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I can't help but be a little miffed that MLB has scheduled the Yankees and Red Sox twice already by mid April. Don't they understand that these games are best in the dog days of summer or those hot meaningful August and September nights? I know they play each other a ton during a season but I almost feel like they should play one series in July after the all star break, one series in August and then all 4 weekends in September. That would take care of the 18 games and would be a helluva way to come down the stretch every year.
Don't get me wrong, these Yankees/Sox games are great at any time of year, but these first half matchups especially these April ones are missing that 3rd ingredient, the emotion that exists from a season's worth of battling and standings that mean something. If the Yanks lose tonight and drop to 9-8 and 1 game out of first, I don't think anyone would care too much but if this were August and the Yankees fell to 70-58 and a game out of first, people would make a huge deal out of it. I mean, if the Yankees sweep the Sox in mid-April it's great and all, but it doesn't come close to what an August sweep means.
that was then, this is now:
I'm actually typing this out as I'm watching the game tonight. Currently we are in the bottom of the 7th at the stadium with Boston up 7-3 but that's not the interesting part... in fact that's not interesting at all. In the top half of the 7th Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth greeted Manny Ramirez with a 97 MPH fastball right behind the back of his neck. I unleashed an affirmative yelp of pleasure right afterwards because that pitch wiped a little of that smugness the red-hot Manny has off his face but I started to wonder if Josh Beckett would return fire. It's not like Farnsworth hit Manny, but a big time heater at the back of your neck will unnerve you and for the 1st time all night the Yankees retired him. As a side note the umpire immediately warned both teams.
Beckett's nearing 100 pitches and is coming out soon anyway, I wonder if he'll do it.
Okay he didn't but he retired the bottom of the Yankee order and then Johnny Damon on 9 pitches. With about 93 thrown and a 4-run lead I wonder if they'll throw at a Yankee in the 8th or 9th. The Yankees only have 6 outs and the heart of the order is coming to bat. If you are going to throw at one, it's pointless if it's Chad Moeller or even Melky Cabrera, but if you plunk Derek Jeter or A-Rod, that might stir it up and send a retort if you felt you need to reply. I'll continue to blog during the breaks until the end of the game just for giggles.
As we head to the 8th do I feel like the Yanks still have a shot? I'd say it's definitely possible to make a comeback but not likely. Perhaps the Yankees best shot will come in the 8th inning when it's Jeter-Abreu-A-Rod against the Red Sox set up guys and probably not Papelboner. You'll probably hear me say this a lot but is there a more stupid game face in all of sports than Papelbon-bon? It reminds me of a fraternity pledge's face when he's being paddled and can't take any more, but still makes a tough face and requests another paddling despite not really wanting it. Does that make sense? Let's face it, the guy looks like a duffice up there. Maybe it adds to his "presence" on the mound or something like that but for me as a viewer it adds to my disgust when he pitches well and it cracks me up hysterically when he doesn't because he's still making his tough face... and in case you are wondering, I think Zoolander could take him pretty easily with Blue Steel if they ever had a showdown.
Oh boy, oh boy Beckett is coming out for the 8th. With their bullpen ready with at least 2 arms set to come in if needed, does he throw at Jeter, Abreu or A-Rod? Considering they have a 4 run lead, which is certainly not insurmountable, throwing at a Yankee in the 8th would be a big F-U to the Yanks. They'd be saying, we'll hit one of your guys and put him on free and we still think we'll win.
Wow, I tip my cap to Beckett. Not only did he not go for the retaliation, but he dominated the Yanks retiring the last 10 he faced. As much as I hate the Sox and Beckett, I do respect the guy, he's very tough out there. Now I'm just hoping not to see the Papelboner face in the 9th but then if we don't see it, that would probably mean that the Yanks did nothing in the 9th and they didn''t even have to go to their closer. Oh, I'm so torn. I guess anything for the team right? But if I have to watch Johnny boy huffing and puffing on the mound, dammit we better score some runs on him.
Just our luck, Francona went to him anyway despite it not being a save situation. I've decided that since the Yankees put their bats away after the 5th inning and forwarded them to Baltimore for tomorrow, that I'd spend the 9th inning naming Papelbone's facial look. It's obviously not Blue steel, not Ferrari or Le Tigra and not even Magnum, but I think I will call it Red Cat. If you like, you can say it the "R" rated way.
Okay so asking for 4 runs off a solid closer is a lot to ask for and maybe the bats didn't go to Maryland quite yet but we came up a little short. On the bright side at least Papelbrawn's ERA for the night is 18.00.
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