Rest and Yankees

Didn't do much in terms of ultimate-related stuff today.

Stretched, did some running-form and range of motion stuff.

A coworker asked me if I wanted to go to the Yankees game this evening, so I said yes. Why? Fantastic Seats. Roy Halladay. To be fair, I'm not really much of a baseball fan any longer. Ever since I found out that my favorite players as a kid (Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, in that order) threw away the world for cocaine while MLB took the year off when I was 14. That pretty much did it for me. As a fourteen-year-old, that stuff doesn't make sense other than "I want to watch baseball and these assholes won't play." I mean, I am aware of baseball and I do love watching from about Mid-September on when playoff races really become interesting and then the playoffs start.

Anyway, I still love going to games, especially if the seats are good and this would be my first foray into the House that Ruth Built. The sultan of swat, the king of crash, the colossus of clout, the Great Bambino. Even the trip there was interesting as the subway fills with Yankees fans and hardly stops on the trip there. I can only imagine what this would be like in the playoffs or when the Sox are in town.

Once I got into the stadium, it was phenomenal, as every ballpark is. The grass is gorgeous, the lines are perfect, and each stadium has its own take on the same basic design. More or less foul territory, different sized outfields, different stands, bleachers, etc. But the game itself is the same. History is a great thing in baseball.

Game starts, and while Wang looked pretty solid (even working his way out of a serious jam) his pitch count was rising meteorically while Halladay was just mowing down the Yanks. I love watching great pitchers work. Especially those who work at the pace of Halladay. As the game went on, the Jays scored 4 runs, two of which were after Wang was left in for "Two Batters, Two Long!" as my coworker argues that every Yankee starter is left in exactly 2 too long.

Now, the bottom of the ninth, home team is 4 runs down, and Halladay looks invincible. Damon doubles, Jeter grounds out, Abreu moves Damon to third with a single. A-Rod singles to center and the place erupts as Damon scores and Abreu gets to second. Matui grounds out and the place deflates. Just because two out hits get you to heaven doesn't mean you should expect them to come.

Unbelievably, Posada reaches on an error and Abreu scores. The place is nuts all over again. Halladay gets the hook, and you can tell he's not happy about it. They bring in a reliever and Cano and Giambi single in A-Rod and Posada's pinch runner. Unbelievable. How many times do you get to see a furious 4-run rally in the bottom of the ninth? Melky Cabrera then grounds out to end it. 4-4 going into the tenth!

Over the next 3 innings, we see Mariano Rivera come in and get 3up-3down and Joba Chamberlain bring the heat for 2 innings. Meanwhile, Toronto keeps brining a seemingly endless supply of quality relievers to keep the Yankees quiet. In the bottom of the 13th, the Yanks threaten to score for a bit with a leadoff single from Jeter, a FC for Abreu, A-Rod popping out, Matsui walking, and then Molina ends the chance by striking out swinging.

In the next inning, some guy named Zaun puts one into the seats and everyone in the Stadium knows it is over. The bottomof the 14th features no one threatening up to bat for the Yanks. Game over.

It was a good time and I wished that I went to see more baseball games, but y'know... I still don't really love it the way I used to. In the future, I think I'll try to make it to a handful of games every year. Just like ensuring that I get to basketball games every year, I think I'll add baseball to the list.
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20 min stretching
10 min running form
10 min range of motion exercises