In Which We Finally Make Mariano Rivera Literally Cry

Tonight, as the Red Sox forced a few more runs across just for fun in the top of the ninth, and the Yankees' old bellwethers, who can still remember four World Series together, swallowed hard and tried to look dignified, there arose a discussion about whether or not to feel pity at this juncture.

I was the bleeding heart of the group, who acknowledged the sadness on the faces NESN zoomed in on in Yankees caps here and there, among cackling Red Sox fans and empty seats. I didn't exactly regret what was happening, but I felt a little sorry for the few remaining die-hards (and yes, there are die-hards, anyone in a New York cap who stayed at the Stadium tonight till the bitter end earned some respect from me). The last ruins of the dynasty look like they're crumbling into dust. Joe Torre looked like he was swallowing back vomit in the dugout. Mo Rivera's face looked like Sanjaya's when he finally got kicked off American Idol.

Lifting Rivera at the Stadium with two outs in the ninth? For Mike Myers? Brutal.

My friend Ryan, who is a few years older than me, listened to all this and paused, considering his answer carefully before saying, "I'll take this.

"With chocolate on top."

With Red Sox clubbies bringing the Papel-bot carefully out of kill mode in the Stadium bullpen after the Sox finished out the beatdown in the ninth, it was Joel Piniero who wound up closing out the game. Ouch.

"Screw 'em," said Ryan.

Once again, Matsuzaka is almost an afterthought by the time the game is finished, which has oddly been the case in his effective starts so far.  He has been solid, but there have been times he has alarmed me, like in the fourth inning tonight (the fourth inning being a disturbing mini-trend right now). Still, he minimized the damage after walking the bases loaded, letting up two more runs but getting away from much more, and in the next two innings he looked like nothing had ever happened.

The thought has occurred to me that the multi-dimensional culture shock he must be in right now would probably be enough to have an average human peeing themselves out there. He must be amazing even to be solid under these ridiculous circumstances. So I still totally love him.

The much-vaunted Monster vs. Godzilla matchup came out decidedly on the Red Sox side, with Matsui ofer with a walk. Hideki Okajima blew him away with one pitch in the eighth, inducing a wobbly grounder right back to the mound. A-Rod suffered a particularly brutal strikeout, with the call that he had swung at ball four coming as he trotted halfway along the baseline to first. Julio Lugo probably still can't believe he hit that home run. And I remain steadfast in my prediction that Mike Myers is never going to get David Ortiz out. Not even once.

Comments

[Boston Fan in Michigan]

Ha ha ha, you are TOTALLY justifying Matsuzaka's thus-far mediocrity and your overwhelming love. Of course you are. And I cannot help but nod in content agreement.

[maxwell horse]

Daisuke seems to be somewhat of an enigma at this point. He seems to have only two "modes." *Lights Out* and *Meltdown.* Thankfully that second mode occurs more rarely, and he bounces back pretty nicely.

I've heard a lot of talk about him being a different pitcher "down the stretch," and also speculation that he has trouble with the heart of the order the 2nd time around. But considering that during both of his 4th-inning "meltdown" games, he couldn't even find the plate--it seems almost just a purely psychological issue to me. Like he just has a sort of brief panic attack.

Thankfully he always seems to collect himself and pitches great again the next inning. I think if they can avoid these "meltdowns" in the future, he really will be the pitcher everyone hoped he would be.

Anyway, tonights win was nice. It was good to see the bottom of the line-up produce again, and in a game that wasn't giving me heart attacks at the end to boot.

[exsubmariner]

Actually, I worried about Daisuke being a nibbler at the beginning of the season. Still, if he can give us 16 wins with an ERA below 5 in what is basically a transition from AAAA ball to AAAAAAAAA American league east I will be more than satisfied.

As for the Yankees, I will count them out when they are buried in the ground with the wooden stake sticking out so that we can hammer it once in a while just to make sure they are still buried.

Expect the Tampa folks to start pushing for changes in the rotation going after Dontrelle etc. Also, expect the Yankees to go after Helton. They are getting nothing from first base on offense and while Doug M-alphabet is good with the glove and will save them 60 runs (with this staff it might be 100)this year, you know George is gnashing his teeth. Plus if George can get Helton when the Sox couldn't you know he will just rub that in.

This team is just to good to keep on losing, but if your starters can't go five with this line up you are in big trouble. Wonder what the headlines will be tomorrow?

[Iain]

My friend Ryan, who is a few years older than me, listened to all this and paused, considering his answer carefully before saying, "I'll take this.

"With chocolate on top."

I'm usually the bleeding heart, but in this instance I'm with Ryan.