Return of Mr. Reliable? Solid stuff.
- Two days rest and A-Rod musters up this kind of energy? Do we dare to give him three?
- The stadium may be helping the Melk Man, but I don’t care. 7 homers at home [1 on the road].. Fine by me.
- I’m thinking Girardi should go by the name Slow Joe right now. Finally moved Cano out of the 5-hole, after
a storm of criticism, and last night makes questionably weird move
#82638234 removing Aceves after one batter. Yeah, textbook baseball
tells you to bring in Coke for the lefties, but the micromanaging is
ridiculous. It worked out so no one is throwing a hissy fit, but even Alfredo was
surprised by it, walking off the mound with a sarcastic grin. Hughes
probably wanted to do the same, after warming up for no reason.. Just sayin’..
- Don’t know how it managed not to rain, but good night at the ballpark. Mick Foley was there [I sh*t you not].. and a Paul O’Neill chant broke out.. love it.
Beast Of The Ballgame:
P.P.S. An update.. scaffolding is now completely surrounding the stadium next door and they no longer keep its lights on.. an extremely sad and scary sight. I don’t know what it is but, despite the win, I realized the new stadium didn’t give me the same “God, I love baseball” feeling walking out of it last night as the old one did endlessly. Just started sinking in that the old home is being torn down.
P.P.P.S. This = hilarious.
Defining Elite In Satisfying Sweep
I should say defining embarrassment as well, to cover the Mets’ display of talent this series, but that’s too easy.
Manuel, I pity you.
Side Notes:
- Another night Mets escape errors, but the bonehead moves were still in abundance. Reason New York has another team = sheer entertainment.
- Wang finally picks up his first win in over a year and no one cares because Mo’s the story.. tough.
- Randomness.. Wanger needs a sick haircut. Swish could probably come up with something good, but this would be pretty hilarious.
- How ’bout that sarcastic cheer for Castillo every pop-up in his own ballpark? I repeat: The guy is never coming back from that.. Bright side? Blooper/Oddity Of The Year [whatever TYIB Awards wants to call it this year] is his, hands down.
- I shouldn’t put it this way, but.. Robbie, cut the crap. I realize A-Rod’s new found “leave it all up the next guy” tactic [also referred to as taking the walk] has been putting the pressure on ya lately, but Alex wasn’t spared the sympathy, so Cano, figure it out.
- Sorry to put it so bluntly but could someone tell me the worth of Hideki Matsui?
- Closer vs. closer, bases loaded, 3-2 count… and a walk to force in a run. Classic. As a wise man once said.. “It couldn’t have happened to a better guy on the mound.”
Beast Of The Ball Game:
500th save and an RBI to boot. Can’t touch The Sandman.
Mo, thank you for being a Yankee.
On Deck: Joba on the mound, following a solid start in Atlanta, to face Brandon Morrow, currently transitioning back to the starter role, for Seattle. Make it 6 straight.
P.S. For your Off Day Boredom Relief, what Godzilla should consider doing:
[Not what he did on the first pitch.. Matsui is already doing a lot of that.]
P.P.S. Must quote the ever classy Mo from the ESPN interview shown after the game because it defined the man..
When asked about chasing Trever Hoffman, Mo’s response:
“I play the game because I love it.. I don’t chase records, period. I don’t play for records. I play for the New York Yankees.”
When asked about PED’s..
“I don’t even drink coffee.. If the talent that God has given me is not enough, well I have to quit. When I leave this game, I know, deep in my heart, deep in my mind, that I was clean.. Nobody can point a finger at me.”
Amen.
Searching For Subway Sweep – NYY @ NYM 8:05
With this interleague road trip finishing up with the final game of the subway series tonight on ESPN [blehck] thought I’d open up another live blog to suffer/celebrate together, depending on the outcome.. however, with the way the Mets have played, I’m thinking it’ll be the latter. Time for the Crazy Stein.
Game Time: 8:05 p.m. ET
<a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=0d25b4d7b5″ >Game 75: NYY @ NYM</a>
No Chance In Hell
Not a single error made in the field tonight by the Mets, and wouldn’t you know it.. they look just as helpless.
Beast of the Ballgame:
7 innings, 10 strikeouts, one hit.. just nasty.
A.J. could really rock the throwback McMahon entrance.
[No doubt he got the belt tonight.]
Side Notes:
-
Seems the Jorgie – A.J. duo is working mighty well. Both have a fiery
intensity that the Mets just got burned by tonight [no pun intended]..
-
Citi Field a massive fly ball serial killer? Yankee bats say otherwise.
Two more bombs tonight making it seem like there are no dimensions the
lineup can’t handle.
