Perfect.  The dream season continues.  A stirring comeback against a cross-town rival, a less stirring but still extremely satisfying comeback against a division team, then this.  Perfect.  A three run lead with (what else?) two outs and two strikes in the sixth.  A stirring phone call from Tony Sherry, as expected, as the Ferocious Lion’s home run was landing in D-elaware.  And then they did it again.  It is apparent to me that there is a huge cement wall blocking our way.  When we get knocked back far enough, we start to move forward rapidly, only to smash into it and stumble backwards.  Again and again.  This is a Sisyphean nightmare.

            I watched Palmeiro’s bomb go out just as the grandma pie from Nino’s showed up.  I slammed off the TV in disgust and retired to the table to put back four slices (that’s a big night at the table for me).  I’m clearly miserable.  The Mrs. can tell.    Phone rings just as we’re finishing up.  “That might be good news” said the Mrs.  “Depends who it is,” I said.  I walk over to the phone – Acc.  “It’s either bad or neutral” I said before I answered.  “He doesn’t call with good news.  He thinks it bad luck”.  I answer the phone.  “Big boy”.  “Insurance runs” he says.  “Talk to me.  We got em or we need em?  I’m in the dark.  I was eating four slices of Grandma pie from Nino’s on third ave”.  You ate four slices?”   “I know, dude.  I did good….well?  We got em or we need em?”  “Need em.  Let’s get them.” he said.  I knew it wasn’t happening.  When I saw that Ponson was still on the mound, I knew it.  The Yankees had slipped right back into their maddening ways.  I knew he had thrown 90 pitches through six.  A fat guy in the heat and humidity.  And somehow, yet again, they managed to get away from their plan at the plate one more time.  Because there he was finishing out the eighth.  And of course, an error plays a crucial role in the loss, yet again.  That is about as automatic as anything on this team.  There will be a crooked number in the “E” column, and you can bet it will have cost them runs.  Flash Gordon must seriously be the worst fielding pitcher in baseball history.  I thought he should have gotten the error on the ball that Giambi threw to him yesterday.  He should have made that catch.  And then he threw the ball away, just to make sure they got every run possible.  Tonight he got another error, but I’ll make the same comment about Tino.  How does he not catch that?  I don’t care if the throw was a little off.  He’s in there for defense, no?  And I only say that because I’m going to assume that when you’re hitting .225, you’re in there for defense.

Before the end of top ten, Acc and I were discussing who was going to pitch bottom ten.  It was more that we were agreeing that it was a no-brainer.  Obviously, Mo goes in the tenth.  Let him pitch his two innings, and then take your chances with the rest of the pen.  You’ve got your thumpers coming up in the top of the eleventh.  Besides, the guy never gets a chance to pitch.  The Yankees are never winning, first of all, and when they are its some weird circumstance.  Interesting time to note that the Yankees had been losing by three runs in every single game for their last ten games before tonight.  Ten in a row. Three comebacks.  Seven losses.  But down by three in all ten games.  Tonight they went with something a little different.  They went out to a three run lead.  Then blew it.  Interesting.  I’m glad I watched.  So anyway, I’m still on the phone with Acc when UPN 9 shows a shot of S-tanton warming up next to Mo in the pen.  We were incredulous.  That couldn’t be.  What was Torre doing?  This was an obvious terrible move.  Why don’t you try to win the game?  Why don’t you want to win the game?   What’s the point?  I don’t get it.  Are you saving Rivera for the bottom of the eleventh?  Roberts is a righty, and Torre’s got S-tanton in to face him.  I have no idea what that was about.  I could have called any one of the boys at that moment, and every one of them would have known that S-tanton was the wrong move.  Acc and I knew it just seeing him warming up in the pen.  So how does Torre not know?  How does everyone else know, and Torre doesn’t?  I can tell you right now – Lee Mazzilli was sitting in the dugout not believing his eyes when he saw S-tanton.  How did Torre not know?  So we knew what was next.  No surprise there.  Thanks for coming.

The Yanks were full of chatter the last few days about how they all got together to talk about baseball and how they need to relax and keep their approach consistent.  It all sounded really convincing.  And after the last two games, you might have believed them.  That is, if you just got off a boat from Franc-e and hadn’t seen them play a game this year.   Because this was yet another performance of the game that they have perfected this season.  Good approach, start hitting, looking good…….and…..stop.  Cold.  No more hits, no more runs, no more walks, no more patient at bats, just lots of swings at lots of mediocre pitches and quick outs.  And a sagging, whimpering, punchless finish.  Hang the L. 

Love to see JJ getting into the action.  Keep em coming, JJ.  I actually agree with your comment.  Triple J is proud of you.  But I’m going to have to agree with Vino.  That Sox hat has to go.  I know, you’re a fashionable kid, and last year, it was “the cool thing” to like the Red Sox.  But you are a N-ew Y-ork kid.  Don’t disrespect this town.  Again – liked your comment, though. 

Mike Sherry and I did about 15 minutes on the phone today on Giambi, juice heads, etc.  I don’t know what to do at this point.  I mentioned that, amazingly, A-Rod has hit exactly three home runs in the last month and three days.  And two of those were in the same game – a 12-3 win against the Brew Crew, and the third was the 19^th run in a 20 run game against the D-Rays.  I can’t remember when anyone on this team has hit one that wasn’t a solo shot.

Minor clarification on Sean’s comment.  He is absolutely right.  It was three straight strikes.  But there was ball on the first pitch, and on the 1-2 pitch he got rung up on a terrible call.  It was not a pitch he should have swung at.  That call s*cked.  But you’re not wrong….  I will cut the guy some slack because it’s the only time in five trips he didn’t get on base.

