Dude. Just call the darned game.

It's September 11, a cold, rainy, windy, icky night.

Derek Jeter has broken the hits record--which is what about 80% of the fans paid way, way over market value to see...then again, you can't place a value on it...yadda yadda...

Anyway.

The Yankees, barring an Angels 1995-like collapse (in which case their problems become many), are going to the postseason.

The Orioles are going golfing in October.

It's nearly midnight, and the two teams have to play again at 1 PM the next day.

They have already played not just five, but six innings. The Yankees lost their lead, but they also had their at bat.

It's a 10-6--not a tied or even a close, even by 09 Yankee standards, game.

Why, on earth, was the game not called?

I know New York is the city that never sleeps and all that, but seriously?



Also worth noting here: via various updates on Twitter tonight, even when the game restarted at 12.40, with about 900 fans still in attendance, ushers were still checking tickets.

Dude, I know you're bored, but really?

I know New York doesn't have a reputation for being the friendliest city in the world, but seriously?

If the few hundred people in attendance can't be allowed to move down to the lower level in an empty stadium, I'm not sure what to say. I'm not talking about moving down to the Legends seats; I'm just talking about moving down from the grandstand.

These things make me a very, very grumpy fan.

A Few Thoughts

• My friend, Brent, and I went to Wednesday's game. We sat in the terrace level, seats with a pretty good view, despite my bad eyes. As the game started, one man wearing a Yankee jersey started shouting obnoxious and annoying phrases, actively rooting against the Yankees. When he started to bother other fans in the section, Brent texted Yankees' customer service, asking them to keep an eye on the man. Not two minutes later, there was, in fact, a security official standing on the concourse, right behind the man in question. He was later joined by other ushers and even a cop. Althought the man only stopped while he was being watched, the fast response for a matter that was at the terrace level and not really all that serious, is commendable.

• The starting pitching seems to have taken a nose-dive since Chien Ming Wang returned to the team. I don't so much blame Wang for causing Burnett and Pettitte and Joba to have bad starts, as I do the interruption in the flow of the rotation, no doubt also hindered by the rain out. Rule number one of managing almost anything is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", and the Yankees tried to fix a rotation that had been performing admirably.

• It seems that the Yankees have lost nearly every game in which there's been a sizable rain delay (a half hour or longer), and they haven't played well when the weather's been nasty, either--and with the way this summer's gone in NY, that's not good. Someone suggested it might have to do with age; I think it would have to be more than ust age at work. Perhaps the team outght to find a different way to spend the rain delays?
  

Frustration Mounts for Team, Fans (Postgame Notes 06 May 2009)

It is almost a fact that every team in major league baseball will lose four games in a row at some point in the season.

Even so, some four game losing streaks hurt more than others.

For the second time this season, the Yankees had gotten to three games above .500, only to see it precariously disappear with some help from the Red Sox.

It's frustrating for everyone--the team, the fans--everyone that wants the team to do well.

This week has been one of the most frustrating experiences for fans at the new Yankee Stadium.

After taking two from the Angels--the second in dramatic, walk-off fashion--the Yankees have not won another game.

The rain has been there, every night, every step of the way, canceling some games, delaying others and otherwise cloaking the Bronx in a foul, furious air as if to say "I am holding the bright days of summer hostage."

It's as if G-d himself has decreed those who thought to tear down the original Yankee Stadium anathema.




My friend Brent is a senior at Fordham this year. Through one trick of fate and then another, he scored tickets to every Yankee game from Saturday through today, minus Sunday's rain out. This is what he told me, in his words:

I have never felt as shitty, frustrated and depressed about a ball club as I do now and I know the obvious reason why: I had to sit through all four of those straight losses...but as the rain poured to end the game, it just seem... fitting
like... when Matsui popped out to end the game...I now owe two friends 100 bucks, half my clothes are wet and damp, and as I was walking back, I'll be honest, I was pissed off. I have NEVER been as angry and upset as I was after tonight's game. As a kid growing up, you always expect the good guys to win and to win at least once when you go there, and yes, as a 21-year-old big kid, I still expected the same... at least one win out of those 4 games, but all I got was one sweet moment... that was as fleeting as the passing rain. Walking back from the Stadium was ridiculously appropriate... the weather fit my mood too well: it was absolutely POURING when the game ended, so me and J. just ran out, and I was honestly cursing up a storm, almost pumped into two people, but I didn't care, I was mad, and I wanted out...When I got off [the D train], I continued to get poured on, I kicked my cap across the street... and stomped in EVERY puddle I can... including one that wasn't the best...

