Today was the first real baseball game of the season. Spring Training is over, it’s time for the boys of summer to play real ball, and make it count. And so far, it is just like a roller coaster, full of its ups and downs.
Unfortunately, the first game tonight was on ESPN2 and it featured the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Not my choice of teams in the slightest, considering I don’t like either team. But since it’s the first game, I wanted to watch it. I missed the first half hour, and joined in 2-0 Yankees in the top of the 2nd. But over the course of the game, the most the Yankees would lead would be by 4 runs, only to find the game tied twice. Even if this is the first game of the season, there are some jitters in this game, given by the following:
- What’s a game without an umpire mistake*? If Angel Hernandez is in the game, that is. Bottom of the 3rd, in a possible double play, TV camera replays clearly showed Mike Cameron safe as he tagged first. Angel called him out.
- Red Sox create a mental error on a double steal in the top of the 4th. As the 2nd baseman was deep, Brett Gardner, the runner on 3rd scored easily, and Derek Jeter was safe on 2nd.
- The Yankees, in the bottom of the 5th, create a throwing error. Brett Gardner overthrows the 3rd baseman, causing the base runners to advance to 2nd and 3rd. Even if the throw was on target, the run would have scored. Fortunately, the next batter struck out, minimizing the damage.
- In the bottom of the 7th, with a man on 2nd, there was a wild pitch, and a passed ball where the Kevin Youkillis of the Red Sox would score, and take the lead for the first time. 8-7.
The game was a bit long, but worth watching. The game ended with the Sox winning over the Yankees 9-7.
*Last year, there were many umpire mistakes especially later in the season. Let’s hope this isn’t a continuing trend.