This
was nice. This
was even better.
Now it’s
time for the real test.
Manny’s
getting hot at just the right time. (Even if he can’t hit as good as Shaun
Marcum’s little sister.)
We’ve got
our three
best guys going against Andy
Pettitte and two rookies, one of whom is just off the disabled list, and one
who’ll be making just his second major league start.
Advantage
us. "I'm not going to apologize for having those three pitching,"
says
Tito.
Nor should
he. But lest we forget, mere rookies — especially lefties — often seem to do us
in.
But, uh,
about this Alex Rodriguez guy. Holy smokes. The guy is just fucking
unconscious out there. (And, alas, he’s
not the only one who’s hitting.) How
many games has he helped those jerks win that they otherwise would have lost?
Contrary to what Gerry Callahan might think, I don’t hate the
guy. I just think he’s a total dweeb.
But I do find it hilarious, if unsurprising, to see the
bleacher creatures
and New
York media suddenly embracing and exalting a guy they were eviscerating six months
ago. (After this
season, he’s gone. And he should opt out. Just because he can.)
Then there
are his teammates. Greg Doyel gets it right in his column: the fans, the media, the Yankees themselves don’t deserve him. Especially
not that fist-pumping perfume salesman. Check this withering passage:
What
about you, Derek Jeter? You cold-hearted snake. You captain in name only. What
about Jeter, who holds Yankee Stadium in the palm of his hands because of his
good fortune to have been drafted by the richest team in sports, to have been
paired annually with the best talent money can buy, and to have cashed in with
the obligatory occasional World Series ring? What about that guy?
Captain
Convenient, who has watched A-Rod squirm at Yankee Stadium, never said a word
in support of his teammate when Rodriguez was struggling last year. It was
almost as if Jeter's mouth was wired shut, which it probably was -- to keep the
smirk off his face. Jeter never embraced A-Rod, who arrived in 2004 as the best
shortstop in the game but moved to third base to allow Jeter, the second-best
shortstop on his team, to stay at that position. Jeter could have soothed
Yankee Stadium's exasperation with A-Rod last summer with a quote or two in the
media, but Jeter kept his counsel.
Last
Saturday, after A-Rod's grand slam ended the game, which Yankee playfully
pushed A-Rod back onto the field for a curtain call? It was Jeter. Captain
Courageous.
But please,
oh please, do not take any of this to mean that I support Alex Rodriguez in any
way whatsoever.
I want him to fail. And I think he will. Mr. April must be
cooled down. And
I want Dice-K to do it.
(Oh, wait,
did I call him Mr. April? Sorry. I guess his new nickname is “El Hombre.”
Really. If you want to read a stupid column, click
here.)
Anyway, it starts
again tonight. And somehow it never gets old.
Sorry,
Bob Ryan. I get where you’re coming from. But I just don’t agree. (“Calgary and Edmonton?”
C’mon.)
This is
fun. And Johnny
Damon knows it.
Ninety
times in the last four years. They lead 46-44. Sweep this series and we’re the
better team. Right?
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