Why I Like Baseball

The Yankees broke it open in the 6th, sending 11 men to the plate. One of them was Kevin Cash, making our friends happy. Cash hit a pop foul on the first pitch that ended up just fair and ended up in the seats. RBI ground rule double.

With such a big lead, Igawa gets another inning.

Igawa got out of the fifth without giving up a run but he didn’t look good. How much of that is our expectation, I don’t know but he threw a lot of balls.

Second inning of work Igawa’s bacon was saved by an amazing but ugly grab to start a DP by Edwardo Nunez. Nunez now leading off the sixth and got a nice hand. And then beat out an infield hit.

Oh no. Kei Igawa.

Cody Ransom looks really good today on both offense and defense. Now if he was 23 instead of 33 he would be a hot prospect.

Nick Swisher uses Jimi Hendrix as at bat music and Joba has AC DC.

They put the shift on Howard and got the ground ball but didn’t get him out because he hit it too softly.

The guys sitting behind us played high school baseball with Kevin Cash. So we hope he gets in the game. Lately we’ve seen Cervelli and Montero though.

Bruney pitching now.

Just wrote “failed pitch out” in my scorecard. Nunez stole second on a pitch out but the catcher had butterfingers.

Yesterday’s trivia quiz was tricky. Who was the first yankee batter announced by Bob Sheppard? I will answer next inning…

Today’s game is moving a lot slower than the previous two. Both pitchers have struggled with control. Apparently today I am struggling with typing. Must be the after effects of last night’s pilgrimage to Bern’s Steakhouse.

Lots and lots of Phillies fans here today.

Joba is still missing some of the time but he is still getting the guys out. Mid the second.

Joba is clearly working out some kinks.

He looks a little skinnier than last year.

Yes! Got Ryan Howard looking with a man on second.

Well, the USA staved off elimination in the WBC so we still have no Jeter. The thing I miss most is watching him play long toss before every game.

Looking forward to Joba today! Although he just walked the first batter on 4 pitches, then struck out the next on 3… (cue ominous music).

1:26 PM
Joba is clearly working out some kinks.

He looks a little skinnier than last year.

Yes! Got Ryan Howard looking with a man on second.

1:45 PM
Today’s game is moving a lot slower than the previous two. Both pitchers have struggled with control. Apparently today I am struggling with typing. Must be the after effects of last night’s pilgrimage to Bern’s Steakhouse.

Lots and lots of Phillies fans here today.

Joba is still missing some of the time but he is still getting the guys out. Mid the second.

1:54 PM
Just wrote “failed pitch out” in my scorecard. Nunez stole second on a pitch out but the catcher had butterfingers.

Yesterday’s trivia quiz was tricky. Who was the first Yankee batter announced by Bob Sheppard? I will answer next inning…

They put the shift on Howard and got the ground ball but didn’t get him out because he hit it too softly.

2:24
The guys sitting behind us played high school baseball with Kevin Cash. So we hope he gets in the game. Lately we’ve seen Cervelli and Montero though.

Bruney pitching now.

Oh, and the first Yankee batter announced by Bob Sheppard was Jackie Jensen.

2:40
Cody Ransom looks really good today on both offense and defense. Now if he was 23 instead of 33 he would be a hot prospect.

Nick Swisher uses Jimi Hendrix as at bat music and Joba has AC/DC.

2:46
Oh no. Kei Igawa.

3:12
Igawa got out of the fifth without giving up a run but he didn’t look good. How much of that is our expectation, I don’t know but he threw a lot of balls.

Second inning of work Igawa’s bacon was saved by an amazing but ugly grab to start a DP by Edwardo Nunez. Nunez now leading off the sixth and got a nice hand. And then beat out an infield hit.

3:30
The Yankees broke it open in the 6th, sending 11 men to the plate. One of them was Kevin Cash, making our friends happy. Cash hit a pop foul on the first pitch that ended up just fair and ended up in the seats. RBI ground rule double.

With such a big lead, Igawa gets another inning.

4:03
Cash was on deck last inning so we grilled his pals over whether he was always a catcher, that is, did he always have those ham hocks for legs? Or as corwin put it, “catcher’s butt”?

Apparently he was a third baseman until after he went pro. “but he always walked funny, like he’s wearing high heels.” His pal also pointed out Cash might be the only guy who has won all three World Series, Little League, College (FSU), and MLB (Red Sox).

Cash is on again on another lucky pop! Flubbed by left fielder for two bases.

It is 11-0 Yankees.

Coke started to lose it in his third ining of work with two outs. He allowed three line drives on a row, then walked a guy. Dave Eiland made a visit and he got a dribbler out of the next guy.

Posada out of the game.

This game is flying along. Like yesterday, which had no walks, this one is walk-free. We are halfway through and only one hour has passed.

Phil Coke did his part with two perfect innings. As we said in the Maple Street Press Yankees Annual, Coke would be wasted as a situational lefty. The annual is on sale now, FYI

Swisher just lived up to his name and struck out on 3 pitches.

