Wrenched
| Game 73: June 16, 2008 | |||
| Red Sox | 2 | L: Bartolo Colon (4-2) | 44-29, 1 game losing streak |
 Phillies |
8 | W: Cole Hamels (7-4) | 42-30, 1 game winning streak |
| Highlights: I’m actually in agreement with Hank Steinbrenner about something: I wouldn’t mind seeing the designated hitter rule in the senior circuit. Except I'm not such an idiot as to say, “The National League needs to join the 21st century.... That was a rule from the 1800s.” The designated hitter rule (6.10) was instituted in 1973. | |||
I love interleague play but it is ludicrous that the two leagues play under different rules. MLB has to make like East and West Germany in 1990 and partake in die Wende (“the turning point”) for themselves. No more turning ankles of pitchers ambling about the bases or the wrenching of their backs when taking awkward hacks at the dish.
At least Bartolo Colon had a laugh at his expense at his fourth-inning imitation of a member of the Mevlevi Order. Colon corkscrewed his body with such force his helmet spun off his head and continued to gyrate when it dropped to the ground. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a stiff lower back and Chris Smith was summoned from Pawtucket to provide an option in the bullpen.
A far worse loss befell the Yankees with Chien-Ming Wang’s partially torn tendon and Lisfranc ligament sprain. The New York ace will miss about two to three months of action. Millions of Yankee fans are now prepared to discredit the success of the Red Sox based on this key injury.
Perhaps if the New York club’s front office weren’t so occupied jackhammering the foundations of their new stadium or tending to the constant hype machine powering their prospects they would have been signing the likes of Colon, a cost-effective starting option who doesn’t tax an organization’s pockets nor playoff chances if he is unable to contribute.
Philadelphia is a quaint hamlet that fancies itself as a sports town entitled to success. Therefore, any slight by a person who is supposed to return them to their imagined former glory incites extreme enmity in them. Eleven years after he spurned them by not signing with the Phillies after being drafted in the first round of the 1997 draft, J.D. Drew is still the recipient of catcalls in the City of Brotherly Love. No reports of thrown batteries, but there are two more games.
The boos that accompanied Drew’s plate appearances were softer than the cheers that rang out when the right fielder bashed his 12th homer of the season in the fifth inning. Misery may love company, but happiness is easy to carry and travels well.
