We Pick Up Another Series
I missed the first couple of innings because my three year old nephew had spent the night at my house the night before and I was trying to give him a bath before I took him up to my sister and brother in law's house for Easter dinner and I finally FINALLY get him settled into the bath tub and by this time the game had started and according to the game log, not a single thing happened in the first inning except that my nephew had taken his replica Titanic boat that my mom bought him at the tacky gift shop the day before and it sinks and HOW MESSED UP IS THAT.
Second inning. We get a couple of hits and are unable to do anything with them, but Halama allowed Garret Anderson (who annoys me as much as Troy Glaus has in this series) to knock one out, so the Angels take a quick lead of 1-0.
Third inning. My nephew runs naked through my living room while I'm trying to get him dressed. Nothing happens in Anaheim, still 1-0.
Fourth inning. Edgar "I'm Goin' Yard" Martinez goes yard. I miss it because I'm still trying to get Dylan dressed and he has run to a different room by this time. Olerud singled, Boone singled, I chase Dylan back into the room just in time to see Al Martin hit a fly ball that is caught and also gets Boone since he wasn't back to first in time. I start to say bad words, but stop myself just in time since my nephew was in the room. Lampkin walked, and Guillen made an out. Anaheim does nothing, and we leave the inning tied at 1 apiece.
Fifth inning. I finally get my now-dressed nephew into my car and wonder how my sister and brother in law manage this every day, especially considering they also have an 8 month old. I'm ready for a nap. Nothing much happens; Garret Anderson gets an infield hit, and I say a bad word real quietly and hope my nephew didn't hear it, but we leave the inning tied 1-1 still anyway.
Sixth inning is not at all interesting which is good since I spend most of it arriving at my sister's and trying to get my now-sleeping nephew out of the back seat without waking him up which of course doesn't work. We walk in and he goes straight for his Easter basket and I collapse on the couch to catch the rest of the game.
Seventh inning. We do nothing. Anaheim, however, tests my ability to curb my swearing habit with my nephew present as Glaus gets a hit and Garret makes an out and then Glenallen Hill gets a hit and Benji Molina gets a hit and scores Glaus and then Mike Cameron makes an error and I am flabbergasted because he NEVER DOES THAT and then Jose Paniagua relieves Halama and Kennedy hits for Eckstein and scores Hill on a sac fly and then Gil grounds out but not before I nearly suffer a stroke from having to NOT SWEAR and we leave the inning trailing Anaheim 1-3.
But we weren't trailing for long. Mark McLemore leads off with a walk. Ichiro grounded out, but got Mark to second. Cameron makes up for his error with a base knock because he's sweet like that, and McLemore heads over to third. And then Edgar "Bat Man" Martinez hits a single to score him, and Charles Gipson comes in to run for Edgar. John "I'm A Batting Champion Too" Olerud doubles, scoring Cameron and moving Gipson to third.
Bret "Look At Me Go!" Boone singles to score both Gipson and Olerud. Bret gets to second on the throw they make. I cheer loudly. My 8 month old nephew pauses from his busy task of chewing on his vest to look at me. David Bell hits for Al Martin and is intentionally walked. It didn't pay off for them as Stan Javier hits for Tom Lampkin and doubles, scoring Boone. And then Carlos "Suicide Squeeze Is My Specialty" Guillen lays it down perfectly to score David Bell from third. Then Mark "I Started the Inning, So It's Sort Of Fitting That I End It" McLemore struck out, but we head for the bottom of the 8th leading it 7-3. Unfortunately, the ever tough-to-beat Glaus knocked a yard shot with one man on, and we leave the inning still ahead, but only by two.
Turns out two was plenty. Top of the ninth and Ich "Meep Meep" iro singles and then steals second, but we can't score him. Jeff Nelson, a former Mariner then Yankee who changed organizations this year strikes out Glenallen Hill, a former Mariner then Yankee who also changed organizations this year. Nobody cares when I point out their shared history, but I think it's interesting nonetheless. Then Jeff finished off the side and we win the game and our fourth straight series, 7-5, and all I can say is: 1, Jeff Nelson has a wicked curve ball, and 2, I love this baseball team, and 3, providing it's true, Alex Rodriguez has gone far and beyond his previous deplorable behavior towards the city of Seattle by going so far as to sign a preposterously out of line letter to the Boeing Company stating that he "moved to Dallas-Fort Worth to improve [his] future; so should [the Boeing Company]" and while I'm sure someone asked him to do it and he didn't come up with this exceedingly tacky idea all by himself, he could've always said, "You know, I'm a baseball player and this isn't really my place or my business" but he DIDN'T, AS IF THE BOEING COMPANY GIVES AN [EXPLETIVE DELETED] WHAT HE THINKS THEY SHOULD DO, I mean HOW DARE HE and HOW DARE whomever put him up to this and the arrogance and conceit and outright GALL of the whole thing has me nearly beside myself and as my friend Kevin pointed out, it's Boeing Employees' Credit Union night at the Safe tomorrow when he comes to town so this story becoming public is really perfect timing. And a newsflash to Mr. Rodriguez who in all his grand delusions and unflagging conceit has concocted the theory that the fans who will boo him aren't baseball-savvy and "just don't understand everything involved", we know the sport, we know the details, conditions, clauses and outrageous financial details involved, we know that our management made the effort and a fair offer but your oh-so-terribly "brilliant" as you call him buddy Tom Hicks was so busy OUTBIDDING HIMSELF thanks to your greedy agent, that we didn't want to bankrupt our franchise for a "superstar" we so obviously don't need, we know baseball players have no business telling an enormous corporation that builds airplanes where they should base their headquarters and we know a sellout when we see one. We are booing you because we DON'T LIKE YOU OR THE IGNORANT THINGS YOU SAY, ALEX!
