Kevin Baker's book is here!

Kevin Baker's book is here!
"... an exemplary sports book..." Kirkus Reviews

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Bench Strength


In last night's game against the Pods, Joe Girardi decided to give Jason a rest. He had already hit 2 HRs, the Yanks were up by 7, and we had runners on first and third...one out, I think.
So Joe goes to his bench for Wilson Betemit. Give him an at bat. Insert him for defensive purposes.
The first was a joke. The second paid off.
Did anyone actually see this guy ( hitting lefty ) swing at three pitches in the dirt? The first nearly hit his lead ankle. But he "golfed " away with his two-toned maple bat.
There might have been one pitch in Wilson's at bat that was near the strike zone, but it was called a ball.
Then, he flails at another dirt ball about two feet short, and to the third base side of home plate. He lunged so far across home plate that he was nearly called out for sheer ugliness.
For the third strike, he just closed his eyes and hoped the ball would be in the zone. It wasn't close.
Anyone reading this blog, anyone...I mean anyone ( even that madman in Seattle ), could have done better. At least, we could have looked good striking out. Haven't we all done that a lot?
This was a more embarassing at bat than when the 10 year old "class-poet-to-be" was forced to take his first-ever hacks at Little League tryouts because his fireman father insisted he do something manly and "outdoors."
OK, Wilson made the Yankees look good on a quality "pick" of a low jump pass from Arod to preserve the shut-out.
Why do we bother with all of this trivia, you ask?
As stated by the greatest Yankee fan of all, "Because we need the eggs."
Do we ever.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When did I say, "Because we need the eggs?"

Anonymous said...

Every time you watch Annie Hall.