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This is how the season ends. Not with a bang, but with a
whimper.
No need to recap in detail the debacle we witnessed not just
tonight, but really ever since the playoffs started. But what kind of blogger
would I be if I didn’t use the internet to whine and throw in my 2 cents? A bad
blogger.
I didn’t think the Yankees would lose this one, not with
Fatso on the mound. But even if Fatso HADN’T been pitching, I’ll still have bet
on the Yanks, because, well, getting swept? They wouldn’t do that to us. ‘Sides,
it’s not like it’s unheard of to come back from a 3-0 deficit.
Turns out it’s a little harder to do that when your team
just can’t shake this nagging [post]seasonal allergy to runs.
Alright, there’s no smooth segue into this, but I wasn’t
happy with Arod being benched. I know I’m in a verrrry small minority that
defends the guy, and I know he hasn’t given us a lot of reasons lately TO
defend him.
But like Shakespeare said, “Love is not love if alters when
alterations find.” In other words, there are few things I take more seriously than
loyalty.
I don’t think it’s fair to ride on his coattails through the
2009 world series and then immediately revert to demonizing form, the second
his supergod performance wears thin. The Yankees are better with him in the
line-up. They are.
I’m watching the game with Glenn, Nick, and whatever office
loony was nuts enough to come within 5 feet of me and my Budweiser and laptop,
hunkered down in the conference room, like a soldier crouched in the trenches
of a battle he knew he was losing, but yet refused to leave his post.
The points raised during the sad loss:
CYC/Glenn/Nick: f’d up to bench Arod
Glenn: someone needs to be fired for benching Arod
Nick: something went on behind closed doors that we don’t
know about, whether it was an argument with Girardi about being benched the
other night, or brass punishing Arod for BallGate Flirtation Scandal 2012.
CYC: if Jeter had done the ball thing, (pause), no one would
have been lambasting him like this. I don’t think Jeter WOULD do it, because he’s
the captain and takes her lead-by-example role seriously. But when news broke
of his habit of sending his one-night stands home with a gift basket of signed
balls and memorabilia, it was all “JETER’S SO BADASS!” If Arod had done that,
it’d be tacky. Whatever, this is perennial issue with Arod. He can’t do
anything right by the public’s assessment.
CYC/Nick: Think the ball thing was atrocious, despite our
defense of Arod and belief that he should’ve played. Under NO circumstances
should he have done that in the middle of a game. If we were playing softball
for work and someone was doing that, I’d be livid. It’s unnecessary. Almost
egregiously unnecessary…which brings Nick to his next point:
Nick: Arod is a student of the game. He is a manager’s dream
in the sense that he studies the game, reads up on his opponents, plays hard
always. (Plays HARD, didn’t says always plays WELL.) That said, the fact that
Arod—knowing how his every move is subject to intense scrutiny—still took the
time out in the middle of the game to write on a ball and make a show out of
this, suggests that he may have just checked out of the whole thing already.
Why? Because of that mysterious one fact that “they aren’t telling us.”
CYC: Swish’s presence in the game was offensive, I have no
idea why the hell was playing, but ok cheers and thanks for the ribbie that
kept the Yankees from not only getting swept, but shut-out on top of that.
CYC/Nick/Glenn: GGBG’s great.
Anyways, it was a tortuous night and I’ll admit that “devastated”
wasn’t the emotion washing over me. It was partially that, yes, but there was
also a marked degree of relief. No, of course I didn’t want them to lose, but
after a few innings of watching them fail to bring any runs in, a few innings
of appallingly apathetic defense, and a few innings of watching our favorite
ace get battered around…well, how much more could we really take? They gave up
on the game. It was hard not to follow suit.
Then Glenn kicked my ass in ping pong, while I made mental
notes of all the people in the office who were going to have to sleep with one
eye open for the rest of their lives thanks to their relentless
poking-of-the-bear.
