To think that only yesterday
we were cheerful, bright and gay
looking forward to
Well, who wouldn't, you?
the game we were about to play.
But as if to knock us down
reality came around
and without so much
as a mere touch
broke our hopes all into pieces
leaving me to doubt
talk about that Brian Cashman.
In spite of all his "brilliant" moves
he really is such trash, man.
And in our hour of need
it truly was indeed
a loss again
naturally.
*
Okay, I don't think anyone expected the Yankees to go 162-0. I don't think anyone expects them to go 161-1.
But a lot of people either ignore the Yankees' pitching issues, left to continue to fester by Cashman's insufficient action, or presume that said issues can be overcome by simply hitting the snot out of the ball so that we outscore our opponents, no matter how bad the pitching is.
But since the 2009 World Championship, after which Cashman allowed both Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon to leave through expired contracts, the Yankees have not scored when it counted, leading to 3 losses in the American League Championship Series, 2 in the AL Division Series, 1 loss in the AL Wild Card Game, and 3 seasons of missing the Playoffs completely.
In the meantime, the San Francisco Giants have won 3 World Series, the Boston Red Sox 2, and the St. Louis Cardinals, the Kansas City Royals, the Chicago Cubs and the Houston Astros 1 each; the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers have not won a World Series but have each won 2 Pennants, and the Detroit Tigers, the Cleveland Indians, and, yes, the Mets 1 each.
Since the Yankees' last AL Eastern Division title in 2012, MLB Division Championships have been won as follows: The L.A. Dodgers 6, Boston 4; 3 each by Cleveland, St. Louis and Washington; 2 each by Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs, Detroit, Houston and Texas; and 1 each by Baltimore, Kansas City, the L.A. Angels, Milwaukee, Oakland, Toronto, and, yes, the Mets.
In other words, 17 out of 29 other teams in MLB have won a Division title since the Yankees last did, including the Mets once and the Red Sox 4 times; 11 teams have won a Pennant since the Yankees last did, including the Mets, and the Red Sox twice; and 6 teams have won a World Series since the Yankees last did, including the Red Sox twice.
In the immortal words of Congressman Adam Schiff, You might think that's okay, but I don't think that's okay.
*
After beating the Baltimore Orioles 7-2 at the new Yankee Stadium in the season opener on Thursday, the Yankees played the O's again this afternoon. The Yankees got on the board in the 4th inning, with a 2-out rally. Gleyber Torres reached on an infield single. New Yankee Troy Tulowitzki drew a walk. DJ LeMahieu singled Torres home, to make it one-nil to the Pinstripe Boys.
But that was it until the 8th inning. The Yankees loaded the bases with 1 out in the 1st, but Miguel Andujar grounded into a double play. Torres singled with 1 out in the 2nd, but was stranded. Giancarlo Stanton singled with 2 out in the 3rd, but was stranded. The Yankees stranded Tulo and LeMahieu in the 4th.
Stanton walked with 1 out in the 5th -- yes, Giancarlo "Swing at Anything" Stanton drew 2 walks in the same game -- but was eliminated when Luke Voit grounded into a double play. The Yankees got 2 men on in the 6th, but stranded them. They went down 1-2-3 in the 7th, Gary Sanchez singled with 2 outs in the 8th, but was stranded.
James Paxton made his regular-season Yankee debut today. For the 1st 5 innings, he pitched brilliantly: No runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, including striking out the side in the 5th. But he fell apart in the 6th, allowing back-to-back singles, a lineout that got a runner over to 3rd, an RBI single, and a grounder that turned into 2 errors on one play (but only 1 run). Aaron Boone relieved him with Adam Ottavino, who got out of the inning.
So Boone left Ottavino in, right? Wrong: He put Chad Green in to pitch the 7th -- probably under orders from Cashman -- and he allowed another run. Boone brought Jonathan Holder in to pitch the 8th, and he allowed 2 more runs, which was something the Yankees really didn't need.
The Yankees finally woke up in the 9th, and refused to go down quietly. Tulo led off the bottom of the 9th with his 1st Yankee home run, making it 5-2. LeMahieu doubled. But Brett Gardner lined out. Aaron Judge singled LeMahieu over to 3rd. But Stanton, as he so often does in key situations, struck out. He's like Alex Rodriguez, but with less personality. Voit singled home LeMahieu to make it 5-3. The tying runs were on base. The winning run was at the plate.
