An inexplicable running diary for Rangers vs. Yankees, game six.

Because I’m watching it anyway, I thought I would do a (delayed) liveblog of the Rangers and Yankees’ game tonight. For the record, I would kind of prefer if the Yankees lost horribly, but that’s the Red Sox fan in me talking.

Two things factor into this. First, the Rangers just seem plucky and spry this year. I like the whole Josh Hamilton story, I like Cliff Lee turning into a poor man’s Sandy Koufax, and I like that former Red Sock David Murphy is on the Rangers too.

And secondly, the Yankees are just so, so easy to hate, between the over-sized personalities, the ridiculous payroll and their success over the years. (The last factor is a hard admission to make, but nobody wants to hate the Pirates or the Orioles.)

… I guess I should get on to the blog! Picking things up from the top of the fifth inning, with the Rangers (momentarily) holding a 1-0 lead…

9:35 p.m. I was just going to type about how Colby Lewis throwing a no-hitter would be the most insane way for this game to be decided. Then A-Rod doubled, and moved to third on a sac fly, so nevermind.

Of course, this being the Yankees, there was a shady play. Nick Swisher clearly got hit by a ball, but he pretends he didn’t, and it goes for a wild pitch that scores A-Rod. Swisher then hits a weak tapper in front of the mound for an out.

The next batter is Jorge Posada, and he knocks a double down the right-field line, so maybe A-Rod would have scored anyway. But still, it seems like the Yankees always have these shady plays throughout the year.

9:52 p.m. After an error on a grounder by Mitch Moreland, he’s advanced to third on a hit-and-run and a ground ball. The Yankees are doing this thing where they intentionally walk Josh Hamilton every time he gets up. Statistically, it’s a silly idea – Someone need to have a .500 OBP to make it pay off.

Vlad Guerrero immediately makes them pay for it by lining a double deep to the center field wall. Hamilton zips around the bases and scores without a throw, giving the Rangers a 3-1 lead. Go Texas! The Yankees are not messing with you, because you’re winning.

FOX shows a shot of Ron Washington celebrating in the dugout. I’m trying not to make a joke about his drug history. (He tested positive for cocaine usage in the off-season and barely held on to his job as a result.)

9:58 p.m. The above series of events chases Yankees start Phil Hughes from the game. Both he and Lewis were coasting along, yet now, it looks like both will be out of the game. David Robertson comes in. I was wondering if we’d see a starter come in, but the Yank-

Oh wow, Cruz just hit a two-run bomb! This is shaping up like game seven in 2004, except well, completely different. It just seems like the Yankees are hanging on by a thread at this point, and the stadium in Arlington is rocking.

The bleeding doesn’t stop either, as the next batter, Ian Kinsler, smacks a double to left. The Yankees send the pitching coach out to stall, since Robertson has faced two batters and given up a homer and a double. They get Kerry Wood going in the bullpen.

I was saying earlier, I wonder if the Yankees will use a starter, except they don’t really have anyone to use. Pettite is tomorrow’s pitcher, C.C. Sabathia hasn’t been that effective, and A.J. Burnett isn’t walking through that door anytime soon. Robertson gives up a 350-foot foul ball to Murphy, but then finally induces a grounder to get out of the inning.

10:14 p.m. The Yankees go meekly in the top of the sixth. Womp womp womp. Derek Jeter sure has looked old lately.

10:26 p.m. The stadium goes deathly quiet as Lance Berkman smacks a double past Josh Hamilton in center, and Hamilton trips. But he’s all right, and Nick Swisher flies out to left to end the inning.

10:32 p.m. Kerry Wood is now in the game, and Michael Young hits a grounder past a diving A-Rod into left on the very first pitch for a double. Shockingly, even though there are no outs, the Yankees refuse to pitch to Hamilton.

Vlad bunts them over to second and third, and then amazingly, we have ANOTHER international walk. Seriously, you’re loading up the bases, Joe? This seems foolish. Joba starts to warm up for some reason too. I’d probably just go to Rivera at this point, and ask him to work the rest of the seventh, eighth and ninth. No use saving him for a game that might never happen.