Can’t wait for tomorrow’s game.  Can’t wait to see what’s in store for us…..

      

            Back when we worked on the trucks, the Head of the Parks Dept was a guy named Bill Trice.  Nice guy.  Riding with him was a nice easy day.  He would sing, talk smack about what a ladies man he was – “They call me coffee cause I grind so fine” (he was sixty something) – and he would tell you all kinds of stories.  Stories about when he was in the service, when he was a kid growing up in the south, west, midwest, and someplace else I can’t remember.  Amazing stories.  Some were definitely completely fabricated.  Like the one he told me about the time he was on a ship in the navy and he saw a dolphin kick the cr*p out of a shark in the open sea.  I guess it could be true, but I know he was full of sh*t.  But anyway, one of Bill’s favorite songs was “What a Difference a Day Makes”.  Only he used to sing – “What a Difference a Day Make.”  Brian and Dave Rumble got a big kick out of that.  I remember Bri Rumble yelling it to me one time as I was walking to the plate when I was in a batting slump.  But it didn’t sound like Bill.  That guy could sing.

            What a difference a day makes.  Sunday night we were three outs away from spending Monday in an eight-and-a-half game hole.  Two three-run comebacks and one Bosox a*s-kicking later, our hole is only five-and-a-half-games deep.  At this point, I’ll take it.  Tonight was a nice win.  This was the type of win you need if you’re going to be a consistent winner.  We haven’t seen a lot of these games this year.  I’m not even going to focus on the three run comeback.  I’m more impressed that, when they tied it, the bullpen was able to throw scoreless innings up there and the bats found a way to scratch some runs out.  Then the bullpen worked exactly the way it’s supposed to.  Sturtze-Flash-Mo.  This was a good win.  Acc called early.  He was convinced Jeter was going to b*tch out with the bases loaded.  Drew a huge walk.  The 42 inch plasma was a couple of seconds ahead of him, so he would often hang up immediately before the pitch so I wouldn’t ruin it for him.  I got my due when Tony Sherry called me and I was behind him a couple of seconds.  I heard him scream “game over – happy christmas” (one of his stock lines) as I was watching the ball bounce to Cano.  At that point, I didn’t care.  That was a nice, satisfying win.

            Eight comments on the blog today.  That is what I am talking about.  Two were violent Mike Sherry mood swings, which included an apparent misunderstanding of a voicemail I left him, but I liked to see his oomph was back by his second comment.  Tony Sherry floating above his bed – exactly what I expect from a man who missed one of the best games of the year because he was still crantampalated from a bachelor party the night before.  Chris Woy, there isn’t a vat of oragel (or Orajel, depending on what kind of mood Acc is in) big enough for the pain I put myself through because of this team.  Why?  I don’t know.  I just do.  I know people might want to assume that Mannino, just because she’s a girl, liked Acc’s story about his boy because it’s a “baby story”.  Then she comes in hard with some raging Giambi bashing just to twist it around on you.  And of course, the Lt. with a comment posted as the game is ending.  Kudos to the Lt. on his posts.  They are relevant, have good content, salient points, contain military lingo, and are sprinkled with anecdotes.  Everything you would expect from an instructor at the US Naval Submarine Tactical Warfare School.  Did I get that right, dude?  You have to cut me some slack, because while you were out defending our country, I was playing stickball with Mike Sherry, Acc, Prunty, and the Rumble brothers.

            But a special thumbs up to Vino on his comment.  Might have been the funniest statement that has ever appeared on BPS.  If anybody didn’t kick through the comments from yesterday, please do yourself a favor.  Vino’s was award winning.

            So more venom on Giambi.  The BPS comments reflected it, the papers today reflected it.  I guess it is what it is.  Some great articles in the Post today.  The headline from Joel Sherman read (to Vino’s point) “Don’t Get Excited – One stirring Yank win isn’t enough to save sorry season.”  Another article declared (tongue-in-cheek) “Jason Adoration”.  The guy was on base four out of five times tonight, and got his average up to .260 before he was called out on a bad strike three call.  Hopefully the power will come back next.

            I’ve done some thinking, and I’ve come up with a solution for Giambi.  There are many fans out there who simply can’t get past the fact that he’s being paid so much money, and he’s falling way below what was expected.  He should realize that.  It’s the nature of the beast, and of this town.  And by all accounts, he’s a guy who wants to be liked; to a fault, they say.  All of his teammates speak very highly of him.  Jeter says he’s just a real good guy all around.  Whatever.  He should have done this six months ago, and it may be too late, but it may not.  Here’s what he should do.  He should call George Steinbrenner tonight and say – “George, I was juicing.  I want to void my contract right now and save you the $17mm a year.  In exchange I want you to give me a deal to play for the rest of the year at the league minimum, $375k, or whatever it is.  I’m going to call a press conference tomorrow and apologize to the fans and to the league for not being completely open and truthful, and I will take whatever lumps the league hands me.  At the end of the year, if you want to let me walk, I walk.  For free.”  Here’s what he accomplishes – the fans get off his back.  The media all of the sudden does a 180 and starts talking about what a stand-up guy he is, instead of Bonds, McGwire and Sosa, who hold all of these tainted records, whimpering that some “trainer” gave them some sort of “cream” and they didn’t know what was in it.  MLB gets a poster boy to make the other guys look bad.  He becomes Steinbrenner’s new favorite guy.  The Boss has always loved reclamation projects (Steve Howe, Strawberry, Billy Martin, Gooden) and what better way to get in his good graces than by saving him lots of cash.  He’d be guaranteed a job in the organization when he retires.  Who will he pi*s off?  His agent, who will probably sue him because he’s getting a $1.7mm shaft.  All things being equal, I think the Yanks would probably not mind picking part of that up.  Look what they would be saving.  The players union might also be unhappy.  They tend to frown upon players putting money back on the table.  Who cares?  What does he lose?  Money.  So what?  He’s rich anyway – big time.  And I’m sure he feels like he’d rather have the peace of mind than the extra money at this point, and he will forever be known as a guy who did the right thing.  And even if he closed out the year the way he’s been playing, you think there aren’t a bunch of teams that would take a chance on him for a few million a year?  But all of that aside, there is one reason, most of all, why he should make the call.  He will wake up every morning with the weight of the world off of his shoulders.  And it would be a small price to pay.  Not sure if the Giambino reads the BPS, but if he does – think about it, dude.

