SC - Thanks

[Gwendolen Lambert]

Philippa Alderton wrote:
> 
> We discussed it this AM- Mets, of course ;-) He can't stand Steinbrenner,
> and I got descriptions of several plays which clinched the Series slot for
> the Mets.
> 
> Don't get him started- Gunthar will come back, and think this is a baseball
> List.....
> 
> Phlip

Harumph. No particular reason, not in response to any particular
statement or person. Just harumph.

My carefully crafted master plan was foiled late last night by clement
(an omen!) weather and a Yankees victory.

The Original Master Plan was for the Mariners to win Game Six, after
which either the Yankees _or_ the Mariners could win, or not win, as the
case may be, on their own merits. I expected the Yankees to win, though.
Ideally, Game Seven was to be won after a protracted battle, preferably
by one reluctantly squeezed run in the eighteenth inning at around 4 AM.

The Master Plan was modified last night when I realized there was a
small chance last night's game might be rained out. So Is New Plan,
Natasha. Mariners win Game Six on _Wednesday night_,
Yankees-win-Game-Seven-after-long-bloody-heartbreaking-battle on
Thursday night (or rather, Friday morning), then the Yankees (or
Mariners) crawl home to face a well-rested Mets left-hander on Saturday.

Interestingly enough, the left-hander in question, Al Leiter, was quoted
yesterday as saying exactly the same thing. Something about burning out
El Duque (which looked like a pretty fair certainty anyway, last night,
and even Rivera's record scoreless-inning streak was killed).
 
As has been mentioned by Certain Disinterested Philistines, I will only
be able to support the Yankees organization I loved in my childhood when
Steinbrenner is no longer calling the shots, and when Roger Clemens is a
broken man on a Halifax pier, as the song says. And as long as I'm
foaming at the mouth anyway, I should mention that while I would never
actually wish harm to come to Mr. Clemens, if a hard line drive off the
bat of Mr. Piazza were to bust his head like a rotten melon, it would
only be what his carefully constructed dharma has prescribed for him. I
do feel, though, that since Mr. Clemens has adopted the philosophy of
being as aggressive as he deems necessary, without provably breaking the
rules, to win, then he should be accidentally pitched at, accidentally
spiked, and otherwise accidentally abused at every remotely conceivable
opportunity, because technically none of these things, if accidental (or
impossible to prove otherwise), are against the rules, and they are part
of the game. As the Yankees organization is so fond of pointing out.

What I find so amazing is the number of Yankees who still will not even
speak to Clemens after their experiences facing him as an opponent on
the Red Sox, but who will still defend his actions as "part of the
game", now that he is wearing pinstripes. The math doesn't seem to work.

So, 'Lainie, in answer to your question, I'm rooting for the Mets, I'm
not absolutely sure who will win, but I think the odds are more even now
than they have been in past encounters, and I'm really looking forward
to hearing chants of "Rooooooooooooooooooogerrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!" again...

Except is was quietly announced that Clemens has been promised he will
never be asked to pitch at Shea Stadium <snicker>...
    
Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com