Anyway, Kinsler lifts a ball to left, but Gardner is positioned perfectly. Young tags up and scores, and it’s first and second with two outs. Murphy smashes a ball, but it stays in the park, and they only get that one run. 6-1.

10:44 p.m. Holy shit, Colby Lewis is still pitching in this game, in the top of the eighth. He has been sharp outside of that one inning, and now, he’s reaching back and still hitting 92 on the gun. Meanwhile, Darren O’Day and Darren Oliver are warm in the pen, just ready to pounce if Lewis does have an issue.

Lewis strikes out another Yankee for the second out – his sixth of the night. His stuff still looks sharp, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he went the distance. He walks Gardner, but then strikes out Jeter. Suck it, captain.

10:54 p.m. Rivera comes in. Ron Washington hugs Lewis in the dugout, and Feliz is warming in the pen, so Lewis’ night might be done. (My buddy Tom jokes that Washington probably already has a couple lines setup in the clubhouse. Ba dum ching!) Anyway, it takes Rivera a while, but he eliminates the side in order.

11:02 p.m. Time for the top of the ninth, and Feliz is pitching. He blows away the first batter. He induces a grounder from the second. And the third batter? Alex Rodriguez, scum of the Earth.

The first pitch is a 99 mile per hour ball, but Felix whips the next one by him, and A-Rod fouls the next one off. Finally though, the game ends as Feliz makes A-Rod’s knees bend with a nasty hook, and he goes down looking.

Through the course of writing this, I think I realized another reason why I like the Rangers – They’ve never been to the World Series before, and you can feel it reverberating through their fan base. That matters when your dog isn’t in the fight anymore. Watching the fans freak out and celebrate? That’s sweet.

No Anchorman 2 :(

I'm running late again tonight, and I fell asleep watching the Red Sox play lose horribly to the Yankees last night, so this one is just a quickie about a horrible thing - There will be no Anchorman 2. (Note: Baggage write-ups will return Wednesday.)

The movie officially isn't being greenlit, according to sources, because of how huge all the stars' salary is now. At first, I thought this was silly. Even if it's bad, Anchorman 2 probably makes at least $100 million, and probably more in the $150 million to $400 million range, after you factor in international distribution and what not. It's an easy, obvious cash cow.

But then, I thought about it more. Will Ferrell would probably command $20 million, Carrell around $10 million to $15 million, and maybe $10 million for Paul Rudd. Applegate is probably around $5 million. The other minor cast (sorry David Koechner) and cameos, you figure in $10 million. We're already up to $55 million to $60 million. On top of that, Ferrell and Carrell are big enough stars that they would probably both get percentage points of the revenues, further cutting into the profits. This is also overlooking that Adam McKay is no longer somewhat unknown as a director and writer, and he would have to be paid for both, along with possibly a writing credit (and thus more grosses) for Ferrell.

So yeah, all of that adds up. Still, it's disappointing to realize the movie won't get made. I'll revisit this a bit in the future though, when I share my review of a great book about the rise and fall of DreamWorks.

The awesome wallpaper is from here.

The Steinbrenner and Kill Bill connection

One of my favorite scenes of Kill Bill: Volume 2 is when Budd, Bill's drunken brother, is questioning Elle Driver in his shabby trailer. Elle has come because Bill has (apparently) killed The Bride, the trained assassin getting revenge on the crew that crossed her. Elle expresses regret that Budd, a drunken lout, has killed what is essentially her greatest rival.

Budd: So, which "R" you filled with?

Elle Driver: What?

Budd: They say the number one killer of old people is retirement. People got a job to do, they tend to live a little bit longer so they can do it. I've always figured that warriors and their enemies share the same relationship. So, now that you're not gonna have to face your enemy no more on the battlefield, which "R" you filled with? Relief … or regret?

Elle Driver: A little bit of both.

