The reason I asked….Well, you know why I asked. Today’s game had a definite otherworldly quality to it – as if the ghosts of Fenway were stirred up by all the festivities yesterday. I know there have been wild comebacks over the course of The Rivalry – with both teams playing the part of the comebacker – but the onslaught mounted by the Yankees after being down 9-0 was seriously amazing.
Where to begin with this one? At the beginning, I guess.
Sweaty Freddy was horrible. I wanted him gone after the first minute. I wish Pettitte could get ready fast – especially now that Pineda is off the radar for the time being.
Phelps has been great, but even he looked over-matched.
Fortunately, the cast of characters that followed out of the pen were stellar, giving the offense a chance to do some damage.
How much damage? None that I could have predicted. I get that the Sox’s middle and late relievers haven’t been effective (poor Aceves), but how about the power of Swisher and Tex, in particular?
Fifteen unanswered runs. One after another after another. I don’t recall anything like it.
When the crowd booed Valentine as he walked to the mound to make a pitching change, I actually felt sorry for him. As Suzyn Waldman pointed out, “it’s not as if he had Goose Gossage out there.” Maybe they should have been booing their front office. (I wonder how Bobby V’s subtle tip of the cap was perceived.)
I saw a clip of his press conference after the game when he said the team had hit rock bottom. But isn’t it too early in the season to say that? The Sox got off to a slow start last year and they did just fine until the fateful collapse.
Who knows. I’d rather dwell on the euphoria I felt when the Yankees scored all those runs. Pure bliss.
Sounds like they’ll be rained out tomorrow, which would be a shame. I like the momentum they have going.
In other news, interesting about the perfecto by White Sox pitcher Phil Humber. I’d never heard of the guy but I read that he’d been traded a bunch of times and picked up on waivers. Not exactly a perfecto-type pedigree. But then the Mariners have been no-hit three times and if you’re going to throw a no-no they’re the team to be facing, no offense to Jesus Montero. Anyhow, congratulations to him.
Tags: Bobby Valentine, Freddy Garcia, Mariners, Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher, perfect game, Phil Humber, Red Sox, White Sox, Yankees
It was a strange game indeed. It looked hopeless at the beginnimg but thanks to an interruption by Humber’s perfect game, the Yanks came back in a BIG way. Swish is really hitting great as well as Tex. I still say Phelps should start just cause Freddy is just terrible. Make it happen already.
When Bobby V walked back to the dugout, I too feel sorry for the guy. What exactly can he do in that position? He’s just gotta tough it out.
Overall, it was an amazing comeback.
given the paucity of Yankee broadcasts in this area, I had set aside the afternoon to watch this game, so I stuck with it. I was rewarded. What a blast. I hope tomorrow’s game is played, not rained out. Terry Francona is scheduled to do commentary for ESPN. He’s too much of a class act to kick them while they’re down. Looks like he came out on the long end of the stick in their parting, and, I’m glad.
The fan base in Boston is ready to lynch Valentine. If this trend continues, I wonder how long their front office (and new GM, who, ostensibly, had some say in his hiring) will stonewall them? I don’t know if he’s already lost the clubhouse, or never had it to begin with. The water is rising fast on him. It will be interesting to watch what happens.
What… a … game.
I admit it looked helpless down 9-0. but with the Red Sux’ pitching woes, I had a feeling we could at least put some presuure on them. I must admit I had NO IDEA we would storm back the way we did. After doing nothing for 6 innings, we ended up with 4 guys with 3 hits each, including The Captain [gee, there's a shock -- mr. clutch coming through when we need him] and Nunez. Unsung hero: Phelps, for killing off 4 innings and thus leaving the rest of the bullpen fresh for when we DID mount a comback.
It would be great if we could play tomorrow. Let’s get greedy! Hopefully the rain holds off.
I am worried about Garcia. The sooner either Pettitte or Pineda gets him out of the rotation, the better as far as I’m concerned.
Wasn’t that game just incredible? After the first 5 innings I decided to go to bed. It was late, I was tired… It took a bit and I checked the score on my cell again. I was like O_O. Now it was 9-8 and I decided to continue watching the game. Luckily I did. I couldn’t believe what was going on. The Yanks scored and scored and scored. I think I had one thing in common with Bobby V. …shaking the head. Just the thought was probably different…haha! *oh my god, how cool is that?!* vs. *oh my god, where can I hide?* And yes, I also felt sorry for him. There was absolutely nothing he could do. He got hit by the fact what the Yankees are capable of! I definitely wasn’t tired anymore and I’m still smiling (especially about Swisher’s reaction after his 2 RBI in the 7th….like a monkey…haha!).
