Bleacher Creature Feature
#26: Loge Lizard Lamentations, Part Deux
12 September 2002
For the second time in this season of Yankee mirth, my darling Terri was able to procure seats for her, self, and family in the Loge Section, preceded, as before, by a fine dining experience in the glorious Yankees Club Restaurant. I dined on a fine steak, while Terri consumed her crab cakes with gusto. We all of us went silent at the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by the U.S. Army Field Band and Chorus, who provided a most rousing rendition our national anthem. On this week of remembrances of the horrid events of one year ago, it was a fine patriotic touch. It brought a tear to my eye that necessitated wiping away with my embroidered kerchief.
When we moved to our deluxe seats in the lovely Loge, we observed that the crowd was smaller than usual in this season, though many examples of the stars-and-stripes were in evidence. This was the second game of a day/night double header, and the day's crowd was apparently under ten thousand, by far the lowest of the year. Still, given that our home squad has all but wrapped up the division, given the expected dismal late-season performance of the Red Sox of Boston, flagging interest in the remainder of the season can, perhaps, be forgiven amongst the faithful, who await the far more meaningful contests that fall in the month of October.
The night's crowd was over thirty thousand, however, and we were all given an odd sight. Recently I made a jocular comment that the Yankees were playing the Toledo Mud-Hens, in reference to the plethora of minor-league callups in the lineup for the Detroit Tigers at the game we attended. In a like vein, the home team seemed to be treating today as if 'twere a split-squad spring training game. Only three who could be considered regulars were amongst the starting nine: Young Nicholas Johnson, Raul Mondesi, and Rondell White, and one of them, Mondesi, was ensconsed in center field instead of his usual patrolling grounds of right. In place of the traditional corps of Soriano, Jeter, Giambi, Williams, Ventura, and Posada, we instead witnessed backup infielders Ron Coomer and Enrique Wilson at third and second bases, respectively, recent minor-league call-ups Alex Arias and Juan Rivera at shortstop and right field, John VanderWal as the designated hitter (Johnson was the first-bagger for the evening), and Chris Widger (he of the uncanny resemblance to Fred Schneider of the rock-and-roll prognosticators, the B-52s) at the backstop position. Even the pitcher was a "substitute": Jeff Weaver, acquired in the ill-advised Ted Lilly exchange, who has not been a regular part of the starting five.
However, all was well in the end. Young Master Weaver provided his best effort as a member of the New York Yankees. (Sadly, his trade-mate did not fare so well, as Young Theodore made his first start since coming off the disabled list and fared quite poorly against the Angels of Anaheim, lasting less than three innings, the poor lad.) The lanky right-hander only gave up four hits in eight innings, retiring twenty of the last twenty-one batters he faced before being relieved by Steve Karsay in the ninth.
Of especial note was the magnificent play of Young Master Rivera, who continued his fine audition for being in the 2003 starting lineup by making a spectacular catch in the ninth off a Luis Lopez line drive, and also got two hits out of three with a run batted in.
Sadly, the festivities ended far too soon. After a record-low crowd in the day, the night game was the shortest game on record for this 2002 season, lasting a mere two hours and twelve minutes, though it did allow us to retire to our stately homes and reminisce of happier times over brandy and cigars.
* * *
Back to the bleachers this weekend, where rudeness and crudeness and snideness will return (you just don't feel right cursing in the Loge section, man....). We'll be at both games against the White Sox this weekend....
I'd like to take a moment to say that the Yankees are run by scum-sucking weasels. It's bad enough that they black out ESPN broadcasts of games to the Dish Network and Cablevision, even though they don't carry YES, but to do so on the day of the 11 September tributes was beyond crass and into despicable. The Yankees should be utterly ashamed of themselves for allowing that. (On top of all that, those same customers had either two or three different choices for watching the Mets. Cablevision subscribers could see the Mets/Braves contest on either MSG or TBS, and Dish subscribers could also watch it on ESPN2, where it wasn't blacked out. The decision to black out is made by the individual teams, so the Mets obviously thought that the 11 September game should be seen by everyone. Steinbrenner seems to think that only YES subscribers should see his team. Jackass.)
NEXT: Your 2003 New York Yankees
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