Budd: Horseshit. I'm sure you do feel a little bit of both. But I know damn well that you feel one more than you feel the other. And the question was, which one is it?

Elle Driver: [pause] Regret.

I feel somewhat similar about the passing of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. When he owned the team and handled the day-to-day operations of it, I hated the miserable old bastard. Every year, the Yankees didn't hesitate to snatch the prime free agents right out from under the Red Sox. By all accounts, he was a mean, angry bastard who demanded that his teams win, and he was twice suspended by Major League Baseball for his attempts to bend the rules to win.

However, because he was such a tyrannical figure, it made him the perfect villain and adversary. Steinbrenner was easy to hate, and ever since his sons took over the day-to-day operations of the team, the Yankees have become (dare I say?) a more respectable organization. This disappoints me as a Red Sox fan, since the ALCS victory and eventual World Series championship in 2004 - in seven games, down three games to none, against the Yankees - was the sweetest possible comeback of all-time, and Steinbrenner's gigantic presence helped.

Therefore, I'm saddened by his passing today. One of the worst things to happen to professional sports in the past 30 years to me has been the increasing corporate culture and atmosphere surrounding all of them. Sure, the analytical nature of the Red Sox has helped them to a couple World Series titles, which I'm grateful for.

However, I think that could have happened anyway without the passing of the larger-than-life figures like Steinbrenner into the mists of history. With him gone, only the NBA's Mark Cuban is left as a guy who consistently rocks the boat, although I'm hopeful that the Bond villain who bought the New Jersey Nets will contribute as well. Steinbrenner didn't give a shit about profits or payroll - that cranky old bastard wanted to win. Every sports league needs more owners like him, as opposed to billionaires who care more about sticking it to the unions.

The picture at the top comes from this site.

Yankees trade bad for the Red Sox

Since I was typing yesterday from the catacombs of the Civic Center, it only seems appropriate that I do this entry today in the 20 minutes before Rhode Island's game tonight. I'm busy eating some macaroni and cheese as I type this though, preparing for the game, so again, please excuse me if my thoughts are disheveled somewhat.

Anywho. The big news of the day in sports was the Yankees trade for Curtis Granderson, which, as a Red Sox fan, made me groan. Granderson isn't still projected to be a mega-superstar, like he was as a minor league prospect coming up, but he is a serviceable center fielder.

This would be an improvement on what the Yankees were probably planning to parade out there this year, some combination of Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardiner and maybe Austin Jackson. According to ESPN, the Yankees would give up Ian Kennedy, Phil Coke and Jackson.

Of those players, only Jackson has real potential as a plus-contributor on a playoff team. After his repeated shellings in the rotation the past few years, I'm shocked Kennedy still has value to another team. At best, I think he's a fourth or fifth starter, which is normally something you promote from within or sign on the cheap on the free agent market. Coke is a nice arm for the pen, and Jackson might grow up to be Granderson, so I'm surprised the Yankees had to give up so little to end up with Granderson in this trade.

I have no idea why the Diamondbacks did this trade. They ended up with Kennedy and Tigers' starter Edwin Jackson, who regressed badly after a hot start, and gave up the past prospects, who the Tigers picked up in the deal.

Granderson photo taken from this blog.

Complete opposite perfection

[Left] Another example of something that failed on every god damn level.

I'm almost at the point of earning a dubious distinction: All of my playoff picks from earlier this week are on the verge of elimination, excluding the Phillies vs. Rockies series, which is still tied at 1-1 as I type this. You know, it is just as hard to go 0-4 in the playoffs as it is to go 4-0, so really, I'm hoping to not pick a single series at this point. It would be a great, great honor, one that I can wear proudly for all future game-picking posts.

Analyzing my picks a bit here, the most shocking to me as a Red Sox fan was the meltdown of Papelbon and the clutchiness of Alex Rodriguez. I think both were the result of that demon Sample Size rearing its ugly head. Papelbon hadn't ever let up an earned run in the playoffs, so he was due at the absolute worst time, and conversely A-Rod finally got a hit in an important situation.