Agree with Nadine on Bobby V. What’s he supposed to do? He can’t go out there and start pitching [though honestly, I don't think he could possibly have done worse that the guys actually on the mound when the Yankees erupted.]
Thankfully it looks like the Red Sux front office botched putting together the team. They kinda sorta forgot to assemble a bullpen. Then they give Bobby V a gun with no bullets in it and tell him to storm the hill.
The team I’m concerned with as far as taking the division is Tampa Bay. Yes, we’ll still get in as a wild card anyway, but it would be nice to win the division and at least have home field in the 1st round. Well, I should stop speculating about the future and take it one game at a time. Hopefully [if it doesn't rain] we can get the sweep tomorrow!
My daughter and I were shopping in the Albany area yesterday, which is about an hour from home, and got a later start back than planned. That meant listening to the game in the car and, as the runs piled on for Boston, I was thinking we weren’t missing much. It was difficult enoughto listen to without seeing it, too (not to mention we were missing out on the FOX announcers.) When we finally arrived home I walked into the family room and announced I was there to bring the Yankees luck (the score was 7-0 by then) but when I left for a minute to put some water on for pasta I came back to 9-0 – yikes!
Now, after the game on August 25, 2011, the one Jane and Yankeecase and I were all at in which the Yankees were down by seven runs after just a few innings and then came back to win 22-9, I have truly understood that it ain’t over till it’s over. But yesterday, with the offense so anemic through the first six innings (except for Tex’s lone homerun) it was looking pretty over. My husband, who had actually been doing a pretty good job watching in my place before I came home (he said he had yelled at the umpire a few times for me and complained about Tim McCarver’s stupid commentary) went down to his workshop. I turned off the game and went to the kitchen to make dinner while I listened to it on the radio. I reasoned that if something big happened I could rush back out to the television.
And of course, something big did happen. The only thing is, my television plan did not work so well because when I rushed out to see what would happen when Swisher came to the plate with the bases full, Philip Umber had just finished his perfect game and FOX had switched to it (clearly they, too, thought the Yanks-Sox game was over) and was promising interviews. I ran back to my radio in time to hear Robbie Cano hit a double but I had no idea what had happened in between! Then I ran to my computer and as my husband walked by I told him what was going on. “Well, what’s the score?” asked he. “I don’t know!” I exclaimed, then, as the Yankee page came up I yelled “It’s 9-5!” A few minutes later Tex hit his 3-runner and everyone was back at the television. You all know the rest of the story, which we witnessed while eating our baked ziti. Best meal we’ve ever eaten! I even had a celebratory Dr. Pepper (I try not to drink too much soda but this was a special occasion, right?) Darn that was fun, though even I felt sorry for Bobby-V and the Sox. But seeing the elation on our guys faces – so great!
I couldn’t help but wax philosophical to my daughter as we were driving home and the odds were piling up against winning that game. I reminded her of last year’s 22-9 comeback and said that was one of the reasons I really loved sports in general and baseball in particular – there are so many life lessons about never giving up, of believing in yourself, of overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles. The happiness we feel when the Yankees come back (or a guy like Phil Umber, for that matter) is partly because we have had it confirmed to us that we, too, can come back and overcome adversity. It even helps us understand the need for that adversity. After all, if the Yankees had started out with 15 runs and then Boston had piled on 9 we would have had a totally different feeling about that game. The adversity kept us humble and thankful rather than spoiled and entitled. And that is my sermon for this fine Sunday morning:)
Thought I would answer Ruth, Sean K, Barbara and Terri here since they might not return to yesterday’s post. Ruth, Barbara, it is comforting to know there are other women who have to work around this particular husband problem. It’s kind of funny, isn’t it? We’re supposed to be the one complaining about our husbands watching too much sports! Sean K., you were a good man to watch chick flicks for your wife. In fairness to my husband, he has watched all the Jane Austen movies with me (though, again, he gets bored and doesn’t see the point of watching them over and over again. Luckily, I have daughters who do:)) In fairness to me, I have become a devotee of “The Walking Dead” (there’s enough relationship stuff going on to get me past all the zombie gore) and I actually like action movies. Marriage is all about compromise, isn’t it?
