Bad Meets Evil: Stay of Execution
As the Yankees were on their way to putting up a 6 spot in the top of the 7th last night, the reality of it all finally dawned me.
It was the prospect we began whispering about back in June or July. The tone over the summer was more of the "wouldn't it suck if" variety; it wasn't a possibility we took particularly seriously.
Back then we had breathing room; there was a lot of baseball left to play and too many quality teams standing in the way. Maybe the Rays would make a run. The Red Sox were 8-0 against the Yankees. The Dodgers were clearly the class of the National League, and just wait until they got Manny back.
Then when the playoffs began we told ourselves the Angels always had the Yankees' number, or that Boston would find a way if it came to that. In the NL the story was that Colorado had that Rocktober Magic again or the Cardinals' rotation was too good or the Dodgers were too deep. Somehow it just couldn't happen.
These were the hopes that insulated us against the creeping sense of dread.
As the Yankees took a 6-4 lead, it seemed there was nothing left to save us.
* * * * *
And then, implausibly, the Angels came back from the brink, scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th, assuming a 7-6 lead.
They let the Yankees make it interesting with a 2-out rally in the 9th; Nick Swisher took it to a full count with the bases loaded before popping out to end the game, and that's where it would finish. 7-6 Angels. 3-2 Yankees.
For one more night the dreaded Yankees-Phillies "Bad Meets Evil" World Series remains just a figment of our imaginations.
We dodged a bullet last night. From where I sit it feels, more than anything, like a stay of execution; it feels like the Angels simply delayed the inevitable.
But in the back of our minds and, seemingly, at the end of each news report comes a welcome reminder to the ears of Yankees haters, invocations of 2004.
Like the 2004 Red Sox, the Angels staved off elimination with a win in Game 5 and pushed the series back to New York.
Now we just need them to do it two more times.
- A.F.O.M.G.
It was the prospect we began whispering about back in June or July. The tone over the summer was more of the "wouldn't it suck if" variety; it wasn't a possibility we took particularly seriously.
Back then we had breathing room; there was a lot of baseball left to play and too many quality teams standing in the way. Maybe the Rays would make a run. The Red Sox were 8-0 against the Yankees. The Dodgers were clearly the class of the National League, and just wait until they got Manny back.
Then when the playoffs began we told ourselves the Angels always had the Yankees' number, or that Boston would find a way if it came to that. In the NL the story was that Colorado had that Rocktober Magic again or the Cardinals' rotation was too good or the Dodgers were too deep. Somehow it just couldn't happen.These were the hopes that insulated us against the creeping sense of dread.
As the Yankees took a 6-4 lead, it seemed there was nothing left to save us.
* * * * *
And then, implausibly, the Angels came back from the brink, scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th, assuming a 7-6 lead.
They let the Yankees make it interesting with a 2-out rally in the 9th; Nick Swisher took it to a full count with the bases loaded before popping out to end the game, and that's where it would finish. 7-6 Angels. 3-2 Yankees.
For one more night the dreaded Yankees-Phillies "Bad Meets Evil" World Series remains just a figment of our imaginations.
We dodged a bullet last night. From where I sit it feels, more than anything, like a stay of execution; it feels like the Angels simply delayed the inevitable.
But in the back of our minds and, seemingly, at the end of each news report comes a welcome reminder to the ears of Yankees haters, invocations of 2004.
Like the 2004 Red Sox, the Angels staved off elimination with a win in Game 5 and pushed the series back to New York.
Now we just need them to do it two more times.
- A.F.O.M.G.
posted by A Friend of Mr. Glass' at 9:51 AM
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