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12 - Tuesday, October 9, 2007

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

New York- Cleveland: A Daily Sports running diary

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By SCOTT BELL and
JACK HERMAN
Daily Sports Editors
It'sgame four of the only division
series that didn't result in a sweep.
So we here at Daily Sports decided
to celebrate with a running diary.
Tonight's game will either almost
certainly end the Joe Torre era in
New York, or set up a decisive game
five back in Cleveland. How will
it turn out? Sit back and enjoy the
ride with usto find out.
7:04 p.m. - Acid we've already
gotten breaking news. Per a ridicu-
lously dressed Craig Sager: Roger
Clemens is no longer active. At first
we thought this was a commentary
about his diminishing physique,
but apparently he's just been taken
off the active roster because of an
injury he suffered Sunday.
7:15 - The analysts seem to be
playing catch in the studio. The
rest of the people in the Daily's
newsroom want the TV muted so
it's tough to hear what people are
saying, but we're pretty sure Frank
Thomas just tried pushing Ernie
Johnson over with his glove while
playing first base. He's a designat-
ed hitter for a reason, we guess.
7:30 - No more studio announc-
ers. We thoughtthis was good news
until it went to the play-by-play
crew and one of the first sentences

out of Tony Gwynn's mouth was
"Offensively, the Yankees finally
got the offense going." Thanks,
Tony.
7:38 - First pitch by Yankee's
starter Chin Ming Wang: a strike,
looking. Things are looking up for
Yankees fans.
7:39 - Third pitch by Wang:
another strike. Unfortunately, it
was a strike right down the middle
of the plate that Cleveland's Grady
Sizemore cranked into right-center
field. Cleveland leads 1-0. That was
quick.
7:50 - Wang still isn't out of the
inning. After getting Jhonny Per-
alta down in the count, the Indians'
No. 5 hitter blooped an RBI single
over Robinson Cano's head to give
Cleveland a 2-0 lead.
7:58 - Derek Jeter and Bobby
Abreu hit back-to-back singles
with one out against Cleveland's
starter Paul Byrd in their half of
the inning. New York fans are on
their feet chanting "MVP" as Alex
Rodriguez comes to the plate.
Over/under on how many pitches
until they start booing him? We're
setting it at two.
8:00 - Damn. It was three. A-
Rod strikes out on three straight
pitches. Cleveland gets out of the
inning unscathed after Kenny Lof-

ton makes a diving stop the next
at-bat.
8:12 - Wang nails Kelly Shop-
pach's bat with a ball when the
catcher squares to bunt. It looks
like it hit his hand, and the umpires
award him first base for being hit
by the pitch, loading the bases with
nobody out. Joe Torre runs out to
argue - or is he just heading out of
the dugout to get a running head
start before getting fired?
8:13 - The replays clearly show
it was an atrocious call. This is the
worst call in New York since the
Knicks decided not to settle that
lawsuit.
8:15 - Wang's already been
yanked (haha, we're funny). But
yeah, this game is a mess. Why did
we think a running diary was a good
idea?
8:20 - Chip Carey following
Cleveland's third run of the game:
"The Yankees can't really afford to
give up any more runs." In other
news: The' sky is blue, this game
sucks and Lloyd Carr has conserva-
tive coaching tendencies.
8:23-Another run.George Stein-
brenner's assistant would already be
preparing Joe Torre's pink slip for
the Boss if he wasn't already chang-
ing Steinbrenner's diaper.
8:34 - And Gwynn pulls back
ahead of Carey, 2-to-1: "If you're
Torre, you're not happy with the
two calls that went against you."
This appears like it will be the
only close matchup in tonight's
game.
8:49 - The Yankees are finally
on the board. We say finally, but
it's somehow still the second
inning. Derek Jeter hit.an infield
single with the bases loaded and
two outs. Maybe this game isn't
over yet.
8:52 - That's the lone run.
Hmm ... and it's almost time to
flip over and watch some Mon-
day Night Raw.

4

4

A YPH sn rr
The Yankees last toathe Indians lost night, ending their season. If you're a fan, we hope our runnine diary will cheer yea up.

