Box Score
Game MVP: C.C. Sabathia; probably the easiest call I'll have to make all year
Honorable Mention: Mark Teixeira, who finally leveled out and shortened up his swing today and registered not one, not two, but three hits, prompting my co-commenter CK to suggest the moniker of "Sexy Texy"
Props To: The Yankee defense, specifically Tex and A-Rod, who did everything they could to keep the no-no going and to combat the blasphemous calls of home plate umpire Wally Bell (more on this in a moment)
Negative Props To: Joe Buck and Tim McCarver who, aside from providing their normal level of obnoxiously egotistical and irrelevant banter, did everything in their power to ruin C.C.'s no-no by chatting endlessly about it throughout the game, a cardinal sin; McCarver as a former catcher should certainly know better
From time to time in baseball history, there have been certain games that, in the course of play, seem to take on a life of their own, enveloping themselves in a kind of protective aura, as if they have a predetermined place in the divine kingdom of the national pastime's hallowed archives. This past Saturday's afternoon affair between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field in Tampa, Florida indubitably had the look and feel of one of those games. On the bump for the pinstripes was their southpaw ace, C.C. Sabathia, one of the great "workhorses" (as is fashionable to say nowadays) of the modern generation of pitchers. As it turns out, the hefty lefty has performed significantly below his potential in April in his career, with something like a 2-6 record and an over 6.00 ERA in the month over the previous three seasons coming into that game (**note: that is a rough estimate from memory). He had also struggled in his first start of this season against the Red Sox, surrendering 5 runs in 5.1 innings in a loss at Fenway a week prior. And while Saturday did not mark a new month, it did mark a new ballpark and a new game; and as became evident by the middle innings, a new C.C.
The funny thing about history is that it doesn't always repeat itself. Sometimes, in situations where you have failed several times in the past, you succeed. Sometimes, while it appears that strange forces are conspiring against you, stranger forces are pushing you to excel. As was already said, sometimes the game builds up a momentum of its own, and that "protective aura" causes all the bounces go your way, even when the calls don't. And sometimes, it leads to a moment of greatness. And sometimes it comes up just short.
For 7.2 innings, it looked like Sabathia was on his way to one of those sink-to-your-knees, raise-arm-triumphantly moments of greatness, but his former teammate and catcher, Rays backup Kelly Shoppach had a different vision. Shoppach had nearly ruined the party in the sixth inning, as he jumped on a 1-0 fastball out and over the plate and drilled it deep to left. That one was hit right at Gardener for the out. The one in the eighth inning fell right in front of him for a hit. A game of inches, huh? Damn, Kelly. That's how you're gonna do your former teammate Shoppach, a man who made you and your scrubby rotation/team look good just a few years back? Ice cold.
Shoppach's deep drive in the sixth was just one of many remarkable defensive fortunes witnessed in those 7.2 innings. Bottom of the 2nd, Longoria led off with a hard chopper to A-Rod's right. He made a couple agile sidesteps and a quick, accurate throw to beat Evan by half-a-stride. Jeter followed that with a smooth run-and-gun play on a slow-roller off of Upton's bat, and A-Rod capped off the display, making Aybar's softly hit ball to his left look as easy as tying a shoe. Nothing too spectacular. A pretty standard exhibit of skill by the left side of the Yankee infield; solid execution, but nothing to get too excited about this early into the game. Let's continue. Bottom 4, Crawford slapped the first pitch he sees right back up the box, but a timely stab by Carsten Charles (that's his name, dontcha know) nipped that potential hit in the bud. Again, nothing jaw-dropping, but a deft display of glovework that isn't exactly routine. Onward and upward.
