Comcast: A Cold, Cruel, Callous Cable Company

Comcast is rapidly becoming the biggest Blue Meanie in my life: I am bound and determined to seek revenge, with my pen/keyboard if nothing else.

As stated in my last post, I was receiving, along with thousands of users, a free preview of MLB. Comcast never said how long this “gift” would last, but I naively figured they’d alert me before pulling the plug. Silly me.

What they did must have been carefully calculated to pull in new subscribers for maximum profit. They took back their “gift” just prior to Yankee Stadium‘s season opener and the ring ceremony for the 2009 World Series.

Fortunately, I happened to tune in three hours beforehand, because I’d heard that Mike and Mike would be on, giving me enough time to race through my morning’s ablutions, hop on a bus and get to my son’s home just in time for– nothing! MLB didn’t show the ring ceremony! I should’ve known they’d use all that precious time with the “Unauthorized” box on the screen to pull in new subscribers–I’m willing to bet that a lot of people who had my experience   immediately picked up the phone and ordered the $200 MLB package. This, as most people know, is not an option for me.

So there I was at 9:00, on my son’s couch, awaiting the ballgame. I abandoned a sinkful of dirty dishes and the pile of tax papers on my desk, and I wasn’t certain if I’d turned off the electric heater. I don’t mind sacrificing for baseball–it kind of reminds me of how I used to sacrifice to get to rock ‘n’ roll shows. What I mind is being at the mercy of a greedy, nasty, cruel, corporation that’s growing richer and more powerful every day.

P.S. You can watch the ring ceremony on YouTube. Note the outpouring of love for Hideki Matsui, so bittersweet in his Angels uniform.

Letterman Does Yankees

A few Dave Letterman jokes about you-know-who, taken from the MLB site:

“Long season, brutal season, 162 games, 40 or 50 playoff games, and then the best of 30 in the World Series. Finally, now, they get a well-deserved rest, and then on Monday they report to Spring Training.”

“The Yankees, your world champion Yankees, they have to make a big decision in the offseason — are they going to keep Kate Hudson or sign Drew Barrymore?”

Letterman described the span from 2004-06 when {Andy} Pettitte interrupted his Yankees career to play with the Astros by saying he “left for three years to go run a Dairy Queen or something.”

Jeter, Pettite and Posada were on the show, and at the end, Letterman brought out World Series Most Valuable Player Hideki Matsui, who carried with him the World Series trophy.

That, of course, is because Matsui doesn’t speak enough English to fully participate.This allows me another opportunity to point out what’s rapidly becoming one of my pet peeves about the way Major League Baseball operates: I think every non-English speaking player should, from the moment they arrive, be given vigorous English lessons by a private tutor. It’s ridiculous that Matsui couldn’t talk on the Letterman show. It’s a deprivation to the fans that we had to hear his speech, upon being named MVP, from an interpreter (who knows what he’s saying?–only half kidding).

Lest this sound like an English-only conservative rant, I’m also in favor of all non-Spanish speaking members of the League, from owners to players all the way down to the ball dudes, learning Spanish. It would enrich their lives–and perhaps even ours– immeasurably.

To end on a humorous note, though, here’s another Letterman zinger:

“I’m going to be hosting for eight commercials, and then we bring in Mariano Rivera.”

Yankees Theme Song

I didn’t even know one existed!

Game Four

Dirty Play

Three nights, three games, three pitchers: it was all the same story. Philadelphia pitchers pummeled A-Rod on every one of his first at-bats. The first time, you figure,  maybe it was intentional, maybe not. Second time, you strongly suspect something’s going on. Third time, it’s obvious their pitchers agreed beforehand to hit A-Rod at the start of every game. Even the umpires–who haven’t been all that sharp lately–knew it, and they met for a huddle in the middle of the field. When they broke, they issued a warning to BOTH teams: another hit-by-pitch to anyone, and whoever lobbed the ball will be O-U-T of the game.

If you ask me, Joe Blanton, last night’s vicious pitcher, should’ve been tossed right away. Everyone knew the hit was intentional. The umpires added insult to injury, as the Yankees were the ones who really got punished. They couldn’t retaliate, or they’d lose their ace pitcher, CC Sabathia. I was pissed off all through the game, and could hardly stand the sight of a player in red.

Which brings me to this coincidence of colors: while Yankee uniforms are blue-and-white, the teams I most dislike all seem to wear red-and-white. Boston Red Sox. Angels. Cleveland Indians. And now, Philadelphia. At games played in a red team’s  stadium, the park is a sea of bright red; in New York it’s all blue. The funny part of this is…well, I’m sure I don’t have to spell it out. Blue States, Red States: Conservative/Republican, Liberal/Democrat. Coincidence?

Winning Is The Best Revenge

But the Phillies got their punishment, and in the most productive way possible. Here they were, giving their fans a thrill, keeping up with the Yankees–until the ninth inning, when in a two-out rally Johnny Damon made a play sure to go down in history: after a nine-pitch at-bat that came this close to an out at least twice, he got a base hit, then stole second base…and when he saw nobody was covering third, he ran like hell, and made it. When A-Rod came to bat and got a base hit, Damon scored the go-ahead run. It was one of the most exciting things I’ve seen in baseball; I was screaming and jumping around my living room.

