Several things are a given when it comes to the Angels: Vlad Guerrero will swing at at least a half dozen pitches in a game that are two feet off the plate, KRod will scream after every out like he's just won Game 7 of the World Series, and Gary Matthews Jr. will find a way to strike out, even if he's benched. And, of course, the Angels will beat the Yankees. (If you've seen a single Angels-Yankees game on television in the last few years then you've already heard this stat at least ten times, but the Angels are the only American League team to have a winning record against the Joe Torre-led Yankees. Of course, Torre is with the Dodgers now, but it doesn't look like Girardi is going to fare much better against the Angels.)Originally this matchup looked like it was going to be a classic: Joba Chamberlain vs. John Lackey on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. But Chamberlain hurt himself in his previous start and was replaced by Dan Giese. Giese did pretty well though, and the game was tued 3-3 in the top of the 8th when the Rally Monkey came on the video board and this exchange took place:
My friend (who is a die hard Yankees fan): they don't have a real monkey?
Me: very rarely
Her: that's lame
Me: no it's not
Her: that's lame
You can probably guess the rest of this story. The next pitch Vlad sees he crushes out of the park. 4-3 Angels. 35 minutes later he comes up to the plate again with one out in the same inning and hits an RBI single. 11-3 Angels.
You don't ever mess with the Rally Monkey.
3 comments:
Not having a real monkey is most certainly lame. True story.
Having a $250 million payroll and missing the playoffs is more lame.
Hard to believe that a team as great as the Yankees could have such ineffective late-inning pitching.
Oh wait, that's not hard to believe at all. I just remembered I've followed baseball for the past couple years.
Still, a team that makes Red Sox fans miserable can't be all bad, can it? To paraphrase FDR, they may be bastards, but at least they're our bastards.
Nick (in Boston)
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