Game 9 vs. New York

Accepted practice is to refer to the Yankees as The Evil Empire, but they didn’t seem much like that this evening. Even their fans weren’t up to their usual snuff. Other than one loudmouthed jerk, they really weren’t much different than any other visiting team’s supporters. I’m guessing they were probably way worse downstairs around the seats where we used to sit.

And what a relief it was to finally get a great game. The weather was wonderful. We started with A-team lineup. Despite a few tense moments, our guys kept on top of their opponents.This was the first time since early April that all three of us got to stay for the whole game and see a win.

The player of the game was Sal Perez, with a tie-breaking three-run home run in the sixth. He also caught Brian Roberts stealing despite the runner’s large jump. However, the play of the game goes to Lorenzo Cain for his triple in the sixth. As he popped up from his slide at third he had the biggest smile. It’s great to see the guys actually enjoy playing the game.

Game 8 vs. Houston

What a pleasure it was to finally be able to keep score again. If only the score had been worth keeping.

The game proved to be more than a little frustrating. In particular, we had a terrible time with the top of their order. George Springer made base and scored at every plate appearance (including a home run in the eighth).

For our part, we stranded six runners in scoring position. But then again we lost by seven runs, so even if we’d done a better job of moving on the basepaths we still would have come up short.

The aggravation factor was upped at least a little by the Armed Forces Day rigamarole. The moments between innings were okay, but the pre-game ceremonies were as protracted as they were sanctimonious. Put this on the “dodge in the future if possible” next to Faith and Family Day.

Jason Kendall

I’ve gotten a little behind in here, so let me try to get caught up.

On Thursday, May 22 we went to the Barnes and Noble on 119th for a book signing by Jason Kendall and Lee Judge. They’ve co-written a book about the game and were there promoting it.

Kendall was oddly charming. He was clearly nervous speaking in front of the crowd, but he shared some fun stuff. And during the signing, he told Amy the stories behind some of his tattoos.