Girardi's Catch-22

Joe Girardi has now blown 22 games with stupid pitching decisions this season. I listed the 1st 19 in a post titled "The Season Is Over, But Not Because of Last Night." Game 20 was August 18 in Boston. Game 21 was August 25, home to Seattle. Last night was Game 22.

A 6-run 3rd inning gave the Yankees a 6-1 lead over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. It was still 6-3 after 5. But CC Sabathia lost his control in the 6th, and it was 6-5 by the time Tommy Kahnle finished the inning.

The natural thing for a manager to do would have been to leave Kahnle in to pitch the 7th. Or maybe even the 8th. But Girardi pitched David Robertson in the 7th and Aroldis Chapman in the 8th. Then, because he is too stupid to let either of them pitch more than 1 inning, he brought Dellin Betances in to close it out. Result? Fly out, strikeout, walk, game-winning home run by Manny Machado.

Cliche alert: Walks can kill you.

Cliche alert: Joe Girardi is an idiot who does not know how to manage a pitching staff.

Orioles 7, Yankees 6.

That's 22 games that Girardi has blown with stupid pitching decisions. That's this season, alone.

A "Catch-22." And, like in Joseph Heller's novel of that title, about a U.S. airbase in World War II and the attempts by pilots to be declared mentally unfit and thus be excused from missions, being involved makes you crazy.

To make matters worse, while it took them 19 innings to do it, the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2.

I wonder if they used their Apple Watches to win it.

I will address the latest New England pro sports cheating in a separate post. Probably not tonight.

The Yankees are now 3 1/2 games behind the Sox, 3 in the loss column, with 24 to play. It's still doable, but their elimination number is now 20: Any number of Yankee losses and Sox wins adding up to 20, and the Yankees can't win the AL East.

And we don't want to be in the Wild Card Game. I don't trust Girardi to manage a Game 163 knowing that, if he loses, there's no Game 164.

*

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 2, this Friday night, home to Sayreville, a "derby."

Days until The Arsenal play again: 3, on Saturday, 10:00 AM our time, home to AFC Bournemouth. They must rebound following their pathetic 1-0 loss to Stoke City and their 4-0 fiasco against Liverpool. If Arsenal want to make a run at the Premier League title, Petr Cech can never tend goal for them again.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 3, at 3:30 PM on Saturday afternoon, home to Eastern Michigan University. Last Friday night, the Scarlet Knights opened the season, clowning their way to a 30-14 home loss to the University of Washington.

Days until the Red Bulls play again: 3, this Saturday afternoon at 4:00 Eastern Time, away to the Chicago Fire. So the day's schedule is as follows: 10 AM, Arsenal vs. Bournemouth; 3:30 PM, Rutgers vs. Eastern Michigan; 4 PM, Red Bulls vs. Chicago; 7 PM, Yankees vs. Texas.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 11, against the Philadelphia Union, a week from this Sunday, at Red Bull Arena. They will next play the D.C. Scum on Saturday, September 27, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. They are not scheduled to play New York City FC or the New England Revolution again this season. The Red Bulls might make the Playoffs, and NYCFC also will, but the Revs probably won't, so they almost certainly won't face each other again until next season.

Days until the U.S. Open Cup Final: 14, on Wednesday, September 20. Exactly 2 weeks. The Red Bulls face Sporting Kansas City at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas. This is Metro's 2nd trip to the Final of the American equivalent of the FA Cup, and if they win, it will be the biggest moment in franchise history -- if they win, and, if so, until they win their 1st MLS Cup.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: Unknown. Theoretically, they could play each other in the American League Division Series (which was not the case in the 1994-2011 format), which begins on October 5, so, 29 days. They are likelier to face each other in the AL Championship Series (as happened in 1999, 2003 and 2004), which would begin on October 13 -- a Friday the 13th, so, take note, you superstitious Sox fans. That would be 37 days. The most likely scenario is that they don't play again until next season, which would start no earlier than Sunday, April 1, so, a minimum of 207 days.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 30, on Friday night, October 6, against Panama, at Orlando City Stadium. Last night, the U.S. got a draw away to Honduras, to keep their hopes of qualifying for next year's World Cup alive. This game will probably decide which of these teams qualifies, and which has to go to a tiebreaker to get in. There's 1 more qualifying match after this, away to Trinidad & Tobago, which is the worst team in the group. If the U.S. wins both matches, they're in. If they lose to Panama, then they're in trouble. A draw, and it likely depends on what Panama does at home to Costa Rica, which has already qualified.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: 31, on Saturday night, October 7, home to the Colorado Avalanche. A little over 1 month.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 38, on Saturday night, October 14, against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan. Their 1st game against the New York Islanders will be on Sunday, January 7, 2018, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn -- and they'll have played the Rangers 3 times by then. Their 1st game against the Philadelphia Flyers will be on Saturday, January 13, 2018, at the Prudential Center in Newark -- and they'll have played the Rangers 3 times and the Islanders once by then. This is a weird schedule. But at least we have it. The NBA usually doesn't release its new season's schedule until August.

Days until the Alex Rodriguez Contract From Hell officially runs out, and the Yankees can spend his salary on new players: 55, on October 31. A little over 9 weeks.

Days until the next election for Governor of New Jersey: 62, on Tuesday, November 7. A little under 9 weeks until we elect Phil Murphy, defeat Kim Guadagno, end Christieism forever, and send the Republicans and their illegitimate leader Donald Trump a message that their time has come and gone. But only if you vote!

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 66, on Saturday, November 11, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

Days until the next North London Derby: 73, on Saturday, November 18, at the Emirates Stadium. This game was moved back to 5:30 PM London Time, 12:30 PM New York time, for TV purposes, but was not, as I thought it might be, moved to Sunday afternoon (morning, our time) or Monday night (afternoon).

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving high school football game: 78, on Thursday, November 23, at 10:00 AM. Just 11 weeks, and thank God it's at home, at Jay Doyle's Green Grove, rather than at that purple shit pit on Route 9.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Pyeongchang, Korea: 158, on February 9, 2018. A little over 5 months.

Days until the next World Cup kicks off in Russia: 281, on June 14, 2018. A little over 9 months. Has Bruce Arena turned our chances around? Maybe. Or maybe, with the tournament on his soil, Vladimir Putin will tell his bitch Donald Trump to tell Bruce Arena to tank the games. Maybe not. Or maybe only if we end up playing Russia. I don't think Arena will listen. If he doesn't, I hope his life insurance is paid up, because Putin has had people killed for defying him.

Days until September 2018 roster call-ups, when we can finally start to expect seeing most of these wonderful "prospects" for whom Yankee general manager Brian Cashman threw away a chance at the 2016 Playoffs: 360. Now under 1 year, or a little under 12 months. Of course, Clint Frazier is already up, but the bubble has already burst on him, and we've hardly benefited enough to offset the cost of Andrew Miller. We could end up seeing another of them sooner than that, but since most of them are at Double-A Trenton now, if that, who's kidding who?

Days until the next Congressional election, when we can elect a Democratic Congress that can impeach and remove Donald Trump from the Presidency: 426, on November 6, 2018. Under a year and a half, or exactly 14 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 490, on January 9, 2019. A little under a year and a half, or a little over 16 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 849, on January 8, 2020. A little under 2 1/2 years, or a little over 28 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 1,047, on July 24, 2020. A little under 3 years, or a little under 35 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 1,149, on November 3, 2020. Under 3 1/2 years, or under 39 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 1,227, at noon on January 20, 2021. A little under 3 1/2 years, or a little over 40 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.