Turns out, one Spring Training game isn't really enough to write a whole blog post about, a fact that works well with the fact that I didn't have the time to write a post until after another couple games, one of which I caught earlier today. That game was in Port St. Lucie against another New York team, but one nobody is afraid of; the Mets.
Let's begin with Friday's game at George M. Steinbrenner Field, named for the longtime owner and generally awful human being who passed away last year. First off, this stadium is named after an OWNER. Not a player, not a manager, but an OWNER. I wouldn't do such a thing, but hey, it's the Yankees, they do a lot of things I don't agree with. BUT, to add insult to insult, this field HASN'T been called George M. Steinbrenner Field only since this year, after Steinbrenner's death last July, but SINCE 2008. Gross. Naming the field the team you own plays at in March after yourself is pretty typical Steinbrenner, but c'mon! But, I'm not sure I'd prefer the previous name, "Legends Field."
This January, the front of the stadium added a bronze statue of Georgie. I'm literally appalled at this disgusting gesture. It shows the same kind of recognition of awful people as love for Ronald Reagan is now. Steinbrenner, like Reagan, was an awful person who was just about the worst thing to happen to baseball since, well, ever, but, in death, has gained reverence across the board. It is widely assumed that George Steinbrenner will end up in the Hall of Fame. While I am wholeheartedly against that, I will be slightly more okay with it they let Pete Rose in first. It's about damn time, anyway.
Ok, so, to begin with, apparently Spring Training games start on time. Who knew? I missed the first two outs of the game, which turned out to be Darnell McDonald grounding out to Jeter. Why McDonald is leading off, I'll never know, but he was. Kalish followed by striking out looking. THEN I came in, just in time to see Lowrie strike out to end the inning. I guess Bartolo Colon (who I'm still laughing at the fact that the Yankees signed him) wasn't as bad as expected, and actually did pretty good in this outing.
Bottom 1
Jeter and Russell Martin (who I just found out the "J. Martin" that he wore with the Dodgers was for his SECOND middle name, Jeanson. Silly Canadians) both grounded to Jose Iglesias, the Sox top prospect, a smooth fielding 21-year-old who I'd actually only seen for the first time just then. He made it look so easy, but the plays weren't too tough. Teixeira remained in early season form, striking out against Buchholz, who looks to repeat/improve on his great 17-7, 2.33 ERA 2010 performance, his first full one in the majors. Pretty uneventful thus far. 0-0
Top 2
Tek grounds to Cano to begin the inning. By the way, Yankees have brought almost all of their starting lineup (Jeter, Cano, Rodriguez, Martin, Teixeira, Posada) while the Sox brought, uh, NO ONE who will be in the Opening Day lineup. Wait to see how the roster choices work out. Daniel Nava, the guy the Sox system bought for $1 from the Golden Coast League who hit a grand slam in his first Major League at-bat and hasn't done anything since, struck out looking. Josh Reddick, who literally is the same person as Ryan Kalish, flys out to left to end the inning.
Bottom 2
A-Fraud (NOTE: I will regularly refer to Alex Rodriguez as A-Fraud. You know why.) takes a high Buchholz 3-0 pitch to left for a single. Next batter hits it deep and back to left, Reddick is running it down, he dives towards the wall AND MAKES THE CATCH! Great grab by Reddick. AND it keeps A-Fraud at first. Well done, sir, well done. As if there was some one-upping to do, next batter a nubber heads toward the second base bag, Iglesias moves in, grabs it, backs up, steps on second, flips effortlessly to first, GOT 'EM! Double play! Fantastic play! Iglesias' hands are AS ADVERTISED. I've never seen a play done so well. WATCH! I'm such a fan. I can't wait till he's starting for the Boston squad in 2012. It's gonna be glorious. 0-0
Top 3
Yamaico Navarro, an infielder we saw some of last year as a September call-up Ks to start the inning, followed by a Drew Sutton single that went down the line. Now, my boy Iglesias is up, and he doesn't disappoint; bouncing ball down towards third, A-Fraud ranges in, fields, throws, NOT IN TIME! Good stuff to see Iglesias beating his "mentor." (A-Fraud apparently took it upon himself to mentor the young, promising Hispanics coming into the league, including Iglesias. I am not a fan of this aspect, but Iglesias is hot like fire, so I'll get over it.) Sox have first and second for McDonald, who earns his spot at AAA with a strikeout. Kalish follows with a grounder to Teixeira, who flips to Colon, who may have been a bit late in getting to first. Kinda following protocol for overweight pitchers. No runs score, oh well.
