Thursday, September 08, 2011

WE CAN LAUGH NOW...

...I just hope this doesn't turn into a game the Yanks wished they had won in a couple of weeks.

Probably the sloppiest game they've played all year and that includes spring training. Michael Kay said the grounds crew used 170 50lb-bags of drying agent on the infield Tuesday night. I think they broke that record by the 5th inning yesterday. 6 errors, 4 by the Yanks, and 4 wild pitches, 3 by AJ Burnett. Catcher Russell Martin scrambled around back of the plate like a soccer goalie on speed.

None of the infielders had very good games. It was Brandon Laird's first game at first base (he's a third baseman). Buck Showwalter had firstbaseman Chris Davis playing third. Michael Kay explained that both managers wanted to "...see if they could handle another position." I believe those questions were answered by the third inning.

Both managers treated it like it was the final spring training game, with a batting order that appeared to be set up by a committee of the Bleacher Creatures in right field. Eventually, Girardi had the "A" team in the game, but it was hard to tell the difference. Shortstop Eduardo Nunez looked like he was using an oven mitt instead of a glove. (No "hot-potato" pun intended)

Tuesday night, the Yankee management had the fans who stuck out the four-hour delay, move down to the elite seats, and not by announcement, but by personal invitation, one by one, and gave them tickets to a game next season. Yesterday, not to be outdone, they invited the 500 or so fans who braved the rain, by personally inviting them to sit in the dugout and gave them tickets to A-Rod's next press conference. I suspect some of those fans were left over from Tuesday and were just too wet and tired to go home. They won't make that mistake again.

Naturally, under these horrid playing conditions, the game went into extra innings. You could tell that home plate umpire, Gary Darling, was so disgusted, that the only criteria for a pitch to be called a strike, was if the catcher could reach it with his glove. Even Kenny Singleton, who normally gives the umps the benefit of the doubt on close calls, was making comments like , "Well, uh...."

Now they get to do it all over again today, but about 200 miles south in Baltimore, where the weather isn't predicted to be any better. I hope the game is. Oh yeah, the Yanks lost, 5-4.

The only good news is that Boston blew an 8-5 lead in two innings and lost to Toronto 11-10 in air-conditioned comfort at the Roger's Center. No weather-related excuse for them.

***THEY SAID IT***
"Three players from the Mesa (Ariz.) Mountain View High football squad have been charged on suspected involvement in a home robbery. The bad news is they've been suspended from the team. The good news is they've been offered scholarships to the University of Miami." -- RJ Currie
"Derek Jeter has officially played more games than anyone else in the history of the New York Yankees. That's on the field; off the field, the record is still held by Madonna." -- Jerry Perisho
"Hurricane Irene battered the Little League World Series. Players on the team from Taiwan were huddled in the dugout calling the team's hotel to make sure their wives and children were OK." -- Brad Dickson
‎"32 games for the SF Giants, 5 errors. At least a few of them resulting in game changing unearned runs. Seems to me Orlando Cabrera should be spelt with a lot more “E”s." -- Janice Hough

CP-

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