Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees tied 2-2 top of the 11th inning. Gary Matthews, Jr. gets a free pass and Erick Aybar moves him to second with a sacrifice bunt. Up steps Chone Figgins, struggling with a pathetic 0-18 at the plate in the playoffs to this point. Figgins takes an Alfredo Aceves fastball and drives it into left field between Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon. Matthews on his horse, 3rd base coach Dino Ebel waves him around 3rd and towards home. Johnny Damon is not known for having a very strong arm, but he is pretty much a soft toss away from home plate. Gary Matthews crosses the plate as the ball arrives to put the Halos up 3-2.Brian Fuentes comes into the game to close out the game in the bottom of the 11th inning. First batter, powerhouse for the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez. Fuentes, American
League saves leader during the regular season goes up 2 strikes on the MVP 3rd baseman. With a chance to put the first out on the board, all Fuentes needs to do is pitch around the strike zone and bait A-Rod into swinging at something unhittable. Brian Fuentes floats a meat ball down the center of the plate and Alex Rodriguez forces the ball over the short porch in right field to tie the game at 3-3.When Chone Figgins knocked in the go ahead run in the top of the 11th, I thought to myself, this is it. I jumped for joy in utter jubilation with my fellow Knotholers. And, when Alex Rodriguez planted that ball over that 314 foot right field wall, my heart dropped right out of my chest. All season long Brian Fuentes has been frightening me....just as Francisco Rodriguez had the season before. You never know what closer you're going to get when he takes the mound. You never know if his stuff is going to be Major League or just Major Disappointment. As, Melky Cabrera hits a slow bouncer between Maicer Izturis and Kendry Morales, I'm thinking to myself, "Cool... double play! We got this." Izturis is unable to make the play and then attempts to do too much. Truly, his only play is to 1st base and get a definite out. Instead, he tries to force a play at 2nd base and throws the ball away. The ball ends up near Chone Figgins glove and he is unable to handle the ball. As it slips out of his glove and hands, Jerry Hairston, Jr. rushes to the plate...sliding into home for the game winning run.
A comedy of errors? I was not laughing. I was not even amused. A flurry of texts hit every phone in the room. It was every Yankee fan that we all knew...sending us their celebratory jeers. What could one say? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The entire room went silent and all anyone could do is ignore the barrage of seemingly never ending texts. We now look towards Monday afternoon. It will be sunny and hot and 1:00 in the afternoon. Hopefully fun in the sun will be the theme for the Angels. I still believe. This is one of the best teams that Mike Scioscia has managed. This is one of the best teams that I've seen in Anaheim. We need to get back to baseball basics: Fielding, Hitting and Running. If the Angels could put all these things together, they can pull it off. They can pull off the final comeback of the decade. YES WE CAN!
No comments:
Post a Comment