I woke up worn out after that long, exciting game. I’m glad I wasn’t there, though – it was too nerve-wracking watching the game in my Snuggie. Imagine what it was like to be in the cold and the rain for five hours and ten minutes! And that was after a very nerve-wracking Texas-Oklahoma game. My nerves are shot, even though both my teams won. Sheesh.
All this might have been too much for Squawker Jon. I think he’s either hiding in the attic, or he’s gone out into that big balloon in the sky, after last night’s epic Yankee win. Call him the Balloon Boy Blogger!
Anyhow, here are a few observations about the game:
* How many times has there been a long, epic walkoff win game when A.J. Burnett pitches? I counted these: Game 2 of the ALDS, the 15-inning Red Sox-Yankees classic, the Kyle Farnsworth win, the Robinson Cano walkoff hit against Toronto, and the third walkoff win in a row against the Minnesota Twins. And I could be missing some other game!
* Squawker Jon and I were waiting for the Joba fist pump/roar, and it showed up – bigtime – last night. Jon told me last night on the phone that he thinks that’s why Joba would want to be a reliever again – just to get the opportunity to pump his fist like that!
* And, did you see how A.J. Burnett seemed to channel Joba right after that, doing his own fist pump and roar in the dugout? Very funny.
* I was hopeful going into the ninth inning that A-Rod would have a walkoff HR to win it. But once the Angels took the lead in the 11th, I didn’t think that lightning would strike twice for him. It’s funny – I told Squawker Jon on the phone that I had no fear when the Yanks were down 3-1 against the Twins that they would win the game, but I was afraid that the Angels would hold on to win last night. Not long after those words came out of my mouth, Alex did it again! Even this longtime A-Rod booster was shocked!
* It looked cold and wet miserable last night, and maybe the cold got to the writers, as well as the players. Ian O’Connor of the Bergen Record wrote:
Alex Rodriguez came out in short sleeves, again, showing an inner Butkus he’d kept caged in the past, and hit the ninth-inning homer that made it 3-3 and sent this wild and crazy game barreling into overtime.
Like the inner Butkus reference, but A-Rod hit the homer in the 11th, when the game was already in extra innings. Unless the cold got to me as well, and froze my mind!
* When Jerry Hairston Jr. scored the winning run, then ended up on the ground in the swarm of players, I was worried he passed out from excitement! Turns out Nick Swisher accidentally knocked him over. Speaking of Swish, he’s closing in on a million Twitter followers! (Speaking of Twitter, follow us to see our in-game reactions, or follow me on Facebook!)
* MLB Network just showed clips of the Bug Game. I’m still bitter over that one. Oh, and not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was reminded yesterday about how everybody in the New York media – except for this Squawker – was sure that Don Mattingly, not Joe Girardi, would be Joe Torre’s successor. How were so many so wrong? And why didn’t they ever acknowledge their error? Of course, I did say that I’d rather have Carol Burnett than A.J. Burnett as a Yankee, which was Hall of Fame dumb!
* Derek Jeter hit a key homer – and made a key error – in the game. He is human, after all. But Squawker Jon and I had to laugh over the contortions Tim McCarver made to excuse Jeter’s error. Unreal. I also laughed about McCarver’s whining about the neighborhood play called against the Angels, when he had to admit the next inning that Erick Aybar had touched the bag all night – except for that play. Maybe they can mistake John Mayberry Sr. in the stands again. Good grief.
* Finally, what was up with Michael Kay’s postgame hat? He looked like Andy Capp on a bag of Hot Fries!
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