4 hours ago
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Sometimes you go to a game and you sit next to the Most Annoying Person in the World. Sort of like this guy.
That's kind of how watching the game yesterday was like.
Not because I was at the stadium (obviously) or because I was sitting near an annoying fan. But the FEELING was the same. Frustration, aggravation, discomfort, anger, and an impenetrable sense of disconnect.
Everything is staccato and cold and harsh and disjointed.
You're never in a rhythm or in a zone.
It's like trying to talk to someone at bar. "Talking to a strange woman in a bar is like trying to sustain a Ping-Pong ball in midair by leaning your head back and blowing; if you stop to breathe, the ball falls." -Marshall Boswell, "The Trouble with Girls"
So the Yanks lose their first postseason game of 2010, as Phil Hughes pitches like he wasn't a 19 game winner, and instead was some random farm pick up that pitched a handful of solid games and someone found his way onto the playoff roster.
The Rangers took a 5-0 lead again, by the 3rd inning, and I'm thinking to myself "How come THIS is the 5-0 game I'm watching, I wish I had to work on Saturday instead of Friday night."
The Yanks had approximately 9 million times to score and to put themselves back in the game, but every time something bad happened. Like Lance Berkman singling in the 1st run, and then weirdly forgetting he's about as graceful as my hamster and hence shouldn't be trying to stretch singles into doubles when we're down by 4, with 2 outs.
The Yankees were 1-11 with RISP.
12 STRANDED RUNNERS.
They DID do a good job of working counts and taking pitches (182 for the day), but I'm slightly afraid that they'll try this whole Money Ball approach tomorrow, against a pitcher who's walked roughly 7 guys in his entire career or something.
The big bats the Yanks are so famous for only came out once, in the shape of Robinson Cano, who soloed in the 7th to make it 7-2.
The bright spots of the game? Joba and D-Rob pitched outstanding. Also, whoever Nancy from Buffalo is, she sent in a phenomenal question to some fan poll: "How would the Yankees lineup do against Mariano Rivera?"
BRILLIANT. What an insightful question! I have no idea what the answer was, I think me and my buddies were too excited about the originality of the question.
I have a good feeling about this series. The Yankees looked sluggish yesterday, like they were hungover from the rally on Friday. I think there's a misconception that big wins like that lead to a continuing stream of momentum that carries into the subsequent game. HOWEVAH, it's the Aaron Boone-syndrome.
After Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, the Yankees proceeded to completely blow the World Series. Which once again goes into my theory that I don't need dramatic wins. I just need wins period. And tomorrow, when the Yankees face Cliff Lee, their game plan should be guileless.
Hit the ball. Don't work the count, just tee off on this cocky asshole.
We're back in the Bronx. And nothing would make me happier than booing Lee off the mound before he can even get to the 6th inning.
"It's time to toss things, like our reason, and our will; it's time to break our necks for home." -Anne Dillard
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John C.