Friday, April 26, 2024

Did the Yankees just suffer the worst, out-of-body loss of 2024?

For me, one of the scariest moments in cinema history comes in The Blair Witch Project, when the campers come to realize they've been hiking in a circle, hopelessly lost, facing an evil beyond their imagination. All they can do is scream into the haunted forest.   

Like Yank fans, last night... 

I believe I speak for the Yankiverse in saying that last night troweled out one of the truly, soul-crushing losses of 2024. Surely, some evil humdingers are still out there, lurking, salivating, waiting for us with thumbscrews and glossy photos of Stump Merrill. But there won't be many games that serve up such ignominy as we took in last night. It was a Master Class in reliving the last decade.

Two bases loaded GIDPs. 

Eleven runners stranded. 

Eleven whiffs. 

A squandered start and bullpen. 

A home loss to a team without a home. 

The second disheartening defeat - (on the heels of Monday's 2-0 butchery, when we fell in the 9th) - in a series the Yankees seemed to take for granted. 

The Yankees are now in second place, a few percentage points behind Baltimore, who they face next week. Sinatra's refrain - "ridin' high in April, shot down in May" - is playing. After an incredible start, we won't even be leading our division, heading into May.

Last night was magnificent for channel-changers and New York sports cynicism. In the NFL draft, the Giants used their 6th pick on a small (6') wide receiver, the kind of selection that - historically, for the franchise - goes nowhere. One positive: They didn't trade their first pick next year, as it will probably be first in the entire draft. 

Or you could watch the Knicks, battling and finally falling to Philly. The series will go to the end, the last possession, the final shot, the concluding ref's whistle and the last bounce - the will of the juju gods. Everything else is destiny. Generally, the Knicks are not good with destiny. 

And then there was our heroes, who last night delivered another central message: This team can still suck. In March, we bought into the notion that one great hitter could transform a lineup. In April, we realized that Stanton is still Stanton, Rizzo is Rizzo, etc., down the line. April has seemed like a lifetime. We greeted Juan, said goodbye to John. And after all is done, we're still lost in the forest. 

14 comments:

  1. And the song ends:

    That's life and I can't deny it…
    But if there's nothing shaking, come this here July
    I'm gonna roll myself up
    In a big ball and die

    My my…

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  2. Is it the forest? Or is it a Guatemalan garbage dump? Or a Siberian rendering plant's loading dock? Or is it some shit plume sandbar in Jamaica Bay, with planes from JFK landing in the distance?

    Does it matter? When you're lost, you're lost and we are surely lost. And when you go 20 miles into the woods, you don't get out in one mile.

    And Brian and Hal? They're laughing all day.

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  3. It's a GREAT analogy, Duque, because we never get any explanation.

    "Wait, Judge is NEVER going to recover from that toe? Rizzo from his concussion, Gleyber from...whatever ails him?"

    No, they never will. And you don't get a medical report or any other explanation. Now get in that corner!


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  4. Who woulda thunk our pitching would be the thing that keeps us at least temporarily viable?

    Except for Santana. Not Santana.

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  5. "Revenge of the Living Dead" last night in Yankee Stadium. Come June, I'm going to run out of names for sequels for "Night of the Living Dead". Rizzo, Stanton, Torres, all pretty much done. DJ LeMahieu on the shelf and obviously done. Middle of the order is probably the worst in baseball. If there is a worse middle of the order, I wanna see it.

    Can't even beat the lowly A's anymore. Did anyone else get the sense that the pendulum has started to swing in the other direction? Gone are the days when this team could throw their gloves on the field and expect to get a series win against the A's.

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  6. Love the NFL. Satisfied with what the Giants did last night. Maybe one year they’ll figure out how to deploy their WR’s. A decent OL and QB would help.

    I gave up watching the NBA years ago. I don’t find three-point shooting contests that compelling. Gotta say, the women’s game is more compelling. Never liked hockey, I’m bored shitless in 30 seconds.

    With the Yanks, my passion since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I guess it depends what your expectations are or were. The arc of a player’s career does not bend upwards as they enter their mid-thirties. For me last night it was infuriating to watch Stanton walking around the bases. Yesterday the proposition was put forth (That you can petition the Lord with prayer) that Stanton play 1B. He would be a human statue there.

    No, my expectations are mediocrity. 85 wins if the wind is blowing out.

    UNWAVERING MEDIOCRITY.

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  7. Same old Shit! Different game!

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  8. Duque! Please, you can use any movie to make your point about "horror" (hey, "Apocalypse Now" would do nicely), but "Blair Witch Project"? That wasn't "horror", that was just over-hyped media hysteria. Terrible movie! But your point is well taken, it's more than a little disturbing that the Yankees split two with the A's. Of course we could probably go back to '98 and find fault...

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  9. We can only hope the polo nerd accountant and the intern have similar ghastly confrontations with their inner selves on their death beds.

    Meanwhile we suffer like ivory coast slaves .

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  10. Rufus T. Firefly,"We can only hope the polo nerd accountant and the intern have similar ghastly confrontations with their inner selves on their death beds".


    Rufus should be declared a "National Treasure".

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  11. Kevin,

    So, I'm assuming you have similar hopes and dreams??

    In Freedonia, I'm considered a National Embarrassment.

    As well as certain counties around the you ess of ay.

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  12. Rufus, of course my hopes and dreams are similar. I live in Freedonia as well!

    ReplyDelete

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