Misery Loves Company: Two Guys Watch Baseball

American League Championship Series - Game 2

Yankees 3, Red Sox 1
Yankees lead, 2-0

I suppose I could be pissed, or bitter about last night's loss - maybe break a few things, but I'm having a difficult time working up the righteous indignation. Mostly, I think, because the Sox' listless performance has rubbed off on me. The same team that lead the majors in number of pitches seen allowed Jon Lieber to coast through 7+ innings on 82 pitches, and everything went to shit from there, despite a very solid performance from Pedro.

I don't want to hear any crap about a curse, or jinx, or the Sox being doomed to lose. Right now, the only excuse is that they're getting completely outplayed. The Yankees have been better in every single phase of the game, except maybe the critical "Quizzical Looks Back at the Plate Umpire After Watching Strike 3" category. No excuses, no complaints - the Yankees have simply and completely been the better team through 2 games.

Bronson Arroyo takes the ball tomorrow night in the biggest start of his life. Curt Schilling told SOSH that Arroyo has "balls the size of Saturn". They'll need to be in Game 3. This series isn't over, with the next 3 games in Boston and the Sox nursing a grudge the size of Arroyo's balls, but it will be if the Sox don't play up to their capabilities.

One little thing, and it may be important: with Curt Schilling now hurt and unavailable until at least Game 6 (and likely not at all), the Sox just became huge underdogs. They thrived in that role last year, and they love to hoist on the mantle of the scrappy, goofy, overacheiver, whether or not it fits. Bears watching, anyway.

Also, of random insignificance, I'll be watching Game 3 in the company of several of my closest friends from the bar in which I (mis)spent much of my college career. That's powerful mojo, right on the heels of my Game 2 disaster - watching with my boss, his boss, and three other vice-presidents from my company. Good guys, all, but I was severely restricted in my ability to throw things, scream obscenities, and act like a mental patient. That won't be the case tomorrow.