Hi, all. It's been a long time. I needed to update because well, I want to procrastinate from studying and I have to write about the Yankees game I went to last night! Ah, it was so exciting. I just love baseball. Your mood can go from complete elation to complete sourness after one pitch.
5:30 - We arrived at the Metrodome on the light rail and were lucky enough to meet some fellow Yankee fans who were optimistic about the game tonight. We got our tickets - Section 117, Row 20. Sarah had to get her Mini Donuts, too.
6:00 ish- We found our seats and immediately moved down to the first row to see the Yankees batting practice/warm-ups. I got to see Arod blast a few out. And Joba was hanging out in right field catching a few balls and even tossing some into the crowd. His one flaw: not giving the balls to Yankee fans! ;) Like um, ME! After they were done with BP, Joba started signing autographs for people and he was literally like right in front of me. It was pretty much.....*sigh* amazing. I was about two seconds away from getting his autograph until he decided he had signed enough.
6:45- Saw Moose come out to warm up. :D Hey, so he had a few rough starts, doesn't mean I can't revel in how awesome he is. Molina even walked past and someone a few rows back shouted out to him and he shook Molina's hand and they talked like they were buddies. It was so cool. Haha. It was amusing watching warm-ups and seeing the Yanks run around in the field. And dayum, can Robbie Cano stretch or what?!
7:15- Game time! Jeter was up at the plate first. Well, he didn't exactly excel last night. But then again all of the games he's played since he was injured haven't stacked up to his offensive potential. Good news was that Bobby drew a walk, stole second, and eventually scored on Matsui's bloop single. The second half of the inning could have gone better. Moose k'd Gomez, but after that things turned sour. The defense forgot how to dive for balls, throw properly, and basically help Mussina out. Though the blame shouldn't be placed solely on the defense. However, Mussina only gave up 2 earned runs out of the 4. Shelley Duncan's overanxious throw caused Jeter to stretch out and catch it, but he was already off of the bag. But, Jeter saved a few runs later that inning when he made a great diving stop and throw to get the force out. It was a relief the inning was over and we were only down 4-1. I told Sarah, "Hopefully it will be just one rocky inning and Mussina will cruise the rest of the way." Boy, was I ever right. Faith is all it takes. 4 consecutive Twins got hits and runs in.
4th inning - I liked this inning. Melky ripped a 2-run single to tie the game. He had a great game as well as Bobby Abreu (TWO triples!), ARod, and Matsui. They were basically our offense for the game. For 5 consecutive innings, we had a lead-off hit. Matsui made a great running catch in foul territory when it looked like Arod and Jeter were not going to catch it. Arod completely robbed a Twin of a hit with a nice jump (Jeter made a similar play with a leaping catch which was awesome). However, some bad baserunning caused the game to be so close and no more runs to score after the 7th.
7th - Mussina lasted 6 innings throwing 109 pitches, 36 of them in the first inning. Pretty impressive. However, Veras came in and I was like why the hell is he in a 2-run game? Of course he proved himself by walking the lead-off batter and lasted 1/3 of an inning. Edwar came in after him (thank god) and got out of the inning unscathed!
8th- When I saw Kyle Farnsworth warming in the bullpen, I was like fuck. He's taking over Joba's job and it was only a 2-run game. I mean, he's been ok this season, but lately he has sucked. Just like that it was a 1-run game with him on the mound. Morneau hit a lead-off hr (after Tim called it). But after that he did ok....thank freaking god. I was abotu to have a heart attack that inning.
9th - Oh, wow. The sight of Mariano Rivera warming in the bullpen was awesome. Seeing one of the greatest closers of all time in person was sweet as hell. Twins fans all over were breaking out their cameras and cell phones to snap a picture of him. The guy in front of us even took a picture and he was wearing a Twins jersey and very pro-Twins and anti-yankees. Earlier in the game, some fans a few rows back started a "Let's go Yankees!" chant and "Yankee Baseball!" It was sweet! Oh, and some dumb fans also shouted "JETER SUCKS!" It must've taken them awhile to think of that one. They wouldn't know clutch if it hit them in the face. Also, there was one asshole who shouted at Mo (while he was warming) "You suck! You're old!" I was like oh, no don't make me go over there and slap your silly ass out of this ballpark. You don't say that to Mariano Rivera. Show the man some respect and grow some balls. Yes, he may be aging, but he still can throw 92 mph and pitch lights out. I wouldn't say he sucks if he has 14 saves in 14 save opportunities this year with an ERA of 0.38. So back to the actual game...there were 2 outs and the Twins decided to pinch hit Monroe (who pinch hit in the other game and delivered). All of the fans got really excited, but Mo had other plans. It was so satisfying to see the Ump signal the strikeout and the game was finally over!
It was a great game. The Yankees could have played better defensively (though they got better by the end) and their baserunning could have improved, A LOT. They pounded out 16 hits and only had 6 runs to show for it. They could have completely blown the game out of the water a few times. But a 1-run game was so exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. Plus, I was lucky to see Mo pitch! After the game was over, we were waiting to leave the Metrodome and I looked over (while the line was slowly moving) and guess who I saw in his motorscooter and all? Harlan Chamberlain. Joba's Dad. At the metrodome. I wasn't as starstruck as I was after seeing Joba, but it was still an amazing sight. He suffers from polio (his whole left side is paralyzed) and he raised Joba as a single dad. He tries to get to every single game he can to see Joba pitch. A few Yankee fans said a few words to him like go yankees and go joba. I told Sarah who it was and we kept glancing over at him and getting excited. He noticed, smiled, and said Hi to us! :) It was an exciting moment.
Alas, the game is over and there is another one starting in 90 minutes. Chien-Ming Wang vs. Boof Bonser. I hope CMW can pitch a good game, as his last few starts haven't been his best. Let's go Yankees!!