The Phillies didn’t score in the ninth, of course, with Mariano Rivera pitching, and besides, I suspect they were too demoralized. The Yankees won the game, 7-4; the series now stands at 3-1. If the blue team wins tonight, it’s all over but the partying. With Cliff Lee coming back to the pitcher’s mound for Philadelphia, there’s a possibility that won’t happen. But even if it doesn’t, then the Yankees will finish things off the next night–which might be better anyway, since they’ll be back in New York.

What a game! What a team!

The Baseball Playoffs

“They say that baseball breaks your heart, but what they don’t tell you is that it gives you heart attacks.”– Confessions of a She-Fan

This morning I’m breathing with great relief. My stomach is calm, and my nerves have stopped jangling—and all because the New York Yankees won against the Angels last night, ending an extremely tense playoff series. They’re going to the World Series for the first time since 2003, attempting to wrest the championship title away from the Philadelphia Phillies. If they succeed, that title will be, in my very biased opinion, back where it belongs–in the Bronx, where I was born. At last all will be well, after a long strange decade in the world of baseball.

The last leg of this journey was rough—on me at least. I’ve carried a grudge, since 2002 when they defeated the SF Giants, against the Angels–excuse me, the Los Angeles Angels, as they insist on being called, even though they’re in Anaheim and the Dodgers represent the city. Just look at their fan base—very white Americana. Also–a whole other issue–very LOUD. One of my complaints against them are those damn thundersticks their fans bang around during entire games, no matter what’s happening on the field. I don’t know what they sound like up close, but on television the noise is deafening.

A major problem in this series was the umpires, who made what must surely be a record number of incorrect calls. A typical incident occurred when first-base umpire Dale Scott called Johnny Damon out, and video replays clearly showed he was safe. Nick Swisher was called safe on second base on a pickoff throw that clearly beat him back to the bag, then minutes later was called out at third base on an appeal play, after replays of a would-be sacrifice fly showed he had waited long enough before tagging up and running home. Later in the same game, Robinson Cano was called safe at third base after Angels catcher Mike Napoli tagged him while he was off the bag. One suggested solution to the umpire problem is to use instant replay tapes more, but it would slow down a game that everyone agrees takes too long already. In view of all this, MLB has decreed they will use ‘only experienced umpires‘ in the upcoming World Series.

I’ll let you digest that last sentence while my racing pulse returns to normal.

First of all, I would have thought it was a policy already that ‘only experienced umpires’ would be used in the playoffs, at the very least, and that newbie’s would get their training in the minors. Secondly, the powers-that-be are missing an essential point here.

IT’S THE VISION THING.

It is an established fact in the world of ophthalmology that almost everyone’s vision begins fading at around age 40. From the looks of most umpires, they’re well past 40. Lenses harden, cataracts form, little dots referred to as “floaters” dance in front of our eyes. This ain’t rocket science. The solution to bad calls in baseball is right before our aging eyes:

HIRE YOUNGER UMPIRES!

This isn’t age discrimination: it’s part of the job description.

But back to the players: I’d been nervous for days before this series began, afraid the Angels would be a real threat, based on their rep (I rarely watch them play). Imagine my surprise when, in the very first game, they made three errors, and looked like Keystone Cops running aimlessly around the field. They didn’t play quite so badly in subsequent games, but that first one was a joke. Mike Scioscia, their manager, was right on target when he said, simply, “They outplayed us.” Yer darn right they outplayed you!

I have to admit that not every Yankee was fully up to par. Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano, and, most disappointing of all, Mark Texeira, flat out sucked at bat. Their averages tell a sad story. At least these three did redeem themselves defensively, making brilliant plays and preventing the Angels from scoring more than once—but it was Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, and, most delightful of all, Alex Rodriguez, who carried the day.

And then there was pitching. CC Sabathia was named MVP for his performance. Last night, Andy Pettite held the Angels to just one run in 6 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking one. He now has sixteen postseason wins, the most in Major League Baseball, and in winning his fifth career series clincher he broke a tie with Catfish Hunter, Roger Clemens and Dave Stewart.

Clutch Rodriguez: A-Rod, who’s always bombed during playoff season, suddenly turned into Mr. Clutch Rodriguez, and his sterling performance is generating buzz all over the media. It was a pleasure to see him so focused, so comfortable and confident at the plate, making base hits and home runs, with girlfriend Kate Hudson cheering him from the stands. Behind every great man…

The pleasure of watching the Yankees play great baseball was matched by the pleasure of watching them celebrate. I noticed, during the final two at-bats, that Mariano Rivera’s lips were twitching as if he were suppressing a smile. I was right: as soon as he struck out the final batter, his face broke into the biggest grin I’ve ever seen, as Jorge Posada came running from behind the plate to hug him.  For once I didn’t mind all the replays, as the team’s reaction was shown from every angle, so we saw each and every Yankee going nuts. A divine moment.

One last thing: Along with many other fans and critics, I questioned some of the pitching decisions made by The Other Joe (Girardi). I’m not inclined to trash Girardi this morning—but I’m not sure he’s got the Right Stuff. That’s about to be tested, beginning on Wednesday. I hope I’m wrong.