Terri, I am sorry for what you and your fellow Boston fans are going through. I know I wouldn’t like it if the Yankees were in such turrmoil. There are a lot of obnoxious Sox fans here in my little Vermont town but there are also some who I consider good friends. The elderly lady across the street is glued to NESN every night and, though we tease each other, she is the sweetest woman in the world I hate to see her sad. There is also a man who has been a good friend to our family for years who is suffering right now, though he’s been quite stoic. For their sakes and yours I hope the Sox can turn this around and rebound. Yankees-Red Sox is only fun because it is unpredictable. We need the Sox to get good again and put that tension back in the relationship!
What everybody else said…ditto. And how great is it when three different Yankees have multiple home run games three days in succession? I became a Yankee fan on the day that Mickey Owen of the Dodgers dropped a third strike by Tommy Henrich and the Yankees went on to win the World Series. I have been forever grateful to Mickey Owen since.
I know that many of your readers may have never heard of Henrich or Owen, but they have been important to me for all these years.
What an incredible day of baseball!
Wonderful post Audrey! You state very clearly the beauty of sports.
It was such a joy to watch Swisher. I hope fans from other teams don’t find him obnoxious. He is not about showing other people up – he is just showing his joy in this game. He really lives life with enthusiasm. Even Tex, who is normally fairly reserved, had a huge grin on his face and talked about how fun the game was.
Wow, wow and wow!!
Thanks to the stupidity of national broadcasts, today’s game will probably be rained out. If they played at a normal afternoon start time, they probably would have been able to get the game in.
Though this is tasteless and not very nice, I have to post it for you
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17ka3wycvzeg4jpg/original.jpg
Lol, Melissa! My son showed me that yesterday and I posted it to my Facebook page. Got a couple of “likes.”
SBlue, I think the booing of Valentine was a show of general frustration and dislike, of the fact that he replaced a beloved manager, of the fact that he’s made some unpopular decisions since he arrived, and of the fact that he pulled the starting pitcher who would have done a whole lot better than the subsequent relievers. And yes, Freddy looks cooked, baked, toasted.
The Sox’s GM actually wasn’t the one who wanted to hire Valentine, NYL. He wanted Dale Sveum, who went to Theo Epstein and the Cubs instead. It was Lucchino and Henry who brought in Valentine so he’s on them. So glad you got to see the game, since I know you only get the national broadcasts.
I’m with you, Sean K. I never thought the Yanks would come all the way back. I thought they’d score a few runs off the pen, but never did I imagine the total comeback. It was one for the ages.
Nadine, I can’t even imagine what time it was over in Europe while you were watching the game. You’re a true fan, I’ll tell you that. In this case, you were rewarded big time for hanging in there and staying awake.
I love your Sunday sermon, Audrey. Victories like the one yesterday are indeed what keep us coming back to the sport – as well as keep us humble. What fun would it be if we just coasted along without struggling at times? That’s what life is all about – getting through the struggles. I, too, remembered the game last summer when I met you and YankeeCase and not only did the Yanks come back in a big way with all those grand slams but even the rain stopped dumping water on our heads and the sun emerged. So I kept that experience in mind, even as I muttered that we were likely to lose in a laugher. I bet your baked ziti tasted extra delicious. Check out Terri’s post from yesterday. She did answer all of the comments that were directed her way later in the day, as well as the state of Bobby V and the Sox.
Thanks as always for the historical perspective, yankeefansince1941. The name Tommy Henrich is, of course, a familiar one to me, but I admit I don’t know about his specific accomplishments. And Owen is not a name I know at all. So I appreciate the education.
I’m glad you brought up Swisher, Melissa. When I saw him thump his chest and “celebrate” on second base, I turned to Michael and said, “He’ll get plunked tomorrow.” We appreciate his zest for life and for the game of baseball and we know he’s not trying to show up the opposition. But it’s one thing to celebrate in the dugout and another to do it on their field. I can’t imagine it went over well.
I am at my vacation home and I was determined to come inside and watch the game.
Hubby rolled his eyes at me. In paradise and inside watching a game.
I know you all get it though.
At 9-0. I walked outside to sit on the dock and enjoy a few minutes of sun.
But it bothered me that I walked away….had to go back and see the beating we were getting.
