Wednesday, May 26, 2010
BARAJAS FOR ASG.
I usually don’t write about games I was not at, because I don’t feel I have much to offer that’s interesting, unique, or couldn’t be obtained with ease elsewhere - but these two games have been so remarkable - combined with the weekend’s efforts against the MFY’s - that I am breaking my resolution to comment.
We got rid of our tickets to the Subway Series. Even with the wins, I still feel okay about that, mostly because in the People’s Seats, it stops being fun and starts being armed combat, and our tickets were for Friday night’s game. To be honest, I also had no stomach to watch the team be trampled underfoot. But it was remarkable, wasn’t it? There’s no other word for it. It was simply remarkable. Watching Jennry Mejia on Saturday was just about as good as watching David Wright hit that ball above Johnny Damon’s head in 2006 - and in some ways, better, because we haven’t seen what Mejia can truly do yet. We tried to find something affordable for Sunday but couldn’t. It didn’t matter, even from home, those games were great to watch. We yelled, and screamed, and scared the poor cat, who is new to the family and not used to the humans happily yelling at the big square light-up box. It was a refreshing change. It was delightful. It was a relief.
We talked about going to one of the Phillies games, and every time, we said the same thing: no Phillies games at Citi this year. If we think Yankees fans will be bad, Phillies fans will just be worse. That is not a wrong statement, but it was made predicated on the team sucking. I held steady but TBF came up with a free ticket from a buddy and off he went last night, while I sat at home. He was right, I was wrong. I should have gone. But on the other hand, he will tell you that he didn’t think it was going to be a great game. He just can’t say ‘no’ to a free baseball ticket. I put the game on and expected to half watch while doing something else, and found myself riveted. Who would have thought that we would shut out the Phillies after being so thoroughly routed by them earlier this year?
Trying to get out to Citi tonight was out of the question, and it’s a shame, really, because tonight was the best yet. Jose with his first HR since May 2009. Takahashi performing with such brilliance that I started figuring out how I could get a shirt with his name in kanji. Ike Being Ike. Barajas hitting that double in the 6th inning just when we needed him to, prompting me to tweet “BARAJAS FOR ASG”. Brian Schneider sucking just when we needed him to - ah, hell, the whole time. Stolen bases. (And for that matter, stolen home runs.) And then, at the end, that beautiful leap by Jose, prompting this:
Two wins. Two shutouts. Against the Phillies. Signs of life. Improbable heroes. It is nothing short of wonderful. Even if the coach turns into a pumpkin tomorrow, it’s been good to feel that way for a couple of days.
Speaking of wonderful, I am taking the first tour of Citi Field on Saturday morning. Look for a full report this weekend.
