Well, last night kind of stunk. So much for that ninth-inning magic. I’m still peeved about Joe Girardi’s dopey move with Nick Swisher. And it isn’t second-guessing – I called it at the time. Squawker Jon is my witness!
Here’s the story: Jon is housesitting in upstate New York- I tagged along for a few days – and we went to dinner last night at New World Home Cooking in Saugerties (it gets two Squawker thumbs up, by the way!) So we heard the first few innings of the game on XM Radio on the way to dinner, then heard the last inning on the way back.
And by the way, not to get all cranky on this, but John Sterling is really terrible at painting the picture of what’s happening in the game, especially when Suzyn is off getting ready to do her postgame interviews. Because it was hard to figure out exactly what the hits looked like.
Anyhow, the Yankees had a great rally going, where the first six batters got on base. They scored four runs, and had runners on first and second, with nobody out. When Nick Swisher came up, Sterling speculated that Swisher might try to bunt. Squawker Jon and I were both surprised to hear that – we both thought he should swing away. Here was the logic:
* Frankie Francisco was on the ropes. It made no sense to give up an out.
* Swisher has 21 homers this season. Even if most of them are away homers, there was still the chance he could hit a homer – or at least get a single – to win or tie the game.
* There was a very good chance Swisher would mess up the bunt. Which is exactly what happened.
* Having him sacrifice made even less sense, given that it was Melky Cabrera coming up after him. I know the Melkman has delivered with three walkoff hits this year, but c’mon.
Anyhow, I was not a happy Squawker after Swisher popped up, and Melky hit into a double play. But for Squawker Jon, he had a moment of joy after yet another miserable day in Metland.
It’s only one game, and the Yanks still have a six-game lead. But they should have won it.
However, things could be worse. I could be a Met fan!
As for Joba, I think it’s time to, as Bill Parcells would say, take the Huggies off. Enough of these long rests in between starts. I’ve had it.
In other news, I read Squawker Jon’s Mets entry under protest. You see, The X-Files might be my least favorite TV show ever. David Duchovny is certain my least favorite actor. He’s just awful. At any rate, the truth is out there, that if Squawker Jon is going to mention the X-Files, I will be peeved!
What do you think? Leave us a comment!
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