Friday August 20, 2004
TWINS 10, YANKEES 13
MY FAULT... I APOLOGIZE
OK, it was 9:15, the Twins were down 9-3, and the grocery store closes at 10. I figured it would be alright for me to head into town and hit the store. I wasn't going to miss anything. So, I ran in there, took my time shopping, and got back to my house at about 10. Just as I turned on the television, Shannon Stewart was sliding into 3B with a triple that gave the Twins a 10-9 lead in the bottom of the 8th. I had to do a double-take, then a triple-take, then a few more takes at the score to see if I was missing something. I was in shock. I figured I needed to watch this and see the end of what apparently was an incredible comeback. The next batter, Jacque Jones flew out and closer Joe Nathan was jogging onto the field for the top of the 9th inning. The Twins were about to sweep the New York Yankees for the first time since 1991. But then I took the time to think about who Nathan would be facing in the 9th. Derek Jeter. Gary Sheffield. Alex Rodriguez. Protecting a one-run lead against that bunch would be a monumental task. But Nathan hadn't given up a run in about ten weeks, so maybe he would be able.
He got Jeter to ground out to first base for the first out. Then catcher Rob Bowen set up for an inside fastball to Gary Sheffield. The ball instead was down and away, and Sheffield showed again why he is an MVP candidate, smoking a ball that should not have been hit over the fence in left centerfield to tie up the game. The Rodriguez singled up the middle and stole second base. Then Hideki Matsui singled to right field to score A-Rod and give the Yankees the lead again. But it didn't stop there. Jorge Posada walked and John Olerud singled. And that was it for Joe Nathan, just his second blown save of the year. JC Romero came in and did what JC Romero has done best this year... allow inherited runs to score. All told, the Yankees scored four ninth inning runs. Mariano Rivera came in and struck out the side on 10 pitches to close the game.
Oh, and I was watching when Torii Hunter outran a ball and slammed into the centerfield fence and had to leave the game with a strained clavicle.
So see... no good happened when I was watching the Twins game last night. I try not to be superstitious, but I should have gone to the grocery store earlier. I should have driven around town for the entirety of the game. I want to apologize to Twins fans all over and most importantly I apologize to the Twins players. I take full responsibility for last night's loss and hope I can make up for it.
But because of that guilt, I am sentencing myself to bed! I hope I learn my lesson and don't hurt my favorite team again.
Because of the short nature of this entry, I will be posting a Mailbag issue on Saturday. So please feel free to e-mail me your thoughts on the Twins, the Yankees series, the upcoming series with the Cleveland Indians, the pennant race or whatever you want.
If you missed them, I wrote about Brad Radke's pitching performance against the Yankees on Tuesday night and yesterday I wrote about why Johan Santana should be the AL Cy Young Award winner. Be sure to check those articles out and feel free to comment on them if you like. In the meantime, be sure to check out the Twins blogs listed at the left side of this screen and some of the others as well.
Thanks for understanding, and have a great Friday!