-
Who else is loving the youth takeover? Melk, living for the
competition, took the baton from Gard tonight, picking up a couple of
hits, while making a couple incredible plays in left. Peña contributed
with a double and a solid play at short. Daniel Murphy was robbed thrice because of the two of them.
- Brun.. I’ve missed ya. An easy 8th.. retiring the side on 7 pitches.. Was actually warming up to the porn ‘stache tonight.
- I’ve just realized there isn’t even a lot to say about this one.. summed up simply: dominance.
On Deck:
Wang to take the hill against Livan Hernandez. Wanger improving but
Hughes will undoubtedly be ready to backup, should Wang have
difficulties. Will be hosting another in-gamer for this one. Sweep?
In Retrospect
Semi rounding up this past week [rather randomly]:
- Baseball is funny. Exhibit A [B, C, D and especially E]:
The New York Mets. At this point I really don’t know if I should
further their embarrassment.. but I’m going to anyway. *Virtual
bowdown* to the art form of losing they’ve developed. First Luis
Castillo’s epic failure, and now 3 errors in an inning by all
infielders but Luis Castillo.. irony at its best.
- I live for interleague play. Because of it, a pitcher
did the honor of knocking the other out of a game, the big man became
an offensive threat and Mariano, the Sandman, Rivera put on a batting
helmet and hit it hard. I’m seriously thinking the Yankee arms could pinch hit in non-interleague games, if necessary.
-
Mike Gonzalez is a ginormous weirdo. How does he not get the slow play
fine for his windup alone? It’s like a minor rain delay every pitch. [And like we haven't had enough of those..]
- A-Rod.. glad to have you back. [And I'm not just talking about your bat.. back to women that don't have biceps bigger than yours is a good sign.]
- It’s pretty clear right now that Joe G. is going to play the hot bat to handle the
outfield situation. That currently has Swish sitting out.. [for last
night at least.] What does the Red Bull Manic do on the bench? Sharpie his bat. Classic Swishness.
-
Happy belated to the Capt’n. Don’t know if he’s in the lineup tonight,
but if he isn’t.. jeezus, Peña makes a hell of a backup. If he is, the
Mets are the perfect opponent to kill the funk.. considering he hasn’t driven
in a run in two weeks, since last facing the blue & orange. DJ’s
cologne bottle is just laughing at him. Yeah, double plays aren’t fun to
ground into, but imagine how fun they are to watch. [Funny how the move to leadoff was supposed to solve that problem huh?] [That didn't quite
turn out to be the Happy Birthday I had in mind..]
- Brett The Jet = Beast. Yeah, the kid has legs.. but 5-6, with a homer at Citi? Beware the beast.
Lastly,
Yours truly is officially a high school graduate. [I'm as surprised as you are.]
Now which Yankee wants to sign my yearbook?
P.S. R.I.P to the man that gave the world P.Y.T.
P.P.S. Will live-blog it tomorrow, for the last game in this interleague road trip. Hope all stop by for the ESPN bashing at least.
Taking Care Of Business
Here’s a radical concept for ya.. stress-free baseball..
I don’t know how the Yanks managed to follow a series that ended exactly the way it shouldn’t
have with a game that went exactly the way it should [despite no A-Rod,
no DH, a limping Capt'n and youth, their weakness, on the mound for the Marlins],
but thank you.
Side Notes:
- First on the agenda.. Alex.
Right about now, I would question/criticize Girardi’s overdue move to
finally bench A-Rod like everyone and their mother understandably was doing tonight, but I took a second to digest it.. and I’ve come to
the conclusion that Joe G. really has zero say in when Alex Rodriguez
does or does not play. Given the fact that Alex’s ex-wife stayed as
long as she did with him, despite his multiple acts of infidelity made public, and
the fact that A-Rod still scored a hefty contract with the Yanks,
despite all threats given by the organization that he would, under no
circumstances, be dealt with after the opt-out ordeal.. it’s pretty
obvious Alex is quite a persuasive dude. Girardi may be the manager,
but when A-Rod says he’s playing, he’s playing.. and apparently, when he says he isn’t, he isn’t. As for A-Rod’s timing.. pretty clear he’s attempting to limit his chances to choke in front of his family.
- Sean West, sorry you had to be the kid the Yanks realize they need to tee off against, but tough luck.
-
Andy with a great outing and a double and ribbie to boot. Got my dose
of hilarity watching him round the bases.. and so did the bench:
I seriously love interleague play.
- Probably obvious, but LandShark Stadium is weird and massive, and sounds like someone should sell naming rights.
- Swish needs to double up his intake of Red Bull.. and fast.
