Empyreal Environs

Game 121: August 21, 2009
Yankees	20	W: Andy Pettitte (10-6)	77-45, 3 game winning streak
Red Sox	11	L: Brad Penny (7-8)	69-52, 1 game losing streak
Highlights: I thought seeing the Fenway hawk in the pregame show was a good omen. It wasn’t, and Penny wasn’t lucky. I joined Citizens for Retiring the Penny; I hope Terry Francona and Theo Epstein follow.

Everything that you need to know about this game:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury tied Tommy Harper’s record of 54 steals in a season in a Red Sox uniform in the first inning. Notably it was against Andy Pettitte, who is known for having the best pickoff move in the game today.
2. Jerry Remy returned to the booth.
3. Getting married in Fenway during a game is a great idea in theory. In practice, you may end up having this momentous occasion at the same time as an atrocious game such as this.

For some reason none of the Yankee batters are wearing imprints of baseball stitches on their torsos. The visiting hitters were allowed to abuse the Boston pitching staff with no repercussions. Even with his diminished velocity a pitcher like Pedro Martinez would have knocked back any Bronx Bomber that hung over his part of the plate.

Two former MVPs had baserunning blunders. Alex Rodriguez roped the ball to the left field corner that Jason Bay deftly captured barehanded after it ricocheted hither and tither. Bay fired to Dustin Pedroia’s waiting glove and the second baseman swiped Rodriguez’s right forearm for the second out. A run scored on the play, but with Brad Penny on the mound outs were scarce. Any defensive play that erased a baserunner was manna from heaven.

In the third Pedroia knocked a ball to left field, where outfielders unfamiliar with the territory often make mistakes. Eric Hinske bumbled about attempting to catch it and then failed to chase it down after it caromed off the wall. Who else but Derek Jeter chased the ball down in shallow left and nailed Pedroia at third for the final out of the inning. Add another chapter to Jeter’s hagiography.