Monday, November 02, 2009

Why They Play Nine Innings

I had to write something about Game Four between the Yankees and the Phillies; my body’s been complaining of jet lag, not having traveled; but because of the time shift over the weekend. The game looked like it might be headed for extra innings after being tied in the bottom of the eighth, a mistake pitch centered on the fat part of the bat left the park and got the Philly’s fans back into it.

The ninth brought Brad Lidge to hold the tie with the hope that the Phillies powerful lineup would snatch a victory in their half of the inning. “Lights Out Lidge”, as he once was called had one of those kind of seasons he’d like to forget; and yet, the year before was one of his best. In my mind I heard Forrest Gump saying, “Life is like a box of chocolates…”; the same holds true with Lidge, “…you never know what you’re going to get” when he takes the mound.

Two outs later and rolling along with some nasty sliders, Johnny Damon came to the plate and was down in the count; but fouling off pitches to stay alive. One pitch he barely got a piece of may have been the pivotal swing, getting him yet another chance as the ball couldn’t be corralled by the catcher on a foul tip. Damon then singled to left and won that battle.

The first thing Damon did was take advantage of Lidge’s slow but powerful delivery to the plate; something known by most. What I hadn’t noticed, fighting off sleep as the game tested my ability to stay awake, was how the Philly’s infield had put on a huge shift for the next batter, Mark Teixeira. I glanced up to see Damon slide into second ahead of the tag, “Safe”, then pop up and step off the bag and head toward third.

I thought to myself how dumb that was; did he think the ball got through the infield or was he even thinking. Oh, he was thinking alright; the fielder who’d tried to tag him at second was the third baseman; remember, all the infielders were on an extreme shift. With nobody covering third, Damon sprinted easily and slid in to third; stealing two bases on the same pitch.

Going back to my youth, listening to the Voice of the Yankees, Mel Allen; I would have loved to hear his take on that one, “Sports fans”. He could have sold plenty of Ballantine Ale on a play like that. Fast forward back to yesterday, Teixeira got hit by a pitch and the flood gates were about to be opened with A-Rod waiting for a chance to hit.

Lidge’s confidence must have gotten shaken by the play and it showed as the Yankees tacked on three runs, the dust of Damon’s stolen bases choking the life out of the Phillies. I guess you could say the Phillies forgot to play the whole game, letting it slip away in the ninth. The Yankees are now up three games to one and only need one to walk away with yet another World Series in their hip pocket.

There’s a line in the movie, Mr. Baseball, where the little Japanese translator hears the English version spoken and then turns to the rest of the team, “After the game is over a fat lady will sing to us.” If you look off in the distance, over by the microphone, there’s a rather large woman warming up; all the same, it’s a seven games series, not five for a reason.

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