I came back to 9-1. By the time Swisher was pounding his chest I was making enough noise to bring hubby and the dog inside.
It was beautiful…damn beautiful.
Felt badly for Valentine ….for aValentine minute. I don’t see how its his fault his pitchers just weren’t up to par.
Anytime we can take the wind from the sox sails is okay with me.
Especially during their celebration weekend.
Gee it doesn’t make me a bad person,just a Yankee fan.
:-)
Glad you were able to get away to that beautiful lake house, Peg. Being in paradise AND being able to see the Yankees win is the best of both worlds.
I am obsessed with this game. I can’t read enough or watch enough interviews. It is weird, as always, to live with and love a sox fan because my happiness is his despair. He is not as crazy a fan as I am but it makes me feel a little bad for sox fans. As my dad said, I’d be on a ledge if the game had gone the other way. I wondered if wearing my Yankee shorts to the gym is mean today but I have to look at ugly sox gear everyday and they are my favorite workout shorts. I bought them in the delirium of the opening day win last year and they make me smile. I hope we play today but I am also ok riding this happy wave another day.
Give your husband a hug for me, Barbara, and tell him that while I wouldn’t trade that win for anything I do feel his pain. You have Yankee workout shorts? LOL. My legs are too pathetic to even wear shorts anymore.
Hi Jane & Fellow Baseball Fans…
WHAT A GAME !!! I was at Slattery’s Pub in the city watching with some other Yankee buddies. For the first five innings the only thing good was the food…the game not so much. There was a lone Red Sox fan in the pub who kept hooting and hollering every time the Sox scored. Well …I can state happily say that after the seventh inning we didn’t hear anymore hooting and hollering from him as I think he crawled off into the night. The only hooting and hollering was coming from my table full of friends as the Yankees continued to score, score, score. I think it changed out luck when they switched to the perfiect game …(Congrats to humber!!!). My friend looked at his phone and said that Swisher hit a granny ..we thought he was kidding but he WASN’T !!!! It was AMAZING and a blast to watch the rest of the game…all of us going home with big smiles on our faces. I just LOVE MY YANKS !!!
Looks like tonight will be a wash and then on to the Rangers. They have been playing some great baseball so it’s time for the Yankees to cool them off.
Have to run …I’m heading to the Orchid Show at the Botanical Gardens (thankfully it’s indoors) and then to Little Italy in the Bronx for a yummy Italian dinner. Have a great rest of the day ….
Go Yankees 2012 !!!
Hi, Peggy. What fun to be watching that game with your buddies. I’m sure you were hooting and hollering plenty, and there was good reason. I’m still smiling. A rainout works for me because I have a concert to go to and was planning to record the last part of the game, which would have started at 5pm here. Enjoy your Sunday.
There are no words…
But I’m sure gonna try!!
Great post, Audrey! Love, love, love your story!! I can imagine everything very clearly! What a hectic episode!
I was at work again, so my attention was a bit divided. Not enough to publicly state my hatred for Fox games though! Grrr!! And then Garcia was starting? Double Grrr!!!! And in Fenway? With how we ruined their celebration the day before? You didn’t need to be a psychic to see how this one could potentially go…
So, down 2-0 early wasn’t unforeseen. While he did get out of a jam finally, Freddy just wasn’t inspiring much confidence. 5-0 in the second was enough for anybody! But even then I still held out hope. This is Fenway after all and it wouldn’t take much to get a few runs back. When it got to 7-0, and how the Yankee bats looked against Doubront, I was sure this was another typical Yankees on Fox broadcast. And we all know how those usually go. I was starting to curse the day (of course Fox too, but that’s a given!). I told a friend at work how we seemingly never win on Fox, and how biased Buck and McCarver are against us. I even pulled out last year’s schedule with all the wins and losses I kept track of (and amazingly we had a good year in 2011, going 6-2 I think…). So I threw that aside. Obviously that was an anomaly. The two run shot to make it 9-0 was just another bucket of salt in the wound for me. I was resigned to fact that I wouldn’t even get to wallow in the pain for the complete game, seeing how the NY Rangers game would start soon enough (Yes, I do punish myself and stay tuned for even the games where the Yankees are getting blown out. I constantly wallow in self-Ack!).
