Essayist
When I woke up this morning (after 12+ hours of sleep), I told myself that I would go to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. Now, at 10 PM, I just can’t help myself. I have to watch the Yankee game against Seattle. As long as they continue on this winning streak, I feel compelled to keep watching. I even set down Dangerous Visions in order to devote my attention to the game that is about to start.
It’s crazy! It’s insane! I can’t wait!
The Yankees have done it! They have just completed a five game sweep of the Boston Red Sox to go up 6-1/2 games ahead of Boston in the A.L. East. The final score: 2-1.
And now that that’s over, and the work day is done, I am getting into bed and sleeping. I have been up now for 31 straight hours. My guess is that I will sleep for three or four hours before I wake up (around 8:30 PM) and have a few hours to take care of some business (like get back to the final edits on “Graveyard Shift”). But maybe, if I am lucky, I will have one of those amazing “post all-nighter” where everything just goes black and I will wake up 13 hours from now fully refreshed.
I’m setting my alarm just in case.
It’s 3:21 AM here in Riverdale, Maryland, and not a creature is stirring, except for me. But I’m making good progress, and while I’m feeling a little tired, I am more convinced that this will help me when I get into work tomorrow and allow me to focus on the new project.
Can I just say that the Yankees are kicking butt!? That was some game on ESPN tonight. Had me on the edge of my seat in the top of the ninth, with bases loaded and 1 out and the Red Sox poised to win. Mariano Rivera got out of it and then the Yanks scored 3 runs in the top of the 10th and went on to win the game, their fourth win against the Red Sox in three days. They are now 5-1/2 games up on Boston with more more game in the series to play tomorrow afternoon (the only one of the games which I won’t get to see).
And now, back to work. I have about an hour and a half to finish up what I’m doing before I get into the shower, and have myself some breakfast.
Dad arrived in town yesterday evening. I had already watched the Yankees win the first game of their doubleheader against the Red Sox. Once Dad arrived, I sat down to watch the second game of the doubleheader, which turned out to be the longest 9 inning game in MLB history at 4 hours 45 minutes. The Yanks too that game too, 14-10. They are now up 3-1/2 games on the Red Sox and even if the lost the last three games of the series, they still come out on top. But the Yanks have scored 26 runs in two games. That’s a good sign.
I’m going to miss the game today, Randy Johnson vs. Beckett. But I’m hoping for another win.
Now that I am working from home, I can actually watch the Yankees/Red Sox game that is starting in 5 minutes. Que suerte!
The day was supposed to start out with Jason and I going for a run in Central Park, but that didn’t happen. We were up a little late, and I had to meet strausmouse and rmstraus and their friends at 11:30 AM. So instead, we ran out for some bagels and cream cheese. While walking to the bagel place, I showed Jason how to use the handheld GPS which he and Jen and my Mom will be using next week when they drive from Boston to New Hampshire.
I met Eric and Ryane, and their friends Lena and Anthony outside their place on 95th. We then hopped on the 4 train to Yankee stadium. We had bleacher seats; I’d never sat in the bleachers at Yankee stadium before and I was surprised that the view was still good. I made the mistake of wearing a black shirt, however, and it was hot out there! We were in left-center and had a good view of the game. The bleachers are alcohol-free at Yankee stadium, but that didn’t prevent the people who sat around us from passing around bottles of this and that to pour into their drinks. (They had all come down to the stadium on a bus and at least one of their members was very drunk and in a pissy mood.) On the otherhand, they were all Yankees fans. And as it turned out, the Yankees won the game 5-2. All 5 of their runs were scored off 2 home runs in the second inning. We headed back after the game and decided to meet up later for dinner.
In the meantime, Jason and I headed to Central Park to get some exercise. We tossed around a baseball for a while, and were asked to play in a pickup game of softball that was forming, but we didn’t have enough time to commit to the game. We did manage to get in a good workout, however.
We all met for dinner at Brother Jimmy’s on 92nd and 3rd at around 7 PM. For the second night in a row, we ate at a place where everyone was ordering big hunks of beef (I had the ribs!). When it came Jason’s turn to order, I believe he got the catfish. But he held his ground and survived the peer-pressure of those (myself included) encouraging him to eat meat.
