World Series Game One Notes

I missed all the pomp and circumstance. I missed the first pitch of the 2009 World Series. I was in class. My friend Andy had the gamecast running on his IPhone and kept me updated by scribbling notes on a piece of paper as class went on. I had thought their goose was cooked after giving up the chance to put CC away in the first with the bases loaded. Then Andy scribbled boldly that Chase had launched an A-Bomb. I began to feel better. The scribbled notes were quick especially for a playoff game. Seemed like a pitching duel on paper (literally).

I finally got home in the 6th inning and discovered there was no pitching duel. CC was throwing a good game but Cliff Lee was doing something entirely different. Stark and the other sportwriters covering the Phillies are proclaiming his performance historic and pulling crazy facts from baseball history to support their claims. It was indeed historic. It was unbelievable. It was transformative.

Transformative?

You see around the time the second batter faced Cliff Lee in the seventh it occurred to me that whoever was at the plate no longer mattered. The entire mystique surrounding the New York Yankees was gone. Lee eliminated it. If I blinked hard enough and fast enough I swear we could have been playing the Washington Nationals last night. Lee sure made them look that way. The game became a routine. Phillies score a few here and there. Chase Utley wakes up. Lee dominates. Lee makes halfhearted catches that are absolutely amazing, hilarious and exemplary of the game on the whole. The catch he made on the mound without moving and barely looking is the catch of the year. Give Cliff Lee a Gold Glove for it, I am not kidding. This write up is going to be shorter than my others because there isn’t much to say. Lee dominates. Lee makes all the history in the first World Series game played in the new Yankee Stadium. Lee has become an October legend. Lee dominates.

I am sure the Washington National impression is going to fade with Pedro on the mound tonight. A lot of folks seem to think Pedro starting is going to be a joke and an easy win for the Yankees, but let me remind everyone that Burnett is going to give up a ton of runs tonight.

The Phillies are going to win 8-6.

(If you want to read all the ridiculous historic things Lee did last night check out Jayson Stark here)


I also want to welcome my good friends Sara and Katie to the majesty of the game of Baseball. Welcome ladies.