Watching the Cardinals and Dodgers play was just depressing though. Seriously, I'm supposed to take the National League seriously? Former Mariners wash-out Ryan Franklin is now the closer for the Cardinals, who also have Red Sox castoffs Joel Piniero and John Smoltz in the rotation, with Julio Lugo as their starting second baseman. Meanwhile, in a clutch situation and with the game on the line, the Dodgers have available as a pinch hitter... Mark Loretta. This game would have been great if we took a time machine back to 2002, but it's shocking to me that they're all still playing - and playing on playoff teams! - in 2009.

And don't even get me started on Miguel Cairo batting the other night either, or the no-call on Joe Mauer's ground rule double.

A belated baseball playoffs post

Best umpire ever.

I know it's the hip thing to do, offering your opinions on the baseball playoffs and what not, so who am I to refuse? I guess like most writing though, my timing sucks, and as a result I've missed the actual start of most of the series. Therefore, I'll give my picks, and acknowledge the margin at the time of this posting.

- Red Sox vs. Angels: Red Sox in five.

This probably isn't that surprising of a pick, since I am a Red Sox fan. However, the margin - five games - might surprise some. There is enough inconsistency among the Red Sox pitching lately that it worries me. Beckett struggled for parts of September, and while I have faith in Lester, Buchholz and Dice-K seem like a toss-up to me. This is also overlooking the bullpen: Papelbon is good, as are Okajima and Wagner, but Ramon Ramirez, Saito and others leave me feeling uneasy.

That being said, it's not like the Angels are going gangbusters either. Their pitching has the same questions the Red Sox does without a track record of success. Lackey, Saunders, Santana and Kazmir are like a lower-peak version of the Sox rotation. While I liked the Angels' gamble on taking Kazmir, it hasn't exactly paid dividends yet. And if we're evaluating the Red Sox lineup vs. the Angels, then I'm going to take the Red Sox, who seem to rely less on batting average and more on power, and because the Sox are generally younger.

Yankees vs. Twins: Twins in five

Hey, it's my friggin' blog, okay? And I'm writing this even after the Twins got pasted 7-2 Wednesday afternoon. Of course, there are the mitigating circumstances that they had played less than 24 hours earlier and were going up against a well-rested Yankees' team, but I think this plays less of a role than the analysts attributed to it last night. The Yankees are clearly the better team to me.

So why am I picking the Twins anyway? Well, for one, spite. I am a Red Sox fan, and I simply can't, in good faith, pick the Yankees. I just can't do it. It's bad enough that I managed to have Mariano Rivera on my fantasy team this year, so I had to root for him most of the season. I simply can't stomach offering any more support to the Yankees, in the form of being proven right. Except at catcher, I think it would be hard to point to any area the Twins are better than the Yankees in, but hey, you never know. In a short series, anything can happen.

Dodgers vs. Cardinals: Cardinals in five

I don't feel that strongly about this series. On one hand, the few Cardinals fans I know are a bit weird toward Boston; I think they hold a grudge against us for sweeping them in 2004, in what was probably the most anti-climatic World Series of all-time. On the other hand, the Dodgers have Manny Ramirez, who I never minded when he was in Boston, but he's a guy a ton of Boston fans (have always) love to hate.

Therefore, I have to decide this series solely on baseball merits, which kind of stinks. I think the Cardinals are the slight favorite because their best players - Pujols, Holliday, Wainwright and Carpenter - compensate for the Dodgers' overall better team. If they don't win, then I blame LaRussa.

Phillies vs. Rockies: Phillies in five

Although the Phillies lost today, and even though their bullpen is in shambles, I just like what mean bastards their fans are. I think a Philadelphia vs. Boston World Series would be great from an obnoxious fan standpoint, even if it might make the rest of the country recoil in terror.

I lifted the Naked Gun picture from here, even if the blog is run by a Yankees' fan. That's how I roll!