Yesterday was opening day, and today, both the Reds and the Yankees are idle. Man, I hate these series with off days in the middle of them. What's the point?
Both the Yanks and Reds won yesterday. Pavano wasn't exactly lights-out, but he got enough run support that it didn't matter. Kazmir may scare the Red Sox, but the Yanks own him. Unlike Boston, they eat lefties for breakfast. Even the much-maligned Minky got a hit. (He's batting 1.000 now!)
The Yankees did have three errors in the game, by Jeter, A-Rod, and Phelps. A-Rod's was, not surprisingly, on a popup. He provides GG defense...except if it's a popup.
The Reds scored all their runs on two home runs by Adam Dunn. Though Harang had a rough spring, he proved spring stats don't matter yesterday.
Freel was something of a wild man in CF. He got an error, throwing the ball into the stands. The man's got great speed, but what a maniac. His legs are clearly much faster than his brain. People think Bubba is reckless out there, but Freel makes Bubba look cautious.
Funny article by Something Awful, but arrghhhh. They have a photo of Sheff running into Bubba from the 2005 ALDS...next to the Reds entry. Pretty cruel, considering that Bubba isn't even on the Reds roster at the moment.
What a knife through the heart that play was. The Yankees (and Bubba) worked so hard to make the post-season that year. They went from being something like six games back to winning the division in that last month. Every game was like a playoff game that September. Only to have it end like that.
Really a bummer for Bubba, because he had a good game otherwise. He went 2 for 3 with an RBI, and had some nice plays in the outfield. And he stole a base - on a pitchout! Now that's speed. But all anyone remembers is the collision.
Despite how it ended, that September is one of my best baseball memories. The World Series championships were great, but I didn't really appreciate how special they were. As a recent arrival to NY and to baseball, I just sort of took it for granted that the Yankees would make the post-season. Until 2005, when it looked like the Yanks might be watching the postseason on TV. The last month of the season was incredibly grueling. (And I'm talking about the fans. I can't imagine what it must have been like for the players.) There was only one day off, due to makeup games, and every game was critical. The tension was nearly unbearable, but the bond among Yankees fans was incredible. We were in the trenches together, the usual petty disagreements put aside. It was utterly exhausting, but exhilirating at the same time. I just wish I had appreciated it more at the time.
