well, as I had church this evening, I watched the entire game in time delay. It was a long game, so here it is midnight and I just finished watching it about half an hour ago.
What a game! Elijah Dukes hitting another home run and hitting up and down the order. Even Josh Paul got a couple of hits. I can never let my guard down though, it is the Yankees and I was nervous into the ninth inning. It seems like the Yankees and the crowd there are expecting the walk off home run, and who can blame them!
Yeah, Yankee defense was a little more than sloppy tonight. First off, two errors by Jeter. When is the New York crowd going to start booing him? Answer -- never. I can see errors from him in the next ten games and nobody batting an eye. He's like a deity there on that field and nobody will say a word against him. It seems a few years ago, Jeter was in something of a slump, more than the "slump" that ARod was in last year. Everyone was concerned for him. ESPN , foxsports, even the Devil Rays announcers were talking about it, wondering when he would come around. Not even close to the #### that A Rod got last year. Jeter can do whatever the heck he wants and everyone will still love him. And don't be suprised if he ends up getting a gold glove....hey...he's Jeter.
I think Seo pitched pretty well against the Yankees tonight, with the exception of the fifth inning. But again, Lugo and Stokes about lost the game for us again. They are simply unreliable. Lugo has flashed of brilliance, but not enough. Giving up two runs to let the Yankees tie was another "here we go again" moment. Stokes was lucky, not skillfull or clever to get out of his inning intact.
Reyes...not bad. Poor camera work and announcing about gave me a heart attack. Posada is up with two outs in the ninth inning. He hits a fly ball and Dwayne Stats says "He hits a long fly ball!" the camer shows right field and it looks like a home run, but it's not. The ball hangs up, Young catches the ball, game is over. A little stirred up drama by the television crew.
Of all the Yankees I've hated over the years Pettitte has never been one of them. I always thought he was a classy guy and a great pitcher. It was almost sad to see him pitching so badly. Almost. The Devil Rays should have taken better advantage.
Impressed- Devil Rays hitters never seem to give up. When they were down by two runs, when Lugo allowed the Rays to tie, they still kept on coming strong. They seem to be running at top speed at all time. that is only good news for this season.
Didn't Impress- Pettitte and Lugo. Mentioned above.
I'll be missing opening day, but our family's opening day will be on Saturday.
Well, here we go. Took half a day off work to come home and watch the game on television.
I'm as excited as anyone about the new season. Even when the Devil Rays end up dead last... (did I say even when?) it's fun. I don't think you can beat the opening day feeling in any other sport. Knowing the marathon is ahead of you. Frustration, exhiliration, walk offs, strike outs, double plays. It's awesome. Even my losing baseball team last year came away winners 61 times. Not good at all for a baseball team, I know, but that's two months of winning days. You don't get that in any other sport.
Yankee Stadium, it is a great place to start. You might as well get your opening day jitters out of the way now. Kazmir is a great pitcher, but he needs a veteran to watch on opening day. Last year, in Baltimore, you could tell he was just too amped up for the day. You get the same feeling here, watching Kaz go 53 pitches in two innings. I mean, he walked Josh Phelps! In this lineup, Josh Phelps is like the pitcher...you gotta at least put him away.
In the 4th, he just walks Phelps again!
Do I dare get my hopes up? 3 runs in the top of the fifth. This is where the speed of the Rays goes up against the age of the Yankees. The age and experience the Yankees bring is unmistakable. They are fully confident of winning. Even giving up the lead, nobody is sweating. The Rays however, have scored two runs by sending runners. On other teams those runners may still be at third base.
Say what you will about the mouth of Elijah Dukes last year. He can definitely shut up naysayers with a home run like that. Now four runs in the inning. Not bad.
Kazmir has a 1-2-3 quick 5th. If it wasn't the Yankees, I might be slightly relaxing.
6th inning...that's why I don't relax. Kaz breaks down a little after 100 pitches and the Yankees have tied it up. Now it's a three inning game.
Well, that's the game. Yankees win, but not a bad showing by the Devil Rays. Of course good showings don't get you very far :)
Impressed with Elijah Dukes, good hitting and carries himself well. BJ Upton good speed and good hitting. He did misplay a ball in the 8th, but still a good day. Crawford...the usual Kazmir could have been sharper definitely and the game definitely would have swung a different way. Mariano Rivera....DANG! Yipes.
I think the Devil Rays have a lot of great potential. They played a good tough game. I guess experience won out. The Yankees outgunned and outlasted us. Hats off to them.
Not impressed with Pavano. Remember when he was so great in 2004 which led to a Yankee signing. We beat him then and he doesn't look that great now. Not impressed with Navarro and Zobrist. Each of these guys had two opportunities to bunt runners over and passed on them. Navarro replaced a sacrifice bunt with two double plays. Really nice.
