Monday, April 23, 2007

The Wright stuff

I turned on ESPN's Sunday game last night, remembered it was the Yankees vs. Red Sox, then turned the channel so my wife could watch "Desperate Housewives." ESPN apparently is under obligation to carry the entire season series between baseball's two highest-salaried teams in some manner, and I get kind of put off by the hype.

A little while later, though, I took a short drive and didn't bother turning the radio station, which was tuned to the local ESPN affiliate. I learned that I should have been watching the game. I'd missed the Red Sox tying a record by hitting four consecutive home runs. And they all were off the same pitcher, just the second time in history that has happened.

The pitcher was a 24-year-old lefty named Chase Wright, who was part of history on the positive side earlier in the week. Wright, Kei Igawa and Sean Henn each earned their first major-league victories in a three-game sweep of Cleveland. A trio of pitchers hadn't done anything like that since 1941.

Injuries have taken their toll on the Yankees' starting rotation, which might be encouraging to their non-fans. But it's April. Expect some New York's injured pitcher to be back in top form late in the season, when they're really needed. And expect another first-place finish for the team that shells out the most money.

4 comments:

Zoooma said...

Too bad ya missed it. That was simply amazing. You commented not too long ago about the HR vs. the K... well, there's almost no way a string of 4 K's could top a string of 4 HR, or even 3 HR. Almost no way a 15 K game could top last night. Holy Cow!!! I also don't appreciate ESPN feeling the need to show almost every single Yanks-Sawx game (it is really making me angry) ... but my Devils had won earlier in the day, my Mets lost terribly at Shea, I don't watch Desperate Housewives or almost anything else on TV on Sunday night, so baseball, no matter what game, usually is a decent to good bet, no Pete Rose pun intended. As far as history goes, I'd rather watch a no-hitter (thanks to TBS i caught Randy Johnson's perfect no-no a few yrs ago) but 4-HR in-a-row history wasn't bad at all!!! (And wasn't it even 4 pitches in a row? I'll have to catch the next Sportscenter for that.) Even if I wasn't one of the Fenway Faithful, that's somethin' I'll probably never forget... and they weren't just dingers... one just missed leaving the park altogether by only a few feet while 2 of 'em were introduced to The Streets of Bahston with the Green Mahnstah fans just watching them fly over their heads! Whew!!

(even if it is Yanks-Red Sox on ESPN and it's the A.L.)
Watch More Baseball!!!

Bucconation said...

Yes, the MLB is a pain in the neck. The system stinks, teams like the Pirates have the deck stacked against them, while big money teams like NYY and Boston have every advantage. Nevertheless, the game of baseball is a great one, and Red Sox/Yankees is about as good as it gets these days. Just listen to the Fenway crowd during any Yankees game. If only the Buccos can catch lightning in a bottle, PNC Park will be like that. That park with a winning team ... heaven.

Harry Funk said...

I caught the tail end of Randy Johnson's perfect game and was mad that I didn't see more. I used to tune into TBS out of habit, but didn't that night. I guess I should bite my lip and watch all the Yankees-Red Sox games, as their season series seems to be televised nationally. You never know what's going to happen. And unfortunately, it's probably better than trying to sit through Pirates games ...

Harry Funk said...

Postscript:

Wright demoted