Justice: On and Off The Field

It was a roller coaster ride of day watching yesterday's Red Sox-Yankees game at Professor Thom's. The Red Sox fell behind, then tied it up, the rain then delayed proceedings for a short time, then the Sox went in front. But they were leaving men in scoring position yet again. It seemed like another day of wasted opportunities yet again.

I was really peeved to see Jorge Posada's three-run homer against Curt Schilling in the sixth. But I had a feeling the game was far from done, and Mike Mussina, who's living up to his standing as one of the AL's most overrated pitchers, gave up back-to-back homers to Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek to tie it up. His ERA is now a whopping 6.25. Is this a guy the Yankees can count on to turn it around?

And as all of this was going on, news came out that Roger Clemens will not start Monday due to "groin fatigue." Can you say, "poetic justice?" It's not known when he will make his debut, but you have to wonder if the Yankees would be wise to call the whole thing with The Carpetbagger before he rips them off blind. He has a history of this type of injury, and he sure isn't getting any younger. (He's not on the 40-man roster yet, so they can back out and not owe him a penny.) But the Yankees are in this too deep, and would look rather foolish if they let Clemens go. But as soon as I heard about Clemens' injury, I knew the Sox would win on this day.

Derek Jeter's homer but New York back in the lead, but the bottom of the seventh may have been one of the worst played innings you'll ever see a team play. It demonstrated perfectly why the Yankees are in the fix they're in: lousy relief pitching and shoddy defense. From Bobby Abreu's butchered attempt at David Ortiz' fly ball, Derek Jeter's two errors, A-Rod being out of position on Coco Crisp's bloop to center, and Scott Proctor's inability to find the plate, the day was over for the Yankees, as the Red Sox scored five runs and went on to win, 11-6. (Jeter also hit into 2 double plays, and it would have been three in Abreu hadn't taken second in the ninth.) Every Red Sox player had a hit except for Kevin Youkilis, whose hitting streak stopped at 23 games.

In addition to his home run, Mike Lowell had some day on the bases. He attempted to break up a double play in the fifth by bowling over Robinson Cano as he tagged him in between the bases. It was a perfectly legal play, as when a fielder has the ball and is blocking the base path, the runner has every right to knock him down. Cano thought it was a dirty play, but Joe Torre said later it was a legitimate one. Someone ought to teach this guy the rules, as he doesn't impress me as being the most intelligent player in the world.

But later in the game, a really scary moment ocurred. Mike Lowell hit a grounder to Cano in the seventh with the bases loaded. He made a wide pivot throw to Jeter, who made a short-hopped throw to Doug Mientkiewicz. As he was trying to field it, he moved back and slammed into Lowell's thigh, and he violently hit the dirt as his head snapped back. It was a really ugly sight to see, something you never like to see happen to anyone. Fortunately, Doug never lost consciousness as he was taken off the field in a cart. (Ironically, Doug and Mike are friends, and worked out together in Florida over the winter.) He was brought to the hospital, and was diagnosed with a slight concussion, a cervical sprain and a broken wrist.

We wish Doug all the best. He maybe wearing pinstripes, but he is still One of the 25.