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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

I was there

When I teach my kids about baseball, I'll get to say, "I was there."

When I teach my grandkids about titanic athletes, I will be able to say, "I was there."

When I take my family to Cooperstown on a mini-vacation, I'll be able to point to certain memorabilia and say, "I was there."

And when people ask me about The Second Coming, I will simply say, "I was there."

Jesus has officially arrived in Washington, D.C.  Or should I say, Stras-Vegas?  Stephen Strasburg's major league debut occurred on Tuesday, June 8, 2010 -- and I was there to be a witness to the moment's greatness.

Washington, D.C. caught Strasburg Fever ever since the draft last year.  Everyone pondered when he would throw his heat in the majors.  There had been talk about this kid for years.  Touted as the best arm to come along in decades.  He proved himself in the minors, blanking his opponents time and time again.  The hype intensified as reports came in from the farm as to his speed, his control and his placement.  Word got out that he might debut on June 4th against the Reds, and the game nearly sold out.  When that didn't happen, Nats Town got a little red in the face.  But then, Districtwide, a choir of angels could be heard.  Trumpets sounded.  It was finally announced -- we could all wish each other a Merry Strasmas on June 8th.

Tickets went quickly.  Too quickly.  I nearly didn't get any!  And to top it off, I paid an exorbitant amount of money for the tickets I did get.  After paying $5-20 to see my local team, I was shocked to pay $43 for a Tuesday night game.  Against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The PIRATES.  The Pirates do not qualify for "premium game" prices!  However, I sucked it up because I knew I would witness history.  I had Strasburg Fever.

On the morning of the 8th, I got up early.  Long before my alarm sounded, I was up and about with a smile on my face.  It was Christmas morning in June, and Stephen Strasburg was waiting for me, tied up in a little bow.  Dressed in red, I made it to Nats Park, my home away from home these past two years.  I couldn't believe the sight.  Who are these people???  The stadium was positively overrun.  Now, I've seen the place crowded.  The Red Sox and Phillies bring the dregs of D.C. society into the Park; but this night was different.  This night, everyone was in red.  The number "37" was everywhere.  Strasburg Fever had become an epidemic.

The atmosphere became electric when the theme to HBO's miniseries "John Adams" began to sound.  The game was about to begin.  He was about to take the mound.  All of a sudden, a tall, lanky figure emerged from the bullpen.  It was Him.  It was really Him.  The Front Office didn't dupe us.  Strasburg was actually about to throw a pitch in the majors.  Holy crap.

He took the mound.  Pittsburgh's McCutchen was the first to see the kid's stuff.  The first pitch came and went in the blink of an eye.  Ball.  What?!  That wasn't the way the fairy tale was supposed to go.  Oh well, the game isn't ONE pitch.  The wind-up... the pitch....  Ball two.  FOR REAL?!  All of a sudden, all the fans who were on their feet for the past thirty minutes screaming Strasburg's name took their seats.  Pudge gave the signal, Strasburg squared up, and the ball flew.  The sound of the bat making contact scared us all, but we were comforted by the sight of the ball landing safely in the shortstop's glove.

One away.  Perfect game still intact.

Yes, the Fever made us that delirious that we thought this was a possibility.  We weren't that far off.  By the end of the night, #37 gave us as close to a perfect baseball experience as a 21-year-old rookie could muster.  24 batters faced.  7 innings pitched.  4 hits.  2 runs, both earned.  1 home run.  0 walks.  14 strikeouts.  Only two other rookies had more in their debut with 15 Ks.  However, the kid still made history by breaking the Nationals' strikeout record by one.

And what's more, reliever Clippard and closer Capps seemed inspired by his performance.  Peaches lead off the 8th with a single, but struck out the next two batters and drew a pop fly to right to end the inning. Capps added to the strikeout count with one of his own, followed by two infield outs.  At the end of this historic evening, the Nats bullpen combined for 17 strikeouts.

The lineup also did their job.  Other than Strasburg, the man of the evening was our usual star, Ryan Zimmerman.  The third baseman was the first to put a run on the board with a solo home run to centerfield in the first inning.  He would score again twice more, helping the Nats win 5-3.  Adam Dunn and Josh "Hammer" Willingham each had home runs of their own.  Dunn's landed in the upper deck of right field.  Even the team had Strasburg Fever.

Not surprisingly, the winning pitcher was the Player of the Game, earning a pie to the face.  Twice.  As well as the honor of wearing Nyjer Morgan's silver pompadour.

