In the wake of Michael Jackson’s passing, all of the players in yesterday’s games wore one glove in his memory. . .
Yankees 11, Braves 7: Buster Olney went all Jerod Morris on A-Rod yesterday (query: does the fact that Rodriguez tested positive for steroids six years ago, and a year before the institution of punitive testing give one license to play the “one never knows” card all these years later? Geoff Baker -- can I get a consult here?). Less problematic than the steroids speculation garbage was the quoting of scouts and wringing of hands to the effect that Rodriguez has suddenly become a poor decrepit old man who will likely not survive the length of his contract let alone produce during its duration. Jesus. The guy rushed back from hip surgery, played too much, and still isn’t 100% right. Is that really the best time to declare someone’s career dead? Especially someone who raked like hell just last season? I bet Buster liquidated his 401K in March too. Anyway, reports of Rodriguez’s death are greatly exaggerated (3-5 HR, 4 RBI).
Tigers 6, Cubs 5: Geovany Soto pinch hit and struck out. When he was not playing, he regaled Carlos Zambrano with tales about this one amazing killer bong he saw in Iowa City that one time. He ought to straighten up that hophead attitude of his and fly right, though. Look at Magglio Ordonez. That fine young man has shed those hippie locks (and the stoner lifestyle that necessarily accompanies long hair) and not surprisingly he’s back on track (1-4, HR, 2 RBI). If only every player could emulate those clean cut and clean living stars of yesteryear!
Pirates 3, Indians 2: Cliff Lee has to be looking around that locker room and feeling like Michael did while looking around the Jacksons’ dressing room circa 1979. He’s better than these guys, they’re doing nothing to help him, and they bring nothing to the party. In fact, I’m going to call Ben Francisco “Tito” for the remainder of the season.
Reds 7, Blue Jays 5: It felt so good to watch Joey Votto break out the whuppin’ stick (4-5, 2B, HR 3 RBI). By the way, as I did on Monday, I watched a good 45 minutes of this game on a treadmill at the gym. Unlike Monday, however, I didn’t change the channel. Why? Because George Grande and Chris Welsh, while certainly no luminaries, understand that there’s a ballgame going on in front of them and actually talk about what’s happening in it from time to time. Something else learned from this game: Scott Rolen comes to the plate to Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll.” I guess it’s a play on “Rolen,” but at bottom, isn’t that song about a guitar chick lusting after a teenage boy?
Mets 3, Cardinals 2: Good pitching matchup, as Santana beats Carpenter and the Mets take three of four from the Cards. The crowd was the largest in Citi Field’s young history. According to the article “New York had offered 50 percent discounts on some tickets.” With eight dollar beers and all of the rest you’d think that any team with empty seats would cut prices like Crazy Eddie, promote the crap out of it and be confident that they’re making it all up in grub, suds and merch.
Marlins 11, Orioles 3: There are some Baltimore Orioles truthers out there who insist that I have decided to not say anything nice about their team. I’ll make you a deal, guys: they do something worthy of praise, I’ll praise it. In the meantime I will throw you a bone and note that Nick Markakis went 4 for 4 and drove in Z-game. Unfortunately it was 11-2 in the ninth inning at the time. As for the Marlins, Hanley Ramirez went 3 for 5 and knocked in five runs in what turned out to be a laugher.
White Sox 6, Dodgers 5: Chad Billingsley let a 4-0 lead slip away and actually stood to be the loser when he left the game after six. He got bailed out, but the Sox pulled it out in 13. Weisman makes an excellent observation regarding Torre’s bullpen use in extra innings: “Torre chose to save Jonathan Broxton for a save situation rather than ensure he’d get an inning out of him. It’s an old philosophical bug: the idea that your best pitcher is more useful when you can afford to give up a run, rather than when you can’t afford to.”
Mariners 9, Padres 3: I’m not sure what surprised me more yesterday: the news that Michael Jackson died or the news that Mike Sweeney was still alive. Good game for him though (4-4, 2B, 2 RBI), as well as Ichiro and Beltre, who combined to go 7-10 with four runs scored. The Mariners now set off on a death march against the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox, all on the road. We’ll certainly know what this team is made of in about nine or ten days, won’t we?
Rays 10, Phillies 4: It’s sort of not fair that the Rays can lose a guy like Evan Longoria and then have his replacement -- Willy Aybar -- hit a homer and drive in three runs. More evidence that the universe is unfair: the Marlins beat the Phillies in this series, are playing much better baseball overall, and have a lineup that could bash them across the country and back, yet Philadelphia remains in first place and the Rays are in fourth, six games back.
Nationals 9, Red Sox 3: Smoltz got pounded (5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER), but he struck out 5 and walked only one. Eh, dude’s allowed to warm up a bit. I’m sure someone will analyze his start more closely than I have, but whatever that shows, my gut tells me that he’s going to be alright pretty soon and will pitch extremely well until the very moment his shoulder or elbow explodes again.
Astros 5, Royals 4: Lance Berkman launched two dingers and drove in four. The game wouldn’t have been as close, though, if it weren’t for a bunch of Astros errors leading to three Royals’ runs.
Rangers 9, Diamondbacks 8: Chris Davis had four hits, including a two-run homer in the 12th to win it. He wouldn’t have had a chance to hit that one if Miquel Montero had held on to a two-strike foul tip the pitch before.
Twins 6, Brewers 4: I live in a city that has a massive (and probably justified) inferiority complex, and one of the funniest things about it is that Columbus can’t ever seem to decide which other city it should feel inferior to. Chicago? That’s just silly, but you hear it sometimes. Charlotte? Austin? Nashville? Those all make sense for various reasons, but none are perfect. Anyway, as I was staring at the box score of this game and failing to find anything really interesting to say about it, I wondered: does Milwaukee compare itself to Minneapolis? To Chicago? Or is it a city that is comfortable in its own skin, never giving a thought to other places (except when making fun of the elitists in Madison)? The thought gripped me for a while so I decided to Google it a few different ways and came up with this:
Is Milwaukee, with its rich industrial legacy, however small it is compared to its heyday, headed toward a manufacturing heavy Detroit, a financial services hub that Minneapolis is, or something altogether different? Bill Bonifas, an executive vice president with The Polacheck Co. Inc., says the answer to that question illustrates two points: Why Milwaukee is different than Detroit and Minneapolis and where the city’s headed.
“You can’t say Milwaukee is going in the direction Detroit is because to begin with Detroit has a more spatial dynamic whereas the money is located in Milwaukee.
“Though I think our momentum matches that of Minneapolis, I don’t think we’ll end up like that city either because that’s such a regional center for finance that Milwaukee is, and will have to be, a combination of the two.”
I know there’s no purpose to this, but does anyone have any ideas here? Lar? And if you don’t know a thing about Milwaukee, does your town engage in this neurotic behavior, or is it just a Columbus thing? Does every Springfield have its Shelbyville?