Bottom 3
Some Yankee scrub grounds out to third, followed by another backwards K-ing. Greg Golson, yet another Yankees scrub, but one we saw in September last year, walks, and almost immediately steals second with a late throw from Tek. What do you expect, he's 39. Jeter does something of little consequence, as Martin follows by flying to left, ending the inning. Still 0-0.
Top 4
Quick inning here: Lowrie grounds to third, Tek Ks, then another grounder to third.
Bottom 4
Randy Williams is in pitching for the Red Sox. I'm not quite sure who he is, either. Don't expect to need to know who he is, anyway. Teixeira strikes out. A-Fraud doubles against Williams. Who is surprised? Next batter is a grounder to second, takes the out at first, the Fraud moves to third. Posada walks. Andruw Jones (another signing of the Yankees impressive "It's-still-2005" offseason that includes Jones, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Mark Prior) strikes out swinging. No runs score, keeping it zilch to zilch.
Top 5
Reddick strikes out, then Yamaico hits a grounder to short. Sutton (who is one of the Sox top 15 prospects) hits a double down the left field line. Not complaining about this guy, so far. Iglesias, who is known to be major league-ready defense wise, but lagging in batting ability, follows with a good eye, drawing the walk. Unfortunately, McDonald seems adamant about reserving his spot in Pawtucket, striking out. Again.
Bottom 5
Brandon "Curt Schilling" Duckworth is pitching now. Melky "I'm not THAT Melky" Mesa flies out to center. Golson grounds to third, with a very nice play by Yamaico. I approve. Jeter slings one down the line for a single, but nothing comes of it, Russell Martin continuing to help prove my view of him as a catcher who was good based on hitting, but forgot how to hit by grounding out to third.
Top 6
Pedro Feliciano is on for the Yankees now. And to think I'd forgotten that it was 2005. Kalish grounds to first. He's looked great offensively so far! Lowrie doubles to left center. Oscar Tejada, who I hadn't heard of before, but SHOULD have, comes in to run for Lowrie. Tek grounds to short, Tejada stays at second. Nava's up next, grounds to second, BUT IT'S OFF CANO'S GLOVE! Tejada scores! 1-0 Sox! Reddick followed with broken bat, which is bounding towards Teixeira. Teixeira avoids the bat, fields the ball, steps on first, inning over. Sox score first, 1-0.
Bottom 6
Just like real baseball, because Teixera ending the inning with a decently nice play, he'll follow it up by batting in the next half inning and getting a hit. This time, it's a double that reaches the right field wall. Teixeira is immediately removed for everyone's favorite Yankee, Ramiro Pena. A-Fraud follows by striking out. WAIT, WHAT?!?! Yes, that's right; DUCKWORTH! Cano gets redemption next, hitting an RBI-double. A guy named Austin KRUM (yes, that's spelled correctly, K-R-U-M, like the guy from Harry Potter) pinch-runs for the speedy Cano. Weasel Posada is up next, and he walks, setting up 2005's Andruw Jones for an inning-ending double play at the pretty great hands of Oscar Tejada. After 6, 1-1.
