Holy Cow! What a Game
Posted on September 17th, 2007 in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Anyone else see that Yankee-Red Sox game last night? That is why baseball is the greatest game. Mariano Rivera against David Ortiz, bases loaded, two out, bottom of the ninth, Fenway practically shaking with noise, after terrific pitching performances by Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling? (Clemens’ slightly better, but Schilling made it look easierâat least until the 8th.)
What an exciting, well-played game it had been, filled with baseball’s typical imperfections (the umpires cost the Yankees a run, calling Johnny Damon out at first on a play on which he was clearly safe) as well as its glories, including sterling defense by the Yankees. (How about that Doug Mientkiewicz?) And you have to love the rookies, Joba Chamberlain (man, is he good) and that baby-faced kid, Jacob Ellsbury? You have to like the looks of him, tooâgreat plays in the field, gutsy at the plate. (Hitless, last night, though, for the first time since he’s been in the majors.)
And of course Derek Jeter…hitting .429 with men in scoring position and two out, coming through with a three-run home run that soared over the Monster.
I’m glad the Yankees won, of course. That makes it six of the last seven they’ve taken from the Sox, and if they see the Sox again in the playoffs, you’d have to say they have a slight psychological advantage. Everyone knows the Yankees have been a better team since the All-Star break.
As the Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy writes,
The Yankees beat the Red Sox 10 times in 18 meetings this year and the Nation can’t be comfortable with the prospect of facing the Bronx Bombers in the 2007 ALCS.
But as a fan of the rivalry and of the sport, I just love this kind of game. (I went to Giants Stadium yesterday to see the Giants get destroyed by the Packers, and boy, was that a crummy game. The Giants are awful.)
I should have been working last night, but instead I was sitting in front of the TV, on the edge of the seat, my heart pounding. In between innings, I’d jog back to the computer and try to work.
Could anyone (other than Sox fans) watch that game and not want the Yankees and the Red Sox to play each other again this season?
5 Responses
9/17/2007 10:02 am
A wounded adder is a dangerous one (vide game 2 of this series). Let’s lull the Sox to sleep with gentle words, and not awake them too much. They’re a fine team, and their pitching is better than the Yanks’.
9/17/2007 2:09 pm
“Could anyone (other than Sox fans) watch that game and not want the Yankees and the Red Sox to play each other again this season?”
Yes, I could. I’m a baseball fan and not a Sox or Yankees fan and I’m really tired of the elitist east coast bias that the red sox and yankees reside at the center of the entire baseball world.
I hate to shock you, but the most interesting team this year in the AL, and the most fun to watch, has been the Angels. So I for one would like to see them playing the Red Sox, and get the credit they are due.
9/17/2007 2:34 pm
The Angels are great, but they don’t have a rivalry with one tenth the drama - and history, obviously - that the Soxs/Yanks have.
Traditionally, I’m a Braves fan, and yet I still always loved an opportunity to watch the Sox play the Yanks (any fan should, because if you’re not a Yankees fan, you should hate them and therefore have an interest in the match-up).
9/17/2007 5:01 pm
I like the Angels quite a bit as well. I think they’re an exciting team to watch, and they certainly give the Yankees a lot of trouble. But you just can’t say that an Angels-Red Sox or Angels-Yankees match-up would have the intensity of a Boston-New York ALCS.
9/17/2007 5:41 pm
I think the idea of a rivalry is overblown. After all, most players really don’t hate each other. The whole thing seems like a media creation: When two teams that are not “rivals” have a bench clearing or a pitcher beans a batter, it’s just part of the competitivness of the game. But if the two teams are “rivals” then every ball and strike is an instrument of deep hatred between the two teams and the two cities.
And by the way, is that a good thing? To the extent that there are rivalries, every cup of beer thrown at an outfielder or racist comment yelled at an opposing team’s black payer, they just reveal the deep ugliness that can be at the heart of sport.
In any case, bottom line is I’m just sick of Red Sox and Yankee fans. No offense to the owner or readers of this site.