Friday, May 12, 2006

Bye, Bronx

Steinbrenner's attempt to control the weather backfired tonight. He pressed the red button on the Rainmaker '78, thinking the game would be called for a 3-2 Dunbar win. But the rain only caused problems for the yanks' defense. The ball slipped out of Cairo's glove on the tag for the tying and go-ahead runs. Chan would have had to clean up my brain from the rug if that out had been made, as my head would have exploded. What a frustrating game until that moment. Geat win, and really tough loss for them. Important moment in the season right there. Matsui being out, along with Shef, puts them in a rough spot. If we can get Coco back soon, maybe we can open up a lead.

The Hell, No Network was going for their Emmy tonight, and it was pissing me off. The "from behind the plate" view of a pitch is artsy and sometimes cool--for replays. Don't they know that if they show us this view live, we can't tell what's going on? They did it so many times, including on a Myers to Ortiz pitch. What the audience saw: Posada's back, then Myers disappearing from sight, along with the ball. Terrible job there.

From Kay, the usual BS. But on the two catches at the wall, come on, Kay. You know those balls wouldn't have been over the wall. Especially the Damon one. But all that 'splainin' ain't gonna get ya any awards. So it's "another home run robbed!" Kay was not backing down on that. They were "robs," no doubt. O'Neill or Jim "Wordy McGee" Kaat were not even allowed to suggest he might be lying or wrong. They were great plays. But the balls wouldn't have gone over the fence. Very clearly on the second one. I could tell before even seeing the replays. TJ, Backwards Kay.

He also conveniently talked over the point where the cretins cheered loudly when Manny was almost hit in the head.

Paul O'Neill was in the booth tonight, which is always amusing. I don't like the man, don't get me wrong, but to hear him make fun of Kay, who thinks he's "in" with every player who ever put on the pinstripes, is pretty fun. He's not the brightest guy, though. After the game, he talked about how Papelbon pitched like he'd been on the yankee Stadium mound before! Yeah, Paul, maybe because he had!

It was also funny how they were praising Bernie so much for making routine plays in right, and then he ended up botching the key fly ball.

Seeing Tanyon Sturtze cry and reflecting later on how good it felt is my new hobby. Oh, no, wait, I've been doing it for quite some time now.

Now Texas comes in, and I'll be in my annual field box seats. But it looks like rain. I better not get screwed on this.

Comments:
Remy and Orsillo actually said the same about those catches. I'm sure Kay was a total ass about it, but they both did have the same take. Also, I think that the Lowell hit would have been a homer...his arm was fully back at the wall, and he caught it about a glove length above, but you're definately right about the second.

BTW, Did you get the feeling that if Damon had tried that catch last year he would have missed the ball by a foot, lost his hat and fallen down? Maybe the chip in his brain is effected by steinbrenner cranking up the weather machine.
 
Both the AP and the Glob concur about those hits: one would've been a homer, the other would've hit the wall for extra bases, and both were "robbed".

It was a painful game to watch but oh so sweet when over.
 
Sweet last night, but the getting there was no fun. Until the 7th. Good luck with the rain, my friend. I mean it. It's going to be everywhere. If a game is going to be called, they should do it early, before you have to start your journey. When it starts raining, it's not going to stop, so they WILL know in advance, well in advance. Safe trip.
 
On Crosby's catch, I noticed on the original play that he caught it and then pushed his glove back over the wall to make it look like a rob. Yes had some pretty good angles of it, including one where you see him do just that. That's how Bubba rolls. There was another play where there was a single to center. Damon picked it up as it rolled toward him. The ball was almost stopped when he picked it up. Yet Bubba got right behind him and crouched down just to make it look like a backup was necessary. I think Jeter's teaching him the art of making it look like you're doing something important or better that what you really are. I'm not saying these weren't great catches, and I'd say this about them even if Red Sox players had made these catches. I'm just saying, neither ball appeared to be going over the fence anyway. And Kay or one of the other bozos could have at least said "it was close," or something, on either one.

Another play I forgot to mention, hopefully BSM or someone else forced to watch Yes remembers it: Nixon's check swing. They showed a super slow motion shot that proved without a doubt that he held up. Instead of three skeptics saying "Oh, our bad, good call by the ump, he clearly checked it in time," we heard silence, then Kaat comes out with, "It sure looked like he had the intent to swing," which was followed by a brief discussion about how the rule is misleading because you can hold up your swing in time, but if your hands are through the zone of if you have the intent to swing, the ump's going to call you out 80% of the time.

I mean you can just feel the iron fist of Steinbrenner holding those guys' nuts, waiting to squeeze if they say something "wrong." You know, meaning "right."
 
Damon said he "reinjured" his shoulder and foot but will be playing anyway.
 
Yeah, they're in big trouble.

From that article (NY Daily News): "as the ball appeared to be going over the fence for a two-run homer." Terrible job.
 
Geographical bias aside, the general consensus on WEEI today was that Mike Lowell's shot would definitely have been a home run, but Mirabelli's most likely an extra base hit. I saw the game on NESN last night and they showed several angles of each catch & I'd have to agree. I thought Dougie's hit would have bounced off the top of the railing & into the stands for a ground-rule double.
 
Neither was the classic "glove bending over wall" rob. Bubba Crosby had a beat on that ball, jumped up, caught it, and put his glove over to make it look like a rob. Yes had an angle of this from ground level, just to the side of Bubba. And Damon totally did the same thing, making it look like a rob by putting the glove over the wall after he caught it.
 
Jere, love the blog, but you gotta get over this thing w/ Bubba's catch...Lowell's was going out, no doubt. Mirrabelli's, no...but the thing is, and I don't know how much baseball you've played, it's pretty unlikely that in the heat of a pivotal moment of a very close, tense game, in front of 54,000+ screaming people, either player actually had the presence of mind to "push" his glove above the wall after making a catch just for theatrics. Your mission is to be the ombudsman for YES, and point out when they're wrong; well, allow me, your humble reader to be your ombudsman on this one...all in all though (and I got the YES feed on mlb.tv), TJ by Kay and the idiots as always...that we can agree on.

And oh yeah... the streak continues: when I see the Sox in Baltimore on the 16th, guess who's lined up to pitch...for the 9th straight Matty see the Sox live time, our boy Timmay...can I get a rainout from the congregation?! I wanna see someone else pitch!
 
I've played a lot of baseball. One of my favorite things to do is to stand by a wall--on a field, in my family room growing up, wherever there's a wall of perfect height--and have someone throwa ball just over it, and try to "rob a home run." When you get one that's close, you naturally put your glove over the wall to make it look cooler. These dudes watch SportsCenter, and they want to get on. Bubba was waiting all day under that ball. All he had to do was go up and get it. But he caught it and then put his glove over the wall. Damon did the same thing, to a lesser degree, since his momentum was actually taking him toward the wall. This has nothing to do with the team they're on, but with the fact that neither ball can be said definitively to have been going over the wall, and the announcers refused to admit there there was even a chance that they might not have been.
 

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