This is greybean.com version 5.0 (codename: keaton).
The live redesign is currently 8% complete.
I really just can’t take this. And, to be honest with you, I’m sort of sick of it. For a few years there (1998, ‘99, and, to an extent, 2000), watching the Yankees was fun because they just flat out won. Except that that’s mostly untrue, too. The ‘98 and ‘99 playoffs were littered with one- or two-run victories, extra inning games, and late come-from-behind Yankees rallies. So, they were just as nerve-wracking to watch as these games are now. Except that I wasn’t entirely sure that the Yankees ever could lose an important game back then. I had heard about their heartbreaking loss to the Indians in ‘97, but I hadn’t seen it (having not followed baseball basically from 1994 through 1997). So, there was a certain invincibility that these Yankees had built up for me, winning 114 regular season games in ‘98, and then going 22-3 over consecutive post seasons.
But, at this point, I’ve seen the Yanks lose enough times in big games to know that it’s always possible. It’s like that with staff aces. Everybody thinks of Roger Clemens as a lights-out starter, but I watched him pitch enough games for the Yankees that I saw him lose enough to always have doubted him. Same thing with all these guys: Pettitte, Wells, El Duque. You watch anyone pitch enough, you’ll see their weak spots, and then you’ll always know what they are. Even Mariano Rivera. I’ve seen him pitch enough that I know he isn’t entirely unhittable like a lot of people think (he blew saves in back-to-back games I was at—against the Braves and Orioles in ‘99—in fact).
So, now that I know they can lose, I have to fear it all of the time. And I don’t even mean those four games last year in the ALCS. From my point of view, the Yankees never had any business winning the first three games of that series, so it all evened out in the end. I mean 2001 and 2002. I mean games one and two against Oakland in ‘01. I mean game one against Minnesota last year.
Sometime back in ‘99 or 2000, I told Alisia that there would come a point where the Yankees would be terrible again, and they’d win 65 games per year for a while, but we’d have to love them anyway. And the thing is I kind of long for those days.
Okay, a couple quick things:
1. The Yankees freaking stink. I guess that’s pretty apparent, however.
2. Gary Sheffield should a.) have been ejected from that game in Boston and b.) definitely be suspended. It appears as though neither of those things are going to happen, however. Here’s the thing: Sheffield’s job in that situation is to do absolutely nothing. Walk away. Not shove the guy off of him. Walk away. Regardless of what the guy did. As long as Sheffield isn’t in danger of being severely injured (which was certainly not the case as the guy was no longer in contact with him) he needs to walk away and let security handle it. There is no situation where a player should ever act violently toward a fan. That and betting on games are the two most serious infractions against the game that a player can make. Frank Francisco, the Texas reliever who threw a chair at a fan last year, should’ve been permanently banned from the game. As should Ron Artest and Jermaine O’Neal and every other player who laid a hand on anyone in the stands that night be permanently banned from the NBA. I don’t understand how more people don’t feel that way.
I really don’t even need to say this anymore. It’s Monday. It rained.
Rained on us for three hours or so at the Cutters’ home-opener, in fact. In case you care, the New Haven County Cutters are the new team playing at Yale Field this year. Filling the vacancy left by the departed New Haven Ravens, they’re part of the independent Northeast League and they play a 92-game schedule. The league is said to be about equivalent to Double A ball. The Cutters won their first four games, all on the road. Tonight, in their Yale Field debut, they beat the Aces (a travelling team which plays all of its games on the road), 6-2 and improved their record to 5-0.
They play a good brand of baseball, do the Cutters. Having never seen an independent league game before, I didn’t really know what to expect. A couple of these guys were particularly impressive. Third Baseman Ryan Kane hit two doubles and already has three home runs on the short season. Starting pitcher Jordy Alexander (1-0) struck out eight Aces batters over six innings while allowing only one run. Second Baseman Gavin Fingleson made a great diving catch, had three hits and scored two runs. You might remember Gavin from the Australian Olympic baseball team. Then again, you might not.
This weather shouldn’t be legal. Why can’t it just stay like it was about two weeks ago when we were in the mid-sixties with some sunshine and some nice fluffy clouds to hold off the haze? That’s the way it should be five or six days a week, and the other day or two it should rain. That would be perfect. This sweaty armpit weather bites the big one. Bleck. Okay, read this:
Pittsfield uncovers earliest written reference to game
Associated PressPITTSFIELD, Mass. — Officials and historians in this western Massachusetts city released a 213-year-old document Tuesday that they believe is the earliest written reference to baseball.