Last night in the yankees-Angels game, A-Rod reached on an error by the third baseman, allowing the go-ahead (at the time) run to score. I had it on the radio as my computer is in a different room than the tv. John Sterling treated it as if A-Rod had done something great, getting all excited about the play as if it were a home run. And then, slyly, he says, "It's an unearned run, but they all count the same, heh heh." Disgusting. But it gets worse.

Charley Steiner then sums up the play by describing A-Rod as a five-tool player, and in that case, his fifth tool was speed in beating out the play.

Okay, stop right there. He didn't beat out an infield hit. He REACHED ON AN ERROR. There is no point in complimenting A-Rod in that situation. He came up in a key spot, and hit a routine grounder to third. That's all he did. If you want to compliment A-Rod, you'll just have to wait until he does something good. Just say, "The yanks got lucky there," move on, and shut the hell up about A-Rod.

But it gets worse still.

Today on Michael Kay's radio show, Kay is recapping the game, and says something about how Jeter and A-Rod had key hits. Could he be talking about the error play? Nah, he wouldn't call that a hit... But he was talking about the error. He says Jeter got a hit, and then A-Rod beat out a throw on an error, referring to what he just called a hit. And he emphasized "beat out" so we'd know how important it was. The point is, the guy bobbled the ball, it was an error, and that's all it was.

In the ninth, Mariano came in the game, and after getting a hometown called strike three that you won't hear about in the papers, a rookie came up who hadn't had a major league hit yet. After strike one, Kay says, "they don't pitch like Mariano Rivera in double-A." Ohhhh man, at that point I knew this guy was getting a hit. And when, of course, he did, Kay says how he must be so thrilled to get his first hit off of one of the greatest relievers ever. Then Ken Singleton imitates the guy saying, "I got my first hit off the great Mariano Rivera." Shut up!!!! Yeah, you know what, this just in, the guy has RETIRED, saying, "I got my hit off a great yankee, my lifelong dream has been fulfilled."

Gimme a break. Then the next batter homered and Mariano blew the save. Unfortunately, the yanks won in extras, leaving the magic number at 130 thru 5/11.

I'm off to Fenway now for my 1,000,000th time seeing Wakefield start.

I'm gonna sum up my view on the media, in case you are new to this blog.

I guess there really are people in the world who believe anything they read. But I would think that members of the media could never be in this category, but they are. I mean, why wouldn't you use the oppurtunity you have to say what you think? Some people in the media make it so obvious that they are simply repeating what someone else said or wrote. A good example is the way your average media schmoes, who haven't made a name for themselves, say that Pedro Martinez' career is over. These people don't watch Pedro pitch. They just say what everyone else is saying. Pedro's one of the best pitchers in baseball, why won't one person in the New York media come out and say, "I think he might have a good year this year."

It's a very timid way to live, if you ask me. Whether you're just following the party line, or pretending you came up with an opinion that someone else really did, you're not doing your job. (Another example is the Quantrill/Gordon thing...sift through this blog to learn more, I really can't get into it now, it's late.) When I started this blog, I didn't say, Woohoo, I get to read what other people are saying and then say the same thing!

On the contrary. When Ed from Bambino's Curse starts kowtowing to George Steinbrenner, coincidentally (?) right when he starts working for Fox again, I (sorry, I have to interrupt myself, yankee announcer Charley Steiner just said, "The Amazing Mr. Quantrill"). Anyway, Ed said the usual crap about George being a great owner who ALWAYS spends his money for his team. Remember, when---(sorry, again, Steiner: "Paul Quantrill: Mr. Automatic." He's saying it all nonchalantly. The yankees are going down. Have I mentioned how nauseating this team and everything about them is?) Oh, so when yankee fans tell you that George always does what it takes to win, answer them with two words: Andy Pettitte. (see my April 13th post)

Oh and when they say how he's "not evil, just because he's passionate about the game," feel free to mention to them how he made illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon and was convicted. And paying off Howie Spira to get dirt on Dave Winfield. (In both cases he was suspended from baseball.) And then have them write a letter to ten random employees of Mr. Steinbrenner and ask them how they're treated. They might get one positive response back if they're lucky.

