September 1, 2005

YOUTH WILL BE SERVED...A BIT LATER:

Yankees 2, Mariners 0: A victory for the aged ( JON PAUL MOROSI, September 1, 2005, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER)

He spent a dozen hours in transit on Tuesday, Caracas to Dallas to Seattle. He had never been to the United States before. He did not plan to come for another week. But he could not miss this.

Felix Hernandez Sr. was among the sellout crowd of 46,240 at Safeco Field. Many here were like him, their plans changed by a 6-foot-10 left-hander named Randy Johnson, who along with Hernandez's son brought about the most anticipated night of Seattle baseball this summer.

Young Felix pitched superbly, allowing only two solo home runs in eight innings. He was "outstanding," in the words of his manager, Mike Hargrove. In the end, though, it was Johnson -- a man closer in age to Felix Sr. than Felix Jr. -- who turned in a performance for the ages in the Yankees' 2-0 victory over the Mariners.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 1, 2005 8:17 AM
Comments

It was a fun to watch. Randy Johnson was VERY intense, sometimes yelling out and cursing to fire up himself and his team. Hernandez was visibly nervous but dealt with it well. Randy got some very questionable calls, but if anyone was going to benefit from a close pitch it was the aged veteran, not the Mariners' young hitters. And for anyone who watched the game, how was A-Rod able to throw out Ichiro at first from the other side of third base? It was a great play from the loathed Alex.

Posted by: Patrick H at September 1, 2005 11:35 AM

Watching that play Patrick made me understand why Ichiro has a 300 rather than a 400 average this season.

When he first came over, he would've beaten that out easy. There wouldn't even have been a throw. He's really lost at least a step.

I hear that he's been putting the ball in the air much more this season. That explains it. If you can't beat out all those infield hits as he's made his living doing, you have to lift the ball into the outfield.

Posted by: Jim in Chicago at September 1, 2005 11:44 AM

I read once that Ichiro had a set number of strides from the batters box to first base and he always hit the bag after the same number of steps. I saw him take a stutter step about two strides from the bag on that play last night, so you might be right about this.

Posted by: Patrick H at September 1, 2005 11:48 AM

It's because he hit .250 instead of .450 in August, too.

Posted by: oj at September 1, 2005 11:58 AM

I'm trying to figure out if Ichi's hitting home runs because his BA is so low, or if his BA is so low because he's hitting home runs.

Posted by: Timothy at September 1, 2005 1:00 PM

Before A-Rod even made the ball transfer I was yelling at the TV "Forget it! No way he gets him from there!" Good thing there wasn't time to place a bet.

Posted by: John Resnick at September 1, 2005 1:40 PM

His batting average is so low because he is pressing and thus swinging at bad pitches.

Posted by: Bartman at September 1, 2005 3:20 PM

The seasoned, experienced veteran beat the youthful hotshot. Conservatives nod their approval.

Posted by: Matt Murphy at September 1, 2005 3:44 PM

The American beat the hard-working Latino immigrant.

The Minutemen nod their approval.

(ducking for cover).

Posted by: Jim in Chicago at September 1, 2005 6:50 PM
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