            JJ told me a great story about his brother (we at BPS know him as Triple J, of course) on Saturday.  As told to me, Triple J was at a wedding on Friday night.  While the bride, groom, and guests were enjoying the festivities, Triple J and a few other guys (one of whom was a groomsman, apparently) were in the kitchen, huddled around a small TV following the game with some freebies from the kitchen staff, who were watching with them.  Beautiful.  That’s what separates this town from everywhere else.  That is the kind of passion that generates the electricity this town has for its baseball.  And tonight…… well, tonight was the reason we huddle around TVs and radios at barbeques, on the beach, or wherever.  We’re always hoping to see this baseball game.

            I have been hoping to get into that Met bullpen all weekend.  As I’ve made clear in the last two BPS posts, I’ve been tracking the Met starters’ pitch counts, hoping to pass that magic 100 pitch mark as soon as possible.  This while hoping the Yankees could keep it close enough to strike.  It was clear, as I opined yesterday, that falling behind early, by two run or more margins, makes everything you do on a baseball field more difficult, and takes more concentration, when you are playing from behind.  Tonight was more of the same, with one key difference.  They didn’t fall behind early.  They fell behind late.  Why is this relevant?  Because a team, especially this team, has more invested in a game in the seventh inning.  If they are going to battle and claw for seven innings, they will be much more reluctant to resign themselves to defeat.  Tonight, they would not be denied.

            The Mets did not deserve this game.  If the Yankees lost, that statement would sound like sour grapes.  It still might.  But any Met fan, in a moment of clarity, knows it’s true.  The Mets got three runs in the seventh inning.  It never should have come to that.  When Chris Woodward, batting with two outs and two strikes, looked at what clearly should have been an inning-ending strike three (ESPN k-zone agreed), Jerry Crawford gave him an early Christmas present, calling a ball.  Two huge Yankee errors later, the Mets had a three run lead.  So the Mets get three runs, all unearned, on a gift call and two errors.  Sorry Mets, that’s not going to get you a subway sweep.  You’re going to have to earn it.

            More trouble from the umps with Gary Sheff.  Terrible “ball” call on Sheff before he hit the famous ground ball in the seventh (again, the ESPN k-zone strongly agreed).  Led to some jawing between Jerry Crawford and the Sheff.  Then Sheff hits a ground ball that Marlon Anderson played into a very close play at first.  Now, I’m always a proponent of the idea that a play that close is impossible to call correctly every time.  For this reason, you can’t really fault an ump for blowing it every so often.  Generally, they get them right.  One could argue that in such a crucial point in the game, you need to get that call right, but that doesn’t change my general philosophy.  Two points I want to make on that call.  First, the thing looked like a tie every way you slice it.  Maybe Sheff’s toe hit a split second before the ball arrived, but let’s assume a tie.  You often hear that, although you hear it on the kickball field from Mrs. Linkner when you are in first grade, no where in the rule book does it actually say that a tie goes to the runner.  Jon Miller, the ESPN broadcaster, actually hit it right on the nose.  The rule book explicitly says that the ball has to beat the runner to the base.  Correct.  It does not say the runner has to beat the ball to the base.  Jon Miller correctly pointed out that therefore, by definition, tie goes to the runner.  Second point; in keeping with my general philosophy, CB Bucknor had an extremely difficult call to make, so he deserves some leeway.  But along the same lines, Gary Sheff deserves some leeway for being upset at a call that has tremendous implications for the ballgame.  He would have been the tying run on base with one out.  Also, anyone who’s played (plays, if you’re Grossman, a pitcher who actually got to hit for his team the other night) baseball knows that, as a runner, you can tell when you beat it.  You know precisely when your foot hits the bag, and you can very clearly hear the thwack of the ball in the glove.  Sheff knew he beat it, and he got robbed.  Okay.  CB Bucknor throws him out of the game as soon as he throws his helmet.  Unfair.  The same way CB deserves some slack, so does Sheff.  Some may rightfully argue that cursing at the ref and getting right up in his grill will get you thrown out every time.  It will and should.  But every replay clearly shows that Sheff was thrown out of the game the minute the helmet hit the ground, before he even turned around towards Bucknor -  an extraordinarily quick hook in that situation.  All of the extra stuff came afterwards.  I suspect that was Bucknor trying to kiss Jerry Crawford’s a*s a bit with the punch out because of the earlier jawing on ball/strike calls.  In any case, it had tremendous ramifications for the game, as Sheff’s spot was due to hit first in the ninth.