(At one point, 2 within earshot were discussing “what the one single line would be that could get Kris to just snap and punch us both out.” At that point, “Hey, Kris” would have fit the bill.)
(At one point, 2 within earshot were discussing “what the one single line would be that could get Kris to just snap and punch us both out.” At that point, “Hey, Kris” would have fit the bill.)
But, to be fair, I am not exactly easy to deal with during
the end of baseball season. So I probably owe my entire team a debt of
gratitude for putting up with it for as long as they have.
(As if taking steroids—not the HGH kind, the antiflammatory kind—wasn’t hell enough, they hold a side effect risk of making you, well, completely insane. I skipped today’s dose. Figured it had “unemployment line” written all over that lethal cocktail of office/playoffs/unpredictable drug side effects. Kind of like the opposite of that scene in As Good As It Gets.)
(As if taking steroids—not the HGH kind, the antiflammatory kind—wasn’t hell enough, they hold a side effect risk of making you, well, completely insane. I skipped today’s dose. Figured it had “unemployment line” written all over that lethal cocktail of office/playoffs/unpredictable drug side effects. Kind of like the opposite of that scene in As Good As It Gets.)
But I digress (Ahh!! I haven’t said that in so long! Felt
nice. Felt real nice.)
When I think back on the season, a lot of it is a blur. You
know how there are some periods in your life that had this weird dichotomy of
both flying by yet seeming to last forever? Yeah, me neither.
No, but seriously, that’s kind of like what 2012 was like.
There were high points, and a lot of low points, and ultimately nothing ever
seemed to go right. I don’t mean “right” as in “the Yankees had one misfortune
after another” kind of way. I mean “right” as in “corrent.” Nothing every
seemed to go the way it should, for good or for bad.
It wasn’t just the Yankees, though. The whole MLB season
seemed like the baseball gods decided to hand the reigns over to their wives
and put them in charge of being the invisible hands that guided the season. So
all these baseball god wives were like, “Really? Ok, great! Ok, yes, yes. We
have the list of instructions. We won’t mess it up, we promise. Just go have
fun in Barbados, we’ll see you when you’re back!”
Then: “There’s a team called RED? I LOVE IT! Can we make
them win every game?”
“Whoa, I don’t know. Is that on the list?”
“I accidentally lost the list.”
“Wait, didn’t they call it the National Pasture or something
at one point? National something?”
“Wait, the Nationals are a team. Ok, they’re going to get
some love, too.”’
 |
| Boston may as well have named themselves "The Hangnails" or "The Spinning Beach Balls of Death" or some other term just as synonymous with aggravating. |
“THERE’S A TEAM CALLED THE RED SOX? UGH. Do you know that
happened to me the other day? One sock. Whole load of white robes? Pink. Why
would they name a team after that? They’re done.”
Etc etc etc.
Seriously, it’s the only thing that makes sense, ironically.
Because how else do you explain the Yankees collectively forgetting how to hit
after making it to the playoffs by virtue of their knack for the long ball?
How
else do you explain Tubbo.com, one of the best pitchers I’ve ever seen in my
life and will ever see, bookending the season with losses, getting shelled?
How do you explain Mo blowing the save on opening day...and then blowing out his knee exactly a month later?
And yes, it was a pleasure seeing Boston vomit away their
season and chance at the post-season, but that doesn’t make it any less weird.
How else do you explain July 8 when Derek Jeter dropped acan of corn pop up, prompting a hush over the Yankee Universe, as Suzyn Waldman
quietly says, “That was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” I mean,
how else do you explain Suzyn Waldman saying anything quietly??
How do you explain the Yankees going from the guys that
always manage to pull it off the final innings, to the only team in baseball
that didn’t have a win when trailing in the 8th?
How else do you explain the Baltimore F'n Orioles?
How do you explain
the fact that a team who spent the better part of their storied history being
the hottest team post-all star break, spent this season cruising right along just
UNTIL the ASG?
