2004 Baseball

Yankees 5 Red Sox 4, 13 innings

Thursday Night
Yankee Stadium
With Alex B.

I bought the tickets for this game back at the Whitey Ford game in April for Jamie and me. However, he had decided not to go to Yankee Stadium this year so Alex lucked out. Or did he?

We met for a movie at Film Forum ("The Corporation") that I found quite appropriate considering we were about to go see the most corporate team imaginable. After the movie, we almost decided not to go to the game.

Upon arriving in the Bronx, we almost decided to sell our tickets. Instead we went to McDonald's (my second time since seeing "Super Size Me") and bought some food to bring to the game.

It was a mess outside the stadium. Half the fans were wearing "1918" shirts or "Babe, Bucky, Boone" shirts or "Red Sux" shirts. Nice. I deliberately didn't bring a bag to the game because I was so sick of the ridiculous request to empty all my stuff into a clear plastic bag. I couldn't imagine that I was going to be asked to put my McDonald's into a clear bag, but I was. Unbelievable.

The father and young son in front of me weren't allowed into the park (counterfeit tickets?) and the guy to my left wearing a "Red Sox Sucks" shirt was told he had to turn his shirt inside out because of the profanity on his shirt? What? Are we in Tampa?

Alex and I had great seats right behind home plate in the first row of the cheap seats. The third batter for the Yankees, Gary Sheffield, stepped out with a 2-2 count right before Pedro could throw. I thought, "Pedro is definitely going to hit him with the next pitch." Sure enough, bam, right in the back. The fans went nuts and Alex commented that it felt like a big English football match, more so than any other game he'd ever been into. I started fantasizing about a great fight where Derek Jeter would get his pretty face all bloodied up but that would have to wait for later.

Pedro settled down, but the Yankees didn't. Two homeruns in the first five innings gave them a 3-0 lead. Boston came back to tie it in the 6th and 7th.

Then things started to get really crazy. Both teams kept wasting opportunities to take the lead from the 8th through the 12th innings. In the 11th, the Red Sox loaded the bases with no outs and I thought, "Here comes a triple play." And sure enough, it seemed for a second that the Yankees had turned a triple play on an amazing grab by Alex Rodriguez who touched third to force Manny, threw home for the 2nd out, and then received the throw from home to tag out the third out, who was also the first out. Huh? Everyone was so amazed at the play that they hadn't noticed that the runner that Rodriguez had tagged out for the last out was Manny Ramirez who was the runner he had forced out for the first out and was simply heading back to the dugout.

In the top of the 12th, Derek Jeter made a pretty amazing catch to end the inning as he catapulted into the stands, bloodying his pretty face in the act. It is pretty telling that Jeter will kill himself for a play like that while Mia Hamm's boy Nomar sat on the bench (or perhaps somewhere else) all night.

In the bottom of the 12th, the Yankees had a runner on 3rd with no outs and the Red Sox employed the old five man infield play where one of the outfielders comes in to play the infield. But I'd never seen it put into practice quite like it was on this evening. Kevin Millar and another Red Sox (I can't remember who it was) kept shifting between the left side and right sides of the infield (depending on the batter), and the outfield- each time needing a new glove. It was a funny sight to see the players keep running to the line to get a new glove tossed at him from a coach. At one point, the glove that the player was throwing collided in mid-air with the glove the coach had thrown. That drew a cheer and broke the unbelievable tension for a spell.

With no outs, pinch hitter Giambi had no chance against Leskanic or the parasites eating away at his already toxic insides. As aside, I hope for the best for Mr. Giambi and also his lovely teammate Kevin Brown who has also been diagnosed with parasites. Do you think he has it written in his contract that his parasites get an extra private jet ride too?

With one out, Leskanic hit Sheffield which incensed Torre, but not Sheffield. He was quoted as saying that Leskanic's brother "put in my pool at my house, so there's a friendship there." Then for the intentional walk to A-Rod, Millar headed back to the outfield and had to get a new glove to do it. Then after the intentional walk, he came back to the infield, again changing gloves. What? Was it really necessary to change gloves for an intentional walk? Somehow the Red Sox got out of the inning intact.

