A-Rod makes Twins pay for misunderestimating him

It was a great sports night for me (more on that in a sec) but the best moment of the evening was seeing Alex Rodriguez make Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire look like a fool.


In one of the more head-scratching moves I've seen in recent years, Gardenhire not only intentionally walked Mark Teixeira to load the bases for A-Rod (which was crazy enough, given that Alex's numbers going into last night's game after a Tex intentional walk were "3-for-3 with a walk, a sacrifice fly, a home run and 10 RBI in five plate appearances," writes Minnesota columnist Jim Souhan.

Then Gardenhire brought in Matt Guerrier to face A-Rod. Bad move. As Souhan notes:

Rodriguez, in his career, was 4-for-6 with three homers, a double and a walk against Guerrier. It's hard to hit that well in batting practice or tee ball, much less against a quality big-league reliever.

And the strangest thing is, Gardenhire knew these numbers, and still went with that matchup!


Of course, A-Rod, the guy who killed the Twins in the playoffs last year, with his game-tying homer in Game 2, and his big homer to tie Game 3, destroyed Minnesota - again - with a grand slam. From MLB.com:

"That's what Alex Rodriguez does," Teixeira said. "He's done it so many times in his career. Nineteen grand slams? That's ridiculous."

When asked if the free pass to Teixeira gave him with any extra motivation, Rodriguez was quick to respond.

"No question," he said. "That's why I hit fourth."

Rodriguez hasn't gotten off to a great start so far, but maybe last's night's results will be the start of a terrific year for him.

And you know, even I didn't know that A-Rod had had so many grand slams in his career. But gee, I thought he was totally unclutch and all! Maybe he was just stat-padding with those homers. Showoff!

One other thing - I like that the scorer gave the win to Joba Chamberlain (who struck out the side in the eighth) as opposed to Damaso Marte (who blew the lead.) That type of scorer's decision should happen more often!

* * *

The Yankees' victory wasn't the only sporting event to put a smile on my face last night:

* Hideki Matsui hit a three-run homer off Dallas Braden to beat him and the Athletics. "It was a breaking ball," Braden said about the pitch he threw. "I felt like I almost told him it was coming. He Godzilla'd it right out of the ballpark."

* Oliver Perez had another Ollity start - as in the opposite of quality - for the Mets. Much gnashing of teeth ensued.

* And, most importantly, my beloved Philadelphia Flyers (I've been following them for a whole two days now!) beat the Boston Bruins after being down 0-3 in Game Seven (and 0-3 in the series), to win the game - and the series! Squawker Jon asked me to name a Flyer, and the only name I could come up with was Kate Smith! Nonetheless, I love to see Boston fans miserable. I saw that they threw stuff on the ice - again. Classy!


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Squawker Lisa crosses the line by rooting for the Flyers

Squawker Lisa, it's bad enough that you root for the Yankees, but earlier today, you ended a blog post by saying "Go Flyers!" And that's going too far.

These days, I barely follow hockey. I used to be a big Islander fan, but they have been hard to support for a long time, so I have also pulled for the Rangers and Devils. I realize this is even worse than rooting for both the Mets and Yankees, so I don't pretend to be a diehard fan of any of these teams.

But even I know enough never to root for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Lisa, at least you still have some anti-Philly street cred from when you ran up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art last December wearing a Yankee cap. But what's next? Go Eagles? Santa Claus deserved to be booed? Dave "The Hammer" Schultz was misunderstood?

I'm just going to chalk this up to the traumas you've had to endure over the last few days: Johnny Damon in an enemy uniform, Javier Vazquez pitching well enough to stay in the rotation, the Yankees signing Tim Redding and Dallas Braden getting a week of tributes. But if I ever see you wearing a Bobby Clarke jersey, I'm going to have to act like I don't know you.

***

And if there was not enough reason to hate Philly, now Charlie Manuel has responded to charges that the Phillies are stealing signs by saying that maybe the Mets are cheating because they have such a good home record, but are mediocre on the road.

Up to now, I suspect most Met fans would have worse things to say about the manager Manuel who is in charge of the Mets than the one in charge of the Phillies. But reacting to a warning by MLB by pointing a finger at another team that has not been accused of anything is low even by Philly standards. And it's amazing that, after three straight division titles, two straight World Series appearances and a World Series victory, the Phillies STILL can't get the Mets out of their heads.

Why I'm paying attention to the Flyers-Bruins NHL playoff series

I'm not exactly a big hockey fan (although I did sign up for National Hate Sidney Crosby Day on Facebook, just because!) But I am rooting for the Philadelphia Flyers this week in the NHL playoffs.

You may be wondering why would I care about an NHL team - especially a Philly franchise. Well, it's because the Flyers are up against the Boston Bruins. And because Boston was up 3 games to 0 in the series, before Philadelphia won the next three games in a row. Sound familiar? Now the two teams will face off in Game 7 in Boston this Friday.

While nothing will ever truly make up for 2004, it would warm my heart a little - make that a lot - if Boston fans were on the losing end in such a matchup. Especially when Daniel Briere, one of the Flyers, is saying "why not us?" about the team's chances. You may remember a certain pitcher by the name of Curt Schilling who used that expression as well about Boston's ALCS hopes. Boston fans must love that expression being used on the other side.


Imagine the humiliation Boston fans will feel if they lose Game 7. How delicious would that be?

Oh, and remember, Yankee fans, how Red Sox fans mocked our fanbase for throwing garbage on the field during Game 6, after the Slap Play was overruled? Well, at least no Yankee fans threw condoms at Red Sox fans! That's what happened to CrossingBroad.com - and Philly fan - blogger Adam Gonsiewski when he went to Boston for Game 5.  He also said that Bruins fans threw "rally towels and beer cups on the ice. It happened on several occasions, including during the final two scrums of the third period and DURING PLAY." He notes, "I'm sure this would have been all over TV if the game was in Philadelphia." Stay classy, Boston!

There's another connection here with this Bruins-Flyers to the Yankees-Red Sox - Kate Smith (who, by the way, has just been honored with a new postage stamp featuring her.) The Flyers were the first sports team to promote Kate's version of  "God Bless America" - the song that gets played every Yankee home game (although the Yankee version sounds like it was recorded on a Victrola!)  They even have a statue in tribute of her singing. A recent Philadelphia Daily News poll rated the Flyers' "God Bless America" as Philadelphia's best sports tradition - yes, it beat out booing!

And look what Philadelphia played during last night's game, according to Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe:

Back in Philly, just before they dropped the puck, the big board at the Wachovia Center featured grainy footage of the late, great Kate Smith singing “God Bless America.’’ The tradition started in the late 1960s as an answer to Vietnam War protests. Kate turned out to be a good-luck charm for the Flyers. Old-time Bruins fans might remember Phil Esposito shaking hands with Kate before the Bruins lost Game 6 in the ’74 Finals.

Smith also sang at the Spectrum in 1975 when the Flyers played the Islanders — the very same New York team that came back to beat the Penguins after trailing, 3-0.

See, it's all connected! Go Flyers! God Bless America!


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