Photo of CJ Wilson in a happier time (Thursday) lifted and used without permisison. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
It’s funny how things don’t ever work out the way I plan. I was supposed to be at a party last night and I canceled because I was feeling lousy. I figured I’d go to bed early, throw on the game and fall asleep before it was over. Instead, I ended up watching every minute of every inning and commiserating with other baseball fans throughout the game on Twitter.
All I’ll say about the outcome of the game is that as much as it bugged me last night this morning I just say “meh”. One out of seven isn’t insurmountable. My only worry is that the Rangers seem to not only be playing against the Yankees but their own manager as well. That might be the toughest obstacle for them. (Is it too late to revoke the manager of the year award that Ron Washington got from the Baseball Bloggers Alliance?)
Even feeling as lousy as I did, the most fun from the night came from being on Twitter with like-minded folks talking (ranting at some points) about the game. If you are a sports fan and you aren’t on Twitter you might consider it for opportunities like this. I purposely don’t follow Yankees fans, but I follow fans from just about every other baseball team and getting the point of view from different fan bases was interesting and a lot of fun. It was like sitting in a bar with your friends to watch the game. And given I was getting out of the house last night, it was a nice way to spend the evening…even if most of us were disappointed at the ending of the game. The idea that so many people from around the country (and some around the globe) were all watching the same exact thing last night and discussing it in real time is a little mind blowing even for a geek like me.
So tonight it’s the first game of the NLCS. Not sure if I’ll be around for it, but I am sure there will be all kinds of chatter on Twitter!
Okay, a couple of other things about last night’s game. It’s nice to see CC Sabathia reverting back to his “doesn’t pitch well in big situations” character. What’s disappointing is that this is the second game in this postseason where that has happened and the Yankees still have come back to win the game. I’m hoping the Rangers won’t turn out to be the second coming of the Twins.
CJ Wilson. All I read about him this week was, basically, that he wasn’t Cliff Lee and that the Yankees would be able to handle him nicely. Kid came through in a huge way for the Rangers and it’s just too bad that this teammates and manager didn’t back him up in the end. You don’t have to be Cliff Lee, CJ, being CJ Wilson should work well for you. You deserved better last night.
It’s an odd feeling. I know I don’t want the Yankees to go to the World Series. I want to watch the World Series and just enjoy it, not watch the Yanks get ballwashed for yet another series. But even with that feeling, I’m not really bothered by their win last night. Can’t tell if it’s indifference or just because I have faith the Rangers can bounce back from this. Hey, in 2004 it happened for another team that played the Yankees in the ALCS…why not now?