After the 12th, Alex left for the evening. There was no way I was going to take off with a game like this going on. And when Manny hit his second homer of the game in the 13th to give the Red Sox a 4-3 lead, I was so damn happy, but still quite uneasy. Also, in the 13th, Alex Rodriguez got to play short for the first time as a Yankee and Gary Sheffield played third for the first time since he looked like this.

In the bottom of the 13th, with Ruben Sierra at first, and Miguel Cairo (Miguel Cairo?!) at the plate with two strikes and two outs, Curtis Leskanic could not put him away. He doubled past Millar and Sierra came all the way home from first base.

Next up, John Flaherty pinch hitting for the pitcher Tanyon Sturtze (don't ask) who, of course, drove in Cairo with a smash past Manny Ramirez. I couldn't believe it, but, of course, I could. It was the Yankees beating the Red Sox. It all seemed so preordained.

I headed to the subway drunk on baseball glory and Yankee agony. The many Boston fans in the crowd seemed too stunned to be upset. I consoled a couple of them, but there was nothing to say other than, "Yeah, I hate the Yankees too."

When I got back to Brooklyn, I checked my messages and there was one from Alex. He said that he heard the roar of the crowd when Manny hit his homerun in the 13th and was sad that he hadn't stayed another twenty minutes. A wonderful moment in time captured on my voicemail, before the inevitable fall. He's British, he doesn't know you shouldn't count the Yankees out against the Red Sox with only a one run lead.

For a great recap of the game check out this great article from The Hardball Times

Phillies 7 Orioles 6

Saturday Night
Citizen’s Bank Park
With Dave, Jennifer, Sujan, Stone Groove, Rosemary, Amy, Marc, Jamie, and Jim

It was an eventful night, to say the least. And, oh yeah, there was a game. At first, the game seemed like it was going to be a Phillies' blow out. The Orioles bullpen had pitched fifteen innings in the previous night’s game and because of injuries and general tiredness, the Orioles’ lineup featured such luminaries as Luis Lopez, Chad Mottola, and Robert Machado.

As far as the new ballpark goes, Citizen's Bank Park is okay. It is a vast improvement on the old park and the view of the skyline (if you aren’t situated behind the humongous scoreboard) is nice. I like the nooks and crannies of the field and the outfield stands reminds me of Coors Field. However, the view of the parking lots leave something to be desired. Marc complains that the missing walking rim in the upper deck made it so there were no vendors around. I would rank it higher than Miller Park and The Ballpark in Arlington in the ranks of new ballparks but below or at the same level with all the others that I have been to.

After falling behind 3-0 after the first inning, the Orioles looked strong. They even took a 6-4 lead into the 8th. Alas, the bullpen wasn’t up to the task and they blew it in the 8th. It was a nice night for a ballgame with family and friends. Rosemary was sufficiently entertained enough by Jim and Amy to enjoy her third big league game.

I think my favorite Stone Groove moment of the night was that he thinks Jerry Hairston looks like Bill Mantzouris. It turns out that my sister says that at every Oriole game, he cries out that he thinks many of the players look like Bill. He only admits to claiming Hairston and Brian Roberts look like him. I don’t know- you make the call.

Hairston

Roberts

Mantzouris

But it all came to a crashing halt in the 9th when Sujan started a fight with some Phillies fans. She describes the scene:

in retrospect, i admit it. i was bad. but i refuse to say i was not justified.

we rolled into citizens bank ballpark around 6pm to watch the phillies take on the orioles. i was with a bunch of orioles fans and really couldn't care about the phillies, other than they were 2 games ahead of the mets, so of course i was going to root for the orioles.
anyway, towards the later innings, the fans start chanting, "let's go phillies," to which i responded, "phillies suck." to which the obnoxious turd in front of me responded with flipping me the bird behind his back. he didn't even have the chutzpah to turn around and give me the finger. this offended me, so i leaned over in my seat and told him that i much preferred to be given the finger face to face. he then yelled at me so i yelled back at him. in his ear. i can give off quite a scream when i want to. then he called me a loser so i mocked his bird flipping. I told him to get a belt (his pants were quite low, exposing his boxer short-clad ass), he responded with "I'm doing you a favor." Daaaaamn.

