The worst thing about this shellacking is that now we'll be bombarded with stories about how Schilling's ankle was bothering him, and how this game would've been so different if he was 100%.
Here's what I saw. Schilling threw crappy pitches, and the Yankees hit the crappy pitches hard. I blinked and it was 6-0. Did Schilling's ankle hurt? I don't know and it doesn't matter. When I looked at the box score today there was no asterisk by Schilling's pitching line that said, "*Schilling stunk last night because of a balky ankle."
The good news is that the Red Sox were able to mount a comeback after being down 8-0 against a pitcher who looked like Mike Mussina, but threw like, well, Mike Mussina. The bad news of course, is that the Red Sox can have three more comebacks just like this one and we'll all be dusting off our "wait til next year" speech.
But hey, it's only one game and we've got "Who's my Daddy?" on the mound tonight. Here are a couple of random observations and goofy quotes from last night's game:
...I know I'm not original in writing this, but seriously, are Jeter and A-Rod dating? Have you ever seen one of them come out of the dugout without the other? It's like every time someone gets a hit or scores a run, these two have to share a private moment in celebration. Actually, as I think about it, dating implies an equal partnership in the relationship. It's more like Jeter is a proud puppy owner and A-Rod is the puppy. It's never the case that Jeter is traipsing around after A-Rod, but every time Jeter does his patented "hop on the first step of the dugout and give that dopey fist pump," he can't turn around without bumping into A-Rod -- who then proceeds to give him a high-ten (you know, a high-five with both hands that went out of style about the same time that Sanford & Son was going off the air -- and A-Rod's version isn't done with his hands above his head; instead, it's more like the patty-cake version).
...Does anyone else get the sneaking suspicion that Millar just escaped from a maximum security prison with that Wolfman Jack look he's sporting?
Stupid McCarver quotes:
"Jeter has two of the calmest eyes under pressure of any athlete I've seen."
Huh? If I didn't hear it with my own ears, I would've wagered that A-Rod probably muttered it while coming out of the dugout to high-
"We do not know yet if Mariano Rivera is emotionally capable of entering the game yet. One would assume that he is...since he's here."
McCarver said this in the third inning, a few minutes after Rivera walked into the building. I think it's awful what happened to Rivera's family and I give the guy a lot of credit for showing up for work. But don't you think that if he actually made the effort to come to the ballpark, that he's probably available to pitch? Well, we saw how that turned out.
Is it bad when Tim McCarver is routinely the worst announcer in the booth during the post season? Last year Bret Boone looked like Vin Scully next to McCarver and last night I was praying for Al Leiter to say something -- anything -- just to ensure that McCarver would have fewer opportunities to say something really dopey. Welcome to the playoffs on Fox.
|