The Good
In what seemed like forever, the Yankees finally won a game. Burnett pitched five innings, allowing four runs, three earned. Not great, but for the first start of the season, as good as you can expect. Posada and Burnett had dinner afterwards, even trading their pbj and fluffernutter sandwhiches respectively. Nick Johnson has a .500 OBP, all walks. It's not so much that he hasn't gotten a hit, he just doesn't feel like running. Joba pitched well in the eighth and Mo locked it down, making Jacoby Ellsbury look completely stupid in the process; payback for Ellsbury's steal of home last season against Mo's good friend Andy Pettitte.
The Bad
Last year the Yankees followed a World Series winning formula of losing eight games in a row to Boston, then going on to win the next nine out of ten. Only time will tell whether this new, bold strategy of winning games early pays dividends.
The Ugly
I don't even have to make this up today. David Ortiz, hitless so far this season, was asked by a reporter whether he was worried that these first two games would lead to talk of a slow start. His response?
"I'm not talking," Ortiz said before going on to talk. "You guys just wait for $#!% to happen, then you talk $#!%. Two #@$%*!& games already, there are 160 left, ain't that a #!&@#."
Ortiz must really miss Manny . . . and steroids, mostly steroids.
Chicks Dig the Long Ball
Cano hit a home run in the ninth, widely criticized in Boston as an unsportsmanlike padding of the score. Not cool.
Posada 1hr = $1
Granderson 1hr = $1
Cano 1hr = $1
Total = $3
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Great win! I am so tired of hearing about AJ and Jorge's problems from last year. I hope after this game it becomes a non-issue and Michael Kay has to figure out something else to blab about.
Also I need to give a shout out to Mo. I don't think it can be said enough, that guy is a monster!
I was actually surprised by how sharp Mo seemed last night. The past couple of years Mo has had some April struggles which always lead to the 'is this the year' speculation. I don't know if it's a matter of the higher intensity Boston games bring out but Mo looked really really on in a way I wasn't expecting this early in the season (he only threw like two Spring Training innings after all).
Yay! No 0-8!!!!
I seriously can't believe that response David Ortiz gave. I thought it was a joke, then I read an article about it. He's right about the fact that it's two games, of course, but can you imagine if reporters asked A-Rod about his performance in the playoffs and he responded like that?
Nick Johnson is the greatest .000 hitter in baseball.
Oh, and unsurprisingly, Mo actually struck out Scutaro prior to the double. To make him seem even better. Go, Mo!!!
Where is the quote coming from?
here, Fernando
Things I enjoyed about this game:
-Angel Hernandez preventing batters from taking time outs in an effort to shorten the game, and the resulting confused conversations between Hernandez and the batters which actually resulted in lengthening the game.
-The announcers discussing the fact that Fenway finally managed to clean up the hallway from the clubhouse to the dugout, a feat that required only 105 years to accomplish. Maybe next the Sox will shave their ridiculous facial hair patterns and stop trying to prove that their team of multi-millionaires is tougher looking than the Yankees' team of multi-millionaires.
-During a shot of Francona, my wife said "That guy looks like a Nazi." She was thinking of this person:
http://www.curragh-labs.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/rotla-villain.jpg
-Not only did Rivera look terrific, but Joba looked like the Joba of old, complete with excessive celebration. He reminded me why the idea of him as a shut-down reliever is so appealing, even if it's not the optimal result for him.
-I called that Nick the Stick would walk in the go-ahead run without taking the bat off his shoulder. If he keeps this up, he will need a new nickname, unless he brings a stick of jerky to the plate and eats it during the at bat.
-Contrary to media speculation, Curtis Granderson neither ran crying into the dugout or peed his pants when facing a tough lefty.
Things I didn't enjoy about this game:
-Angel Hernandez calling a consistent strike zone for most of the game, but occasionally throwing in a totally awful call in a key situation just to keep things interesting.
-YES's lack of a strike zone graphic. It seems like every major network that televises baseball, except YES, has a strike zone indicator. That leaves us with Kay and Leiter saying things like "Might have been low" or "Seemed outside." Since the strike zone is a defined area and not a metaphysical concept like justice or courage, how about just telling us whether the pitch was low or outside?
-Being reminded that Jorge Posada combines horrendous baserunning instincts with a total absence of speed.
-Scutaro's double against Rivera, and Scutaro in general. Scutaro fits right in with the Sox' uncanny ability to find players who are pesky, annoying, and better against the Yankees than they have any right to be.
As a simple matter of journalistic integrity, I should mention that, while I normally link to actual quotes, I passed on the David Ortiz quote because it was covered in separate stories at LoHud, the Daily News, and the Post.
"the strike zone is not a metaphysical concept." Classic.
And lastly, we can't know for sure whether Granderson peed himself or not, what with the advent of adult diapers and all. I think, therefore, that it's safest to assume he did pee himself, but not speculate as to why.
rich - if it makes you feel better, look at the pitch f/x thing I posted. Mo struck Scutaro out looking before he hit that double.
Also, did you have a problem with Posada not running to third on that Gardner bloop hit right behind second/third? I didn't. Posada is a terrible base runner but anyone would have been out if they tried to get from second to third on that hit. I was surprised he didn't try to run there, because Posada normally does the worst possible thing while running the bases. (I love him to pieces but it is true.)
Your commentary is hilarious, especially the stuff about Angel Hernandez's non-timeout timeouts. I thought that too.
LG, I saw your Scutaro pitch f/x chart, thanks for posting it. I don't try to keep track of umpires or remember particularly bad calls they made, but Hernandez strikes me as one of those umps who is just not reliable.
You're right about Posada doing the smart thing, for a change, by staying put on that Gardner bloop. Posada should just focus on hitting home runs so he doesn't have to worry about baserunning.
Roberto, as always you are the voice of reason and responsible journalism. I stand corrected about Granderson.
Post a Comment