Saturday, October 3, 2015

Waiting for the Yankees opponent, wanting none of the above

Last night, Houston scored 21 (twenty one) runs, Mike Trout proved again why he's the MVP, and the only team I'd like to play Tuesday - Minnesota's finest - lost.

Whoever we face, they'll go into the one game playoff playing far better ball than we have been.

One game.

I thought this was baseball. Since when did we become the NFL? If we're doing one game playoffs, why not have a 64 team bracket, including Triple A. Have the Final Four, or maybe a double-elimination round robin. One game? Since when does baseball decide something, anything, on a one game playoff?

One game. It's not right. If Tanaka has a stinker, three runs in the first - our season is over. If we go 0 for 10 with runners on base, as we are prone to do, the season is history. If Headley sails one into the stands, or if Beltran gets hypnotized watching flies drop in front of him... if Chasen Shreve comes in, under any circumstances... if Betances can't find the plate... if, if, if... so many ways we can lose this one stinking game... if any one of them lands upon us, or if we're just unlucky... it's over.

One game.

Right now, it's Houston. Right now, it's Dallas Keuchel, who won his 20th last night. He'll pitch on three days rest, (for the first time ever.) The guy has thrown 16 shutout innings against us this season. He's been untouchable. He's a lefty. We die against lefties. In a three game series, they couldn't throw just lefties. In a five game series, we'd expose their bullpen. In a seven game series, all our advantages would have a chance to emerge.

One game.

Or it could be California. We will face Trout. It'll be like when we faced Josh Hamilton, four years ago, in his prime, last time we made the playoffs. Every time he comes up, I'll hide behind the couch. California would throw a lefty against us. Doesn't matter who he is. We die against lefties.

Minnesota lost last night. Damn. I want the Twins. Phil Hughes isn't a lefty. Give us the Twins, juju gods. It shouldn't be much to ask. After all, it's just one game.

7 comments:

Alphonso said...

This one game play in is so fu**** up, we might have to play an inter league game. Maybe we could play two against the Phillies.

Do they still have lefties there/

You are dead on; against a lefty; Girardi will sit Bird and play that useless backache we got in a late trade.

BUt I start drinking at noon on Monday, so I do not expect to notice any subtleties. Or sub titles.

JUst play the damn game and win it.

Here is my concern; we suck.

JM said...

I share Alphonso's concern.

After years of praying for the removal of Joe Torre, whose voice still haunts me every morning on the radio as he extols the virtues of CohnReznick, but mercifully not Bigelow tea anymore, my candle lightings at St. Patrick's Cathedral were rewarded by the arrival of Joe Girardi. After only a couple of seasons, I realized the cruel trick God had played on us all. In fact, I'm not 100% sure it was God's doing at all, since Girardi smacks of Peter Cook's devilish handiwork in the original "Bedazzled."

Now, we not only have a team more flawed than the relatively good teams of the 'aughts, we have a manager who is even less capable of making sound on-field decisions when they are most sorely needed. Like, daily. Sometimes hourly. A lot of times, minute to minute.

My father once told my teenaged self that whatever my problems might be, I would not find the answer to them in the bottom of a liquor bottle.

All things considered, I'll keep looking.

Tom said...

Can't argue with Alphonso here: We do suck. Good team shows up one or two games in five. The rest of the time, mediocre or bad.

You know what would be worse than losing to Keuchel and Houston? Losing to Phil Hughes and Minnesota. The Twins have been bullied by us so bad and so long that I fear the law of averages as well as the complacency our guys might have going into a one-game playoff against their perennial whipping boys. The entire state of Minnesota will want to do a tap dance on our face. That would not be good.

Anonymous said...

WE MAY NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WATCHING THE WHOLE GAME TUESDAY...JUST FIND OUT THE STARTING LINEUP ...IF WE SEE "BRENDAN RYAN" STARTING AT 2ND BASE AGAINST A LEFTY, THE GAME, AND SEASON, ARE PROBABLY OVER....LET'S SEE IF JOE G. CAN ADJUST TO WHAT HE JUST WITNESSED IN FRONT OF HIS OWN EYES...WE NOW HAVE AN ALTERNATIVE TO BRENDAN RYAN WHO MAYBE....MAYBE, BE ABLE TO HELP US GET AN EXTRA MAN ON BASE, AND EXTRA BASE HIT, OR EVEN AN EXTRA RUN OR TWO!.....THE CRAZY THING IS WE'RE NOT EVEN SURE IF JOE G. IS GOING TO ADD ROB REFSNYDER TO THE POST SEASON ROSTER!!!!! ..and wouldn't THAT be nuts if he didn't?

Local Bargain Jerk said...



WE MAY NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WATCHING THE WHOLE GAME TUESDAY

...we may not have to worry about reading your effing posts if you don't get rid of that effing Caps Lock key...

Anonymous said...

RELAX JERK...A LOT OF WORSE THINGS GOING ON THAN MY EFFING CAPS LOCK KEY...THE CAPS STAY....

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