Game 142: Crying Over Clichés

Final Score:

Boston Red Sox 0, New York Yankees 1

Even though it COMPLETELY describes this game… if I have to hear one more person say “Baseball is a game of inches” blood will shoot out of my ears.

The first inning homerun hit by Giambi JUST made it out.
Inches…
So many strikes that Johnson snuck in on the corners.
Inches…
Wakefield had 12 strikeouts (a record for him), 1 run and a loss.
Inches…
Damon JUST missed 2 rbis with a long foul ball.
Inches…

By the 6th inning, the resigned gripes started popping out of the mouths of those broadcaster fellows. It’s true though. “You can’t steal first base”.

Johnson had a 99mph fastball and 8 strikeouts.
Can’t steal first…
Only 7 base runners all day.
Can’t steal first…
Mirabelli: 0 for 3 with 2 K but left in because Wake was great.
Can’t steal first…
Hardest hit ball? Rents line drive RIGHT INTO the glove of Rivera.
Can’t steal first…

The 3 game lead instills a sense of hope in some. Their cries of “It isn’t October yet” echo in the streets and in the message boards. They’re right, it’s not.

I would be drunk and wandering the streets.
If it was October...
Jeter wouldn’t be able to safely open his mail for weeks.
If it was October…
Schilling would have long sobbing messages on his voice mail (left by me).
If it was October…
Giambi would just be getting a new shipment of piping hot HGH.
If it was… well any month really.

Look, this game was not a season ending loss, but it was one of the most frustrating of the season. The worst part was seeing Wakefield, the heart of this team, pitch the best game of his career and not win. Johnson however, was a house of fire. He was hot. Of the three hits the Sox got, only one of them belonged to that 6-10 monster. I just hope it wasn’t one of those galvanizing wins that puts a team on a crazy winning streak… you know the ones I mean.

In the end the Sox are still 3 games up, the pitching is back to some standard higher than “5 innings 5 earned runs” and they KNOW they can win big games. I think they win that game 9 times out of 10. Sunday just happened to be a “10”. Damn Yankees. Damn Bo Derek.

GO SOX