            I was a true life lunatic watching this game.  I listened to the first hour and change in Belt pkwy traffic coming back from Ralphie’s boy Matthew’s christening.  When I got back, it was about the fourth inning.  I was forcing the Mrs. to come upstairs in the loft for all of the crucial moments, as she is generally accepted to be a Yankee good luck charm.  I was calling all over to try and talk strategy/commiserate in the seventh, but I couldn’t get anybody.  Could very well be that they weren’t taking my psychopath calls, because I was raging all over the loft and around the rest of the apartment.  In particular, I had a big beef with Torre’s decision to pinch hit for Womack with no outs and Jeter on second in the seventh.  You are already into an awful Mets bullpen in the seventh inning.  You are down two runs.  Bunt the runner to third and get the one run.  You have to like your chances against that bullpen only down a run.  But Torre played for the big hit, which is an extremely low percentage gamble.  It lost, as Sierra struck out.  Lucky for him that A-Rod picked him up.  Also, we were now stuck with Sierra in the outfield.  Torre later redeemed himself by pinch hitting Tino for Russ Johnson to lead off the ninth.  Tino put a great nine-pitch at bat on Pedro the other night, and hit one out on Looper.   Who would have played the outfield, who knows and who cares….  Of course the errors set me off as well.  But as the ninth unfolded I had the Mrs. bolted to the sofa in the loft.  Wouldn’t let her leave.  As a matter of fact, after the leadoff walk, when I charged downstairs three steps at a time to grab my lucky hat, I grabbed hers as well.  So there we are wearing our lucky hats, one gray haired monster jumping around as A-Rod’s smash goes over the bag at third, and one very tired red-head, laughing at the ridiculousness of it.  But it wasn’t ridiculous.  Ridiculous was what happened after Giambi’s base hit.  Accidentally knocked my fist into the ceiling when I was jumping around, I did.  Didn’t hurt so much, but it certainly set the Mrs. a-giggle.  Didn’t care.  Would do it again in a New York minute.

            Speaking of Mr. Giambi, he’s hitting .307 in the month of June, and has his average almost up to .260, with an on-base percentage of .396.  He’s taking pitches the other way, winning games with clutch hits, and he even bunted to beat the shift the other night.  Let’s leave the guy alone.  He was a cheating juice-head, yes.  But I’ll say it one more time.  Who cares how many home runs he used to hit and what he’s getting paid?  If he can help the team more than the next guy, put him in.  And I appreciate the fact that he truly wanted to play for this team, and he truly wants to win in this town.  As I’ve said before I’ll continue root for the guy, even if no one else will.

            As expected, the Lt. posted before the players were off the field.  We both came to class grumbling on Saturday morning.  Mike Sherry, to your point – they are no longer dancing in the streets in flushing.  Except for the Yankee fans.

            I saw a great t-shirt that somebody was wearing in the stands.  It said, “At least our last championship wasn’t won on an error”.  You might have said the same about this game.  And what a game……

     

            So I’m at the game today, and an idea occurs to me.  Maybe I can somehow get the word to Joe Torre.  Sean Henn, obviously, cannot make another major league start for this team, so I have a suggestion for a new fifth starter.  My mom.  Her name is Winnie, and she is not necessarily the prototype pitcher, I will tell you.  In fact, I’m not sure she can pitch the ball overhand.  But still, I think my mom has just as good a chance to get out big league hitters as does Sean Henn, and she makes good brownies.  So I’ll throw her name in as a candidate.

            The Yankees had their problems today.  You might say the Yankees have had their problems this season.  There were plenty of mistakes, there were missed opportunities, etc., etc.  But the Yankees still had a shot to win this game, and they hung in there until the fifth.  Sean Henn, however, simply would not let them win this game.  Sean Henn was lucky to have even been as close as he was.  He was throwing batting practice all day.  The balls that didn’t find a hole or go over the wall were screaming shots that the Yankees managed to get a glove on.  The Mets were pounding balls all afternoon, as well as blooping them, squibbing them and whatever else.  Same results.  Hit after hit.  Fourteen hits, to be exact. 

I’m seeing some media leaking out tonight declaring Glavine “in command” all day.  That is ridiculous.  Tom Glavine today was tired, old, and lucky to be facing Sean Henn.  Despite the Louisville Slugger fireworks show the Mets put on, they only outhit the Yankees by three.  The Yankees had eleven hits on the day, with only three runs to show for it.  They had Tom Glavine at 75 pitches after 4 innings in the late June heat, allowing two runs, six hits and two walks up to that point.  That’s two base runners in every inning and way too many pitches.  Anyone that watched the game could see that the only thing that saved Glavine in those early innings was more circus plays by the Met fielders, specifically Reyes getting Jeter on a diving play to short, Bernie’s shot to left that was pounded too close to Floyd, and Posada’s shot to center that was run down by Beltran.  The latter two plays came with two on, and Reyes’ play came with a runner in scoring position.  All three balls were smashed, and all told, five runs were saved.  But Glavine was still in trouble.  This is where Henn came in.  He struggled mightily in the fifth (like the first four were a breeze) and gives up a run.  Despite Mel strolling out and making a big show of having a long conference on the mound, for some reason he doesn’t take Sean Henn out.  Why would he?  He’s only facing Cliff Floyd, the most potent bat in the lineup – a man who has as many home runs as A-Rod and already had hit a moon shot in the first.  Floyd hits one, blah blah blah, we know the rest.  Glavine from that point was pitching with a four run lead, which grew as the game wore on.

Now, one could argue that the Mets’ superior fielding put them in a position to win this game.  Okay.  I would argue that the Mets, who have not dazzled in the field this year, committing exactly one less error than the Yankees, have not exactly been circus performers.  Reyes and David Wright are either dead last or near the bottom in fielding percentage at their positions.  They just happen to have brought their leather this series.  Another tangible the Mets brought, and you saw it at Shea as well, is they ran, ran, ran.  Poor Bernie has just been humiliated in center the last few days.  Teams are running on absolutely everything hit towards him.  Who knows better than Willie?  They played small ball.  Reyes bunted, moved over on a sac fly and a stolen base, and voila – a run.  Wasn’t Womack supposed to be doing things like that?  And Kenny Lofton before him?  So the Mets did some things that put runs on the board, especially early. 