Top 7
Boone Logan, Mr. Last Names himself is pitching for the Yanks now. Logan starts off the inning fast, making quick work of Navarro and Sutton, with a fly to center and a backwards K, respectively. Iglesias follows with a nice piece of hitting that finds itself getting past the second base bag. McDonald doesn't strike out, for a nice change of pace. He walks, pushing Iglesias to second. Now, the Three-Name Brigade moves in. Che-Hsuan Lin pinch runs for McDonald. I've been told Lin is so smooth and fast in the outfield, it's like he's on skates. Let's see how he is on the base paths. Next in the order is Juan Carlos Linares, who came in defensively for Kalish last inning. Linares singles, scoring Iglesias and moving Lin to third. Sox have first and third, with two outs and a 2-1 lead. The Yankees make a pitching change, bringing in Eric Wordekemper. Wordekemper quickly dishes up a nice meatball for Oscar Tejada, who turns it into a two-RBI triple. I like this Tejada guy. 4-1 Sox. Luis Exposito, who is in catching now, grounds to short, ending the inning, but not before Tejada tacks on 2 more to the Sox lead.
Bottom 7
Matt Albers is pitching now for the Red Sox. He was brought on, with about 43 other relief pitchers, to fight for a spot in the Sox bullpen. Lucky for him, Iglesias is still out there. Jorge Vazquez up, grounder hit near Iglesias, he ranges, fields, FLIPS OVER HIMSELF, making the throw to first. PHENOMENAL play. WATCH! Albers earns a spot in the 'pen with the rest of inning, K-ing Justin Maxwell swinging, and Doug Bernier looking. After 7, 4-1 Sox.
Top 8
Mark Prior, who I believe had already been injured and out of baseball for 3 or 4 years by the time 2005 came around, is now pitching for the Yankees. This should be fun. Nava strikes out to begin the inning. Oh shoot, maybe I'm wrong about him...Oh, no, Reddick walks, I'm still good. Yamaico strikes out looking; Maybe not... Lars Anderson, who is now in playing first, flys out to left. Not a bad inning for Prior. That's unfortunate.
Bottom 8
Gustavo "I'm-not-related-to-Bengie" Molina is up, and is now the catcher for the Yankees. He makes like a good minor league catcher, and goes down swinging. Ramiro Pena flys out to Lin in right. The guy really is on skates. I wonder if that's illegal... Some scrub who was so much of a scrub that NESN didn;t have his name grounds out to second, ending the inning. Score remains 4-1.
Top 9
Luis Ayala is pitching for the Steinbrenner's now. Yes, they've changed the team's name now, too. He gets Iglesias to ground out to him, before Lin strike out looking. Skates don't help pitch reading ability, I guess. Linares follows with double to the right field corner, and then scores on a single from Oscar Tejada. Good stuff from these guys. 5-1 Sox. Luis "Mr. Smiley" Exposito may need to work on his hitting. He grounds out to second, ending the inning.
Bottom 9
Tony Pena Jr. is pitching for the Red Sox now. You may remember Pena from his time with the MONTREAL EXPOS as a back up short stop. Or as being the son of Yankees coach, Tony Pena. Either way, not very good. He makes quick work of the first two batters, allowing a single and then hitting some guy named Kyle Higashioka. It couldn't have taken more than three or four pitches to get them on! Exposito wins me over a bit more here, with a passed ball moving the runners up. I'D ALWAYS WANTED FIRST BASE OPEN! Thanks Luis! Sox short stop can't make the play (it's obviously no longer Iglesias in there, apparently some guy Ryan Dent), Also, turns out they're ruling it a wild pitch, not a passed ball. Sorry Luis, go back to Canada, Tony. Jorge Vazquez strikes out, Maxwell flies out to right, to a guy named Bubba Bell. BUBBA! Awesome. With two outs, it's now time for Pena to get back to work. He walks the bases loaded with Doug Bernier. But he's not done yet! He needs to walk in a run! Gustavo Molina? Congrats, you get an RBI! 5-3 Sox. Sox management feels the need for some Irish blood out there, so they bring in Eammon Portice. First pitch Ramiro Pena sees he hits to second, Tejada flips to first NOT IN TIME! But wait, the umps have called him out. Bad call by them, but I will absolutely take it. Game over. Sox win 5-3. All is right in the world.