Andujar struck out swinging. Ballgame over.
Orioles 5, Yankees 3. WP: Jimmy Yacabonis (1-0). SV: Mike Wright (1). LP: Paxton (0-1).
I can't fault Paxton for pitching 5 strong innings and then falling apart in the 6th -- although, if he continues to fall apart sooner than he should, we should be concerned. And this supposed "best bullpen in baseball" did not get the job done. Nor did the vaunted Yankee bats.
The fault for this one, as with so many others, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in Brian Cashman.
To make matters worse, also today, the New Jersey Devils lost 3-2 at home, when the St. Louis Blues scored a goal with 2.8 seconds left in overtime. The Mulberry Street Marauders were less than 3 seconds from a shootout, and blew it. And the New York Red Bulls lost 1-0 away to the Chicago Fire.
Today, I was 0-for-3. I half-expected to find out that the Rutgers football team got slaughtered -- it is a Saturday, after all -- but it isn't football season. At least Arsenal didn't lose: They don't play again until Monday afternoon (my time, evening their time).
Leaving me to doubt
talk about God and His mercy
but Cashman's a demon in The Bronx
and I suffer here in Jersey.
The Yanks gave the game away.
I grumbled all the day.
A loss again
naturally.
*
Days until Arsenal play again: 2, on Monday, at 3:00 PM New York time, home to Newcastle United. The Gunners are clinging to 4th place in the Premier League, 1 point behind arch-rival Tottenham, and have advanced to the Quarterfinal of the UEFA Europa League.
Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 2, on Monday night, April 1, against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, at the Prudential Center, in the regular season home finale. The Devils are not scheduled to play the New York Islanders or the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, again during the regular season.
Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 5, next Thursday night at 9:00 Eastern Time, a friendly against Australia, at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, home of MLS' Colorado Rapids. In this international break, they beat Ecuador 1-0 in Orlando, and drew 1-1 with Chile in Houston.
Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 7, next Saturday night at 7:00, home to Minnesota United.
Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 17, on Tuesday, April 16, at Yankee Stadium II. Under 3 weeks.
Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 21, on Saturday night, April 20, against the New England Revolution, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The next game against the Philadelphia Union will be on Saturday night, June 8, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. The next game against New York City FC will be on Sunday night, July 14, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against D.C. United will be on Wednesday night, August 21, at Audi Field in Washington.
Days until the next Women's World Cup kicks off: 69, on June 7, in France. Under 10 weeks. The U.S. team is 3-time and defending Champions.
Days until the Yankees and Red Sox play each other in London: 91, on June 29. Exactly 13 weeks.
Days until Arsenal play in America: 107. Yes, the Gunners are coming to America for the 3rd time in the last 6 years. On July 15, they will visit the Denver suburbs to play the Colorado Rapids. On July 17, they will visit the Los Angeles suburbs to play Bayern Munich. On July 20, they will visit Charlotte to play AS Roma. And on July 23, they will visit the Redskins' stadium in the Washington suburbs to play Real Madrid. This almost certainly means no Emirates Cup this Summer.
Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, as both Premier League matches, and a League Cup match, have been played this season. The next season starts on August 10, which is 133 days from now, but the PL never puts a Derby on the opening weekend. The Gunners and Spurs usually play each other in N5 in October or November, and then in N17 (presuming Spurs finally get that new stadium open by then) in February or March.
Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 154, on August 31, home to the University of Massachusetts. Just 5 months.
Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, because the 2019 schedule hasn't been released yet. Usually, the next season begins on the 1st Friday in September, which would be September 6, which would be 160 days. It has been announced that East Brunswick and its arch-rivals, Old Bridge, will no longer play each other on Thanksgiving Day. In fact, many of the local Thanksgiving rivalries have been moved back to the opening night, September 6. Whenever the Big Green play the Purple Bastards, it will be under a new head coach, because Bob Molarz, in charge for the last 6 seasons, has resigned.
Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State game: 245, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Exactly 8 months.
Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 263, on December 18, 2019. Under 9 months.
Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 297, on January 21, 2020. Under 10 months.
Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 482, on July 24, 2020. Under a year and a half, or under 16 months.
Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 584, on November 3, 2020. Under 2 years, or a little over 19 months.
Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 645, on January 3, 2021. Under 2 years, or a little over 21 months.
Days until Liberation Day: 662, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 2 years, or under 22 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.
Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 1,042, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or a little over 34 months.
Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,332, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 4 years, or under 44 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.
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