My Favorite Inning

El Duque must be watching the same game that I am watching.  I notice that his conclusions are the same as mine, so it must seem as though I am stealing his stuff.

Have you read my new book, for example, "Boor of the Deal," the poetry of Ted Cruz?  Sorry, I digress.

The Yankees went into the bottom of the 4th with their only real shot at come-back rally:  When Castro stole second with a piece of alert base running ( get that?  A Yankee made an aggressive, smart play?), we had men on second and third and no one out.

From that point on, I sensed exactly what was about to transpire.  Didi flails ( a la A-Rod, when is is strong enough to play ) at a third strike.  The pitch was about 18 inches off the plate and in the dirt.

Then, Headley and Ellsbury ( who used to be a clutch hitter ), watched third strike calls.  Neither touched the ball.  Nor, for that matter did Didi.  And I am going to bore myself here;  Did not one of these guys ever hear a teammate, or coach, at any level, say, " if it is close ( a pitch when you are down 2 strikes ) swing at it?"

It is as if these guys were begging for a walk which, with a base open, does little to advance the cause.  Getting the bat on the ball, at least when there were no outs, or one out, has a prayer of scoring a run.  Looking angry as you make the long walk back to the dugout helps not a whit.

After that, the Yankees had no prayer.  The old, unreliable offense of 2015, is older and more unreliable now.

And as for Severino,  I watched him fail to find the strike zone, time and time again, all the while listening to the announcers tell me how great his arm was. I sensed that they were full of crap.  He had no out pitch. More tellingly, his command of the strike zone is zero.  He got sliced and diced until we were 4 or 5 runs down.  The Mariners were hitting bullets off  him.  Many right at Ellsbury or Gardy.

I am just going to say this;  I said to myself;  " Self,"  this guy is just a younger version of the Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda over-rated dorks the Yankees always develop.  He needs 98 pitches to get through the 5th inning, and leaves a 5 or 6 spot on the table for the Yankee's pathetic offense to clean up.  When he critically needs an out, he doesn't get it.

He will be 4-12, if he doesn't develop arm trouble.

You see, one of these game, the Yankees will score 14 runs and we will post a "W."  All will be well again.

 But we'll go 2-7 at home in the process.

There is nothing to watch.  So the shut-out Comcast cable viewers are better off.
Learn soccer.