Sat June 2 - Sox beat Yanks 11-6 in another (expletive deleted) pathetic Yankee loss
I went to the Yanks Sox game yesterday. In the old days, I would go to 3 or 4 Sox/Yanks games a year in Fenway. Lately its one weekend game, maybe one other near the end of the year. That said, it is far different than it was pre-2004. The traditional "Yankees Suck!!" cheer only surfaced its head late in the game, and died down within seconds. It was a little strange.
Overall, it was a pretty good game. If you like crappy games. And games with errors. And poor starting pitching. The cool thing about being there in person, and this is not just for the game yesterday, is to see the things that go on when the networks cut to commercial. My buddy Tom and I sat there, in our sweet third base line seats that were covered, while it rained and they covered the field. It was interesting, sort of, to see a ton of running red shirts pull out a huge tarp, wait while the sun came out, then put it away 30 minutes later.
And for us Yankee fans, it was a pathetic, sad, frustrating example of why the Yankees are in so much trouble. Lets forget for a second that Wil Nieves is an automatic out. And that Doug Man-Kay-Vitz is an almost automatic out. When Mussina flamed out and gave up back to back home runs, the Yanks paraded out a train wreck of relief pitchers that are more horrific to watch in person than on TV. It was awful. They go deep into every single freakin count, then give up bombs. It was like batting practice.
So then came my buddy Mike Lowell. After he took out Mientkiewicz, I thought he was going to round second and take out Jeter to get a trifecta for the day. Earlier when he was running from first to second and Cano got the ground ball, he tagged Lowell who then lowered his shoulder and plowed Cano over. The Yankee second baseman actually made the throw to complete the double play. And what I really love is Mike Lowell blaming it on the fact that he grew up in the Yankees farm system and that is what they taught him to do. "Hey baby, I hit you cuz you made me." Pathetic. The hit on Mientkiewicz was a total accident and sad.
So now Giambi is out, Hughes is more hurt than we thought. Mientkiewicz is out for a few days, and Clemens is hurt. The only good thing is Clemens is collecting a minor league salary and not his $94 million, which, to a Yankee fan, is kind of like a passenger on the Titanic saying "at least there's no sharks" as the ship goes down.
And things go from bad to worse.
PS. When I am at a Sox game when they are playing the Yankees, I keep my mouth shut and Yankee gear at home. I might be a traitor to some Yankee fans for not standing up and clapping and yelling when, for example, Jeter started things in the first inning with a double. But 1) I find that behavior obnoxious, like a Jew at a Christian wedding yelling out "Jesus is not the Messiah" and 2) I don't want to get my ass kicked. What I do that really bugs my friend is that I go overboard with cheering for the Sox. When Papelbon came in during the 9th, I was screaming "WILD THING!!!" as only an angry drunk Yankee fan could scream it. You would have thought I was auditioning for Major League 4, or whatever number they are on. It was fun.
PSS. I still hold out hope for the Yanks, but I also hold out hope that I'll see a 32 inch waist line again.