Welcome, Yankees fans, to this annual pit stop on your baseball calendar.
It's your April state of emergency.
You know the drill: The Yankees visit Fenway Park early on the schedule, and things don't go well. ...
Boston pulled out this close victory even though skipper Terry Francona kicked off the day with the news that closer Jonathan Papelbon and top setup men Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez would take the night off to preserve the trio for the long term.
In the end, the steal of home was more than an embarrassing punctuation mark to a sweep at the hands of the Red Sox that was full of heartbreak and exasperation.
For the Yankees, it was symbolic of a weekend in which they were beaten in the cruelest of ways, three losses that leave you wondering if they are as tough as the Red Sox anymore. ...
Gut-wrenching as those first two defeats were, in fact, Sunday night's 4-1 loss should have been the most deflating of the series to the Yankees. ...
Tell the truth: had you ever heard of Hunter Jones and Michael Bowden, the two rookies who pitched 2.2 scoreless innings? Did you even know that Takashi Saito, the former Dodger who closed out Sunday night's game, was in the Red Sox bullpen?
"Obviously, that's frustrating. Jorge told me to watch him. I was in the windup, I should have been in the stretch," said Pettitte, who was victimized on a steal of home by Toronto's Aaron Hill on May 29, 2007 when he was in the stretch. "I figured if [Ellsbury] took off I would go through my windup and throw him out."
Stealing home? That's the kind of stuff they do in bad baseball movies, in bad baseball novels. Stealing home? Forget having legs swift enough to get you there, you had better have guts steel enough to even think about asking your legs to get you there.
And yet, even with that . . . ...
"Be careful," Posada said. "Pay attention to him."
Just 10 days ago, the Red Sox were a mess, off to a brutal start, looking discombobulated and creaky, which is to say not very different than the way the Yankees suddenly looked heading into this game. ...
The Yankees left behind a team riding a 10-game winning streak and a ballpark still shaking from what it saw. Sometimes, this game really can still surprise you.
Basically the only thing I was bothered by the whole series was Beckett's poor performance in the second game (and even then he gutted out 5 innings to help out the 'pen). The pain of the first week-plus has been completely washed away. What a great performance by the team - winning a slugfest, coming back in the ninth, and a relatively close game. To quote the great Joe Schultz, hooray for our team!
Wow. There really is everything and more out there on the interwebs. I had to have known by now there'd be a website completely dedicated to dejected sports player pictures.
I was watching Ellsbury on the pitches before the steal. On the first pitch to that batter, he was talking to DeMarlo and was still on the bag as Pettitte started to wind up, like he hadn't noticed play was back on. I'm wondering if it was all part of a ploy to make Andy forget about him.
Also, the old man in front of me, not five minutes before the steal, announced to everyone that his dream would be to see Jacoby have a walk-off steal of home. Needless to say that guy was going crazy when the steal happened.
It was funny to hear him break down the steal, "I couldnt decide if I was gonna slide or go in head first. I was just hoping JD didnt swing." Would have given a million to know what Tito was saying to him afterwards. Tito's face after he stole was priceless, looking up into the stands nervously as if to say "Jesus fucking christ I cant believe that just happened, an WORKED!"
Posada in a sound clip pretty much blamed Pettite saying " you have to at least look at him"
Francessa was wondering how does a guy steal home and then not get brushed back in his next at bat. I don't quite understand that thinking.
after all that happened this weekend with Mo blowing a save Burnett blowing a 6 run lead, LBJ's steal of home is the one thing that seems to be sticking in the craw of Yankee fans.......
Ken Davidoff, Newsday:
John Harper, Daily News:
George A. King III, Post:
Mike Vaccaro, Post:
The new york media photographers seem to be there to shoot the faces of disbelief and shame more then the game.
ReplyDeleteThe Agony of Defeat photoblog has a couple Pettitte pics up already.
ReplyDeleteBasically the only thing I was bothered by the whole series was Beckett's poor performance in the second game (and even then he gutted out 5 innings to help out the 'pen). The pain of the first week-plus has been completely washed away. What a great performance by the team - winning a slugfest, coming back in the ninth, and a relatively close game. To quote the great Joe Schultz, hooray for our team!
ReplyDeleteWow. There really is everything and more out there on the interwebs. I had to have known by now there'd be a website completely dedicated to dejected sports player pictures.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe Ellsbury stumbled so badly and still managed to steal home! I think that shows what an incredible jump he got.
ReplyDeleteI was watching Ellsbury on the pitches before the steal. On the first pitch to that batter, he was talking to DeMarlo and was still on the bag as Pettitte started to wind up, like he hadn't noticed play was back on. I'm wondering if it was all part of a ploy to make Andy forget about him.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the old man in front of me, not five minutes before the steal, announced to everyone that his dream would be to see Jacoby have a walk-off steal of home. Needless to say that guy was going crazy when the steal happened.
April Fools indeed!
ReplyDeleteIt was funny to hear him break down the steal,
ReplyDelete"I couldnt decide if I was gonna slide or go in head first. I was just hoping JD didnt swing."
Would have given a million to know what Tito was saying to him afterwards. Tito's face after he stole was priceless, looking up into the stands nervously as if to say "Jesus fucking christ I cant believe that just happened, an WORKED!"
Posada in a sound clip pretty much blamed Pettite saying " you have to at least look at him"
ReplyDeleteFrancessa was wondering how does a guy steal home and then not get brushed back in his next at bat. I don't quite understand that thinking.
after all that happened this weekend with Mo blowing a save Burnett blowing a 6 run lead, LBJ's steal of home is the one thing that seems to be sticking in the craw of Yankee fans.......
Would have given a million to know what Tito was saying to him afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI thought that, too! I was wondering if Francona was maybe mad at him.
i saw a clip that had him laughing and hugging lyndon, so if he was annoyed, it wasn't for long. plus it was not a total secret; hale knew about it
ReplyDelete