The Moose is Loose and the Win Sinks In (Postgame Notes 19 September 08)

So I'm watching the Yankees tonight, watching Mike Mussina leave the mound and getting his ovation, possibly the last Yankee Stadium ovation he will ever receive, almost certainly the last at this Stadium, anyway.

And it hits me.

It hits me that this is it.

That after Sunday, watching a Yankee game will never be the same.

This has not been the best season for the Yankees. It's not been the worst, not by a long shot, but it also hasn't been anything close to what many of us were hoping for after the way we finished last year.

The mediocrity, however, has been exaggerated because of what this season means in the history, the lore, the psyche that goes into being a Yankee or being a Yankee fan.

So it's perhaps a bit of a surprise that it's taken this long for it to sink in--it did a little at the All Star game--but not, at least for me, like it did tonight.

I have to believe the ghosts were there tonight.

It wasn't an exceptionally dramatic game, but there were moments that were...well, they gave me goosebumps.

Like when the oldest living ball-player, at 102, Emilio Navarro, threw the first pitch, and if that wasn't chilling enough, if you catch the video, just as he's doing it, there's a squirrel--perhaps Scooter, perhaps not--running across the mound.

Like when Mike Mussina came out of the ballgame to a huge ovation, tipping his cap and entering the dugout with a giant smile, wearing, if just briefly, his heart on his sleeve. Oh, and the quest for 20 is still alive.

Like when Humberto Sanchez and Francesco Cervelli made their major league debuts and I realized, that might be the last time anyone makes their major league, Yankee debuts, at the Stadium. Juan Miranda, too. The three of them might be the very last to get those chills--hey, kid, you're in the game--at Yankee Stadium. There are three games left, but I'm not sure there's anyone left that the Yankees have called up that haven't already debuted.

This game probably won't be one we remember three years from now, unless our name is Humberto Sanchez, Juan Miranda or Francesco Cervelli (and maybe Mike Mussina), but it may have gotten to me much more than the game on Sunday will.

Because it's not when nostalgia is shoved down your throat, but when it comes naturally and almost by accident, amidst the chatter of the crowd and the jokes from the announcing crew about the answer to the night's trivia question, that you realize how much it means.

A Funny Thing Happened On My To Class Today....

Maybe it's because it's ten degrees warmer outside today than it's been the past two weeks.

Maybe it's because with January winding down, the countdown to pitchers and catchers has really begun in earnest.


Maybe it's because it's beginning to hit me that the 2008 Yankees season has got so much going for it, so much potential...



...but while going to class today, a squirrel crossed my path, and I was reminded of last September, when, for just about every game, every time a squirrel crossed my path, the Yankees won the game.

I know it sounds odd, but you probably don't have to remember too hard to remember Scooter the Squirrel's appearance on the right field foul pole, and how the Yankees swept that series against Boston, and then, the next week, took two of three from Seattle (who was the Yankees' biggest playoff spot competition at the time). I'm sure you remember how it was maybe a week after Phil Rizzuto had gone to play shortstop for Heaven's side, so there was something...else...about the squirrel being there.

Every time I saw a squirrel in the fall, I would think about that.

About November, when the weather started to turn in earnest, I stopped seeing squirrels on my way to class. It was the beginning of winter, after all, and even squirrels can freeze in Syracuse.


Today I saw a squirrel for the first time since we put the bats and the gloves away last 1 November.


There's still a few weeks of unbearable cold up here, but today I was reminded that Spring really is just around the corner...

In Latin, We'd Call This Sex...(Postgame Notes 11 Sept 07)

...In a row, that is!

Yes, it amuses me to no end that the Latin word for 'six' is 'sex'.

Seriously though, the Yankees had a great game all around, though it didn't seem that way at first...

Phil Hughes had a ROUGH first and second inning. He got lucky Toronto didn't score in the first, and in the second some AMAZING defense from Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon saved perhaps another three or four runs--of course, Toronto scored on Melky's error, but you can't fault him for trying to make that play.

HOWEVER, after the first two innings, Hughes settled in, not allowing another hit and showing that he's perfectly capable settling down and making the big pitches when he has to.

Edwar Ramirez (K-Ram) was excellent in his two innings; he struck out five, including the side in the eighth.

Ohlendorf made his very memorable 1-2-3 major league debut, and you know it's his major league debut because I think his first name is Ross but I'm not entirely sure!



A-Rod did not have a home run today, but he did walk and have two hits, and hits are just as useful.

Johnny Damon had one of the best games he's had this season, having a 2-run single, and a crazy-good catch that Matsui probably would not have made. He's been great while playing in left field this year; I wouldn't be surprised to see him playing left in October.

Posada had a laser home run, which got out of the building so fast that Micheal Kay almost didn't have time to call it!

Giambi broke out of his slump in a big way, with a home run. As luck would have it, there were three men on base. In the realm of baseball, we call that a GRAND SLAM!

Matsui is still slumping pretty badly, he doesn't look very comfortable at the plate. However, two of his outs today were productive, one moving Abreu to third, and the other scoring a run on a sac-fly.