I know the Met fans are all pumped up right now because they’re taking a series at Yankee Stadium, and they think their season is turning around, and whatever else.  Sorry, Mets.  We couldn’t beat the Devil Rays either. Nor the Royals.  To paraphrase George Costanza – it’s not you, it’s us.  These are the exact same, carbon copy games we have been losing over the last month.  You’re going to go play Philly after this, and Pat the Bat is going to hit five home runs, and you’re going to be scratching your head wondering how you came back down to earth after the Yankee series.  How do I know?  Go ask the Royals and D-Rays, or Brew Crew, for that matter. 

Which brings me to my conclusion.  I think I have finally come to grips with what has been causing these unbelievably similar and seemingly inexplicable slides.  First, some numbers:

3-0    1^st

5-2  3^rd

3-2  3^rd (5-2  5^th)

2-0  1^st

3-1  4^th

5-3  5^th

5-2  6^th

3-0  3^rd

2-0  2^nd

7-0  3^rd

5-2  7^th

3-0  2^nd

5-3  7^th

5-4  5^th

3-1  2^nd

2-0  1st   

This list represents the 16 losses the Yankees have suffered during Nightmare II and III (yes, III, it’s official).  The score and the inning represent the deficit they faced in the earliest point in the game that they faced it.  So, obviously, in the first game of the streak (that 17-1 mess against the Bosox), they were down 3-0 in the 1^st inning, and so on down the list.  This does not represent the final score, because I thought this was more compelling.  If you look at the list, in my opinion, you have the reason for this loop that we’re stuck in.  They take themselves out of the game early.  As the list demonstrates, in ten of the sixteen losses, they were down by at least two runs by the third inning.  In all but three of the losses, they were down by at least two runs by the sixth.  It is extremely difficult, as a team, to remain focused and relaxed at the plate when you are constantly playing from behind.  The hallmark of the two sour streaks was low walks, low strikeouts, and lots of swinging at garbage.  Yesterday and today were a perfect example.  The Yankee bats were executing a patient and exacting game plan perfectly through four innings, but in both games they were down by three runs at the end of four.  This caused them to get over anxious and away from their game plan.  They let the pitchers off the hook and postponed a would-be early entry for the bullpen. I suppose it’s difficult not to get jumpy, when you see a game slipping away, and you know you have the talent to strike quickly.  Everyone tries to do too much.  Tim McCarver called the Red Sox relentless today.  This Yankee team is not relentless.  They used to be relentless in the late nineties, but then they become more of a power show.  In any case, they can still hit.  But during this streak, they have consistently fallen behind early, and it causes them to get away from the game plan.  Case in point – in none of the sixteen games did they end up scoring more than four runs, and in fourteen of the sixteen, they stopped at three.

To get past this, they need to be patient, the starters need to buck up in the early innings, and the fielders have got to tighten up.  The Yankees are among the top ten in the majors with 50 errors, but it’s not that bad.  The most is 63, the average is about 47.  But they have the most unearned runs in the major leagues (46) by far.  More than every last place team.  Tells you a lot.  Not just errors.  Bad errors.

Some notes on the game.  There was a hammerhead vendor selling Haagen Dasz (I probably spelled that wrong) ice cream bars in section 15 today.  He was a dirty guy, and he had this 70’s p-orn star mustache, and he was stopping to tell all of the Met fans that he was a really a Met fan, too.  I was sitting next to Sean, and we couldn’t take it anymore, so we started jawing with the guy.  And he starts screaming “scoreboard”.  At a Yankee game.  Where he works.  To Yankee fans, on whom he depends to buy his ice cream.  Are you kidding me, dude?  Needless to say, Sean and I harassed that guy out of the section, and he didn’t come back until the eighth inning, when it was mostly Met fans left.  Realizing his earlier mistake, he tried to backtrack, saying he loved Yankee fans, etc.  We chased his a*s out again.

So here we are again, depending on a Sunday Night game to salvage a tie in the season series.  Randy Johnson is supposedly not healthy.  Great.  Like I said, let me know if I need to have my mom available.

       

            Well, Mets – welcome to the 2005 Yankees.  I know you had already played 3 games against the Yanks before tonight, but this was really your first look at the team they have been all year.  I have seen this game a million times.  I have seen the first six innings of this game about 10 times over the last 7 years.  Pedro on the mound.  You get him on the ropes in the first or second.  At least you think he’s on the ropes.  But every time it happens, you look up at the scoreboard and there are two out.  He proceeds to slip out of it, and you realize that you never really had him like you thought you did.  Not then, anyway.  He then throws more pitches than he wants to, and finds himself at a crossroads.  This is where the Yankees have always had his number.  The formula has always been to bleed him out of the game by the seventh and then devour the bullpen.  Tonight they were on track, and then broke down.  Should be noted that they don’t always beat him.  He’s had a few monster wins against them, of course.  His record against the Yankees has always hovered around .500.  It’s his teams’ record against the Yankees that is abysmal.  And that’s the trick.

