The A's and Yankees played a double header yesterday. It just wasn't on the schedule. The game, intended as a "single header" started at 12:30. Yankees scored 2 runs in the first inning. A's tied with 2 in the third. When I left work it was still tied. Listened to the 9th and 10th innings on the bus to BART. In the 9th, the A's had runners 2nd and 3rd base with one out but didn't score. In the 10th the Yankees loaded the bases but didn't score. My phone is just a phone, I listen to radio via iPod and can't pick it up in BART tunnels. When I got off the train (I stopped in Berkeley for groceries since the stores near me suck) I turned on the car radio and heard the bottom of the 12th on the way to the store. Still tied. The Yankees had loaded the bases again in the 11th but again did not score. After shopping, turned on the radio to find out who won. Nobody. It was the 14th inning. Looked like the A's would win in the 15th; with a runner at 2nd base, Coco Crisp hit a pinch hit single, but despite a massive collision at home plate the catcher held the ball and the runner was out. The A's still had a runner at 3rd base but the next batter struck out. Got home in the 17th. Looked again like the A's were going to win it when a long drive that looked to be a home run was caught against the fence. In the 18th with the bases loaded the Yankees brought in their hall of fame reliever Mariano Rivera to get one out. A rookie, Nate Freiman, who was in AA last year this time, a platoon player who had a grand total of two lifetime hits against right handed pitches and who had not played the first 15 innings. And he broke his bat on Rivera's pitch, but the ball landed in left field. And finally the game was over. Some odd stats: Two Yankee hitters each went 0-8. The A's brought in a pinch hitter in the 10th who ended up with four at-bats and four strikeouts. The win went to a reliever from the end of the bullpen bench, brought in because there were no pitchers left in the bullpen, Jesse Chavez, brought in to pitch in the 13th inning with two on and one out, and who ended up pitching 5 innings. There were 14 scoreless innings. 19 strikeouts in extra innings. 510 pitches were thrown. And it still wasn't the A's longest game of the year; that honor goes to a 19 inning marathon win against the Angels on April 29-30. A day for marathons; the Orioles and Red Sox played 13 innings, the Cubs and Reds played 15 (wimps!) and the Bruins and Blackhawsk played 3 OTs. The A's have a payroll 1/3 of the Yankees and only two players anyone outside Oakland ever heard of. The 99%ers of baseball. They are tied for best record in the American League with the wealthy Red Sox. Only the wealthier Cardinals have a better record.
Agreed. Sudden death is fine for some sports but baseball is a social game and each team gets their "at bats".
