Game #2: A's 4, Yankees 3
April 4, 2006 | A's vs. New York
I didn't attend this game. I didn't watch it on TV. I didn't listen to all of it on the radio.
However, I caught some of the best parts of it here and there. I was still at home and watching Action 36 at the top of the 1st and with runners on second and third, Harden strikes out Sheffield, A-Rod, and Giambi. I'm clapping and cheering by myself in my room. "What a familiar sound," I think.
On 1550 AM on my car radio, those darned Yankees are ahead, 1-0. I arrive at my destination just when A-Rod gets tagged by DJ in a base running blunder. I don't quite get what happened. I need visuals! I miss Bill King.
In a café with my transistor radio, I tune in just as the game ends when Scutaro singles, Bradley scores, and we win 4-3 in the bottom of the 9th on a rainy night.
Apparently I missed a great game. I'm kicking myself. But we make our choices about which games to attend. We decide based on our own availability and the swag from promotions or the promise of fireworks. We decide out of convenience or opportunity. Every now and then, we decide based on the match-up. Tonight was a close game, replete with home runs and errors, each team taking and losing a lead in turn. The kind of game I wish I was at in person to emerge hoarse, exhausted, and fulfilled.
Some thoughts:
I didn't attend this game. I didn't watch it on TV. I didn't listen to all of it on the radio.
However, I caught some of the best parts of it here and there. I was still at home and watching Action 36 at the top of the 1st and with runners on second and third, Harden strikes out Sheffield, A-Rod, and Giambi. I'm clapping and cheering by myself in my room. "What a familiar sound," I think.
On 1550 AM on my car radio, those darned Yankees are ahead, 1-0. I arrive at my destination just when A-Rod gets tagged by DJ in a base running blunder. I don't quite get what happened. I need visuals! I miss Bill King.
In a café with my transistor radio, I tune in just as the game ends when Scutaro singles, Bradley scores, and we win 4-3 in the bottom of the 9th on a rainy night.Apparently I missed a great game. I'm kicking myself. But we make our choices about which games to attend. We decide based on our own availability and the swag from promotions or the promise of fireworks. We decide out of convenience or opportunity. Every now and then, we decide based on the match-up. Tonight was a close game, replete with home runs and errors, each team taking and losing a lead in turn. The kind of game I wish I was at in person to emerge hoarse, exhausted, and fulfilled.
Some thoughts:
- Harden is back!
- Scutaro's walk-off single tonight makes for his seventh game-ending at-bat in three seasons with the A's. He's so clutch. Even though I'm told there's no such thing.
- Street's first win of the year. Hmm… let's let Street rack up saves, okay? I like our starters to collect wins. But then we wouldn't have these great nailbiters, would we?
- Scutaro started at SS because Crosby is hurt. Again. Happened last night in the 3rd inning when Robinson Cano stepped on his hand. Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. Mr. Glass. Anthony would argue something about Crosby being the kind of player who gives his all, hence the injuries, etc. But I still nickname Crosby after the easily injured Samuel L. Jackson character in Unbreakable.
posted by blank book at 12:27 AM
8 Comments:
Wasn't it Ellis or Scutaro who tagged Arod out? I heard it on the radio, the commentator said something about how most young players trying to tag the runner make the mistake of running toward the guy, instead of making runner approach the tagger.
-- Dave
Well, I wasn't there. But on the radio it said it was Dan Johnson who made the tag. Does anybody have a scoresheet to confirm? :-)
Here's a pic I lifted from AN.com.
http://images.sportsline.com/u/ap/photos/OAS104040423_1024x768.jpg
Excellente! Thanks, tanner boyle. I blanked out on how to look up this stuff. I'm still in spring training form...
Hey Wella, Great start! love the weblog setup. You earned yourself a link from ny site and I'm not even an A's fan LOL.
I hear you about Bill King, I feel fortunate to have Jon Miller on the Giants station. This is the man who made me fall in love with baseball. Gotta have to post something about that soon. See you later!
Thanks, Joker! For those of you who don't know, Joker and I go waaaaay back and we're now working at the same company for the third time. He's mentoring me with this blog. Not bad for a Giants fan. :-) Visit his blog at http://www.myhabibi.net/joker/
sigh, bill king.
I agree with you--I felt eight years old again, when harden got that first inning strikeout, and again, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up as the Duke threw his strikeout(S). We're not sure how we get through the winter, the long, long winter--we always feel lost without the A's. And then when they're back, well, everything feels right with the world---of course, with the exception of Bill.
I might agree about Jon Miller--but he's always paired up with that evil hack Joe Morgan--and it's nicer to watch with the sound off of them.
Brendan, I agree about Morgan. It feels like he's always trying to sound "more knowledgeable, because I played this game" and snips out shots at Miller once in a while.
My best Giants broadcast is to watch the TV muted and listen to Miller on KNBR whenever this combination is available. Now it will be fun to wait for the Bay Bridge series, I'll bet we will have lots to talk about with Wella :)
I feel your loss of Bill King. I go back to the days of the Mutal Game of the Day on the Mutual Broadcating Company radio network. Way back then, most of the day games were Cubs' games. But the announcers always painted a verbal picture that allowed my mind's-eye to "see" the game.
"Hank Sauer steps in. The outfield swings around to the left and backs up. Sauer takes his open stance, front foot about five inches farther from home plate than his back foot and glares out at Blackwell.
"Blackwell's known as The Whip because of his unorthodox delivery and long body. By the time he unwinds, the ball seems to be launched from about 45 feet inctead of 60 feet.
"Blackwell has the sign and goes into his motion. The pitch ... it catches the inside corner as Sauer backs away. Strike One."
And so on... Others could do a beter job of capturing those days.
Vin Scully's the best old-time broadcaster still working and Jon Miller's best of the new breed. IMHO FWIW.
Nice blog.
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