unfortunately, the orioles lost the game. now my citizens bank park nemesis could have just left it at that, but no, he had to turn around and give me a double bird flip. i was besides myself. couldn't he just bask in the glory of a phillies win? dan told them to shut up, stone groove asked dan to stop, marc, of course, sided with the enemy.
so i didn't mean to alarm anyone or make them feel uncomfortable. i just have an aversion to stupid people. to be honest, i don't even know why i chanted phillies suck. i think i was just bored.

oh and i know many loyal youthlarge readers are also fans of stone groove. let me tell you, that guy is one of a kind. stone groove is my father-in-law to be. i sat next to him at the game and it was one chestnut after another. or as jamie likes to call them - bon mots. i don't think i should repeat most of them here, but stone groove had opinions on The L Word (he likes!), Luis Lopez, cherry ices, Rico from Six Feet Under and much much more that i can't remember.

Sujan, before the trouble.

And from my blog entry as Testosterone Dan:

At the game, there were some Abercrombie and Fitch type jokers in front of us. 19-year-old chumps who wouldn’t know class if it bit them on their Marlton, New Jersey assess. They thought they were flying high because some how a couple of these clowns ended up with beer.

In the top of the 9th, my lady cried out “Phillies Suck!” to counterbalance the “Let’s Go Phillies” chants. My lady is full of spark, being a New York girl, and is used to responding to chants of “Let’s Go Yankees” with chants of “Yankees Suck!” But I guess these jokers couldn’t take it.

One of them flipped my lady the bird behind his back! The chump didn’t even have the decency to give her the finger to her face. She gave this classless bastard a taste of his own medicine and that was that. Or it was until pinch hitter Javy Lopez struck out to end the game. They turned around and started giving my woman the finger and mocking us.

You don’t do that to me, my lady, or any of my New York crew (except for maybe Balgavy who deserved it, that guy was definitely not representing for Brooklyn on this evening) and get away with that. I stepped up to defend my woman’s honor. And if it weren’t for my auntie, my sweet little sister, and my dear ol’ pops there, I would have busted some heads. The assholes sauntered home to their moms and my crew went out to party.

The gang at Bob and Barbara's

Nate Wiley and the Crowd Pleasers

And what would a trip to Philadelphia be without a trip to Pat's?

Mets 6 Yankees 5

Sunday Afternoon
Shea Stadium
With Sujan

Check out this line score-

NYY 001 010 210 5
NYM 121 000 11x 6

The Mets finished their first ever sweep of the Yankees and also their first ever season series victory (4-2) against them! It was a beautiful way to celebrate the 4th and to wake up from the previous night's festivities in Philadelphia. The surprising Mets continued to stay in the race and Richard Hidalgo continued to be hot as hell!

Ty Wigginton hit two homers, including the winning one in the bottom of the 8th. Looper held on for the save and the fans ate it up. (Yeah, live it up Mets’ fans! This was the final chance to smile for the rest of the damn season.)

Sujan claims that Mets’ outfielder Eric Valent looks more like Bill than either Hairston or Roberts. Hmmmm…..

Valent in his UCLA days.

Mantzouris

My favorite Jae Seo moments of the season: When he was taken out of the game in the 6th inning, he was heading straight to the American flag painted on the grass. Right before he got to the flag, he gracefully sidestepped it so as not to step on Old Glory. After celebrating with his teammates on the field after the game, he doffed his cap and continually waved to the section of his Korean fans who had been loudly cheering for him all game.

Favorite heckles:

The guy behind us kept calling Jeter a ballerina for his histrionics behind the plate- arm raising before every pitch, the way he sticks his ass in the air if a pitch is even remotely inside.

The guy in front of us who called out when Giambi was at the plate, “You use steroids.” The woman to his right told him that that wasn’t being nice so he amended his heckle to “You used to use steroids!”

