Feels like old times.
Back in 2004, Sox third baseman Bill Mueller capped off the infamous Varitek/A-Rod brawlgame by sending a Mariano Rivera pitch into the bullpen for the game winning HR.
Friday night’s game game had a touch of that old Sox/Yanks edginess, as David Ortiz had criticized the inside pitching (head hunting?) of Joba Chamberlain against Kevin Youkilis in prior matchups.
The Youkilis/Chamberlain storyline did not play out in Friday’s game, but Youk was nearly involved in some headhunting of his own in the bottom of the ninth inning. He sent a Rivera pitch screaming back up the middle, narrowly missing the reliever’s melon. Teammate Jason Bay later deposited a Rivera pitch in the Green Monster, and the Yanks–needing just one more out–had blown a 4-2 lead.
In Youkilis’ next at-bat in the bottom of the 11th inning, he made like Mueller and hit a towering HR over the Green Monster to give the Sox a satisfying 5-4 win.
This win counts the same as a win against, say, the Royals or the Orioles. But it FEELS so much better, doesn’t it.
For those who watched the broadcast of this game–and were still watching in the bottom of the ninth–you might have seen a Yankee fan trying to be excessively annoying while sitting just a few rows behind home play. With a Yankee win seemingly imminent, this fan (wearing a light blue t-shirt) made a point to overly punctuate every Rivera strike by pumping his fists and raising his arms (really…after every strike?). He seemed to relish the experience of rubbing it in while surrounded by Boston faithful.
When Bay launched the game-tying HR, he jumped to his feet and again threw his arms up in triumph, apparently believing that Bay had hit a harmless fly ball that would be caught for the third out. Nice call, buddy.
On behalf of all of the Haters, thank you for providing us with such a nice visual: you, with a very long ride back home to your likely perch in the NYC metropolitan area. Please come again.
You must log in to post a comment.