Long Train Runnin'

So this is the game Danny Mac should’ve done a running diary on, but he didn’t. Come on Mac! Schilling vs. Pettitte. Obviously we wouldn’t have known that it would be a rubber match, but oh well. I’ll do it. Unfortunately, drama at the shoe store held me up and I wasn’t able to leave early for a baseball game. So I got home in the bottom of the second and my Yankees are up 3-0. Nice. Oh, and I’m watching the YES broadcast, if that matters. On with it.

4:52pm - Why is Doug Mientkiewicz still playing everyday? And does it piss anyone else off that it takes an extra two minutes to figure out how to spell his name correctly?

4:58pm - Jeter grounds to Lowell, who bobbles it and a run scores. Okay, I’ve got to believe that the only reason Lowell doesn’t get the error is because that hit allowed Jeter to pass DiMaggio on the all-time Yankees hits list. FIST PUMP!

5:00pm - So, I benched Matsui today, because as much as I hate Schilling, he’s a pretty good pitcher. And of course, I come home to a Matsui homer. Sweet. I’ve never been so pissed that a Yankee homered off of Schilling in my life.

5:01pm - Advice from Danny Mac:
HeyUmp47: have a blast....advice...dont try and get every little detail in
HeyUmp47: i did that my first time around and it sucked so i deleted it
lilchika63: hahaha
lilchika63: give me something good to put in
HeyUmp47: WILYS GOIN DEEP
HeyUmp47: thats all i got for now

5:04pm - I’m watching a few other games on TV. There’s a rookie catcher for the Braves named Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Jesus. You’d think they’d name him X with a last name like that. Could you imagine how hard it was for that kid to write his name in the first grade? Oh, and Wily Mo grounded out to Cano. Sorry Mac.

5:06pm - Request from Danny Mac to comment on the Pedroia-Rodriguez “dust up” from last night. All I have to say is that A-Rod runs funny. Every Red Sox fan knows that. Also, he likes to make friends with Red Sox players. BFF with Arroyo, Varitek and Schilling already, why not add Pedroia? He also has purple lips. Lay off.

5:12pm - Nice little “Yankees Suck!” cheer at the Stadium. Followed by a “Let’s Go Red Sox!” Followed by a double by A-Rod. Good stuff.

5:22pm - Manny hits a dribbler to A-Rod, who can’t make the play. I don’t mind too much, because I like Manny. He’s just so crazy. “¡Eh! ¡¿Como está?!” Also, Edgar Renteria is batting for the Braves on TBS. Some people just can’t play in Boston, hey?

5:30pm - In the middle of an intense conversation about steroids in baseball with Danny, Mientkiewicz hits a bomb. So much for that 1-19 slump. Still, I don’t really take MUCH of what I said about him back. Okay, I do. I’m sorry.

5:33pm - Manny conversation:
HeyUmp47: manny has no idea how he just got to that
lilchika63: oh manny
HeyUmp47: gotta love him
lilchika63: i absolutely agree
lilchika63: he's one of the few red sox i really like
HeyUmp47: u cant hate him....hes too retarded to hate....itd be like picking on an autistic kid

5:37pm - And there’s a hit for Wily Mo off a dribbler to A-Rod. Someone get the big guy an oxygen tank!

5:50pm - There are a million reasons why this girl is my best friend. Here is one of them:
mereDITZy: there is little more that i love than watching the yanks smash the crap out of curt schilling.
mereDITZy: that is all.

5:56pm - I love Manny’s head covery thing. Ahhh. And the YES announcers would like us to know that if you rearrange the letters in Lou Piniella, you get Paul O’Neill. Except you have to take out one of the “I’s,” so not really. And Manny decides to score running backwards and give Jorge a little love tap. Oh Manny.

6:14pm - Pretty boring last twenty minutes. And Mientkiewicz gets another hit. What burns me more than him hitting well is that I have to spell his name out.

6:26pm - I always wonder why they still use that warbly recording of “God Bless America” at the Stadium. You’d think they could’ve gotten a better version, or at least a better recording. Just a thought. No offense Kate Smith.

6:34pm - I wish I had benched Andruw Jones instead of Matsui. This is an announcement to all in my fantasy league: Andruw Jones is officially on the trading block. Make me an offer.

6:43pm - Poor Greech. My poor little Celtics fan got his heart broken yesterday when the C’s got the fifth pick. The fifth pick with Doc Rivers. It’s gonna be a rough year. Greech’s official reaction:
DAwwG275: my reaction: almost puke, try not to cry, decide it was too dangerous to drive to a bar in the shape i was in, lie in bed and not sleep all night

6:46pm - Honestly, all this talk about a win tonight putting the Yankees back on track in the AL East is garbage. This is not REALLY a must-win, because now we’re only 9 1/2 games back. ONLY! FIST PUMP! Seriously, I love my Yankees, but let’s be realistic here.

6:51pm - Lowell just flied out to Damon, and when Johnny threw it back in he actually got it all the way to the pitcher’s mound in one throw. Too bad he was supposed to hit one of the middle infielders and missed them both. Farnsworth almost pulled a hammy trying to stop that ball from bouncing away. Oh and tomorrow is Clemens Night on YES.

7:00pm - Someone should pick up Doug Mientkiewicz, the way he’s been swinging the bat. I swear, it’s a hot streak. (Talk about “what have you done for me lately.”)

7:03pm - Okay I’m only commenting on this because it’s the 483rd time I’ve seen it (and if things go well, this will be the last time tonight), but when you’re watching a game on MLB.tv, they don’t show you commercials. They show you the same ad for Dick’s Sporting Goods everytime, then it goes into the equivalent of phone hold music. Anyway, the commercial has a whole bunch of fans in their team’s MLB jerseys and hats and whatnot talking about what baseball is to them. The Red Sox fan says, “It’s about never giving up. Never ever!” The Yankees fan says, “It’s about tradition. It’s about doing what it takes to win.”

Okay I agree with the Yankees one, but the Red Sox one - come on. This commercial better have been filmed before 2004, otherwise I’m gonna be pissed. YOU ALREADY WON! STOP WHINING!

7:07pm - Wily Mo with a leadoff double. PICK HIM UP ALREADY DANNY! I hear he’s a really good clubhouse guy.

7:12pm - Great exchange between Michael Kay, John Flaherty and Paul O’Neill about C.B. Bucknor, the home plate umpire. He has quite the intense punchout call, including a very intense check-swing-yeah-you-went to end the game on Coco Crisp. It’s like he’s taunting you with that called third strike. Player of the game goes to Bucknor. Game over.

So, we’ve closed to 9 1/2 back of the Red Sox. Sigh.

Photo Source: MSNBC.com