3/6/11: Red Sox @ New York Metropolitans. Digital Domain Stadium, Port St. Lucie, FL
Lester was supposed to start this game, but someone gave him the flu. So, it's Michael Bowden and some guys fighting for the lefty spot in the bullpen against the Met's lefty, Niese. Sox have a bit more of a Major League roster today, but only by last year's standards. The Met'ss have pretty much their Opening Day lineup. But that's because they don't have a choice.
Red Sox Mets
Michael Bowden, RHP Jon Niese, LHP
Scoot Jose Reyes
Kalish Angel Pagan
Lowrie David Wright
Nava Carlos Beltran
Reddick Jason Bay
Lars Anderson Ike Davis
Will Middlebrooks Scott Hairston
Juan Carlos Linares Daniel Murphy
Luis Exposito Mike Nickeas
(NOTE: Sorry about the formatting of the lineups)
Top 1
Scutaro grounds to third, Kalish strikes out looking. I've begun writing his name with a backwards 'K.' Can't seem to find a way to put that in here, though. Lowrie follows with a double into the right center field gap. Nava, with two strikes on him, checks his swing really badly. Called a swing, strike three. Inning over.
Bottom 1
Reyes pops foul, followed by two quick fly outs. Nicely done, Bowden. PS. My sister thinks you're cute.
Top 2
ReddicK. Lars and Middlebrooks both fly out. This game is flying.
Bottom 2
Here, it starts to get interesting. Beltran singles past Lowrie, who is playing second today, into right field. Old friend Jason Bay follows with a hard grounder past the diving Scutaro into left. Iglesias would've had it and gotten two out of it. Next year, next year. Davis flys out, no advance. Hairston follows with a high pop up into shallow right. Anderson, Lowrie and Reddick are all looking for it, Reddick has the best chance, calls the others off last minute, makes the catch. Good call, Reddick. Two outs. Now this gets ugly. Murphy hits a blooper into shallow right field. Beltran scores. Now, Murphy is caught in a rundown between first and second, so Bay takes off, and he also scores. They try to catch Bay at the plate, which results in Murphy getting second. So, in the end of this play, Murphy ends up on second with two runs in. 2-0 Mets. Nickeas draws a walk after a 10+ pitch at-bat, before Reyes chops out to second.
Top 3
Juan Carlos Linares makes Cuba proud, clouting a solo homer to left field. 2-1 Mets now. Exposito grounds to third, Scoot grounds to second, and Kalish strikes out looking again. Glad we can get guys we expect to be with the Big League club to produce.
Bottom 3
Andrew Miller, the tall (6'7") lefty is in now. Pagan leads off with a double off the left field wall. Wright ground out to short, Beltran flies out to RF. Bay singles, scoring Pagan. 3-1 Mets. Now, Ike Davis drives one, deep and back over the right-center field fence, 5-1 Mets. Hairston follows with a double down the left field line. Luckily, there's no longer anyone on base to score. Miller has been dreadful. He manages to get Murphy to ground out to short. Ugly inning.
Top 4
Lowrie singles up the middle. Nava drives one deep, and far....but not far enough. Ground rule double, Lowrie to third. Reddick pops out to short. Anderson induces a fielder's choice, scoring the run. 5-2 Mets. Niese is taken out. Runner on third, two out. Armando Rodriguez, all the way from Single-A ball, is in now. Middlebrooks is up. Damn, do those concussion-proof helmtes look freaking stupid. Middlebrooks walks. Linares grounds to third, to end the inning.
Bottom 4
Miller's still in. Gets Nickeas to ground to first, Reyes to short, and strikes out Pagan, looking. Miller could win a 'pen spot with this inning. Not last one, though.
