Crisis On Infinite Yanks

Did you see last Winter's CW "Arrowverse" superhero crossover event, Crisis On Infinite Earths? Kevin Conroy, who had been the voice of Batman, a.k.a. Bruce Wayne, in animation for nearly 30 years, finally got to play the role in live-action.

On a parallel Earth from the shows' main action, his version of Batman was like the one from Frank Miller's graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, except, instead of merely defeating Superman in Kryptonite-aided combat, he'd killed him. He even used TDKR's Batman's line about how Superman, a.k.a. Clark Kent, was too accepting of authority: "Clark always said yes to anyone with a badge, or a flag."

And, to Ruby Rose, playing the main Earth's version of his cousin Kate Kane, who has become Batwoman, he says the multiverse is not worth saving: "Yes, let it end, let it all end." As he dies, he says, "Kate, listen to me: There is no hope."

*

Tonight, the Yankees' season could end. And maybe it should end.

Because it was never going to end in glory.

I see people online tell me not to give up hope, because they've seen Yankee teams come back before.

But those Yankee teams were built by men like Ed Barrow, George Weiss, Gabe Paul, Al Rosen, Gene Michael and Bob Watson.

This Yankee team, which I have frequently called "gutless wonders" the last 3 seasons, has been built by Brian Cashman. And it is woefully incomplete and inadequate.

The Yankees won Game 1 of their American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Petco Park. But Cashman -- the real manager of this team, with Aaron Boone serving as his errand boy and his press secretary, answering the hard questions so the coward Cashman doesn't have to -- insisted that Game 2 be started not by Masahiro Tanaka, but by Deivi Garcia, one of his beloved "prospects," going just 1 inning, and then having J.A. Happ take over. It was a disaster, and the Rays tied the series.

And then, last night, in Game 3, Tanaka, whose Playoff record is very mixed, had nothing. He only lasted 4 innings, allowing 5 runs. Chad Green was no better in the 5th. Luis Cessa added another run in the 6th. Not that it mattered, by Nick Nelson pitched a scoreless 7th, and Michael King a perfect 8th and 9th.

Giancarlo Stanton now has 6 home runs in the Yankees' 5 postseason games. Unlike in 2018 and '19, this time, he has shown up, big-time. Everybody else? Observe: 

* The Good: Stanton, 5-for-12; Aaron Hicks, 5-for-9; Clint Frazier, 2-for-6; Brett Gardner, 2-for-6; Kyle Higashioka, 2-for-7; DJ LeMahieu, 4-for-14.

* The Bad: Gleyber Torres, 2-for-10; Gio Urshela, 2-for-12; Aaron Judge, 2-for-14; Luke Voit, 1-for-11.

* The Ugly: Gary Sanchez, 0-for-4.

Hicks brought Gardner home with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the 3rd inning. But by the bottom of the 5th, it was 5-1 Rays. LeMahieu singled and Hicks doubled to make it 5-2. Then the Rays struck again in the 6th, and it was 8-2.

Stanton homered in the 8th with Voit aboard, but the next 6 Yankee batters either struck out or grounded out.

The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the 1st and the 2nd. In the 3rd, they loaded the bases with 1 out, got just the 1 run, loaded the bases again with 2 out, and left them full. They left Torres on 1st with 2 out in the 4th, left Hicks on 2nd with 2 out in the 5th, wasted a leadoff single by Stanton in the 6th, and left Judge on 1st with 2 out in the 7th. They went down 1-2-3 after Stanton's homer in the 8th, and went down 1-2-3 in the 9th.

Rays 8, Yankees 4.

Tonight, the Yankees are pinning their hopes for extending the season beyond tonight on Jordan Montgomery, a 27-year-old lefthander from South Carolina who has pitched all of 75 1/3rd innings in the last 3 seasons, including this one.

On some parallel Earth, Montgomery is a middle reliever who has just watched Gerrit Cole, Domingo German and Luis Severino complete a 3-game sweep of the Rays, as the Yankee bats unloaded in all 3 games.

But on this Earth, we are living through Crisis On Infinite Yanks. And all signs point to the Yankees losing tonight, ending the season.

"Yes, let it end. Let it all end."

This is the team that Brian Cashman built. As the Arrowverse's Supergirl, played by Melissa Benoist, told Batwoman about her cousin, the Batman who'd admitted he'd become a monster, "This guy's not a paragon of anything."

*

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 1, tomorrow night at 7:00, away to arch-rival Old Bridge. They opened the season with a shocking, but wonderful, 41-0 win over Edison school J.P. Stevens. Who knows, maybe one of my teams will have a good year after all.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge football game: See the previous answer.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 2, on Saturday night at 6:00, away to Atlanta United.

Days until Arsenal play again: 9, a week from this Saturday, at 12:30 PM New York time, away to Manchester City.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 16, on Saturday, October 24, away to Michigan State University in East Lansing. The Big Ten Conference decided to play football in the Fall after all. I hope they know what they're doing, or else this could be the viral equivalent of a bloodbath.

Days until the Red Bulls play another "derby" game: 20, on Wednesday night, October 28, home to the New England Revolution.

Days until the 2020 Presidential election: 26, on Tuesday, November 3. Under 4 weeks. As the old saying goes, and it really is true this time, "This time, vote like your life depended on it."

Days until the next North London Derby: 58, on Saturday, December 5, at 10:00 AM New York time, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London. Under 2 months. This game will likely be moved, either to another time that day, or to the next day, or maybe to the Monday night, for TV and ratings purposes.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 58, on Saturday, December 5, just a week later than was planned, at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Days until the next U.S. national soccer team game: Unknown. Currently, neither the men's nor the women's team has any matches scheduled. Most likely, it won't be before the New Year, and January 1 is 85 days away.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: Unknown, as the NHL hasn't yet made out its 2020-21 season schedule. That's understandable, given all the uncertainty with trying to wrap up the 2019-20 season. The League is now calling about starting next season on or around January 1. If that is the date, then it's 85 days.

Days until the Devils play another local rival: Unknown, although it's unlikely that their 1st game of the season, or even their 1st home game, will be against a traditional rival.

Days until a new Congress convenes, hopefully fully Democratic: 88, on Monday, January 4, 2021. Under 4 months. Ordinarily, it would be January 3, but that's a Sunday next year.

Days until the next Presidential Inauguration: 104, on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Under 15 weeks until Liberation Day.

Days until the Yankees' 2021 regular season begins: 175, on Thursday, April 1, home to the Toronto Blue Jays. Under 6 months. Yes, the 2021 schedule has been released. Of course, any schedule is subject to further COVID-19 restrictions. Hopefully, by then, we will either have a vaccine, or have the virus reduced to the point where live attendance at sporting events will no longer be seen as unintentional suicide.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 239, on Friday night, June 4, 2021, at Yankee Stadium II. 

Days until the COVID-delayed Euro 2020 opens in Paris: 246, on June 11, 2021. A little over 8 months.

Days until the COVID-delayed 2020 Olympics open in Tokyo, Japan: 288, on July 23, 2021. Under 10 months.

Days until Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz become eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame: 460, on January 11, 2022. A little over 15 months until we find out whether lying about having been caught taking steroids, as Big Papi did, is better than telling the truth about it, as A-Rod did.

Days until the next Winter Olympics open in Beijing, China: 484, on February 4, 2022. Under 16 months.

Days until the next World Cup opens in Qatar: 774, on November 21, 2022. Under 26 months.

Days until the next Women's World Cup opens, a joint hosting by Australia and New Zealand: 1,005, on July 10, 2023. A little over 33 months.