So now, Becca, I sit here, cooling off but not completely... soaked from my shoes, socks, and shirt and cap...smelling like dog piss (that was the puddle)and... *sighs* I don't know. I rarely justify spending or owing THAT much money back but I did for this case, to see my favorite team the team I wanted to see just once more before I started to become an adult and to be a kid again, and I was let down, not once, twice, three times, but four times, and my last game before I graduate was a 4-3 loss in a game the Yankees didn't even deserve to be in in the first place, so yea, I just feel let down

Perhaps we shouldn't take this game so personally...but, if you're reading this post, chances are that you are way past the point where you can be convinced not to take it personally.

If this is how frustrated the fans are, how frustrating must it be for the team, who has seen every break go the other way? Doubles that bounce over the wall instead of staying in play, strikes given to other teams that aren't given to our pitchers, routine plays bobbled by athletes whose best asset is normally their glove and pitching decisions that work on paper but backfire in reality.

Mark Teixeira thought he made his, well, mark with the bases-clearing double in the 8th inning rain, but when he had a chance to bring Johnny Damon in from third to tie the game in extras, he flew out, just a little too shallow for Damon to tag. Another five, ten feet and we might still be playing baseball now.



Still, even despite this, there are bright spots on the horizon.

Alex Rodriguez will return, probably by the end of the week. Brian Bruney will return eventually. Xavier Nady's doing what he ca to get back as fast as he can. Jorge Posada does not have a history of hamstring injuries and will be back before the all star break.

Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes are showing flashes of brilliance. They might not be quite there yet, but if I have to sacrifice this season for years of domination down the road, it will be worth it.

The offense, though struggling a bit of late, has not yet been shut out this year.


This team will find a way.

The good ones always do.

The Rainmen Cometh

The rain cleanses and nourishes.

It restores a balance in the atmosphere, and breaks the heavy fog.

Tonight, on a much less mythical note, it woke up the stopper in Andy Pettitte and woke up the Yankee offense.

After the first two innings of play, the game felt much like a continuation of last night. Pitching that was good, but not good enough. Hitting that didn't, well, hit, with the exception of Melky Cabrera's home run.

Then, the rain.

It was only a 28-minute delay, which is hardly remarkable, but sometimes that is all it takes.

When the rain cleared, Pettitte was on, retiring seven straight, including a reaction play that involved snagging a line drive ticket for center field, with a stop at Pettitte's forehead. As might be expected, Pettitte also had patented Pettitte pick-off, but the caught line drive is the one will make top play lists.

Offensively, it was the Melky Cabrera show for a while--he took to the two spot in the line-up better than Canò had--but then the rest of the team began to get into the act. Everyone except Robinson Canò had a hit; Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada went back-to-back with home runs in the ninth.

More impressive, the Yankees managed to score in three straight innings, which they had not yet done.

While no series with the Red Sox will ever be easy, the Yankees can at least board the flight knowing that they've got the bats working again.


OPTIMIST TAKE: Canò walked. Johnny Damon has a five-game hitting streak. Alberto Gonzalez had a clean single, again. He's no Derek Jeter with the bat, but he's not quite the automatic out everyone makes him out to be. Andy Pettitte went 6.2 innings, which saved most of the bullpen. Joba Chamberlain might not be able to pitch tomorrow, but the rest of the bullpen should be set to go.



As I said before, I'm off to Boston, so tomorrow's postgame will be done by Brent Nycz of The Bronx Block.


SCORES AND STUFFS (of interest):

Boston beat Detroit, 12-6. Detroit had closed to within 8-6, but 1-8 teams are 1-8 for a reason.

Texas swept a double-header with the Orioles. The Orioles are still AL-East leading, and the only AL East team currently over .500. The Yankees and Sox are tied at the .500 mark, but as you might imagine, it probably won't last.

Tampa Bay defeated Seattle 7-0. Apparently there's something to this Edwin Jackson guy.

Oakland beat Toronto 3-2, in 12.

Mets beat Philadelphia, 4-3 in 12.



Happy weekend, I'll catch you all sometime on Sunday.