Tonight’s game was a brilliant mix of a typical Yankee/Pedro game and the recent cookie cutter Yankee losses that have all followed the same maddening pattern.  Pedro was forced to throw 64 pitches in four innings.  The Yankees, meanwhile, found their way to two errors in one inning (could easily have been scored three, as Marlon Anderson’s ball came right out of Tino’s glove – he needs to make that play) and allowed two gift runs to cross the plate for the Mets.  Then everything settled down.  The Mets got a few, the Yanks got one more, but the Yankees, curiously, went away from their time-honored, “beat-Pedro” secret sauce.  They had the guy at 64 pitches through 4 innings.  He got through the next 4 innings with 42 pitches.  This speaks directly to Mike Sherry’s comment on yesterday’s BPS (by the way – one comment?  Come on people, you’re better than that).  Where were Joe Torre and Donnie Baseball?  For that matter, where were Jeter, Bernie, Tino, Posada, and everybody else who have done this a thousand times?  Why weren’t they giving clear instructions on how to beat this guy?  Why are they swinging at the first pitch and letting everybody else swing at the first pitch?  After 93 pitches with one out in the seventh, all you need to do is make the guy throw ten more pitches or so and he’s done for the night.  He doesn’t come back out in the eighth.  The next sequence in the seventh was a major breakdown.  They not only let him out of that inning with only 6 more pitches, but then they let him sneak through the eighth on only 5 pitches.  Five outs, eleven pitches.  Inexcusable.  At that point, the Yankees need to play smart.  Instead, they all start swinging away.  Didn’t matter – nobody on, two out – who cares?  Swing away!  The leaders of the team need to call the team together and set the strategy on what needs to be done, instead of reverting back to the new (is it too early to call it Nightmare III?) standard of waving at the ball all night while never puncturing the four run ceiling.

I’m going to throw something out there that’s going to sound strange.  Tino hit a bomb in the ninth inning tonight.  Great.  Tino Martinez should never have been in this lineup.  Why isn’t Giambi in this game?  Tino misplayed a ball in the second that eventually came around to score, but more importantly, he was meat in his first three at-bats.  The guy has been awful.  When he finally did hit the bomb, it was too little, too late.  Giambi takes pitches and bleeds pitchers.  He has a .400 obp.  He’s exactly the type of hitter we need against Pedro.  If there ever was a game he should have been in, this was the one.  Pedro pitches him carefully.  And he has a history of hitting big bombs against Pedro.  I seem to remember bouncing around the lower tier of the upper deck during game 7 (we all know which one) with Cousin Bobby, Cousin Angelo, and Stevie D.    

So now it’s up to Sean Henn.  You have to be kidding me.  The only way we have a shot at tomorrow’s game is if we tee off on Glavine.  If we don’t put up at least seven or eight runs tomorrow, we’re going to be staring at yet another Sunday Night prayer to try to salvage a season series.  And we all know how well those Sunday night games have gone….

I will be there with Sean (unless mlb.com calls him away) and our dates (wives).  If I’m not too furious, I’ll try and post some pictures…. 

   

            Almost 40%.  That’s the percentage of the Devil Rays’ road wins this season that have come at the expense of the New York Yankees at the Stadium in the last four days.   They have a grand total of eight road wins.  Three of those in the last four days.  The Yanks account for 27% of their total wins.  That means more than one out of every four games the Devil Rays have won have been against the Yankees.  I honestly can’t take much more of this.  There are reasons that both can and cannot be explained.  First, what can be explained.  The Yankee hitters started to panic.  We’ve seen it many times this year.  Instead of the popular three run limit, for this series they went with the four run limit.  Once they hit four, they stopped.  And the one game they won they needed to pull off a miracle comeback.  Tonight they all started swinging at garbage, getting overanxious.  This team is moody.  When one gets down, they all get down.  When one gets jumpy, they all get jumpy.  They revert back to some bad habits that we’ve seen highlighted in Nightmare I and II.  They don’t take walks, and they don’t strike out.  They just get over anxious and swing at balls out of the strike zone.  And they hit them right at people.  And it appears the worse the team, the more nervous they get.  So we’re okay on that.

Now the stuff that can’t be explained.  Let me first start by saying that the league is hitting .245 with 2 outs and runners in scoring position.  I can’t get data on what the league is hitting with two outs, regardless of runners.  Anyway, the Devil Rays, in the three games they won this series, scored nineteen runs.  Seventeen of those runs were scored with two out.  Let me highlight that one more time, and just drink it in for a second.  Seventeen.  I don’t care how good or bad you are, that is some unbelievable stuff.  And way more than half of those have been with two strikes and two out.  I wish I had data on what the league is hitting with two outs and two strikes.  You might call that clutch hitting.  Stating the obvious.  But I would say that they didn’t come up with clutch hits because they’re great clutch hitters.  The Rays’ stats don’t bear out that they are particularly clutch hitters.  When you are in the top six or seven in most offensive categories and you’ve only won 26 games, I would say you could make that assumption.  And even if a team is clutch, I don’t care who you are, you need some unbelievable good fortune if you want to pull an anomaly like that off.    I’ll go back to an analogy I like to use.  In the home run derby, the hitters are thrown nothing but very hittable BP fastballs.  They still only hit about 20% out, if that.  The guys getting the hits were guys hitting .250, the guys hitting huge home runs were all guys with less than ten home runs. All of them.

We are stuck in this crazy pattern where the unbelievable is the norm.  Sooner or later this has to stop.  The Yankees are too good for this crazy spin.  Things have to level off.  Every single moment of this 72 game season has found them in some sort of streak.  Every moment.  You can’t keep that up.  The way out of the streakiness must be up.  They are not a .500 team.  Yet that is where they are stuck.  Something even more strange would have to happen for them to slope downward.  It’s a matter of waiting for this ship to level off.  If you look at the team, look at where they rank in terms of stats, this team must level off sloping upward.  Everybody knows the Yankees are a great team.  Go ask Dusty Baker, who, as we have mentioned in BPS, called the Yankees the best team he has faced all year.  Jim Kaat had a good observation on the broadcast.  He mentioned that Dusty Baker couldn’t believe the Yanks were hovering around .500.  No one can.  But Kaat said that perhaps we should look at a game like this and ask how have the Devil Rays only won 26 games?  Exactly!  How have the Royals been so terrible?  Why are the Brewers six games under .500?  Every time we played these stupid teams, they played like world-beaters.  It’s not like the Yankees went in there and forfeited.  These teams all made circus catches, clutch hits, battled pitchers, bled pitch counts.  Teams that have not shown they could do any of these things during the rest of the season.  If you have watched the games this year, you have seen teams play on an entirely different level against the Yanks.  The Devil Rays are a perfect example.  Against the Yanks, their stats are markedly higher than their overall numbers.  Batting average – 52 points higher.  On base percentage – 60 points higher.  Hits per game, runs per game, home runs per game, all much higher.  And of course – wins…..