And how do you explain that the Yankees spent 76 years alternating between pinstripes and
away grays only…but this season they had a day when this tradition died?
I’ve said it countless times before, and I’m sorry for repeating
the analogy, but really I cannot think of a better one than Marble Madness:
But tonight? After the loss, things didn't feel wrong, for the first time in a while. That's how I knew it was really over.
You know I’m not much of a blogger during the offseason, so
it will probably be a little while before I write again. Of course, should the
Yankees actually have some “breaking news” or even any news, really, I’ll throw
my hat in the ring of opinions. But you know how I feel about the “hot stove.”
Kind of like how I feel about meetings: I don’t want all the background
information, just give me the bottom
line.
So thanks again for reading this for another year. I like
doing this a lot. It keeps me sane. (EYE-RUH-NEEEE!) And it makes me feel really
(for lack of a better word) touched when I realize I’m not talking to myself.
I owe a big, nay INFINITE TIMES INFINITE GIGUNDO, thanks to David Cone, forgiving me the plug of a blogger’s lifetime.
I swear, Coney, if you ever need someone to teach your kid
piano lessons, or clean your house, or fold laundry, cook, stand around and
break eggs on my head for entertainment purposes, you know who to call.
Thank you Charmian, Cricket, K.C., Brett C., Nina, Maria,
MJM, Uncle Mike, Jeff K., Rob A., Frank C., Theresa C., Matt W., and Glenys for always
being so diehard, without question. And cheers to Alex R. for Game 5, (who I would not have had the pleasure of meeting if not for Coney). I would say he's my favorite Alex who isn't Arod, but it's dead heat with Alex L.
(Actually, you know what, speaking of Account guy Alex L., cheers to our friends in San Francisco, who let me wear my hat to meetings and who text to send condolences after Yankee tragedies.)
And requisite season MVP awards to Ollie, Strange, Keith, Kerry, Evan, Krista, and Pollina sisters #2 and #3. (Season Rookie of the Year award to Matt in Finance department. Season LVP to Ohyob for skipping off to Germany during a High Stress Alert Week.)
Anyways, I'm starting to sound ridiculous (well, more than usual, anyway). It’s just a few months, yeah?
(Actually, you know what, speaking of Account guy Alex L., cheers to our friends in San Francisco, who let me wear my hat to meetings and who text to send condolences after Yankee tragedies.)
And requisite season MVP awards to Ollie, Strange, Keith, Kerry, Evan, Krista, and Pollina sisters #2 and #3. (Season Rookie of the Year award to Matt in Finance department. Season LVP to Ohyob for skipping off to Germany during a High Stress Alert Week.)
Gratias multus, HisDudeness and Infantry Michael for guestblogging. (HisDudeness and I will be working on some CYC site stuff over the offseason, and I hope Infantry Michael will want to blog again come 2013 season..yes? Please?)
Anyways, I'm starting to sound ridiculous (well, more than usual, anyway). It’s just a few months, yeah?
I miss it already. But maybe it was a blessing. My endurance is not what it used to be, and it turns out I’m not invincible after all. Maybe the off season will give me some time to get back to being bionic. Same goes for the Yankees.
It was a rough year, overall. But sometimes you gotta have one of those so everything comes into focus and you know what direction to go. It'll be interesting to see where it takes the Yanks.
So, cheers, Yankee fans! You know what? If we’re fans of another
team, the offseason is the 5-month wait for opening day. But since we’re fans
of the New York Yankees, the offseason is the 5-month anticipation of
dominating the game.
Est magna esse iuvene quod a Yankee.
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Have a good wint...wint...I can't say it. You know, when there's cold and things like that.
I'm with Alphonso on 'It Is High', half of this team or more should be cleared out, but that never seems to happen, ever.
We'll wait until after the Series to tackle the "reigns"/"reins"/"rains"/"Raines" thing. ;-)