Now things start getting absurd. Bottom 6, 0-2 count to Bartlett. C.C. delivered a 2-seamer that catches a convincing part of the both the plate and the low area of the strike zone. Cervelli had to reach back for it a bit, but not so much that it would have tainted the call. Where was it Bell? Low? Inside? Up your poop-chute? Cause that's where it should be after a call like that. This man is throwing a masterpiece and you're gonna squeeze him on a pitch that's not even borderline? And then umpires wonder why everybody hates them. When in doubt, give the call to the man with the no-no on the line. Don't allow your inability to do your job ruin a great moment. That's the hitter's responsibility. And indeed, if it weren't for the diving heroics of Sexy Texy, history would have been spoiled right there. Bartlett worked the count back to 3-2 and scorched a ball to the right side, where a parallel Teixeira snatched it for the save. Massive bullet dodged.
Now things start to get weird. Bottom 7, Crawford's on first after a lead off walk when Zobrist hits one back to C.C. In his haste to get the speedy Crawford at second, he sailed his throw high and wide to Cano, who caught it off the bag. In an odd twist of fate, the Tampa veteran overslid the bag, enabling Robby to apply the easy tag for the out. Now, even if Crawford hadn't misjudged the slide, this play would not have been scored as a hit. Still, you would have been talking about a 1st-and-2nd situation with nobody out. Instead, it's one on, one out, a much more comfortable (and uplifting I'm sure) turn of events for #52. After Longoria was punched out on a generous call from Bell, the umpire completely nullified this benevolence in the next AB, squeezing C.C. out of a 2-2 that was right in the zone. Again, Cervelli had to reach, but COME ON! What made it all the more bizarre is that Upton blistered the next pitch down the third base, where the diving heroics of A-Rod just barely snared the one-hopper, and a fireball of a throw got the fleet-footed runner in the nick of time. It was a repeat ending of the previous inning! The bullets keep comin and Yanks kept bobbin and weavin'. Six outs to go.
Bottom 8 and the bounces remain faithful to C.C. Aybar who chops one up the box to start the inning. In a ballsy effort to intercept/slow the ball, Sabathia did the thing that every GM and owner hates to see their pitcher $161-million-dollar starter do: he reached out with his pitching hand to grab the ball. But not only did this ricochet leave him unscathed physically, it also left his no-hitter in tact, as the ball lost speed and angled over to a charging Cano who scooped it for out number 22. Shoppach came up two batters later to tarnish the zero and end Sabathia's day. 1 hit, 2 walks, 7.2 innings of brilliance. Hats off to this fat yet lovable star.
PITCHING BREAKDOWN
I guess the above was already a kind of pitching breakdown, at least in terms of the highlight ABs of the contest. I think C.C.'s efforts speak for themselves in this one. He certainly had all his stuff working well. The change was deadly and the fastball had more velocity and life than usual (dome effect?). In fact, I think he was actually throwing harder in the later innings of the game, going up the ladder to the likes of Burrell and Longoria in excess of 96mph. His control for the most part was quite good, although he did leave some balls up here and there. Obviously, the amazing defensive plays helped (especially A-Rod, who almost fooled me into thinking he was the only one out there at certain moments). In general, he was mixing pitches wisely, throwing all his pitches in all counts and using all parts of the strike zone.
I will say that the main thing difference between the C.C. at Fenway and the C.C. at Tropicana was the approach: in the former outing he was shying away from contact and in the latter outing he was challenging the hitters and throwing strikes with all his pitches. The two charlatans with microphones that FOX sports attempts to pass off as announcers claimed that C.C. had said he was "nibbling" around the edges of the plate too much in the Sox game, which led to hitter's counts and long innings. There was nothing nibbly about this performance. Strike one was by most of the Rays before they even knew it, and strike two wasn't far behind. Sure, he got tagged a couple times, but when you're mixing location and pitches and throwing them for strikes, baseball karma generally rewards you. And boy was that evident in this one.
MINUSES
Damn. 10 runs, 14 hits, no errors and a myriad of fantastic plays. Hard to find fault with that. Even my man CK, who had been rightfully disappointed with the Yankee's defensive effort up until this point, had to be pleased with what he saw. Johnson was the only Yankee without a hit, but he had a BB and a run. I think I'm gonna start calling a walk a "Johnson single," because if you credited him with a hit every time he walked, he'd have an amazing average. And for a guy who has a disease where he can't get the bat off his shoulder, you've gotta allot him some kind of handicap, right?