But then Fox did an amazing thing and switched over to the Humber perfect game, which was err, amazing! And like someone else said, our luck changed! Without the ill-will of the Fox team, our boys made their comeback! We saw the Tex home run, and then a few get on base before leaving Boston. But I whooped a little too loudly when I saw the score was 9-5, with a possibility of getting closer with Tex at bat! Of course we all know what happened after that.
I felt we definitely would take the lead back when Aceves came in. Nothing against him, Ace was always big time for us, but the Yankees know him too well and would look for the slow stuff. Yeah, he got them more times than not last year, but they know his style and I was confident in the matchup.
15 unanswered runs is just unbelievable. My cousin and I had plans to go to a Yankee game in Boston. Had we known earlier that this would be the only early Saturday game, we would’ve gone with a group of maybe ten or more Yankee fans. That would’ve been an unforgettable day of baseball!
Speaking of unforgettable, how great was Philip Humber?! That interview at the end, trying to be so humble, yet so elated? This is the kind of stuff you love about baseball. That last checked swing seemed a little questionable (I think we’ve seen too many check swing strikes called by the home plate ump this year! Like Paul O’Neill says, “You can’t watch the pitch and the bat at the same time!”) But he fought out of two 3 ball counts to preserve his perfect game. And the Seattle fans were so classy, giving him an ovation. It was surprising we actually saw the completion of the perfect game. How many times do we get that live look in just to see the guy blow it? Or get an update the guy gave up a silly grounder up the middle?
Hey, I have one last question for everybody about that perfect game. Was anyone else looking for umpire Jim Joyce out there? (aww, that was bad! lol)
Ok, and now I’ve said too much!
Rained out tonight so we can spend another whole day wrapped in the joy of yesterday.
Aw, you bad boy about Jim Joyce, YankeeCase! He just messed up that one time, give him a break. Maybe it was the interruption on FOX for the perfect game that changed our luck. Or maybe it was that I called my mother, who normally doesn’t watch afternoon games, and told her to turn on the TV. Either way, the Yanks came through. I’m sorry that Aceves was the punching bag, but what can you do?
Yup, Barbara. I’m disappointed but also a tiny bit relieved.
Hi Jane & Fellow Baseball Fans….
Too bad about the wash out … boo hoo. It’s really nasty in NY today …
I was just reading that Darvish & Kuroda most likely will match up …there will be a lot of people in Japan late for work that day…haha.
I hope Kuroda takes care of that young whippersnapper … :o)
Go Yankees 2012 !!!!
YankeeCase, I meant to mention the ovation by the Seattle fans. Classy! But of course, how cool would it be to see a perfect game, even if it was against your team.
Yeah, that last strike call was iffy, but at least understandably close.
And what the hell would have happened if the catcher (I’m of Polish descent but I am not going to attempt to spell his last name!) hadn’t gotten to the ball or had thrown it away at first? Made it very exciting!
Well that kind of situation, a perfect game (or even a no-hitter) on the road, makes me think of my soon-to-be brother-in-law. Imagine this… The first ever game he went to was Roy Halladay’s perfect game against the Marlins a few years ago. He took the trip with his family from Orlando down to Miami and kept texting me how it was going and how quiet the crowd was. At the end, there was mild applause. And I don’t think it’s because the fans were being disrespectful or anything, but first because there probably weren’t that many fans, the fact that their team was being handled like only 19 other teams before them had been, and there just isn’t that long a history of baseball down there (even though the Marlins have won two World Series! Just as many as the Phillies have won by the way…). So it’s extra worthy mentioning how the Mariners fans reacted to the game. They just acted like fans of baseball and appreciated the significance of the moment.
And yes Jane, I really did check the in-game box score on the MLB app to see who was umpiring the game! Heehee, I’m bad…
Should be an interesting matchup, Peggy – the veteran versus the kid, with all the Japanese media in attendance. It better not be raining in Texas.
Wow, YankeeCase. Kind of amazing that his first ever game to see was Halladay’s perfecto. And yes, classy of the Mariners fans to show their appreciation. I like to think Yankee fans would be the same way.
Today’s game got rained out… *sigh*
Just when the Yankees had some momentum going, they run into the ultimate opponent… Mother Nature. I do believe She is undefeated.
Well, hopefully we can maintain what we have going anyway.
So instead of a baseball game, I watched a movie called Sin & Redemption [originally it was one of those compromises I made, I watched that in return for my second wife watching some action flick with me -- discovered I liked the movie and taped it later so I could watch it any time.] Hopefully we get back to baseball shortly.