All Things Bubba

Rubber game for the last Yankees-Red Sox series of the year tonight. (Assuming they don't meet in the playoffs.)

It's kind of weird to be playing Boston and have it not really matter. The Sox pretty much have the division locked up. The Yankees' wild card chances are looking pretty good, even if they lose tonight (though it's certainly not guaranteed).

Very strange series thus far. The Yanks played terribly on Friday night. Bad at-bats, errors, missed balls that weren't errors but could have been caught, etc. Many fans thought they were lacking in concentration, but I think it was the opposite: they were over-anxious, and were thinking about it too much. Once the game seemed out of reach and many gave up, they actually came back and won.

Then Saturday, the Sox hung a 10-1 drubbing on the Yankees. While ace Chien-Ming Wang was on the mound, no less. To add to the agony, Torre used practically everyone in his extensive bullpen to get through the game. Ugly.

So far, tonight is a pitcher's duel between old warhorses Clemens and Schilling. My guess is it's going to come down to the pens.

In other strangeness...60 Minutes revealed tonight that Alan Greenspan actually wanted to be a pro ball player. He said, with pride, that he could hit a curve ball when he was twelve years old. Didn't work out, but he's still a baseball fan. They showed him at a Nats game, filling out a scoring sheet. People were lined up getting him to autograph dollar bills. Funny. Would they have recognized him if the CBS camera crew wasn't there?

Michigan won their first game yesterday. Thoroughly embarrassed Notre Dame. I can remember my dad marveling at how Notre Dame was so good, for so long, not hitting the slumps that most college teams do. Not any more, I guess.

And the Dallas Cowboys beat Miami convincingly. They're 2-0.

The Giants lost, and are 0-2. Looks like they're picking up where they left off last year. During the Yankees game yesterday, one of the announcers introduced Edwar Ramirez by saying, "That's 'Edwar,' with no D. Like the New York Giants." LOL!

Can't afford box seats? Maybe you can buy your own regular seats. Hey, it's probably a better investment than most real estate these days.

Then there's this bittersweet story about Bernie Williams. He's enjoying his music career, and getting to know his children. But he also misses baseball, despite the toll it took on his family. He says he can't watch Yankees games too long, because he gets too emotional. Not surprisingly. Heck, I sometimes have a hard time watching Yankees games because Bubba's not there any more. I can't imagine what it must be like if you played for the team, with those guys, for 17 years.

I wish the Yankees would offer Bernie a job as a coach or something. Maybe it would be easier for him if he were involved in baseball in some other role. Then again, maybe they already have, and Bernie's not willing to accept that his playing days are over. That article hints that Bernie is still hoping the Yankees give him a call next season.