The final All-star game at Yankee Stadium was last night. The pre-game ceremony was awesome. It was really funny when they called out Papelbon's name and all you could hear were boo's. And then of course a standing ovation for Mariano Rivera - how it should be. Then they had HOFers all stand at their positions and then the All-star starter was called out - really, really cool. They interviewed Yogi Berra during the game and he seems like the coolest dude ever.
The game itself started out well - it was pretty much a pitcher's duel with only a few players getting on base. Then Ervin Santana gave up a solo homer to Matt Holliday. Later, in the 8th inning Papelbon gave up a single, Navarro screwed up a throw to 2nd to try to catch a runner and they made it to 3rd. After that they scored on a sac fly. It was hilarious listening to the Bleacher Creatures shout out "mariano!" and "overrated!" Serves the asshole right. Later, JD Drew hit a game-tying 2 run hr. Out of all of the Red Sox, I am glad it was him who hit it. I know I, as well as all of the other Yankee fans, were very angry when we saw K-Rod in for the 9th. He gave up a lead-off walk then got 1 out and was taken out for Mo :D. Mo was great, as usual. He even got out of a jam in the 10th with runners on 1st and 3rd. The game continued...and continued...and continued. There was one point where the AL had the bases loaded and got 0 runs in. It was so sad. But it finally ended in the 15th when Michael Young hit a walk-off sac fly.
Credit: Lohud Blogs
Overall, the ASG was really great, especially at Yankee Stadium. The game obviously went on way too long. If it ended in the 10th, as it should have giving Mo the win, that would've been fine. Terry Francona did a good job managing (though he got people off the bench early so our entire bullpen and players were pretty depleted by the end of the night) and acted very classy regarding the Yankees. He took ARod and Jeter out in the middle of the innings so the fans could give them an ovation. Jeter got his "Der-ek Je-ter!" chant :). And bringing in Mo for 1 2/3 inning was nice as well :).
The Yankees start the 2nd half on Friday against the Oakland A's. This is, unfortunately, my last day of free MLB.TV :(. Booo. I really hope the Yankees pick it up. They may have ended better than last season's first half with a record of 50-45 but I don't feel like the team is playing with any real purpose or passion for the game. Andy Pettite bluntly put it: "We stink right now for the most part. As a team we've kind of stunk it up lately" Derek Jeter has the best quote as saying the Yankees are consistently inconsistent. It sums up the entire team. The only players who have been consistent for us are Johnny Damon, Arod, Giambi, and Mussina. Damon's out with a shoulder injury (and will hopefully be back next week!!!). Arod hasn't been spectacular but he's been effective, even with the whole Madonna drama. Giambi has been great this year. Mussina has really shone this year. The pitching hasn't been terrible this year. I feel comfortable with Mussina, Pettite, and Joba pitching. The 4 and 5 starters? Er, not so much. Hey Darrell Rasner, you kind of stink lately (minus his last start - he battled through that game). Sidney Ponson, you're not seriously going to be on our team the rest of the year. We need someone to fill those spots.
The offense sucks...pretty much. With our line-up we should be scoring a ton more runs. Nobody really cares though, that's the sad part. Robbie Cano is finally heating up though. Melky's breaking out of his slump..a little bit. Brett Gardner is trying - he's gotten quality at-bats in and they're starting to pay off. Hey even Jose Molina is hitting singles and doubles and recently he's had some long at-bats of 5 or more pitches. But if they're going to get anywhere their offense needs to wake up and get going, along with some more solid pitching.
Upcoming Schedule:
7/18-7/20 vs. Oakland A's ; Home
7/21-7/23 vs. Minnesota Twins ; Home
7/25-7/27 vs. Boston Red Sox ; Away
7/28-7/30 vs. Baltimore Orioles ; Home
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