With the two teams duking it out in the series rubber-match last night at Fenway, there was a more interesting story developing in New York, rather underneath the new Yankee Stadium. It turns out that a construction worker — and member of Red Sox Nation — tried to curse the new field by planting a David Ortiz jersey in the cement foundation. After hearing reports of this and getting tips on its whereabouts, workers promptly jack hammered it out to remove any potential curse. They even turned this lame publicity stunt around and donated the tattered (from the jackhammers) jersey to a charity for a possible auction. Who would’ve thought the “Evil Empire” would have a heart?
As for the construction worker, he may be staring down the barrel of a lawsuit from the Yankees’ empire for such negligence. This guy had better not show his face around the Bronx any time soon or he may not walk out looking so pretty.
In the game, I have no idea how these two teams can prolong a nine-inning game like they do. While it is understandable that games with higher scores tend to go longer than pitching duels, four hours for a game is a reason why casual fans get turned off of baseball. The Red Sox were able to hold on and win despite an attempt at a comeback by the Yanks after Phil Hughes looked unspectacular again.
And hey, what’s wrong with Big Papi? He is certainly not himself so far this season despite having off-season surgery to correct his ailing knee. In fact, he was scratched from the starting lineup last night to get some work in with the Sox hitting coach, Dave Magadan. Ortiz has a very un-Big Papi like .070 batting average – going three-for-43 this season, even if one of those three was a home run. It’s so bad that J.D. Drew is a more viable option for the three-hole in the lineup and that Alex Cora, a usual target of offence-related jokes, has as many hits as Ortiz, but in only three at bats. Now, being a Red Sox Nation hater, I couldn’t be more pleased by this development, but then again, being a human being and a baseball fan, it’s kind of sad seeing a big name in the game struggle mightily.
Remember folks, you have to care to hate.