Jeter was on his way to the doghouse after he deadened a rally in the third by swinging halfheartedly at the first pitch from Wade Davis and bouncing it weakly to short for an inning-ending double play. McCarver tried to shift the blame to Gardener in asserting that his fake break from second distracted Jeter, but I have to call BS. Fine, I admit that Gardener shouldn't have been dancing around, but that doesn't excuse the swing. First off, Jeter is a professional and a future hall-of-famer; his concentration should not have been broken that easily. It was barely a move. Sack up and locate the release point. Second off, if he really was that distracted, then don't swing. He should have been taking anyway against a young pitcher that just walked a guy. It was an inexcusably bad AB, but because he's Jeter, ignoramuses like McCarver try to justify it and absolve him of fault. Just one of the mnay reasons why my admiration of Jeter has dropped off a cliff in these more recent years.
Grandy, dude, you ATE S**T THOUGH! OH MAN! I had to laugh when I saw that, even though it would have been a crushing blow had he actually gotten injured from that. Curtis walked (always good to see some patience out of a guy who has been pretty swing-happy so far) and then nabbed second with a well-timed jump. Gardener battled for a hit in the next AB, and Grandy came around third with a head full of steam, looking to tack on another run with two outs in the inning. As he neared the dish, Shoppach received the throw and stuck his body in Grandy's path at the last split second, causing the former Tiger to trip. HARD. I mean, I'm not sure why he wasn't sliding, or why he wasn't prepared for a collision. I guess he though he had beat the throw. I didn't see anyone in the batting circle helping him out, but I'm sure there was. Whatever the cause, the result was a painful (and hilarious) looking landing. He got up though. He's tough. He should probably try and take more balls to the opposite field though. Then again he's hitting the ball hard on a line more times than not. If he starts slumping, I'll be more emphatic with that plee.
Lastly, Girardi. I'm not gonna lie; I used some very harsh language when he came darting out of that dugout to yank C.C. The guy was literally at the foul line when Shoppach's single hit the turf. REALLY? Dude, let him finish the freakin' game! Screw the pitch count!!! Let him at least finish the inning dude! He already got the first two outs. Where was this earnestness in the previous game, when Vazquez was serving up beach balls? We're only two series into the season and already this chump has got my blood boiling. Deep breath, now.
PLUSES
This post has swelled faster than that guy's stomach from The Meaning of Life (which still gives me nightmares), so I'll try to wrap it up here. Tex: welcome to the season, buddy! You got around on the inside fastball for your first knock of the season, and your swing looked level and quick in subsequent ABs. I don't expect this to last, but at least he's gotten the monkey off his back and can relax psychologically. A-Rod: Hey! Two hits! No RBIs, but at least you broke the streak of one-hit wonder games. Kudos to you as well. Robby: what more can I say. You're doin' everything right, my man. Well, you did chase chase two high fastballs out of the zone in your first AB, but you more than made up for it with the quickness inside on a decent slider to golf it for your second home run. Three RBIs on the day as well. He's been carrying the offensive load so far and he's providing critical protection out of the fifth spot for A-Rod. His role in the early going cannot be overstated enough. Lastly, Gardener: another multi-hit game for this guy? What does he think he's a good hitter now? He's been having fiesty AB, making pitcher's (especially Davis today) earn strike three, and his speed on the basepaths adds an important dynamic to the lineup. If he stays healthy, and continues to go to the opposite field, he should serve his role nicely this year.
MISC.
Before I end this obscenely verbose post, I'd just like to say a couple words about winners (losers?) of the Negative Props Dishonors for this game. That would none other than the pathetic duo of Tim McCarver and Joe Buck. This pair of blowhards have been the voice of major network baseball (FOX) and the world series--the biggest event of our nation's pastime, mind you--for as long as I've been watching baseball. I have never liked them, and I have never been able to see why they hold such an esteemed position in sports broadcasting year after year. I suppose Buck is riding the coattails of his father's career, since he adds nothing to my viewing experience in terms of creative/exciting commentary other than some random statistics that I'm sure are fed to him by the production staff. The sound of his voice is...all right, I guess. I know he loves the sound of it, since he never stops talking. Ever.