The Fever did not break right away.  The next morning I woke up with pain in my right shoulder.  When a friend voiced her concern I said, "It's okay.  I saw Strasburg."  I was there.  And unlike most other people who were in attendance that night, I will be back.  I will still relish the pre-game drinking and live music at The Bullpen.  I will still roll my eyes whenever Clint is on the big screen.  And I will always cheer for Teddy to win the Presidents Race (LET TEDDY WIN!).  I'll be back even when Jesus isn't pitching, because I was there, even before he was.


Thursday, June 3, 2010

I heart John Sterling

Sadly, I no longer live in New York, so I can't just flip on the TV and watch my boys.  DC cable providers not smart enough to offer the YES Network.  (Anyone care to buy the MLB.tv or MLB cable package for me?!)  Thankfully, I'm a member of Yankees Universe, and part of the membership benefits include listening to games via Gameday, so I listen to the games on my computer.  I refuse to listen to non-Yankees announcers and I'm not fluent in Spanish, so I'm forced to listen to Suzyn Waldman and the infamous John Sterling.

There are tons of John Sterling haters out there, but I have to say, I heart the guy.  I think he's absolutely corny and ridiculous, which is why most people dislike him, but his dorky qualities I find endearing.  In a tribute to him (and a slow blogging week), I'm compling a list of Sterlingisms for this year's lineup.  Please feel free to add ones I've missed or your favorites from the past.

Robinson Cano - "Robbie Cano, dontcha know?!"
Derek Jeter - "El Capitan!"
Brett Gardner - "Gardner plants one in the seats.  Gardy goes yardy!"
Curtis Granderson - "Oh Curtis, you're something sort of Grandish.  The Grandy man can!"
Jorge Posada - "Jorge juiced one!"
Alex Rodriguez - "Alexander the Great conquers again.  An A-bomb from A-Rod!"
Nick Swisher - "Swishalicious!"
Mark Teixeira - "A Tex message into the seats.  You're on the Mark, Teixeira!"

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Very superstitious, writing’s on the wall

Baseball players (and fans) are among the most superstitious people on the planet.  Here’s the tale of Dennis Grossini.  On each pitching day, Grossini woke up at 10:00 a.m. on the dot.  In the afternoon, at 1 p.m., he would order two glasses of iced tea and a tuna sandwich from the nearest restaurant.  He would then change into the same sweatshirt and support he wore during his last winning game, and chew a wad of Beech-Nut chewing tobacco an hour before the game.  After each pitch he would touch the letters on his uniform, and after each ball he would straighten his cap.  The resin bag was always placed in the same spot throughout the game.  And at the end of each inning in which he gave up a run, he would wash his hands.

Insanity.

We believe in things like the Curse of the Bambino, lucky clothing, never speaking of a perfect game (or even a no-no) as it is in progress… Wade Boggs would eat chicken before each game.  No lie.  In a game where statistics rule, it’s no wonder we want to do the same things over and over if they have been proven in the past to work.  Therefore, it is in that spirit that I announce that I will never score another Yankees game ever again.  I have scored three games and they have lost all three.   Never mind the fact that I was wearing my lucky Yankees earrings as I scored them!   Apparently the bad juju of my scoring outweighs the historic luckiness of my white Yankees earrings.  I only pray that writing about my earrings have not zapped them of their power!

Behold my last Yankees scorecards!




Monday, May 24, 2010

Keep the helmet ON!

Let's face it; athletes can be really hot. As a job requirement, they have to be in shape, so the body is wicked fine; they have the capital to spend money on self-enhancing treatments on a regular basis (facials, mani/pedis, botox, etc.), so the face usually looks fairly good; and they can hire stylists to make sure that they’re dressed in flattering, in-style threads. So how is it that so many players out there look so ridiculously sexy on television/at the ballpark during their at-bat, and then once the helmet comes off… disaster strikes.

For example, let’s take my #1 Pookie, Mark Teixeira. When this man is at bat, I want to have his children. I know he’s married and has two kids already, but I can’t help it! His legs and tuchas look amazing, his shoulders look like they belong on Atlas, and his determined look as he stares down the pitcher just makes me melt. Observe the picture on the left -- absolute hot, rippling, Yankee masculinity (albeit in Angels gear). Now observe the photo on the right. Where did the hotness go?!

Oddly enough, the same thing goes for my #2 Pookie, Brett Gardner. Thankfully, Brett doesn’t have any wives or kids (that I know of) to make my lust a guilty one. He has those traditionally American rugged good looks that make me pray he gets to first so the cameras can linger on him a little longer as he steals the other bases. You can’t argue with me when you look at the first picture below. Then you have to ask me to get my head examined when you glance at the photo beneath it. I can’t blame you.