I’m sick of this.  We’re almost at the all star break.  We’ve played nothing but half-a*s teams, and we’re stuck close to .500.  Acc, excellent comment today.  I was grateful for the skulling you handed Pavano.  He deserves it.  I have now officially put him in the “just pitches well enough to lose” category.  He is officially a midget.  Tough to watch Clement at 8-1 with an ERA that looks like Mike Johnson’s weight on Mike Sherry’s wedding day.  Probably going to be an all-star.  Mint.

These Met games seem to be outliers.  The trends and streaks seem to stop for three days when these things arrive.  May the best team win.

Mannino :    hit hall again

Me:    Pavano’s cooked.  Get him out now.  Let the bullpen pitch

            to the 9 hitter.

Me:    They never listen to me.

Mannino:     0-2 pitch

Mannino:    1-2

Mannino:     hr

Mannino:     3 run hr

Mannino:     mf

Mannino:     ok, this thing is now annoying

Me:    They never listen to me.

Mannino:     oh, here comes torre

Mannino:     thanks

Mannino:     for getting up

Mannino:     pitching change

            There you have it.  That is the cut and paste transcript of the actual IM conversation between Mannino and me while the pain was materializing this afternoon.  Kind of like listening to the “black box” tape after a plane goes down.  Mannino was listening on a brand new XM radio.  I was watching the mlb.com gamecast.  Obviously, there was lots of work being done at that point.  Also lots of work being done when Mike Sherry called me during the last inning and we were comparing which gamecast was faster.  Sean, rest assured mlb.com was the clear champ.  Now let’s be clear.  I certainly wasn’t looking to give anyone the impression that I was somehow clairvoyant as to what was going to happen.  I say that cr*p all the time, and 90% of the time the exact opposite happens.  The only reason I highlight it here is because it was so obvious that any amateur could figure it out.  Pavano was cooked.  He was over a hundred pitches.  He had walked the leadoff hitter on five pitches, and he had hit Toby Hall with a pitch.  What more did Joe Torre need to know?  It’s not like Carl Pavano has been lights out this year, or even good, so what was the urgency to leave him in there?  Was he trying out Sweet Lou’s strategy from Tuesday?  “Just leave him in to try to get one more out.”  Why not?  It worked out pretty good for Lou….. Did he figure that it was the nine-hole hitter coming up, so Pavano might be able to sneak one more out?  All the more reason to go to Quantrill or Sturtze.  You just need one out.  Do you think the nine-hole hitter is going to be able to adjust quickly to Sturtze’s heat?  Or Quantrill’s sinkers?  Now that I think of it, that would have been a terrible spot for a ground ball out.  Who needs that….That was poor, lazy managing by Joe Torre.

            So we got about 15 hours and 45 minutes to enjoy one of the greatest games I have ever seen.  And then they ruined it.  That stupid, unnecessary, waste of a game will forever be the postscript to the 20 run “happy” game.  It is perfect, though.  What a perfect encapsulation of this annoying, schizophrenic team.  I think I’m starting to understand why Mike Sherry does not like this year’s team.  They really try your patience.  I tried to tell Sherry on the phone that they have done this a bunch of times this year – won a huge game and then lost the next day.  After checking the data, I realized that my statement was a bit exaggerated.  They are 3-4 this year the day after they score 12 runs in a game, and 0-2 in games in which they score 19 or more.  Still telling, as far as I’m concerned.  Makes it even more fun when you realize that the D-Rays had won exactly 5 road games all year before this series.  Now they’ve won 7.  The Yankees, in just this series, represent just under one-third of all of the D-Rays road wins this year.  I have to admit, Grossman was right.  A confusing, jekyll and hyde team.  I did find it curious, though, that Grossman – who has been known to set off extended Yankee winning streaks with his BPS comments – would throw the comment out there with just one game remaining before the subway series.  I’m thinking that’s a big risk for him.  And careful about the subtle jab at Bernie.  You’re talking about my favorite Yankee.

            I don’t have a whole lot more to say about it.  I tried to block it out of my mind while I watched “Dancing with the Stars”, my secret favorite show (I don’t apologize for that).  You have to love John O’Hurley (Peterman from Seinfeld).  He dances in “Peterman” character.  Hilarious.  The other odds on favorite is Joey MacIntyre from New Kids on the Block   He can’t dance, but the chicks love him, and his dance partner’s cute.  The judges hate him.  The judges – two guys who are clearly “alternative lifestyle” and a chick – were clearly rooting for Rachel Hunter.  Her dance partner is also obviously “alternative lifestyle”, and they were fawning all over the tortured diva-past-her-prime thing.  Nevertheless, Rachel Hunter got kicked off.

            Yes.  That’s what it’s come to.  I’m so disgusted with the Yankees I will stoop to doing a paragraph on “Dancing with the Stars” (still my secret favorite show).

            Triple J, I hope you enjoyed your dinner with JJ.  Of course, no sooner do you get psyched about hits with RISP than you are forced to swallow a six hit embarrassment. 

            Chris Woy, I don’t need to tell you that if this game was four years ago, there would have been one gray haired Irishman threatening to throw the TV out on to Ditmars blvd.  And probably a no-haired, beer-wholesaler Irishman passed out with his stereo headphones blasting in his ears.