-
Been a while since I could look forward to the 8th inning and it’s
infinitely great to have a guy who can do his job back in the bullpen,
but who’s the bright guy giving Brun physical appearance advice? Going
baldy and now the porn star ‘stache? Really? Look, Big G barely pulled it off last year. Though the “Support The ‘Stache” campaign and ‘Stache Day
at the stadium was pretty funny.. it’s been done man. Tattooing Macho
Man on your forehead would probably give you more cool points.. Just a thought.
-
In other news, Papelbon attempted to make things clear today regarding
one of his many trivial attempts to make headlines, this time
surrounding his willingness to play in pinstripes when his contract
expires, by stating “I don’t want to go (expletive) play for the
Yankees”.. Haha, like we’d ever let him.
On Deck: A.J. on the mound tomorrow to face Josh Johnson, who’s sporting a stellar 2.76 ERA and 6-1 record to match. Pitching duel?
Yeah.. Baseball Gods Still Run Shiet..
.. and they rather cleverly tag-teamed with Mother Nature this time to prove it. Add this series loss [to a team 18 games behind in their division in the middle of June] to the.. surprises
of the Subway Series and you get their point. Don’t underestimate the
level of their cruelty [or count your wins before they're in the
books.. or something like that..]. As if winless against Boston so far
this season wasn’t enough, we must witness this:
Thanks.
Side Notes:
- New schedule proposal: 20 games against the Mets next year, how ’bout it? At least then the Yanks could play crummy baseball and still win the games.
- I swear Adam Dunn = Seth Rogan + Wheaties/’Roids.
-
Congrats to Francisco Cervilli for becoming one of the few in the
game to make a great play that could very well be labeled a blooper at
the same time. Most hilarious dive for a ball ever.
-
Also in the category of stellar plays is Gardner’s catch and crash.
Can’t even bow down enough to the effort [and overall grittiness] being
displayed by Brett The Jet. That collision last night really didn’t look pretty. Not a moment’s hesitation from entire team to jog out to center when he went down. The kid is vital.
-
In the category of “about damn time” is Bruney’s re-return and Jose
Veras’ disappearance. No offense to JV, but that DFA was a long time
coming.
-
I’d still love to know why this lineup can’t, for the life of them, hit
rookies. The opposition can pick any random AAA arm out of a hat and
put him on the mound if they want a win against the Yanks these days..
and hey, look, a rook is on the mound for the Marlins tonight.
On Deck: Pettite
will face a 23 year old by the name of Sean West to start a 9 game
interleague roadtrip. Though the Yanks will probably continue to make
young guns looks like Cy Young, pitchers bat in NL parks.. and one
might just slip.
Some pics from Tuesday’s game, if interested:
Okay I lied.. that was more than some.
P.S. Almost forgot.. first homerless game in the Bronx this season last night. Never thought it’d happen.
In Retrospect
Because
I’m too worn out [and lazy] to really recap what I’ve failed to blog in a
week [and because the last two series got more than enough headline
coverage.. for two separate reasons], I’m going to keep it simple and
give ya what’s on the brain:
- I don’t know how it’s possible for the Yanks to score 9 runs off Johan Santana, and yet only manage to muster 4 hits off Fernando Nieve.. but it’s pretty funny.
-
Epic Failure = Luis Castillo.. Sorry Mets fans, but you can never come
back from that. A-Rod didn’t even yell “Ha” on that one.
- Today was my last official day of high school [g'damn, it lasted forever], but something tells me I shouldn’t be enthused. When a grown man throws a fit
because someone dared to make a minor insult about him, the whole “high
school never ends” thing really gains some credibility. Bruney voiced
his opinion and K-Rod responded oh so brilliantly by acting like a
sissy. Way to show his comments really didn’t bother you smart one.
Brun actually intended to apologize, but apparently ‘Cisco needed to act big first [while standing 3 feet shorter..].. would never have guessed those two are the same age.
- Though the guy pulled off a miracle, pitching two
scoreless innings without walking a guy on Saturday, Jose Veras is
still a disease, as his incapability to find the plate has spread to
the starting rotation, which has forced the pen to work overtime. You
can thank the tattoo-bearing, thrown out of a bookstore badazz A.J. Burnett for saving the arms yesterday.. but it’d be nice if you’d manage to kick a** against the one team we really can’t afford to be embarrassed by, A.J… Just sayin’..
- Speaking of Boston.. I have no choice but to hand it to ya.. With an 0-8 record, can’t even attempt to deny the fact the Sox have owned the Yanks so far
this season.. but the fans at Fenway are something else.. “You used
steroids” chant? No offense, but leave it up to Boston fans to state
the obvious. C’mon.. I honestly expected more.
-
What I didn’t expect.. the Yanks letting Big Papi come out for a
curtain call for his every HR without retaliation.. Granted, they’re very rare from him these days, but.. it’s amazing the incredible amount of things a player can get away with if he isn’t in a Yankee uniform.