What is it with pitchers getting hit here? Yesterday one of the Astros got hit in the hand with a line drive. Today Glen Perkins of the Twins just got hot with Matsui’s broken bat and fell right off the mound. It was the third out so they took him right out.

The first outbreak of the Let’s Go Yankees chant came in the second inning after a nice two strike clap. Pettitte then ended the inning with a K.

Huge hand for Jorge. He has been DHing so it is not like he hasn’t played but still.

Wow, Jorge beat out an infield hit! And because they were holding that speed demon on, Damon’s grounder became a hit instead of a double play. And then he tagged and took third on a foul pop! Apparently while having his shoulder fixed, Posada got new legs.

Amusingly, Posada is leading off.

[Blogging Live via the Steinbrenner Field Wifi]

The weather is perfect again today. 81 degrees, breezy, and we were just treated to a special forces parachute drop.

With any luck, we’re about to be treated to Jorge behind the plate and Pettitte on the mound.

[I've now consolidated all the live blog posts into a single post.]

1:09 PM
Amusingly, Posada is leading off.

1:29 PM
Huge hand for Jorge. He has been DHing so it is not like he hasn’t played but still.

Wow, Jorge beat out an infield hit! And because they were holding that speed demon on, Damon’s grounder became a hit instead of a double play. And then he tagged and took third on a foul pop! Apparently while having his shoulder fixed, Posada got new legs.

1:42 PM
The first outbreak of the Let’s Go Yankees chant came in the second inning after a nice two strike clap. Pettitte then ended the inning with a K.

2:03
What is it with pitchers getting hit here? Yesterday one of the Astros got hit in the hand with a line drive. Today Glen Perkins of the Twins just got hit with Matsui’s broken bat and fell right off the mound. It was the third out so they took him right out. It looked like it hurt.

2:11
Swisher just lived up to his name and struck out on 3 pitches.

2:22
This game is flying along. Like yesterday, which had no walks, this one is walk-free. We are halfway through and only one hour has passed.

Phil Coke did his part with two perfect innings. As we said in the Maple Street Press Yankees Annual, Coke would be wasted as a situational lefty. The annual is on sale now, FYI.

2:40
Coke started to lose it in his third inning of work with two outs. He allowed three line drives on a row, then walked a guy. Dave Eiland made a visit, and he got a dribbler out of the next guy to end the inning. Nice job.

Posada out of the game.

Hideki Matsui just hit a comebacker that knocked pitcher Alberto Arias from the game. The Yankees couldn’t do anything with him as it was, as he struck out the side in the third.

Burnett has continued to impress. Four inings so far and not a single baserunner. The ‘stros are looking weak and foolish against him. This makes us feel good, to say the Least.

So, today is my first spring training game. Renaming Legends field to Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees also made some renovations.

There are new ribbon boards for video. And there is Wifi!

So I am sitting behind home plate and typing this on my iPhone.

Burnett looked really good in the first, punctuating his inning with a strikeout. His stuff DIVES. Change and slider?

Now Aaron Boone is at the plate for the Astros. He got a nice hand from the crowd when he came to the plate and a nicer one when he grounded to second.

More as it goes!

Winter is officially over, because I’m on the plane to Tampa as I type this. My words look calm, but the excitement is bubbling as I look around me and all of a sudden everything seems to be about baseball. We arrived at Logan Airport with enough time to grab a meal before boarding, and corwin and I ate at Jerry Remy’s bar/restaurant. (Yes, they have a hot dog on the menu which they call the Remdawg, though the food was actually quite good). While sitting at the bar, just ESPN, the Deuce, and NESN weren’t enough, so I showed him the MLB At Bat app I have on my iPhone and read him an amusing article about how Mike Mussina dropped by Yankees camp. Then we went to our gate and in the hallway to our gate was a photography exhibit, Red Sox Then & Now.

I didn’t have time to read the plaque, but some longtime fan of the Red Sox has been taking/collecting photos at Fenway Park for years and years. I would have lingered over them but we spent a little too long lingering in Remdawg’s, and as we walked up to our gate it turned out we were among the last stragglers to get onto our flight. (Of course, people were being so slow to put their things into overhead bins that as it was, we still stood on the jetway in the freezing cold, waiting to get into the plane anyway.)

Now we’re on the plane, and it is equipped with XM Satellite Radio, which means I am listening to the Yankees vs. Red Sox from Fort Myers! It’s currently 7-4 Sox, neither Chien Ming-Wang nor Tim Wakefield were good, and I slept through most of the third and fourth innings so now I’m not sure who is pitching.

We’re landing in Atlanta soon, and then carrying on to Tampa. If I can grab some Wifi there I’ll post this and post again later. We’ll be seeing four games in a row at George M. Steinbrenner Field (formerly Legends Field) and I’ll be reporting here at WHY I LIKE BASEBALL on all of them.