McCarver is just as bad if not worse. Not only does he never shut up, but he constantly misrepresents play sequences and misinterprets scenarios ALL THE TIME! More than Joe Morgan even! For example, in Saturday's game, he was insisting that a ball had bored in on the hands of the hitter, when a slow-motion replay being aired as he said it clearly revealed that the pitch was right down the middle of the plate and that the batter simply missed it. The aforementioned Jeter played serves as another example in a long list of flubs. This hag-saddler even mispronounces players' names in that country bumpkin accent of his! It doesn't get any more detestable than these clowns, and I yearn for the day when they're too old to keep their jaws open. Although with my luck, it'll never happen and they'll go on ruining the world series for all eternity.
EPILOGUE: 4/11/10 - Yankees 7, Rays 3
Box Score
Yeah, so again I'm finishing this epilogue after the series is long over. I apologize to my fan(s) once again for the lateness of my posts. As a college kid without a laptop, posting becomes a long and difficult process. It'll be better in the summer...assuming I make it that far. I didn't see this game (as a college kid in MA without an mlb.tv subscription, viewing the games is also a difficult process...but it'll be better in the summer too), so I'll try to be brief with this add-on section.
Anyway, the Yanks follow the formula of their opening series with the Red Stockings (lose the first, take the next two), as they took the series with a rubberneck-game victory yesterday afternoon over starter James Shields and the Rays. The young Shields did his best to give his squad a chance to win, holding the Yankees to just 1 run over the first five innings. However, much like when they faced Lackey in the rubberneck game of the Boston series, what the Yankee bats lacked in run production, they made up for in pitch count, forcing Shields to throw 96 offerings for those first 15 outs. Sexy Texy contributed significantly to that tally; despite going 0-for-4, he single-handedly made Shields throw 23 pitches over three ABs. The Rays' right-hander was only able to record one more out in the sixth, as Cano's double prompted Joe Madden to call on that precarious Rays bullpen to hold the 2-1 lead. And they failed; the trio of Choate, Cormier, and Sonnanstine, combined for 5 hits and 5 runs in 3.2 innings.
Meanwhile, after a rocky 2-run first inning, A.J. "Only Sometimes" Burnett bounced back to record one of his typical "one bad inning" victories that characterized the bulk of his starts last season. The power-pitcher cruised through the next 18 outs on 75 pitches, allowing 2 hits, 2 walks and no runs. He even threw in a pickoff for good measure. His heat was more consistent than his first start, as he got ahead with hard stuff for strike one in just about every AB, then trusting a nasty curve (and occasionally his change) to finish off hitters. Ironically he only had one strikeout, which actually worked in his favor in terms of limiting his pitch count and getting him deeper into the ballgame. Cano and Posada's bats, and Granderson's speed rewarded Burnett's efforts in the sixth, and A-Rod's clutch double in the seventh sealed flamethrower's first victory of the year. Swisher added his first homer of the season in the eighth for good measure. Another late-inning win, but a convincing one.
So what have we learned from these first two division-rival series? Well for one, I think the Yanks are going to have much less trouble with the Rays this year than the Sox. Not so much because that series was closer, but because the Rays bullpen looks god awful. Randy Choate? That's your lefty, Tampa? And I thought we were screwed with Marte. Sonnanstine is still unproven in the majors, and might have a tricky year transitioning to reliever. And Cormier? Please. Average at best. I'm not saying the Yanks are that much better off, but I feel better about our chances with Joba, Aceves, Robertson, and Mo. The Sox have the best pen of all three I believe, and with their nasty front three, they're gonna be tough to take down this year. As CK has noted, the Yanks can't act like the 'ship is just gonna fall in their lap this year. With Matsui, Damon, and Melky gone, Wang's return projected for 2047, and certain veterans getting older in general, guys are gonna have to step up in a big way, in all facets of the game.
Bring it on 2010.
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