- My last thought.. *virtual hour long standing ovation for Mark Teixeira*.. Gotta commend a guy who endured a month long.. um.. initiation,
without a single complaint, while continuing to work till he got it
right.. which he has, as he is tearing it up, and doing the little
things.. The guy really plays his heart out.
On Deck: I’ll be attending tomorrow night’s game while CC is on the hill. The opposing pitcher probably doesn’t matter.. it’s the Nationals.
Also On Deck: St. Louis vs. Detroit.. the Jeffy-Allen showdown.. oh boy =)
P.S. Interesting story here.. Next time you want to have a few words for an ump, watch out.. apparently they can eject more than just the guys on field these days..[in high school games at least]..
Icing The Cake Before Heading To Beantown And Eating It
And this was how to enjoy it:
http://www.facebook.com/v/1157045373252
[Excuse the misguided Mets fan yelling let's go Rays.. He's mentally ill.]
[And yeah.. we celebrated Damon's shot with Freddy! =)]
Who’s heading into [and leaving] Boston with sole possession of first place?
Side Notes:
-
First off, was there a 5-Hour Energy promotion before the game I didn’t
know about? [Because there should be..] Because the crowd was pretty
pumped last night. The wave went through the entire stadium literally 4 or 5 times straight [despite how corny it is].. Your Quick Bit of Hilarity: When standing up and sitting down and the greatest thing in the world becomes synonymous.
- For the record.. Swish’s bomb? Called it [approximately
10 seconds before the pitch was thrown to be precise].. I must be
somewhere near 7 out of 10 this season now. Finally getting that career
prediction average over the Mendoza Line..
- How about that jet stream?
- Teixeira = beast beast beast beast beast.
- And let the Joba Hughes bullpen/starter debate begin..
Crowd Quotes:
- With the entrance of Mo: “Why everybody clapping?” [I swear, there's always that one person..]
- Upon noticing a friend was cheering for anything..
Me: “Who are you even rooting for?”
Friend: “I don’t even know.. I’m going for the Lakers.”
- Same Friend: “What quarter is this?”
- Same Friend: “How many points they have? Three right? Three points baby!!”
- “Haha.. B.J... Who would name their child B.J. [Upton]?”
- With crowd yelling “Hugheees”..
Friend: “Why are they booing?”
Other Friend: “So that way they can like strike him out.”
- Me: “SoOoOo, enjoyed the game?”
Red Sox Friend: “Watch.. tomorrow man..”
On Deck: Another Boskees series.. beginning with Burnett and Beckett.. Hmm.. loving this match-up.
P.S. Just re-watched Swish’s innerview that aired on the pregame a couple of days ago.. Swish’s response to what he’d do during a rain delay: “I love naps” Me too, my friend.. me too.
Walk-Off Wonder Boy Works Magic Tad Sooner This Time
Seriously, what does Leche eat for breakfast?
I know this level of clutch doesn’t come in a Wheaties box.
Side Notes:
-
Felt cheated going to a game with Jeter sitting it out on the bench,
but the “W” when it was all said and done just about changed my mind.
-
I swear, only in Yankee Stadium would two guys randomly show up in real
St. Louis Cardinals jerseys to a game between the Yanks & Rangers.
- Wang.. thought you were back for a good two innings.
-
I’ve made a change to my dream job. I now want to be the guy on the
four-wheeler type vehicle that has the dirt sweeper attached.. Couldn’t
tell if he was purposely driving circles in the infield or just had a
few too many beers along with some of the fans, but that dude looked like he
was having a ball.
- The little bromance revealing itself with Mark & Alex strangely has puts a smile to my face. Talk about a tag team.
- Swish is the funniest.
-
Today, Johnny Damon = beast. The guy really doesn’t even need both
hands.. I honestly feel the ball is just bruised every time he smacks
one.
On Deck: Tampa heading into town for a four game set and the first matchup just so happens to showcase the big bear double half a squiggly versus the David Price. The kid got his first major league win last week.. Shall we give him his first loss?
P.S. Check this kid out. Seriously? I think someone is trying to pull off another Tejada.
P.P.S.
Friend of mine picked up a couple souvenirs with a towel used by Hughes
[and a practice ball] tossed by a random guy still in the ‘pen after
the game. Don’t know why Hughes needed it on the bench, unavailable
today, but apparently he was sweating for Wang. A bit of advice: Axe
body spray Hughes.
Crowd Quote(s):
- [Regarding the above].. After getting a good whiff following lifting the towel to his face [reminiscent of something NSFW].. other friend uttered these words: “It smells like man.”
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