I can't even get laid at Hawaiin Night in the bleachers.

Friday, August 12, 2005
Home Game 59
Yankees 6 Rangers 5
Subway Race Winner: B train
Cap Game: #1


Hello, and welcome to day 5 of 1-run Game Week.

Man, was it freaking hot tonight. And of course Al "and the 3-2" Leiter had to be on the mound. I guess I'm a little confused as to why people get so enraged with him. This is what you're going to get folks. He throws a lot of pitches, about half of which will be strikes. Batters wait him out. If he starts off with an 0-2 count, chances are it will go full eventually. No matter how many times you yell "Throw a strike Leiter" (yes, I'm talking to you, Mr. Asshat sitting 2 rows behind me), he's not going to do it. This is Al Leiter. Get used to it. It will save you from popping that vein in your forehead.


Luckily there were enough distractions in the stands early in the game to keep us occupied while Al was throwing 125 pitches in 5 innings. In fact I was in the middle of telling a friend of a friend that Miami (college FB) sucked when Bernie hit his homer. It was great to see him come through with a big hit. And it was even better to see the bullpen doing its job. A lot of people seemed to forget that Wayne Franklin was still on the team. One kid thought it was the other lefty and started to yell "Fuck you Embree" as he came in. Wayne did a fine job He had a nice little 9-pitch battle with Mench before he struck him out. Using Chacon was a great move too. We saw him warming up in the pen and thought he was just doing his "throw day" routine. Instead he got his throws on the field, which turned out rather nicely.

In the 8th we could see Sturtze warming up, and some panic set in. With the 3-4-5 hitters coming up in the 9th we didn't have a good feeling about it. But thankfully he proved us wrong and shut them down. And, as a plus, the Yankees forced Cordero to throw 30 pitches in the bottom of the 8th. (Cano had a nice 12-pitch at bat which resulted in a single to center) Should they have to bring in their closer tomorrow hopefully he'll be a bit worn down.

A couple questions. Were the pitchers getting squeezed tonight? Mainly Leiter. Some of those looked damn good, or at least as good as the strikes that were being called against the Yankee hitters. And what was with that double error from Jeter? Does a bobble really count as a boot?

The Road Trippers were in the bleachers tonight. Ray started that whistle thing he does early. Luckily he didn't do it all night or he would've ended up with his lei stuffed in his mouth.

Now, back to Mr. Asshat. When Mel comes out to talk to Leiter, he's not telling him to throw strikes. Al knows he has to throw strikes. That's his fucking job. It's not like he's trying not to throw strikes. He just misses. A lot. And he's not Maddux so he's not going to get the borderline calls. And, yes, we know that on a 2-0 count it's a "hitter's pitch". You don't have to be MichaelFuckingKay and tell us every time the situation arises.

And to anyone who's never sat in the bleachers, alcohol is prohibited. It has been for 5 years. (There are also alcohol-free sections in the upper deck.) If drinking at a game is that important to you, check this shit out before you purchase your tickets. And if your ticket says NON ALC that means you can't buy beer. Deal with it. Relax and enjoy the game and the atmosphere you're in, because there's no other place like it.