For at least one more day in 2004!

Cyclones 1 Williamsport Crosscutters 0

Tuesday Night
Coney Island
With Sujan, Sophie (a student from my class), and her parents

Sophie’s first ever game! It was a beautiful night in Brooklyn and I had a great time at my first Cyclones game of the year.

I learned that Sophie can only have ice cream three times a week and cotton candy once a month or something like that. These are her mom’s rules so when she and her dad went to get food, they came back with Fun Dip, thus not dipping into the ice cream or cotton candy quota. Smart kid.

The game was fairly uneventful until the amazing bottom of the 9th. The game was a scoreless tie with one out when a Cyclones hitter made it to first on a single. He stole second and the throw from the catcher went into the outfield so he easily made it to third. They decided to walk the hitter to set up a force play at second. The Crosscutters’ pitcher threw his first intentional ball over the head of the catcher and the winning run scampered across the plate. Unbelievable! Within two pitches, the winning run had gone from 1st to home on a stolen base, an error, and a wild pitch!

Hooray for Fun Dip!

Mets 6 Phillies 1

Sunday Afternoon
Shea Stadium
With Sujan

The Mets continue to hover around .500 but that is good enough in the crappy N.L. East to stay near first place. Al Leiter lowered his E.R.A. to 2.24 which should lead the league if only he had enough innings to qualify. But since he labors through every game, he doesn’t have enough innings. How can a starting pitcher who hasn’t missed time this season not have enough innings to qualify for the ERA title? This is utterly astounding.

The Mets closed to within two games of the two first place teams after the win. And if the Mets go on to do anything of note this year, the play that will loom large in my mind is Mike Cameron’s sterling catch in the gap and then being able to turn a double play. That changed the complexion of the close game and the Mets seemed quite energized immediately thereafter and started jacking some homeruns, including a big one from Vance Wilson (3 for 4 for the afternoon).

Leit's Out!

Expos 4 Mets 1

Thursday Afternoon
Shea Stadium
All by myself

Just one of those relaxed this is the last baseball game I will ever attend as a single person kind of games. The impossible dream of the Mets contending all season begins to unravel. The Mets looked ugly today. Let me count the ways:

1. The Mets went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
2. Tom Glavine was great again- 1 run in 7 innings for naught.
3. Third base coach Matt Galante was responsible for sending, then not sending Richard Hidalgo home with the score tied at 1 which resulted in him getting caught in a rundown.
4. Art Howe left John Franco in to face Tony Batista with the score knotted at 1 in the 8th, even though right-handers have blistered Franco all season. Batista’s two run homer demoralized the Mets.
5. The Mets lost their 7th out of 10 and fall under .500 again.

I did get to see David Wright’s first major league hit though.

Cyclones 9 Williamsport Crosscutters 4

Cyclones 9 Crosscutters 4
Sunday Late Afternoon/ Evening
Coney Island
With 30 folks who had attended the big wedding the previous evening

I don’t really remember much about this game. It was dull and my mind was still reeling from the whirlwind events of the weekend. The game was incredibly long and a number of us rode the Cyclone after the game, leaving before the game ended. Three hours was long enough.

Ring bearer Sebastian and his little brother Wriley both bought baseballs at the game. Two and a half year old Wriley was super excited to buy his pink baseball. Sebastian played with his baseball cards that he had received the night before as part of his gift for being the ring bearer and gushed over Dave Wells’ gift of the giveaway that evening- a Danny Garcia bobblehead doll. Garcia, of course, is the first Cyclone to make the big show- before being sent down shortly thereafter.

Apparently, at one point, Anne predicted that the amount of runs the Cyclones scored would be the same amount of kids that Sujan and I are going to have. I hope for Sujan’s sake that this prediction does not come true.

Before the game, Marc and I were treated to a free show. A woman was screaming on her cell phone at her soon to be ex- boyfriend. She was super pissed. My favorite line, “I refuse to just be your fucking sex toy!” What a scene. Much more entertaining than the game.

For more photos check Balgavy.