My father is close by whenever I see Reggie Jackson. Mr. October was my first sports hero and one of the few athletes that my father could stomach. In fact, the old man admired Reggie more than somewhat. Last night, I smiled when I saw Reggie throw out the first pitch. Not because he couldn’t reach plate–the ball reached the catcher on a hop–but because Reggie looked like a bad ass in his black hat. It was the kind of hat my father fancied in his later years. Reggie has to cover up the bald spot, but still, the hat looked good.
From Reggie to Alex. I have enjoyed rooting for Alex Rodriguez because he reminds me of the feeling I had watching Reggie when I was a kid, the tension, the drama, the sense that something special is going to happen, the disappointment when it doesn’t. It’s pure sensation, expectation and hope, pre-adolescent hero worship. It has almost nothing to do with Rodriguez the man–although I love what most people dislike about him, his neediness his neurosis–it is about my childhood fantasy to have the best player come through when it matters. Like Reggie did.
Rodriguez’s RBI single in the sixth inning, which tied the game at one, was satisfying, but his two-run home run in the ninth, tying the game again, was the hit we’ve been waiting from him since 2004. It is the dinger that stops the A Rod is a choker storyline dead in its tracks.
What I loved about the at bat against Minnesota’s closer Joe Nathan was how Rodriguez laid off the first three pitches, all breaking balls. The 2-0 slider was just off the outside corner and was a pitch that Rodriguez would have offered at in the 2005 or ’06 playoffs. He didn’t swing at any of that slop this time, took a fastball low and inside for a strike and then squared up the next pitch, another fastball, right over the plate. It was a classic Rodriguez homer–to right center field.
My body was still humming hours later.
The Twins needed to steal a game in New York, but thanks to Rodriguez–and a little help from his friends–the Yankees were ones who stole this game from the Twins. The Bombers also had some luck with a Jeffery Maier style blown call from the umps. Still, Minnesota put runners on base in every inning and left seventeen men on. They had a ton of chances and…take it away Mr. D:
AJ Burnett showed up, Mark Teixeira showed up. And how. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a game-winning home run take such an odd bounce. When his line drive hit off the top of the left field wall and shot into the air, I had no idea if it was coming back in play or over the wall.
Now, Pavano for Sunday gravy.
Today, life is good.
Very good.
They're already postponing Rockies games due to snow, just imagine if they make the World Series.
I made the stupid of mistake of acceding to my uncle's wishes to accompany him to the Knicks' opening game of the 1977 season instead of watching Reggie hit three HRs in Game 6 of the WS on TV. (grrrr)
Alex appears to finally be trusting that he is one of the top two or three hitters in the game, rather than fearing that he won't be the same hitter than he is in the regular season.
I love this team.
Blown call = bad. But if you were to say to the Twins "Here's the deal, you can have the bases loaded, no outs in a tie game but you have to first suffer a blown call on a double down the line", I imagine they'd sign up for that in a heartbeat.
Well Ollie... you did it again!
[3] true, and maybe if he doubles marte is more careful with kubel and walks him. but as oyf just said in the last thread, blown calls are always bad for baseball. what bothers me is that people seem more willing to forgive the home plate umpire for terrible ball and strike calls than other umpires for their terrible calls. ball and strike calls are usually more difficult, but they're also more important because of quantity. no home plate umpire is consistent, and it's time to seriously consider using a computer instead of a human.
Perhaps this whole catcher controversy was stirred up by Girardi to take the spotlight off Alex. Yes, Joe Girardi, psychological genius ;).
[1] I lived in Colorado for a year, and a good friend of mine still lives out there. While it's likely that it could snow a foot and a half on game day, it's just as likely that it could be 82 degrees and sunny 24 hours later. Denver weather changes make NYC look like San Diego.
I thought the call was pretty tough. Melky blocked the umpire and his white uniform moving into foul territory gave one heck of an illusion. Either way criticizing the ump is really unnecessary in that case. He should have never been out there. That is an ideal call for replay especially since there are at least two or three angles on every one of those ball.
Umps are going to fight tooth and nail to keep the bases and especially home plate, But the foul line is better judged from afar.