            To close, in honor of the Takedakeshi Raion (Ferocious Lion), I have composed a haiku.  I have used the 5-7-5 format.  It’s called – “Grossman”.

You did it again.

Remember Hiroshim-a?

Let the streak begin.

And then, the unbelievable.  I’m on the phone with Big Joe (father-in-law) “Have you ever seen anything like this?” he asked.  In a split second, I honestly tried to think if I had.  “Mmmm…..no.”  I truly couldn’t remember having seen anything like that.  I went to a day game with Brian Rumble back in ’94 – I want to say they were playing the Angels, and I want to say they came back from 9-1, but it might have been 8-1.  And we had seats right behind the dugout.  We actually got there when it was 9-1, and the Yankees came back and won.  But not like this.

            I feel silly writing so much as a sentence about this game, when the real thing was so preposterously unbelievable that it defies English.  Let me understand this.  Thirteen runs, twelve hits, sixteen batters.  In one inning.  Wow.  Talk about bouncing around the loft.  I’ve accepted the fact that when no one’s around but the Mrs., I sound a lot wussier when cheering for big plays.  Haven’t really put a finger on why, I just do.  I was a lunatic in that eighth inning.

My night started a bit late.  Didn’t get home until around ten of nine, quietly singing the new verses to the Matsui song the whole way down 95 st.  I walk in the door to pork chops with cherry peppers.  The Irish kid didn’t even know this type of delicious thing existed until a few years ago, but I’ve never shied away from the spice, and the Mrs. doesn’t fool around.  As usual, I decide not to check the score before eating, because Lord knows if things are weird, my dinner is ruined right then and there.  But I did have a message from my cell phone.  Who left the message can speak volumes about how the game is going.  I check immediately when done eating.  Mike Sherry.  That can go either way.  He doesn’t really follow a pattern.  This time, he’s pissed.  Cursing on the message, he demands to know how it’s possible that the score is 10-5.  What?  10-5?!  With Randy?  I’m pissed, and now in no rush to turn the game on.  But of course, I do.  It’s actually 10-7 at that point.  Interesting.  A second later, it’s 11-7.  It wasn’t pretty.  Seventh inning comes and goes.  In the eighth, the Yanks squeak out of trouble with the well-timed double play to keep the deficit at four.  So bottom eight…….  When Cano was leading off, a few things were going through my head.  First, I’m looking for the best chance to win.  It was obvious that this bullpen was an absolute disaster, so I’m thinking, let’s be smart and somehow get on base for The Ferocious Lion, A-Rod, etc.  As Cano is swinging away, I’m noticing his BA and his OBP.  His batting average was like .275, and his OBP was like .302.  That’s not good.  Shows he doesn’t walk, take pitches, etc.  And he was swinging at everything.  By the time he finally did get the base hit – a nice piece of hitting, I’ll admit – he would have walked twice over if he had kept the bat on his shoulder.  But I’ll take it, of course.  Jeter – magic.  Now things are interesting.  Sierra just missed a base hit, but got one run home.  Love it.  Gary Sheff gets an accident base hit off the end of the bat.  Are you kidding me?  Of course I’ll take that.  A-Rod with a chance to do some damage.  Does it.  Another run, and I’m whipped up into a frenzy.  Phone rings.  Tony Sherry couldn’t take it anymore.  “I wasn’t going to call.  I was just going to let it happen.  But I can’t ignore anymore the man who’s about to come to the plate.”  As this same gentleman, who needs no introduction from Osak-a to Omah-a, strode to the plate, Tony quickly signed off.  “I’m hanging up.  He’s going to do it”.  Click. Bang.  Bedlam in the loft.  I’m jumping around; the crowd in YES network HD was jumping around, and things were loud.  They walked Giambi.  I’m explaining over the side of the rail to the Mrs. that this was the right move, to set up the double play.  “Okay”, she says.  God bless her.  Bernabe Figueroa Williams, Jr. proceeds to cratallify the next pitch over Hollins head in centerfield.  Bases clear.  Madness in the loft.  Phone ringing all over the place.  Big Joe.  Things are starting to spiral downward for Travis Harper.  Sweet Lou was just being a pri*k.  Refused to take the kid out even though he was getting humiliated.  He might as well have taken off his uniform and pitched naked.  Big Joe felt bad for him.  He only threw 46 pitches in the inning, but it seemed like so much more than that.  And just when it looked like the destruction was finally letting up, we go back to back to back.  That poor bast*rd may just say f – it and get a job as a plumber tomorrow.

I finally calmed down after about a half hour.  I call Mike Sherry.  “Remember how pis*ed you were because it was 10-5?”  “I know, dude – then they put up 20”.  Dammit.  His brother beat me to it, I’m thinking.  The phone rings again.  The big boy.  “Dude, what the h*ll happened?  I get on a plane it’s 7-1.  I get off the plane and into my car and I hear Frankie singing.  What happened?”  He truly doesn’t know.  I start to meticulously start to go through the eighth inning.  He tells me to hurry up, because his phone was about to die.  I tell him to shut up immediately, because I will either go through it like it was meant to be gone through, or I will not go through it at all.  His phone eventually died, but not before he heard the whole magical tale.

I love that the Lt. posts comments right at the end of the game.  Two things I found interesting about his comments.  First I did not see the A-Rod play, so I’m intrigued how it went down, and second – the guy makes his own dinner.  Why not?  Submariners are hearty dudes.  If I made my own dinner it would be a cross between nothing and nothing.

Jeter had a good comment on the post game.  “This is the type of game that we can look back to when we get down in a game” he said.  I go one step further.  This is the type of game I hope to see every time I turn on Yankee baseball.  This was a fun night.