Real Life Gets in the Way

6:28 PM I've got too much to do to watch the game tonight. I've decided that I can take a break here and there to post a comment or two throughout the night. I'm very excited about the Twins, and as I posted below, I really think that they can win this series. You'll note that I never talked about whether the Yankees can win. Of course, they can win. They can always win. Curt Schilling gave the Red Sox a nice outing today and Boston routed the Anaheimers. I say "nice" because he gave up more than Santana probably can. He also pitched with a huge lead. Nice start for the Sox. Stan the Man called me today. That can only mean one thing. Yep. The Cardinals bolted out of the gate and won big. They got five home runs, including two from Larry Walker. Murderer's Row, indeed. 7:00 PM Who else wants to see Lew Ford playing left field and Shannon Stewart DHing tonight? I mean really. Forget that Ford is a better defensive outfielder, in fact, argue that Stewart is better. Hasn't Stewart been sitting out with a tight hamstring? Doesn't he have an ongoing issue with Plantar Fasciitis? I don't understand this. My friend Moss is very critical of Ron Gardenhire. He'd be more than okay if Gardy were shown the door. I'm not ready to say that, but if I were making out the lineup card tonight, Stewart would be the DH. I'm thinking Moss agrees. The oddsmakers have the Twins favored. Think of it. Game 1 of the playoffs. In Yankee Stadium. And the visiting team is favored. How often has that happened? 7:45 PM First inning. The Yanks get an infield hit and a walk. Uh-oh. Bernie Williams has a nine pitch at bat, but Johan Santana strikes him out and Henry Blanco gets A-Rod stealing third for a double play. I wonder if the NY fans are grumbling about A-Rod yet. Man, Blanco has been effective throwing out runners. 8:30 PM One of the great things about not watching the game on TV is missing out on Tim McCarver's incessant babbling. The next two games are on ESPN. I suppose that Joe Morgan will be calling those games. He's a good bit better than McCarver. He just overanalyzes everything. Oh, and he loves Derek Jeter. Through 3 1/2 innings, the Twins are up 1-0. Santana is allowing baserunners -- the Yankees had threats early and couldn't capitalize. Will Santana settle down and tighten up? Or will the Yanks break through? This is the key. 9:15 PM I've been wondering lately if the pain of losing his father to cancer has caused Jacque Jones' play to tail off. Jones has never been a good hitter against lefties. This year, his numbers have been down from last year against both lefties and righties. Obviously, the Twins have to make a decision on Jones at the end of the year. I've been of the mind that the Twins probably should let him go. When I heard of his personal family issues, I wondered how much has affected him -- are this year's an aberration due to the stress of losing his dad? I think anybody who's gone through the process of losing someone to cancer (or any other long term disease) knows how hard it really is. It's so good to see him knock one over the fence. And not just because it increased the Twins' lead to 2-0. 9:45 PM Here it is. The moment of truth. Man on second, two out, bottom of the seventh. 2-0 Twins. Santana is tiring and The Captain Derek Jeter is at the plate. Let's see if Jeter is "Mr. Clutch." Jeter is 1-3 with an infield single to this point. I'm glad it's Jeter here and not A-Rod. I want it to be Jeter and not A-Rod who fails here. I think A-Rod has gotten a "raw deal" from the media and fans. The guy is the best young (with apologies to Albert Pujols) player in the game. He's had to move from shortstop to third and listen to insinuations that he's not as good or as "clutch" as Jeter. That's hooey. Jeter is working Santana hard. 1-2. Yes! He grounds out to end the inning! Yipee! What a job of battling by Santana tonight. 9:52 PM Juan Rincon relieves Santana after Johan throws just 93 pitches. Wow. I haven't seen the game, so I don't know what he looks like, but it seems that Santana isn't exactly on top of his game (shutout not withstanding!). I'd really like Santana to still be in there. I don't know what Moss is thinking, but I guess Gardy doesn't want the Grady Little lable. I guess I trust Rincon, I just am not sure. He has been great this year. Wow! Another Double Play! That's FIVE in eight innings! 10:01 PM The Yanks go to Mariano Rivera in the ninth. This shows how Joe Torre uses his bullpen in the post season. He doesn't adhere to the thinking that you use your closer only in a save situation. He's gonna use Rivera as much as he needs to. I think that's pretty smart. I would imagine that Joe Nathan would pitch the ninth. Would Gardy use Nathan in this situation if the roles were reversed? Not a chance. I actually think this may be good for the Twins, however. They get a shot at Rivera without the game on the line. It'd be really nice if they could get to him. Instead, Rivera mows 'em down 1-2-3. To the bottom of the ninth! No Outs Bottom of the Ninth Jorge Posada is up first. Man he's a dangerous hitter. If you aren't thinking about the Yankees, you can forget how good this guy is. He's a career .270/.379/.475/.854 hitter, and he's a catcher. That's outstanding. But, he's out quickly and so is Hideki Matsui. Yes! Two Outs Bottom of the Ninth It's down to Ruben Sierra. That's a good guy for it to be down to. C'mon, Joe! Let's get him! Full count. Man, don't walk him. Yes! Game over! Twins WIN! Twins WIN! Twins WIN! Well, that's one game. You have to love that the Twins won the first game. They needed that game. I like that Santana battled, even though he gave up baserunners. I don't like that the Twins scored only two runs. In August, the Twins got to the Yanks. They need to score runs. But a win is a win. Ten more to go before the Twins are World Champions!