9:02 - Wow, Randy Orton's the
new WWE Champ. That's awesome.
... Not like we still watch wrestling
or anything.
9:28 - Cleveland now leads 6-1
going into the bottom of the fourth.
This game has been so drawn out
and boring that it's tied with curling
on our sports-to-watch list. Also,
why are you reading this, anyway?
The result of this game is listed on
page 11. Unless you read the paper
backward or just like hearing about
New York's misery, you really
shouldn't be wasting your time with
N this.
9:44 - Good news for Yankees
fans: New York just got its first 1-2-
3 inning of the night. Better news
for people watching this game: It's
actually starting to exceed its snail
pace. Cleveland's up 6-1 after fourth
and ahalf innings.
9:55 - We just heard Tony Romo
has thrown four interceptions in

the first half of the Monday Night
Game. But instead of flipping to see
his demise, we're stuck watching
this snoozefest. Why did we agree
to do this? Why?
9:58 - Mike Mussina has just
been pulled. No innuendo this time.
Sorry.
10:07 - Robinson Cano leads off
the bottom of the sixth inning with
a solo homer. If the Yankees want to
make a run, they need to do it now:
6-2, and Byrd has been taken out of
the game.
10:10 - The Yankees are begin-
ning to mount a comeback, so what
do the executives at TBS do? Inter-
view Jon Bon Jovi. Makes sense.
10:16 - It'srally time. Derek Jeter
is up with runners at the corners
and one out. The crowd isstarting to
chant "Derek Jeter." We know what
happened the last time the crowd
started chanting something...

10:20 - Jeter hits into a double
play, ending any semblance of a
rally the Yankees were making. A-
Rod secretly fist pumps, knowing
he won't be the scapegoat after this
loss. Torre is probably halfway into
the locker room to empty out his
office as we write this.
10:26 - Just some food for
thought. In last week's Daily, five
senior editors made their playoff pre-
dictions. One took Chicago (swept),
another chose Philly (swept) and
the other three picked New York to
win the World Series. Oops.
10:33 - The Yankees are nine
outs away from having another
season end early, Joe Torre is nine
outs away from the unemployment
line and the Major League Baseball
powers that be are nine outs away
from having just one major market
team left in the playoffs. Oh well,
at least MLB didn't have to deal
with its most storied record being
broken by a suspected cheater. Oh,
wait.
10:45 - With all pressure off
his back and the season seem-
ingly over, A-Rod jacked a home
run into deep left-center. His first
postseason RBI since 2004. Go
figure. 6-3 Cleveland.
11:05 - Mariano Rivera is in
to try and get New York out of a
jam without allowing any runs in
the eight. "Is this the last trip to
the Yankee mound for Joe Terre
in aYankee uniform?" Carey asks.
Out guess: Yes.

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11:10 - Derek Jeter makes a
nice play to end the Indian's half
of the eighthinning. He could end
up being the hero. Oh wait, no he
won't: He ruined the Yankees'
best shot at a run by hitting into
a double play. It's still 6-3 Cleve-
land heading into the bottom of
the eighth.
11:20 - Clutch performance in
the bottom of the eighth: ground-
out, strikeout, strikeout. This
game is an inning away from
being over. First the Cavs, now
the Indians. It's been a great year
for the state of Ohio so far. Maybe
this means all of the good karma
will be used up by Nov. 17. We can
only hope.
11:22 - To be honest, we com-
pletely forgot to keep a tally of the
ridiculous comment competition
between Carey and Gwynn. Let's
just call it a draw.
11:30 - Johnny Damon makes
a great running catch to save a
run atthe end of the ninth inning.
Wow, great job? Now you'll only
lose by three instead of four.

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11:34 - Jeter pops up. Two
outs to go.
11:36 - Don't book this as a
Cleveland win just yet.hAbreu
just ripped an inside pitch deep
down the rightfield line for a
home run. The Yankees now tail
6-4, but have just two outs left
still.
11:37 - Carey: "Is this the last
time you'll see Alex Rodriguez
in pin stripes?" Ok, now he's just
recycling lines and changing the
names. He's more fatigued than
any of the athletes.
11:39 - A-Rod flies out to the
right. We're just one out away.
11:40 - Posada belts one down
the rightfield line, but it goes
just foul.
11:41 - Two pitches later, he
strikes out, ending the game and
almost certainly the Joe Torre
era.