From Lohud:
Interesting tidbit on SportsCenter: Teixeira's home run took 2.88 seconds to leave the field. It is the fastest home run this season.
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I'd like to know how that rates historically.
I guess deep fly balls have been hit harder, but I can't think of one.
Hard to hit a HR with a shorter distance.
Hard to hit a HR any lower (in altitude).
2.88 seconds. That's kinda sick, ain' it?.
good stuff alex.
i couldn't miss out on commenting on a post about reggie :}
and as i said in the game thread he looked fresh out there.
[2]
very well put rich.
oh and pavano, best be careful, he might get burned on his buttock stirring that sauce.
Check out this Times article by Jack Curry if you haven't already. Synopsis: Joe Mauer is (a) hurting and (b) a class act.
I thought the call was pretty tough. Melky blocked the umpire and his white uniform moving into foul territory gave one heck of an illusion.
Well, except that doesn't matter. Melky touched the ball in fair territory. Fair Ball, end of story, regardless of where the ball landed afterwards.
Even if Cuzzi was blocked from seeing the ball hit the ground, the fact that he was 10 feet away when Melky touched the ball is all that needs to be said.
Meanwhile, Alex's homerun was one of the best moments in this Yankee fan's life.
Happy beyond words that this series has been a shiv in the gut to all the arod-can't-come-through-in-the-clutch mouthbreathers.
Not much talk here about Boston accumulating all of 1 run and 8 hits over 2 games. If the Angels can kick Boston's ass in the first game at Fenway, watching Boston media will be grand (for a change).
No matter the glory of our wins, we must still rejoice over Boston's monumental failure.
No matter the glory of our wins, we must still rejoice over Boston’s monumental failure.
Nope, because that would make us as lowly, neurotic and self-conscious as Red Sox fans.
Angels, Red Sox, Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers, Rockies ... doesn't matter, bring'em on, fuck'em all.
They exist in an orbit that is far beyond the worth of my caring.
They might beat my team, but they'll never be worthy of me spending one moment of my time or consciousness bothering about anything they do outside of their connection to the Yankees.
[3] yeah. plus, it's not like the blown call resulted in an out, or anything.
[14] i get a new set of texts on Monday!!! yippee : )
[7] when did you live out there? i used to play there (throughout the whole state) pretty regularly from '96-'99. my best friend still lives in Denver. i'll call him later to get a weather update...
[8] wait. don't they have an extra umpire in the playoffs, specifically for line calls? i think he was supposed to be there...exactly for plays like that! no???
[9] yeah, it went of his bat at 110mph. that's pretty sick, too! : o
[13] i think the Halos need to sweep. otherwise, it might be a 5-game swing and end in the favor of the scumbags.
i agree w/ Cult in [14]. i loathe and fear the Shit Sox, but outside of their connection w/ the Yanks, i could give a flying fuck about every last bit of their existence. IF the Halos dispose of them, i will be glad for a split second, then completely forget about them. at this point, all i cares about is winning # 27 !!!!!
[10] my mom used to have a BIG crush on Reggie.
my brother and i used to have the big REG-GIE poster in our bedroom when we were kids in Queens.
i recently found a picture of me, swinging the bat in the backyard of the garden apartments in Queens. i must've been 4-5 years old. i was doing the whole Reggie corkscrew thing. even though i'm right-handed, my left hand was on top - i've always had "lefty envy". (still do...)
man, this postponed game in denver really sucks. i'm off tonight and was thoroughly looking forward to watching back-to-back NL playoff games that don't affect my stomach. now, there's only 1 game, and it's the earlier one, which falls smack in the middle of my day/evening. what a drag!
[17] I lived up in Summit County working as a snowboarding layabout from 95-96. I played a little bit up there, but I didn't see many other people play much. Saw Lungfish in Denver and The Jesus Lizard in Vail (yes, Vail) ... and that's it. Those were the only two shows I saw deliberately for the entire year. I had plenty of pseudo reggae or 311 style garbage forced upon me, though.
I recall coming down the hill in February and it was 75. We went skateboarding in Golden in shirtsleeves. My friend is always bringing up the bizarro weather.
[14] Sorry for using up yer texts! I just had to have some sort of connection with Banter during that game, even if i wasn't near a computer.