But it's obviously not just yankee fans who say this nonsense, as Ed has proved. I think the problem might be that we all hear a lot of players saying good things about George. But these guys are the same people who, when asked about their hated rival, will say, "I have all the respect in the world for those guys. They're the best team I've ever played against. They deserve to be in first place." You know when the reporters leave, that same player goes, "God I hate those guys! We're gonna kick their asses!" The reason they don't say that stuff in public is so they don't make the opponent mad, hence giving them a competetive edge.

But the media and (especially) the fans, i.e. bloggers, message board members, basically anyone who's not actually playing, can say whatever they want! That's right, we have the option of telling the truth! All the time! So there's no need for some blogger from Dubuque to say, "I have all the respect in the world for (insert local face of evil here)." Just say what you really think! You can't get fired... Unless you work for Fox, I guess.

So as the media slowly becomes the ME-dia,(see my April 7th post) the further down the totem pole the lies go. So if you're just a fan, remember, keep searching for the truth, and say it as loud as you can. And if you should get a chance to move up the ladder, don't let that truth fall out of your pocket, because once you get back to the bottom to get it, you're probably stayin' there.

Not tonight, of course, as Lou Merloni and the Tribe beat the Sox. But I never did get to write about my "magic moments" from my last Fenway trip. So here goes.

April 28th vs. Tampa Bay. Manny at the plate. I see a star in the sky (which really was a planet, as you can't see stars at Fenway Park, what with the bright lights). So I say, "I wish I may, I wish I might, I wish Manny hits a dong." Then I say to the star-wishing gods, "Sorry for the incorrect wording." Manny proceeds to hit what would've been an HR Puf'n'stuf in any other park, but it slammed into the Monster for a two-baggger. I'll take that, I thought. Then Jason comes up, and I say to Pat, "Can you wish more than once on the first "star" as long as another has yet to appear?" He says, "I don't know, but I'd wish again." So I silently wish for Jason to equal Manny, and he hits one that almost reaches us in row 31 of the bleachers.

Then between innings, the scorebard says, "Fenway Magic Moments." So I say to Pat, "I better see the Brunansky catch." Well, not only do I see it, but the whole "segment" is dedicated to that game, culminating with the catch and the pandemonium.

I had just read how a guy named Mike Donovan videotaped the catch, and it was shown on the news once, but then everyone criticized him for having a camera at the game, and the tape was never circulated widely--so the media can keep mystery in the catch, which supposedly may not have been a catch at all. So I did some research, but couldn't find anything else about this tape. But I found a woman on line who was at the game. She recalled for me her memories of that game, but said she didn't have an angle on the Bruno play.

So getting back to a few weeks ago--after the segment finishes on the scoreboard, the guy next to us says, "I was here for that game!" I enthusiastically ask, "So did he catch it??" "Yeah, he says, "I was right here in the bleachers, had a perfect view!"

So I now I am convinced. Bruno caught that ball.

Sorry to my mom & dad, who saw the Sox lose tonight with tickets I gave them.

Possibly my favorite play in baseball is a ball hit down the right field line at Fenway Park that rolls around the corner, like a hockey puck curving along the boards, as a helpless visiting outfielder chases after it. Today that happened, and Pokey got a home run the hard way. Which I guess is the easy way for him. But then he got one the other way anyway.

Pokey rules. And speaking of dudes "with the tilted brim," Snoop Dogg was pretty funny on SNL tonight. The good thing about the yankees winning in Seattle was that once it was 6-0, I got to just watch SNL without switching back to the game any more. So anyway, in this one sketch, Snoop is hanging out at a party, and he's all depressed. When asked why, he says it's because the show "Friends" is off the air. He proceeds to go into a long soliloquy about his passion for the sitcom. "What I am supposed to do now?" etc. He actually acted it really good. My favorite line was when his friend tells him he can just watch the reruns, and Snoop snaps back, "I'll smack you in the mouth--talkin' 'bout reruns..." He also told white America to cool it on the "izzle," and how it was a gift from him, but it's time to chill for a while. He mentioned how whiteys used to be so big on Pig Latin, so maybe they could go back to that to change things up a little. "Ee-way ool-Cay?"

The agic-May umber-Nay thru 5/8 is 131.