I’ve saved my ultimate example for last. 2009 AL MVP Joe Mauer is so good looking I can almost forgive him for trying to knock out my Yankees last post-season… and attempting to do it again in 2010. His smile could inspire me to do just about anything (short of moving to Minneapolis). I mean look:


I can’t put just one photo of this guy; it would be a disservice to women and gay-kind worldwide.

The man makes catching sexy (sorry Jorge and Gazoo). But then tragedy -- the man takes off his catcher’s helmet and all sex appeal just melts away. How is this even possible? What is it about a simple hat or helmet that transforms these men into gods on earth? The face doesn’t go away, nor does the body (thank goodness!), but the innate primal desire to jump the well-formed bones of these men surely does once they’ve returned to the dugout and placed their batting helmet in their nook. Is it just a matter of a poor haircut or unfortunate hairline? I think it has to be more than that, but I cannot place my finger on the source of this dilemma. What I do know is an easy solution: glue their helmets to their heads.

Friday, May 21, 2010

5/21 Yankees vs. Mets Tailgate

SUBWAY SERIES!!!  Bring out your batteries, boys and girls, the Yankees and Mets will be doing battle this weekend.  Tonight is game one of a three game series at Shea Stadium Citi Field.  The winner of the series gets to display their colors on the Empire State Building on Monday.  Currently, the ESB displays Yankees blue and white on the north and south sides and Mets blue and orange on the east and west sides.  NYY all time record versus the Mets?  42-30 (.583).

Start time: 7:10 p.m. EST
TV: YES/MLBN
Game #42 / Road Game #23

Weather: See the game forecast here, courtesy of Weather.com.

RHP Javier Vazquez (2-4, 8.01 ERA) vs LHP Hisanori Takahashi (3-1, 3.12 ERA)

Yankees Lineup
Jeter, SS
Gardner, CF
Teixeira, 1B
Rodriguez, 3B
Cano, 2B
Swisher, RF
Cervelli, C
Russo, LF

Mets Lineup
Jose Reyes, SS
Alex Cora, 2B
Jason Bay, LF
Ike Davis, 1B
David Wright, 3B
Angel Pagan, CF
Rod Barajas, C
Jeff Francoeur, RF

Keep your Eyes Peeled!
Mariano Rivera has pitched in 931 career games and needs 1 appearance to pass Gene Garber (931) for sole possession of 19th place on Baseball's all-time list behind Rollie Fingers (18th place - 944).
Derek Jeter has 446 career doubles and needs 3 doubles to tie Bernie Williams (449) for second place on the all-time franchise list behind Lou Gehrig (534).
Mark Teixeira has 249 career home runes and needs 1 HR to reach the 250 career home run plateau.
Jorge Posada (DL) has 249 career home runs and needs 1 HR to tie Craig Nettles for seventh place on the Yankees' all-time franchise home run list.
 
Today in Yankees History
May 21, 1930 - Babe Ruth hits three home runs in a 15-7 loss in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Philadelphia.  It marks his only regular season three-homer game as a Yankee, though he accomplishes the feat twice with the club in the World Series (1926 and 1928) and once in 1935 with the Boston Braves.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Well, that was fun

So I've only scored two major league baseball games in my entire life, and the Yankees lost both of them.  Dramatically.  I'm beginning to think this isn't so good of an idea.  My scorecards are below (with the wrong date, my bad!).  Note the "Oscar!" notation for Cervelli in the 9th.  This is a very scientific MLB term for a base on balls earned by an Oscar-worthy performance by the batter.  Kudos to you, Gazoo!


Wednesday, May 19, 2010

5/19 Yankees vs. Rays Tailgate

Preview of tonight's game and kickoff of the 2-game series at Yankees Stadium:

Start time: 7:05 p.m. EST
TV: MY9
Game #40 / Home Game #18

Weather:  Variable clouds.  Partly to mostly sunny with temperatures steady or falling to near 60F.  Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.

RHP AJ Burnett (4-1, 3.31 ERA) vs RHP Wade Davis (3-3, 3.38 ERA)

Yankees Lineup
Jeter, SS
Gardner, CF
Teixeira, DH
Rodriguez, 3B
Cano, 2B
Cervelli, C
Thames, RF
Miranda, 1B
Winn, LF

Devil Rays Lineup
Jason Bartlett, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Ben Zobrist, RF
Evan Longoria, 3B
Carlos Pena, 1B
BJ Upton, CF
Hank Blalock, DH
John Jaso, C
Reid Brignac, 2B


Keep your Eyes Peeled!
Jorge Posada has 249 career home runs and needs 1 HR to tie Craig Nettles for seventh place on the Yankees' all-time franchise home run list
Mark Teixeira has 249 career home runes and needs 1 HR to reach the 250 career home run plateau.