Top 5
It's the fifth inning, which I guess means it's time for the Mets to bring in their disgruntled closer, Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez. Turns out, the guy's still got it. Strikes out Exposito, gets Scoot to ground out, and Kalish DOESN'T strike out! He flies out to center, but still. NOT a strikeout!
Bottom 5
Sox have made some changes. Nate Spears is in at short. And lemme tell you, he's not an attractive dude. Scary even. Tim Federowicz, who I've never heard of (and I know Sox prospects) is catching. Hideki (Ch)Okajima is now pitching. Quick inning, with a pop foul fielded by Lars, a fly to right, and a dribbler back to Okajima he makes a nice play on, ending the inning.
Top 6
Ryoto Igrashi is pitching for the Mets now. They've also made a shit-ton of defensive changes, none of which I remember, except Jacob Turner at third. I know almost no one in the Mets' system. Poor, poor Mets. Lowrie strikes out looking, Nava walks, and then Reddick fouls out at third. Anderson strikes out. I guess Igrashi is pretty ok.
Bottom 6
Rich Hill, who has developed a side arm, and is also vying for the lefty spot in the 'pen is pitching now. Aaron Bates is in at first. Davis grounds to first, before Hairston sends one past Spears at short. Middlebrooks makes a nice play in foul territory next to the stands. Mike Nickeas strikes out swinging. Just checked, and it turns out that the Mets starting catcher is Josh Thole. Who knew?
Top 7
Taylor Tankersley is pitching for the Mets now. Hey, I've heard of this guy! He strikes out Middlebrooks, and makes Linares pop to short. Federowicz follows with a solo blast. The bottom two spots in this lineup have hit two solo homers today. Not too shabby. 5-3 Mets. Nate Spears looks bad striking out looking, too.
Bottom 7
Fast inning for Hill: A line out to second, and unassisted play by Bates, and a fly to center.
Top 8
Jon Lujan is pitching for the Mets. Back to people no one has heard of, I see. Kalish has decreased his strike out ratio enormously with the last two at-bats, popping to second here. Tejada lines to right. Nava singles up the middle. Not a bad game for Nava. Now, Josh Reddick is up. He bombs one! 2-run home run! 5-5! Awesome. I retract my statement about Reddick and Kalish being the same person. Reddick can produce! But then again, he had a great a Spring last year, too, but did not much when we called him up. Oh well. Bates looks at strike three, inning over. TIED IT UP! 5-5.
Bottom 8
Now I'm getting confused. The Sox are pitching a guy named Alex Wilson. I'm going to assume he is a fake/created player from MVP Baseball 2011. He gets a quick line out to first, before Lucas Duda, of funny last name fame, hits a solo shot. Mets back up, 6-5. Zach Lutz (yes, I know) grounds out to Spears. Russ Adams follows almost the same ball path as Lutz, but this one gets by Spears. Jordany Valdespin (awesome name) singles. Raul Chavez, now catching for the Mets, grounds out to third, ending the inning. Mets are up again, 6-5.
Top 9
NOW PITCHING: Boof Bonser! YESSSSS. Sox had him last year, released/traded him because of his lack of skill/our lack of need for him. The first guy up I didn't catch the name of originally. All I knew was that he was batting in Middlebrooks spot, he popped out to second, and that he appeared to be about 11 years old. Turns out the guy is Ryan Khoury, a 26 year old. Linares follows with a strike out. Federowicz takes an encore, hitting a single in his second at-bat of the game. Now, it's all up to Nate Spears, who we've decided to describe as having an "unfortunate" face. It apparently does not get under Boof's skin, as Boof forces the ground out to short, ending the game. Boof looked good. Damn. Sox lose, 6-5.
Well, we beat the team we will actually face this year. It's Spring Training. The games mean nothing. It's just nice to be back.
Next game I will report on should be Wednesday March 9, @ 7:05 vs. Baltimore Orioles (ss) @ City of Palms Park. Game on NESN.
