"[Home plate umpire Jim Wolf] said something the first pitch, and I thought he called it a strike," Stewart said. "I assumed it was 0-1, I fouled a ball off and I swung and missed at a ball. No one said anything; the umpire didn't say anything, so I just came on back to the dugout and put my stuff away."
WTF? All the king's horses, and all the king's men are watching - on national TV - and nobody speaks up? Stewart is laughing about it today - what choice does he have? - but isn't it an umpire's job to say, "Wait, that's only two." WTF?
2. Apparently, Bobby Valentine hasn't been receiving his regular 15 minutes of fame lately. (Fifteen minutes can save you a bundle on car insurance.) Thus, Bobby V selectively remembers Sept. 11, 2001, employing the psychological blinders of his last relevant deeds on this planet: A period in which Bobby did nice things for New Yorkers who had been traumatized by the terror attacks.
The other day, this is what he said:
"It was an emotional day. I don't know if I was trying to take credit for the team. I was trying to make a fact. After 12 years of hearing what was done and hearing it reported incorrectly, I just thought I'd state for the record that there weren't any Yankees out there that week."
Listen: Everybody who was around remembers 9/11 in his or her own way. We can redraft our stories every year, if we want. It won't change what happened. The Mets did nice things. The Yankees carried the city's heart into the World Series. Everybody was good. Everybody was a hero. Everybody tried. That's how you survive things like 9/11. Everybody does a little bit of good.
Frankly, I think Bobby may be losing it. This business of always whining about the Yankees - jeez, it's like a tape loop in his head. Ask a question, and he's ripping his perennial nemesis, the Yankees, for whatever pops up. Miley Cyrus' twerking? It's the Yankees! Did he really need to stir the pot - to set the record straight - on the 9/11 anniversary? Yeesh. What happens to these guys when they're no longer in the spotlight?
3. A few blogs today are smart-mouthing about The Master's call of Alfonso Soriano's catch magnificent last night. It went this way:
“Leaping … and she’s gone! It is a home run (pause) NO HE CAUGHT THE BALL HOWDOYALIKE THAT!”
Of course, our website is based on The Master's lost home run calls - the most painful moment in the Yankiverse, by the way - so I can't blame anybody for having fun at Sterling's expense. But there are plenty of things to rip him about, if you're of the mind. Frankly, he called it last night just as he was seeing it, which is what play-by-play drama is supposed to be.
He's an easy target. Surely, John's critics would have called it perfectly, a combination of John Updyke and Norman Mailer: "A towering fly to deep left field, seemingly targeted for the first or second row! Alfonso Soriano is drifting back, antelope-like, back to the wall, springing from his powerful legs, rising on an 100 degree trajectory, raising his tan, elongated Spaudling mitt above the fence, snatching the home run from the Promised Land, bringing to the Yankees the salvation of the inning's first out. May God in heaven bless his immortal soul!"
Whenever I think of Sterling, I remember Randy Newman's lines about Lester Maddox in the song "Rednecks." He may be a fool but he's our fool..."
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5 comments:
Hey, Boy! Don't ya want yer third strike before ya sit?
people not from around here may find it hard to believe how the Yanks lifted our spirits after 9/11. The stadium seemed like a town square and everybody was bonding using the yanks as glue. I remember especially the signs that fans brought. One guy had a very large sign, "WE ARE NEW YORK AND WE NEVER GIVE UP!" He was speaking to many things, including our country, city, and our boys.
This Valentine guy. who the fuck is he? was he down on the smoking, smoldering rubble pile pulling out body parts? is he so insecure that he has to tear others down to build himself up?
To answer your question, KD, yes, Bobby V is a special and needy case, demanding constant attention or else he acts out. Not completely unlike our new Yankee captain, ex officio, but he's always been more of a horse's ass, for sure.
And I agree, too, that the 2001 postseason was one of the best, most emotional and proud moments I've ever enjoyed with the Yankees. Even when they lost the series, I was still happy and thankful for the ride that they had given all of us, allowing us to stand up and sing New York, New York again. Those two ridiculous comebacks against Kim and taking that series to 7 games even if AZ outplayed us in five of the first six. Always with 9-11 as a backdrop.
Fuck Bobby Valentine. They ran him out of Boston as fast as they could, but in my book, whether he's a Red Sock, a Met or a Texas Ranger, he's a loser forever. And you can look it up.
I heard the Master's call live, he called it like he saw it, with emotion in real time, and it was a SPECTACULAR SURPRISE to all of us when Whose Sori Now came up with THAT catch, this is the magic of baseball, and that's exactly how I want to experience it. Well done Sir Sterling, I cherish every minute of your broadcasts!
Whupped by a guy who looks like Grizzly Adams on meth. A rough night. My heart goes out to Hiroki Kuroda.
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