HO-HO, BERI BERI

Balls!  That’s right, balls.  And lots of them.  I thought about naming this blurb “Yankees Walk All Over Indians.”  But that wouldn’t have been fair to our Cleveland colleague; nor would it have been accurate.  And it’s more fun to use a gratuitous Catch-22 reference for a title.  (Yossarian Lives.) 

Yes, while the Yankees played well, the truth is, the Yanks-Tribe game was tied 1-1 into the top of the seventh inning, before the Cleveland pitching staff lost all sight of the plate, walked the bases loaded, and gave up 4 runs.  Followed by even more walks.  Walks, which have a tendency to resemble turnovers in an NFL game when the walks get out of hand, absolutely killed Cleveland’s spirit, even though the game technically remained close until the end.  All told, the Indians’ pitchers gave up an astounding 11 walks – most of them late in the game - making the Yanks’ ultimate victory a foregone conclusion. 

Joba “the Hut” Chamberlain, meanwhile, retired the first 11 Indians, and pitched eight strong innings for the longest outing of his career.  I had hoped that this year they would take Joba’s training wheels off.  Perhaps tonite was a sign that this is happening.  Then again, considering how awful the bullpen has been, maybe letting Joba pitch the 8^th had less to do with expanding Joba’s horizons than it did with avoiding another ride down Heart Attack Lane. 

The other disturbing aspect of tonite’s game was the inordinate number of birds that were present who, oblivious to the ball game going on around them, held a convention in the outfield, gathering by the dozens for much of the game.  At varying times, the centerfielder looked positively surrounded.  Apparently, the locusts and other insects were there as well.  But they did not affect Joba like they did in the 2007 ALDS. 

Mariano came on for a 1-2-3 ninth inning, capping off a 5-2 victory and a 5 and 2 road trip for the Yanks.  And, according to the YES Network, it was the 18th straight errorless game for the Yanks, setting a new major league record.  With 10 challenging games ahead (3 with Texas, 4 with Tampa Bay, and 3 at Fenway), the Yanks have a lot of chemistry and momentum working in their favor. 

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