Well, I guess this is what happens when you forget to smear lamb’s blood over the bat rack.
Why on all other nights during the year does Chien-Ming Wang’s sinker sink, but tonight it is straight down the middle?
Hmmmm, no, doesn’t quite work. How about: The maror, or bitter herbs, symbolize the bitterness of leaving a metric ton of runners on base in two consecutive games….
Or: And Mark Teixeira went unto the Orioles pitchers, and spake thus: let my left-handed swing go, that it may serve the Yankees; and if you refuse to let it go, I will smite all thy borders with… uh, frogs —
Ah, screw it. The Orioles beat the Yankees 7-5 tonight, in a game that wasn’t actually as close as that makes it sound (until suddenly it was). Needless to say it is far to early to fret, let alone worry, let alone panic, but this wasn’t what you’d call a gem of a game. Chien Ming Wang was not himself; Ken Singleton said he wasn’t “getting on top of his sinker,” which is what announcers always say on those rare occasions when Wang starts chucking meatballs down the middle. Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara, formerly Hideki Matsui’s teammate on the Yomiuri Giants, took the mound for the O’s, and while I wasn’t exactly awed by him, he did get the job done. The Yankees’ unleavened (sorry) offense sputtered for most of the game, eking out a run here and there before rousing itself in the ninth – too little too late, but still a somewhat more positive note to end on.
Wang allowed two runs in the first inning on three consecutive doubles, then semi-fooled me with a 1-2-3 second, and squeaked out of trouble in the third. The Yankees scored their first run in the fourth, when Cody Ransom doubled in Xavier Nady, and in general they seemed to be putting together some more impressive at-bats and maybe gathering a little momentum. But things fell apart for Wang in the bottom of the inning – Scott singled, Pie walked, Zaun doubled, Roberts singled, sac fly, home run from Nick Markakis (now hitting .714 on the season) – you get the idea. When the smoke cleared, the Yankees were down 7-1 and Edwar Ramirez was in the game.
Derek “D-Cline” Jeter had a strong night, 2-for-4 in the end with a walk; Posada looked good on a strong double, and scored the Yankees’ second run in the sixth inning, when Cano doubled him home. Mark Teixeira, however, was having tougher time: going into the ninth he was 0-for-4, and so 0-for-8 in his brief Yankees career. And while, obviously, this is completely meaningless two games in, I was still a little worried that it was going to become A Thing – that fans and media would focus on it, laser-like, until some kind of obsessive watch for the first hit developed, and maybe a mental block, and who knows.
[Side note: New York sports fans do not have the right to criticize other fans for their booing habits, ever, so I’m not saying Baltimore fans shouldn’t be booing Teixeira so intensely. They should boo whoever they want whenever they want and more power to them. However, I’m confused about the particular hostility to Teixeira, because: did anyone ever think he was actually going to end up in Baltimore? I don’t believe I heard a soul suggest that as a strong possibility. It’s like if I started booing George Clooney because he wasn’t dating me, or Mayor Bloomberg for not giving me a key to the city… I mean, these things were never even on the table, you know? No one in San Francisco is going to boo Sabathia for not giving the Giants a hometown discount, because it was a nonissue. I just feel like I’m missing something].
It was 7-2 O’s in the top of the ninth when the Yankees got their act semi-together. Gardner was on base with two outs when Jeter hit his first home run of the year, making it 7-4, and Johnny Damon walked. This brought up Teixeira in the big spot, under pressure, A-Rod-style… and he hit a nice strong double to center, and now we can stop reading about his tiny little 0-fer. Phew. Of course Matsui then popped out, so, moot point.
Tomorrow the Yankees face a largely unknown rookie with an ERA over 6, which means you can expect them to be shut out. Unless maybe A.J. Burnett parts the Orioles batters like the… well, you know.
"We play today, we win today".
Two ugly games to start the season. Why am I more worried about Wang than CC?
