Razzies for Rasner

Just got back from Sunday afternoon's loss to the Orioles. Stayed all nine innings, despite it being a nasty, nasty, day for a ballgame. To show how strangely the competitive male psyche works, every time I thought about leaving (invariably when flurries were coming down and the wind was whipping in my face) I thought: if Jay Jaffe and Jonah Keri can do nine innings in this weather at night, I darn well better be able to do the same in the daytime.

So while there is some sense of accomplishment in the "I survived the frozen tundra that is Yankee Stadium" experience, the game was otherwise a downer. It started off well enough, with Melky Cabrera and Derek Jeter singling to start the game, Bobby Abreu collecting a sac fly to score Melky from third, and then Alex Rodriguez going deep to center field to give the Yanks a 3-0 lead. There was the feeling that maybe the Yanks would grab O's starter Erik Bedard by the throat and not let go. But the Orioles would come right back, behind the Fried Chicken Man, Kevin Millar. Then Rasner lost control against the bottom of the Oriole lineup. When Rasner went 2-0 against the #9 hitter, Paul Bako, the Yanks' catcher (Sunday starter Wil Nieves) went out to the mound. I imagine the conversation must have gone something like, "Remember, this is Paul Bako." By the time Rasner threw him a strike, Bako had forgotten that he's Paul Bako--he took Rasner deep for a homer.

To be continued...