Oh, and the best bit? When they flipped to a live shot of Yankee stadium, Scooter Squirrel was STILL there!

If the Yankees wanted to pick a time to put together a significant winning streak, this was certainly a good one...


Anyway,

Scores and Stuffs:

Texas and Detroit split a double-header. Texas won the first game 13-6, with seven home runs. They apparently spent all their offense in that game, as they lost the nightcap 4-1.

In a game where neither team seems to understand the concept of pitching, Boston won 16-10. Tampa, especially, did not seem to grasp the concept of a bullpen, as a good enough start from Sonnanstine turned ugly, as the Devil Rays blew a seven-run lead. There have been 38 combined hits in the game...

Angels beat Baltimore 10-5, as Baltimore continues to take the rest of the season off after their manager, Dave Trembley signed a contract extension.

Minnesota is up on Kansas City 5-3 in the eighth. Kansas city has lost six in the row, apparently uncomfortable with being in a place other than last in the AL Central.

Cleveland is up 8-3 on the Chi Sox in the seventh, as Cleveland plays for home field and the Chi Sox celebrate Ozzie Guillen's contract extension in the only way they know how.

Oakland and Seattle are scoreless in the third. Seattle is fading quickly in the Wild Card race; if you think the Yankees' games are must wins, Seattle can ill afford to lose even another single one.


In the National League,

Milwaukee beat Pittsburgh 6-1. Prince Fielder had another home run, as he, in any normal year, would probably be leading the MLB in home runs, with 44. The Brewers remain in first in the NL Central.

Cincinnati beat St. Louis 7-2, as the Cardinals fortunes have (again) taken a nosedive after the Ankiel HGH allegations. He did not hit a home run tonight.

Colorado beat Philadelphia 8-2, as they've decided that they're still in this thing.

In the second game of the Ultimate Meaningless Series, Florida beat the Nationals 13-8. Thirty four combined hits in this game, as offenses took advantage of teams deciding not to pitch.

Atlanta beat the Mets 13-5, but, barring a major collapse in NY, it's a case of too-little, too late.


Cubs and Houston are tied at four in the bottom of the ninth, in Houston.

San Diego is up 6-0 on the Dodgers in the third, having evenly distributed their run scoring to two each inning.

Arizona and San Fransisco remain scoreless as their game goes to the top of the fourth.

That Squirrel's Got Nuts! (Postgame notes 4 Sept 07)

When that squirrel made his appearance in the sixth, you knew something was going to happen.

You probably didn't think it'd be a seven run seventh, but if you're reading this, chances are you enjoyed it just the same.

The Yankees burst out of their recent offensive woes in a big way, with 20 hits tonight, including hits with RISP, two from Betemit and four each from Abreu, Posada and Cano each with four. Abreu was a triple shy of the cycle, Posada had two home runs and A-Rod had a MONSTER shot.

That aside, until the sixth inning, there was a lot of anxiety.

Until the sixth inning the Yankees had just one run on six hits, and it looked like it was going to be a repeat of the weekend.

If it wasn't for the absolute gem from Wang, and Matsui's great play in the fifth, there's no way the Yankees take a 1-0 lead to the sixth.

However, they did take the 1-0 lead to the sixth, and they did, finally, decide to bring the bats to the game, and for that you can't complain.


Wang has seventeen wins and is now tied for the major league lead. He just needs three more for twenty, and as it's only September fourth, he has an outside shot of it. Might be the quietest year ever for a guy trying to get to 20 wins. If you consider that he missed the beginning of the year with injury, he probably WOULD have 20 wins and be a definite Cy Young candidate.


Otherwise:

Vizcaino has given up five runs in his past two innings of work. It's an area of concern--overshadowed right now because the Yanks won big, but if it's a 4-2 game and you don't have Joba available, you need your eighth inning guy to be able to pitch well.

Scary, scary, scary, SCARY moment with A-Rod in the seventh. Readers, if you play baseball, please don't slide head first. It looked for a moment that A-Rod was down and out...but TOUGH ALL DAY prevailed.

Looks like Wang was just stiff in the eighth from the long half inning before, and that's another huge sigh of relief.

Phil Hughes starts tomorrow, so let's hope the Squirrel (Rocky Squankee?) makes another appearance ;)





Other scores of interest:

Red Sox beat Toronto 5-3. Toronto's playing for their playoff lives. They've lost two to the Red Sox so far, but they're obviously not playing for the division. It's not surprising to see Toronto put up the fight it's putting up.

Chicago White Sox beat Detroit 3-1. Detroit had runners on second and third with two out for the ninth, but the ChiSox had Bobby Jenks. You can guess how that went.

Minnesota is up on Cleveland 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth.

Mets beat Cinncinnati and Phillies beat Atlanta, meaning that the NL East is becoming a race between the Mets and Phillies. South Jersey must be near war...

Rick Ankiel did not hit a HR today, but he does have an RBI.

Arizona is up 5-0 on San Diego in the fifth.

As far as the NL Central goes, Chi Cubs lost and Milwaukee and St. Louis won.




Interesting night. Feel free to comment with name suggestions for the Squirrel...or anything else, for that matter.