‘Cause he’s got clutch.
AB
|
H
|
2b
|
HR
|
RBI
|
AVG
|
OBP
|
SLG
|
209
|
77
|
18
|
15
|
53
|
.368
|
.545
|
.670
|
OK, that’s a silly joke. However, those are Manny’s numbers in September since joining the Sox. Sure, clutch is usually defined by close and late, or 2 out RBI, or numbers with runners in scoring position. But every at bat in September, especitally THIS September, is huge.
Sox take the field knowing all they have to do is win to pad the Wild Card lead. And they do. I missed every pitch except for the 9th inning, which I heard on the radio and watched from the time Kim came in. I haven’t seen the highlights, but I hear Manny’s homer was a BOMB…especially considering it was against a stiff breeze.
I was at the movies last night, we saw this. It was action packed and entertaining…funny at times. But it wouldn’t be terrible if you waited for DVD.
So now I have even less sympathy for the Yankees playing yesterday. As we were driving out to dinner, I was listening to WFAN. They had their Yankee beat reporter on, Sweeny Murti, who relayed the following information:
Apparently, Gene Orza, the MLB Union head, contacted Mike Lieberthal of the Phillies, Johnny Damon, and Mike Mussina. He asked all of them what they thought of playing doubleheaders Wednesday to avoid potential weather problems on Thursday. Lieberthal and Damon, who Orza spoke to first, decided against it after talking to their managers. Mussina decided against it on his own. Now, there may have been some confusion as to what Mussina thought…since he was the last guy talked to, he may have thought that since the other two declined it, it was being suggested that he do the same.
Gene Orza, associate general counsel of the players association, said he raised the possibility of playing split doubleheaders Wednesday in places such as Baltimore and Philadelphia, but after consulting with player reps, including Mussina, he said it was not feasible.
“The players don’t vote on split [doubleheaders],” Orza said. “The union makes that decision. I rejected it after consulting with the players. The Yankees had legitimate reasons for not wanting to play a doubleheader, because of its effect on their pitching rotation.”
However, he never conferred with anybody in Yankee management.
General manager Brian Cashman said the Yankees front office was not consulted.
Neither Torre nor Yankees management heard of the option of playing a doubleheader until after the fact.
Torre would not have been enthusiastic about a doubleheader Wednesday. “But if we knew we were going to be made to stay here as punishment for turning it down, then it would have been something you’d want to talk over,” he said.
AMORE
So George’s and Moose’s protestations doth ring a little hollow this morning, in my opinion. Can you imagine how ripped they would have been had they LOST, which they would have if the O’s had a decisive 3rd base coach??
The Yankees would have lost, 2-1, if not for the terrible third-base coaching of Tom Treblehorn, who sent Pedro Swann home on a single to left then put up the stop sign in no man’s land after Hideki Matsui made a strong throw to the cutoff man. Swann was tagged out by catcher John Flaherty for the second out in the fifth. KERNAN
Now THAT would have been funny.