When Alex connected, I lost it in the middle of the wine bar ... everybody looked at me like I was an alien.
[22] Am I wrong for looking at Angels/Yankees ALCS tickets?
'Cause I've never been to a Yankees playoff game and dammit! I'm going this year if that's the matchup.
Too soon?
[23] i must've just missed you. i started playing there the end of '96. not sure what city/cities make up Summit county, but i'm sure i've been there. i played Denver a few times (Bluebird Theater) and the Fox Theater in nearby Boulder, and i definitely played in Vail. don't remember the name of the club. i'm remembering the "Double Diamond", but i'm pretty sure that was in Aspen. i have it logged in an old notebook...
oh, that's right - 311 are from Colorado. i have a few students that really like them a lot. i had no idea they got sooo big and still are. i don't know them very well, but at least the drummer is studied, which is good. so, when i teach my students his parts, it's a nice bridge to showing them just how important it is to study their rudiments and have proper hand technique! : )
[24] no, it wasn't YOU!!! they've been used up for ages already. sucks. at this point, it's mostly been students. a lot of my kids are driving age now, so i don't set up lessons w/ their parents anymore and god forbid these children speak to anybody on the phone. it's all back/forth, quick messages.
anyway, i've been going dollars and dollars over every month lately. i was gonna up my texting package, but apparently the next rate is waaay too expensive, 'coz it includes all kinda multi-media garbage i don't need.
i LOVE getting Banter-like texts from you! and i especially need the score from you when i'm away from a computer/tv, on a gig, and such... : )
[25] oh man, you HAVE to go...if it comes down to that. how cool !!!
My buddy Zack Hample gets a nice Page 2 writeup
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hruby/091008
as far as Tex's laser shot of a HR, check this site tomorrow
http://www.hittrackeronline.com/index.php
As far as A-Rod goes, I think he is .... RELAXED .... he actually looks serene up at the plate. Kate Hudson for MVP.
From Steve Goldman over at the Pinstriped Bible:
[29]
LOL ... well said Mr. Goldman
Now if only A-Rod would permanently get rid of Boras ...
[11] Sure wish we could get our paws on that guy.
[14] Bring 'em on, fuck 'em all!!!
[14] Beautiful.
[26] 311 is from Omaha, don't go assigning our single claim to rock fame to some other place! Well, there's that Bright Eyes guy too, but I'm not really a fan.....
[21] thelarmis, no worries. left hand on top is the Irish grip! No I am not kidding. Though technically that isn't for baseball so much as for hurling. Anyhow, I kept popping up playing softball but i always had good control striking the ball in hurling so I went to the irish grip for a season and it worked beautifully!
[23] haven't heard reference to jesus lizard in a while. I interviewed them twice. the first was the worst interview ever. went exactly as planned. :)
[29] nice! that'd be too funny!
Had a friend that put his left hand on top, we would try and try and try to work with him to make him stop, but he just couldn't.
[38] I have the opposite problem trying to teach people how to play hurling. They all want to hold it like a baseball bat. But doing so really limits what you can do (this is a field game where the ball can come at you from any direction and on the ground or in the air after all).
[34] doh! i had NO idea. i've never heard of the other band. the *amazing* Paul Gilbert has a song called "Girl From Omaha" on his latest studio cd and it's an excellent pop-rock track. shit, i JUST recently saw a similarly titled tune, but i can't remember what CD i was holding - i have too damn many! i think it was older...
[35] oh, excellent! i actually look Irish!!! true story. i've toured some in Ireland, also. unbelievably beautiful country! : )
YAY! i just booked a flight to NY to see the fam for Turkey Day. also, it's my mom's birthday a few days before and mine a week after Thanksgiving. i'm sure we'll have a dinner - smaller version, outside T'day - or, at least a cake that i won't eat! : )
Manny just got his second double.
And that Ethier guy is good.
[0] Reggie..my first baseball hero too, AB! Though I was just a couple years too young to remember 77 & 78. I was 7 when he left for the Angels and I couldn't understand why..my aunty bought me a picture of him in an Angels uniform, but I never liked it.. and you're right, that hat is bad-ass for sure!