After dinner, we walked over to Mustang and somehow, Anthony managed to get us into the back room, where we had comfortable chairs and couches mostly to ourselves. We Eric and Anthony each ordered a flight of tequila for themselves. Jason and I shared a flight. They were sipping theirs but I couldn’t seem to get the hang of sipping. It all just seemed to go down, no matter how small a sip I tried to take. Once again, however, I limited myself to 2 shots. We spent a relaxing evening in that back room and finally headed back home sometime around midnight.
I went to the Yankees/O’s game, today, and this time Karen went with me. We left a little late and there was a lot of traffic getting there, but we got there just as the game started. We walked into the stadium bowl to take our seats and watched Derek Jeter hit a home run in his first at-bat. Throughout the game, we also saw Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, and Jason Giambi hit home runs. The Yanks tromped the O’s 6-1. And if things couldn’t have been any better, the Red Sox lost to Tampa Bay in extra innings and that means that Yanks lead the division by 2 games now.
We had dinner in at Capitial City Brewing Company in the Inner Harbor afterwards. The weather was great today, not as hot, and it made for a really nice Sunday.
I finally got around to getting my Acela tickets for next weekend when, once again, I head up to New York. As I think I’ve mentioned, I’m going to a Yankee game on Saturday with strausmouse and rmstraus. As before, I head up late Friday afternoon, and return mid-morning on Monday.
Incidentally, both strausmouse and rmstraus are insisting that the Angels will beat the Yankees. I don’t buy it for a second.
I’ve got tickets to the Yankees this weekend in Camden Yards (part of my season tickets package), so I’ll get to see the Bombers two weeks in a row. Looks like Jaret Wright will be pitching against Rodrigo Lopez on Sunday. It’s possible I’ll see Wright again next Saturday.
When I got home from work this evening, I wolfed down my chicken and veggies (no more bad carbs after 7 PM–trainers orders), and turned on the TV. On HBO Signature, Field of Dreams was just starting. I was wiped out from the workout and so I figured what the heck, even though I have it on DVD, I haven’t seen it in a while, I’ll watch it.
Well, it’s one of the few movies that makes this grown man cry, every time. The second biggest cry-moment is when Doc comes off the field to save the little girl from choking. But the biggest moment for me (as I’m sure it is for many tough guys) is at the end of the movie, when Ray Kinsella says to John Kinsella, “Dad, wanna have a catch?”
Funny thing is that as good as the movie is (and it is good, no doubt about it, the book Shoeless Joe by Ray Kinsella is that much better. Its one of a handful of books that is on my all-time favorite book list.
That’s what makes a grown man cry. If you don’t understand baseball and fathers and sons, then you won’t get it. But if you do, lookout!
Come on, Andy, back me up here.
I watched the Yankee game through 4-1/2 innings and now that they are winning 6-2, I think it’s safe for me to head off to bed. I have to be up at 4:30 AM for a 6 AM session with Bernard so I need to get some sleep tonight. Hopefully the Yanks can maintain their lead.
I spoke with vickyandnorm and found out that they set a date for their wedding (a location, too) and I am looking forward to it this coming spring. They have got a lot going on in this next half year, but they are also about to head off to Italy for a vacation. Have you guys brushed up on your Roman history?
I’ve got a softball game after work tomorrow and that means tomorrow is going to be a long day. I’m still not convinced I’ve got my revised eating habits down yet. I’m supposed to be eating 5-6 meals a day, but I find that I’m not hungry 5-6 times a day. I’ll talk to Bernard about that tomorrow. In addition, I’ve got a fair amount of programming to do, I need to find time to cut the grass, clean the house, get a haircut and do some grocery shopping. I wouldn’t mind sneaking off to Italy right about now.
AJ and I headed to the Orioles game today. And although it was 95 degrees and very humid out, my seats are in the shade–and their was a great breeze blowing in from the outfield so it was actually very comfortable.
It was a pretty boring game. The Orioles won 4-0. The most interesting thing on my score card is the fact that I recorded the following 3 times: SB/E-2 (stolen base, plus a one-base error). On three different stolen base attempts, the Rangers catcher tried to pick off the runner and threw the ball into the outfield, allowing the runner to advance to third. That poor catcher had all three of the Ranger’s errors for the day.
I did see that the Yankees won and the Red Sox lost, so the Yanks are only 1/2 game back now.
Next game is in 2 weeks, against the White Sox, I think, and Dad will be in town for that game.
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