Game 156: Symbol In My Driveway

The Yankees have the opportunity to record a symbolic victory in a number of different ways this afternoon. First and foremost, they can close out the division with a win over the Red Sox. In so doing, they can also secure homefield advantage throughout the playoffs since the Sox are the only team that still has a mathematical chance to catch them in the standings. The Bombers also have a chance to notch their 100th win of the season, complete a three game sweep and even out the season series which seemed like a pipe dream at best after losing the first eight against Boston.

Andy Pettitte will take the ball for the second time since skipping a start due to shoulder fatigue. Against the Angels, he wasn't dominant but was efficient, meeting the minimum requirements for a quality start (6IP, 3ER) and needing only 91 pitches to get through those six frames. While Andy's last start did alleviate some of the worry surrounding his status for the postseason, another solid outing would certainly further that cause.

As he did last year, Paul Byrd joined the Red Sox in August. However in 2008, he was exchanged in a waiver wire deal with the Indians but this season Byrd hadn't pitched for another team at all before signing with the Sox. At 38 years old, the soft tosser probably didn't have enough gas to make it through an entire season but the Sox brass felt he could help for the stretch run after they cut ties with both Brad Penny and John Smoltz.

In his first start, Byrd was solid, throwing six shutout innings but in his 4 outings since has given up 34 hit and 17ER in 19IP while striking out 8 and walking 8. He last faced the Royals on Tuesday and gave up 5 runs in the first inning but recovered to throw 5 2/3 scoreless after that.

According to PeteAbe, the tarp is off the field and they should be primed for a start close to 1:00. [Update: 1:16] Not so much... the game is being delayed as there are a couple of patches of rain currently over New Jersey but the coast appears to be clear after that. [Update: 1:40] According to various tweets start time is tentatively scheduled for 2:05.

Since Yom Kippur begins at sundown tonight, the three major New York sports teams in action have been bunched into action at 1:00 so as to cater to the large Jewish population in the New York area and avoid conflict with the most solemn of the Hebrew holidays. The Yanks and Sox were originally scheduled to play on Sunday Night but were moved to the early afternoon. The Giants visit Tampa Bay and the Jets play the Titans, which should probably lead to some furious channel changing throughout the overlapping fan bases.

I know I said that I didn't really want the Yankees to sweep in the preview on Friday night, but now that the blood is in the water, superstition and the Law of Averages be damned. No one wants to see the Yanks celebrate against the Royals tomorrow. Let's drive the nail into the coffin, reach the century mark, complete the sweep, even the season series and knock all this symbolism out in one fell swoop.

I've got a symbol in my driveway,
I've got a hundred million dollar friends,
I've got you a brand new weapon,
Let's see how destructive we can be.

Game 88: C.C. Rider

The Yankees haven't done well in symbolic games this year. They got shellacked on Opening Day in Baltimore, they lost the opener at the New Stadium, and they are 0-8 against the Red Sox. A.J. Burnett lost his match ups against former teammates Josh Beckett and Roy Halladay, and the Yanks couldn't get to Carl Pavano in either of the games he started against them. They've lost series against the lowly Nationals and Marlins.

Today is another game that will seem to represent more than just a tally in the win or loss column. The Yanks send their ace to the mound to avoid a sweep against their achillies heel: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Californa on Planet Earth or whatever the fuck they call themselves. CC Sabathia hasn't fared well in day games this year (including both of the openers mentioned above), failing to notch a win in 6 starts mostly due to a 5.49 ERA in those outings. The seven innings of one run ball he threw last week against the Twins lowered his ERA to 3.70 on the season and earned him win number 8 on the season.

John Lackey goes for the Angels. After spending time on the DL to begin the season, Lackey return to the Angels on May 16th but hasn't been the ace they have known in previous seasons. In 11 starts, he has a 5.18 ERA, a 3-4 record and 79 hits in 66 innings.

A win today would erase some of the shame of the last two days of blown leads and sloppy play, ease the cross country flight back home and send the Yanks into the All-Star break on a somewhat positive note. The right guy is on the mound, looking for his 9th win of the season. Although we are past the first half mark, the All-Star Break is typically seen as the midway point of the season. There will be much pontificating about the state of the team and and their #1 hurler based on where they leave off this afternoon, so here's to hoping the big fella can find his day game stride.

We'll now see, C. C. Rider,
We'll now see, see what you have done.

The Waiting

The scheduled off day today makes yesterday's loss a little bit tougher to swallow. The first game only seems important because it's the only one we have at the moment. Right now it's 100% of the season, after tomorrow, it will only be 50%, then 33%, 25% and so forth.

It's easy to read the symbolism into everything that went wrong yesterday and project it out towards the entire season.

The Yankees are fucked! Sabathia is a choker! Teix can't handle the pressure! Jeter can't get it done when it counts! Swisher over Nady! Send Phil Coke back to the minors!

The reality is that with each passing game, chances are, each of those things is going to be exposed for the small sample size, impulsive overreaction that it is. Unfortunately, right off the bat, we have to wait an entire extra day.

It's only about 47 1/2 hours from the end of yesterday's game until the beginning of tomorrow's, that's not what it feels like. It's as if you planned for months to go on vacation, and you finally get on the plane. But you take your seat, it's in the middle, you're sandwiched between two fat guys, the food sucks, the in-flight movie is Beverly Hills Chihuahua (don't fly Delta), and then you get stuck in a holding pattern over Aruba.

I think I speak for much of my generation when I say patience is not our strong suit. Maybe it's not just younger people, but those of us who live by RSS and Twitter feeds, and are beholden to the 24 hour news cycle. The internet has gotten so fast that it provides instant gratification with each click. We can fast forward on our DVRs and "Mark All As Read". All of that immediacy makes it difficult to see the forest through the trees.

The baseball season is a long haul, and we all know that. But after a long winter of pining for the MLB regular season, it's tough to forget about the only meaningful game we've seen in over 7 months. But a short time's a long time, when your mind just won't let it go. As Yankee fans, I think we are just anxious to put all of last season and the playoff failures of the preceding four behind us (2003 wasn't a failure).


At least Tom Petty understands:

The waiting is the hardest part,
Every day you see one more card,
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart,
The waiting is the hardest part.