Today, the universe is poised for a Yankee juju kill-shot: Phil Hughes and Chien-Ming Wang both start for their respective teams.
Hughes has been an ultimate disappointment - so disappointing that the Yankees can't even get anything of equal disappointment value in a trade. So disappointing that if he throws a shutout, it will be disappointing, because nobody will dare suggest he's found his stride. Nope. It's just a random occurrence, a happenstance, the disappointing result of incalculable magnets at the atomic particle level. His next game, we know what he'll do: Disappoint.
Wang is the ace we disappointed. This spring, he wanted to return to the Yankees. We signed him to a contract that paid about $35,000 a month. Then we sent him to Scranton for two months. Have you ever spent two months in Scranton? It might be worse than Syracuse. Two months. What can you buy for $35,000 a month in Scranton? The mayor's daughter? A coal mine? Wang pitched well. Really well. In late May, he was named International League Pitcher of the Week! OK, that's sort of like winning a daytime Emmy. But it beats getting hammered. Nevertheless, the Yankee brain trust said Wang wasn't ready. They stood in the lab suits, checked the stool samples and said he wasn't throwing hard enough. They wanted to pay him another $35,000 and have him stay another month in Scranton. He refused. The Blue Jays offered him a $500,000 contract and gave him a shot. It was Scranton or Toronto? Which would you choose? On the day Chien-Ming started with Toronto, the Blue Jays launched an 11-game winning streak. That whoosh you are about to hear is the sound they'll make passing us. Tonight, he faces Boston.
Take a good look at both pitchers, folks. You will see our past, present and our future. It might not be pleasant. Juju kill shots aren't necessarily pretty.
Phil Hughes: 8 IP, 2 ER
ReplyDeleteCMW: 1.2 IP, 7 ER
Clearly (say it with me)... you can't predict baseball.