Just as our game one loss to the former Indian nation ( 3-2 ) was a remand to all the worst of the Yankee efforts, yesterday was quirky and positive.
First was the highway robbery, practically handing the Tribe the ballgame.
Then came the " retribution of the gods, " when one of the offending umpires got plunked in the noggin with the throw to to the plate.
But the biggest moment of the game ( and I skip the obvious HR by Frenchy and the RBI by Cabrera), was when Rizzo casually sauntered over to the mound after Holmes had walked his third guy, to load the bases with two out in the ninth. The fans were going crazy, as if the midges had returned to choke our guys.
Rizzo must have said something magical, because it changed the game. Holmes re-focused and struck the next dude out. Game over.
The Yankees win... But it was something the veteran said or did.
He calmed the waters.
Nice to see a real ballplayer in action.
I certainly hope that game was a portent of things to come this year. (The only trouble with portents is that no one knows for sure if it's a portent, until the dust settles and the championship has been won.) But I'll put a little star on the calendar for April 12.
ReplyDeleteThe baseball to the ump's noggin was a classic. Shades of David v. Goliath. In this Spaghetti Western rendition of the Bible story, the Yanks played David (the Good) against the umpires/major league baseball's Goliath (the Bad) and the Cleveland Traffic Guardians played, guess who, the Ugly.
We've been very pessimistic about Franchy Cordero, but who knows, maybe this is his year. And if it is, someone give Sterling this home run call: "Franchy Cordero, he's franchising his way to New Yawk!"
Oy. That call is worse than Sterling's.
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ReplyDeleteI'm sure Cashmonkey will tear up FCordero's contract in a few weeks and sign him to a Hicksian deal.
After which he will pull a gonad and, upon his return, hit .143.
Can you tell I descend from a bunch of grim Sicilian people?
Everytime I order the Franchese in a restaurant, they ask what side I want. So maybe the call should be "Franchy with a side of BOOM!!!"...
ReplyDeleteThat call in the first inning seemed egregious as I watched. I said everything you folks have said here. Yesterday I watched an analysis on Close Call Sports on YouTube ( I recommend this site).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the people here are umpires, admittedly at a low level, who are rules experts. They explained that the umpires made the right call.
A key point not shown on YES happened right after the play. Francona raised his hand immediately. Cleveland TV showed this as they did not go to commercial. The umpires then congregated to determine if the runner from third had scored before the out was made at second. While there they confirmed that they still had a catch on the play. The fifteen-second time limit is paused when the umpires meet like this.
After their meeting, the crew chief went to Francona and told him they had a CATCH on the play. Because Francona had raised his hand to signal a potential challenge, he was allowed to challenge.
They got it right.