[1] Because Wang wasn't really *that* good last year, and he's coming off an injury, and because he wasn't *that* good in spring (and wasn't he touched up in his last spring start (with lots of flyouts?).
Were my Father still around, he would tell you how I used to cry when the fans at Yankee Stadium booed Mickey Mantle. Early in his career, they did it because he didn't serve his country. Later, they booed the failures at the plate. Lots of strikeouts.
That was then and this is now. One reason I don't like going to games is because of the general taunting, especially in away parks like Fenway. At a Mariners game, the fans did the Yankees suck chant in the top of the sixth.
Yo, the return of Emma is most welcome. Man, lady, you were KILLING me. So hilarious.
And yeah, whatever, A Jax is going to be the STOPPER this afternoon.
Ya heard?!?!?!
Seder it ain't so, Emma!
Has it come to this? Our eyes turn in hope to AJ? Can Cliff handle that?
The talk, of course, all winter/spring was that this was a team built to win with pitching, taking pressure off the bats. Absent A Rod, that's even more true.
As I hear it from the Oriole's mouth (ie: the fans in B-more), the booing stems from Teixeira stating that he loved his hometown team and has always been an Os fan, only to state that he was a lifelong Yankee fan during his press conference after signing. Here's the real question: was there ever a chance he would sign with Baltimore?
No.
Emma, great read! Glad to see you back from the mixed multitudes (obscure passover reference).
While my arteries unclog from last night's onslaught of food, I am wondering, perhaps sarcastically if the Yankees are going to make the largely unknown rookie look like a Cy Young candidate. They do that from time to time.
Go AJ!
Even with the early struggles, it's better to have Tex in the lineup than Doug Manischewitz.
Oh great, the Yankees get to face an URP. It's like these URPs are a plague of locusts or something. Can't we just pass over them?
I sorta think that the booing of Texeira is now an activity unto itself, fed by the crowd and for the crowd. It doesn't matter anymore if it's based on something real, it's kinda fun to howl your frustrations out on what looks to be like a nice young man; I can imagine building an evening's entertainment around it. "Let's go out and boo Texeira!" "Awesome! Let's!"
[9] Seriously, though, that's exactly what happened. 90% of the people on opening day didn't really know why they were booing, they just figured it was because he signed for the Yankees, so they must have offered way more than the Os and stolen him, etc, etc...
Thanks Emma! Great stuff!
Karma-phala is a bitch! The Orioles will pay for blasting the baseline to "Loser" during the Yankee introductions at their "High School Pep Rally" on Opening Day! With less than 24K in attendance last night, as well as failing to sell out for Opening Day, that very thing is already biting the O's in the ass a mere two games into the season! Tell me again, who are the losers around here, really?
For $40M plus more, and since the O's never countered their offer, I'd have told Angelos, "No thanks," as well! So would every single member of the great unwashed who boo him, too. Hometown discounts in this economy are like megaladons, extinct.
In other news, I understand Gary Sheffield isn't ready to play in the outfield every day for the Mets! In my best Gomer Pyle, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" He hasn't been ready for that in over a decade!
As far as Passover jokes go, here's to Burnett serving as today's "Angel of Death"!
Another klunker from a Yankees starter would be "bitter herbs" indeed!
;)
i generally hate forum or blog comments that basically say 'nice work' but what are you gonna do...
...nice work, enjoy your stuff as always.
The talk, of course, all winter/spring was that this was a team built to win with pitching, taking pressure off the bats. Absent A Rod, that’s even more true.
On that note, the offense has done a decent job, scoring 5 runs each game.
Holy cow. Nick Adenhart was killed in a car crash last night, hours after pitching for the Angels. Three people died when a car ran a red light and caused a three-car crash.
There are reports that one of the others killed was affiliated with the Angels organzation, but they aren't identifying him yet.
[14] I just posted that on the next thread, terrible.
Oh, Emma, it's great to see you and *thank you* (as always) for the hearty guffaws.