Cut to my house and it's dinner time. I casually mention the opportunity to my wife, who got up at about 5 a.m. with the 9 month old that morning. "Sherm has great tickets to the Oriole game, what do you think if I go after putting Ethan to sleep?"
Cut to crickets chirping.
I wasn't going to push this one. I wanted to hang out with the little guy, but also wanted him to get to sleep at a reasonable hour. So then it's 8:30 and I'm putting the finishing touches on story time and I'm in the car and on the way downtown by about 8:45. After finding parking around UMMS, I walk into the stadium and it's a few minutes after 9 p.m. and it's the bottom of the 6th.
"What did I miss?" I ask.
"Not much," said Sherm.
"Well, there were 9 home runs."
"oh."
"And you missed two, four-run comebacks," he adds.
"oh."
But there's three innings to go, so we settle in, and there were some great, exciting plays, but no runs scored while I was there.
In the top of the 9th, the rains come and there's a long rain delay and we all leave. I run about 7 or 8 blocks to my car, get home and wait another half hour and then the game resumes.
At a little after midnight, the Orioles win 10-9 in one of the more exciting games I've ever watched, partly in person, partly on TV. 19 runs in the game. I went to the game and saw none of them. But I'm not complaining, it was fun/funny.
Wow, what a game. I did Tivo it, so I re-watched all the home runs when I got home waiting for the rain delay to end. By far the most amazing play was the double play that Roberts turned in the top of the 11th.
A-Rod is up with the bases loaded. Roberts is playing halfway in. A-Rod absolutely scalds one right at him. Later, A-Rod said he hit it harder than the home run ball he hit earlier in the game (he also snidely remarked that Roberts made a "lucky" play. Here's his exact quote from the NY Times story.
"I hit that one better than the home run," said Rodriguez, who homered to center in the fourth inning. "That's the way it works sometimes. Stick your glove out, make a lucky catch and get two out of it."
But Matsui cashes in for the Yanks with a two-out single, so it's 9-8 bad guys entering the bottom of the 11th.
Mariano Rivera had just pitched two lights out innings, but Joe "didn't take the Orioles job b/c he needed to spend more time with his family and now the Orioles are playing better than the Yankees and I realize it's just late May but still" Girardi doesn't think he can ask Rivera for a third. So he brings in LaTroy Hawkins, who stinks.
LaTroy pitched for the Orioles for a season. Poorly. I knew we'd win, knew it. Plus, Troy was operating with the horrible karma hangover from throwing the bean ball at Luke Scott last week. IF you watched that altercation on replay; after Scott points to his head and takes a step toward the mound saying "don't throw at my head," Hawkins repeatedly yells, "Shut the Fuck Up." You can see him clearly mouthing these words at least 3 times. I am not sure what you are supposed to say after you almost decapitate someone with a baseball after just throwing three feet inside on the prior pitch, but "Sorry about that," might have been more appropriate. Anyway, let's just all be grateful LaTroy was not serving his suspension but rather pitching for the Yankees while on appeal (can you appeal a suspension from the waiver wire?).
Where were we? Oh yeah, bottom of the 11th, it's about midnight at this point. Mora leads off with a single, just had a look in his eye like he was going to get it done. Markakis flies out to deep left. Then Huff comes up and rips one to the gap in left center and Mora flails his way home, does an awkward belly slide and the game is tied.
Huff is on third, so Mr. Family Time tells Mr. Bad Karma to walk the next two guys, including Luke Scott, who I would have loved to see face Latrobe in that situation. But it was even more poetic that Triple-A call-up and journeyman Alex Cintron lofted LaToya's first pitch to deep right, winning the game for the lovabirds.
10-9 Orioles. That was good stuff.
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