Week Eleven Wrapup: Shea and Yankee Stadium Edition

I was in NYC this week to see the Reds play the Mets and the Marlins play the Yankees.

I watched the Reds game on Monday in an Irish pub somewhere in Chelsea, as we were looking for a place to eat and the Reds-Mets game was advertised on the sandwich board outside the place. The bar was empty, and no Mets fans bothered us. It was nice to see a win.

On Tuesday, we decided around 6pm to go to the game (though we had tickets for Wednesday.) Since we were late, we bought tix off a scalper that did not work when we got to the gate, so we had to buy more tickets and didn't get into the stadium until the second inning. Little did we know that the new tickets we had were in a "no alcohol consumption" area. Never heard of one of those. In response to these wretched conditions, we moved, and when I sat down in a new seat, it broke. I think the seats were designed for skeletons, because there is absolutely no room to move when you're sitting in them. The rails all over the place in between the seats don't help, either. They are supposed to be there to give the feel of "box" seats, but they really just prevent a group of three or four from sitting together. As if that weren't enough, the Reds offense decided not to show up, but unfortunately, the Reds bullpen did, and what was a manageable deficit before Stormy Weathers came in became out of reach after he finished. The game ended 9-2, and Mets fans were quite nice to us in our Reds gear.

They weren't so nice the next day, when Billy Wagner blew the save and Brandon Phillips got the game winning hit that scored two. "Go back to Cincinnati" was heard on a couple of occasions. But that was all at the end. Prior to the game, we watched the Reds take batting practice behind their dugout. I hadn't done that in years, so it was nice to be close to the players. That's also where I ran into Zack, the baseball collector who has gotten over 2000 balls at games. He's a Mets fan, but he wears the caps of other teams to get balls. My mother told him Mr. Stowe's name, which he promptly called out and got a ball. She made his blog.

It was cool to be at Shea and to watch two Reds games there, but I'm already looking forward to visiting the new field in 2009, which will be built next to Shea. I have to say, I loved the planes going over, as I remember as a kid watching the Reds play the Mets there and always thought of the planes as a quirky Mets thing.

Yankee Stadium, however, is a different story. It is like an exalted castle, a venerable temple to the gods of baseball, full of the ghosts in pinstripes. The stadium is in great condition and has nothing of the feel of neglect that Shea has, which makes me hope something can be done to save the place. Steinbrenner is the worst thing to ever happen to baseball.

Yankees fans were different than I expected. They were quiet, like they are so used to winning they can't even have fun any more. The Yankees fans I have always encountered in the past, including last weekend against the Nats here in DC, were obnoxious and ever so loud, but these ones barely cheered. It was shocking, really. It was a Friday night, so it wasn't like the place wasn't packed.

All in all, it was a great week in NYC. I'll be posting some photos later this week. And now, on to the week:

Reds (41-35, 2nd place, 2.0 behind St. Louis, WC leader)

After last week's mess, this week's 4-3 mark was much better. The bullpen was horrendous again, but at least White was DFA'd.

After Sunday's game, Griffey passed Schmidt for 11th on the all time home run list.

Homer Bailey did well in his first game since being promoted to Chattanooga.

Joe Mays did a much better job than Brandon Claussen would have on Wednesday.

Brandon Phillips makes up a new word - crunked.

Aaron Harang has 105 strikeouts, good for third in the Majors. He's tied for fourth in the NL in wins and has a very decent 3.59 ERA. Bronson is an All-Star, yes, but I think Harang deserves it as well. This guy is the most underrated pitcher in the Majors; I'm sure of it.

Don't forget to start rooting against the entire NL West since the Reds are competing with them for the Wild Card.

Up next: the worst team in baseball (even worse than the Pirates,) the Kansas City Royals, though the Royals had a good week, sweeping the Pirates and taking two of three from the Brewers after taking two of three from the Asstros the weekend before. Let's sweep and root for the Indians to win the series against the Deadbirds so we can move back into first place.

Reds Saint of the Week: Ryan Freel. Freel went 15-31 including a 5-5 performance on Friday night. Yes, his walks are down, but that is because he is hitting all the time! Freel made ESPN's All-Run-Through-A-Wall Team:

We weren't sure what position to put the King of the Kamikazes in because Freel does everything for the Reds except wear shin guards and do the P.A. announcing. But he had to be on this team. And we were overloaded with outfielders. So we're sticking him at the spot he has played more than anyplace except center field.

Freel has impaled himself on so many different parts of the ballpark, he "looks like he just got done sparring," Donnelly says. "He always looks like his face just got chopped up. He's got marks all over himself from some kind of collision."

But he first came to our attention in 2004, when he launched himself over the right-field fence in Dodger Stadium and landed in the lap of a woman in the third row. She went to the hospital. He stayed in the game. Naturally.

Afterward, Freel's then-teammate Danny Graves told us: "Ryan Freel is out of control. ... Sometimes, when he's playing right field, he wants to catch foul balls behind the plate. We have to give him a shot or something to calm him down. Maybe Valium. Or a sleeping pill."

Nats (33-44, 4th place, 15 games behind the Mets)

Swept by the Bosox, lost two of three from the O's in Baltimore. I once thought the team would start playing to its potential and make a run for the WC in September. I no longer believe that. Armas is on the DL, Livan isn't pitching well, and do we think O'Connor and Hill can do well all year? The bullpen is atrocious, Frank sleeps through the games, and when Soriano is gone, half of the offense goes with him. Remember when they had played well enough to get to four games under .500? It's all just a memory.

At least they're above the hated Braves.

Nats Saint of the Week: Royce Clayton. Yeah, Clayton. He's really the only one who did anything all week, going 9 for 22 with 4 RBI and 5 runs scored.

Giants (37-38, 4th place, 3 games behind the Dodgers)

The team swept Anaheim but lost two of three to Oakland this week, but 4-2 is a good week. Unfortunately, the Dodgers have been winning and have vaulted into first place. Arizona has fallen to last for now, the rightful place for this team that should have never been a team.

Bonds left Sunday's game early with a knee injury. I think someone made a voodoo Barry.

The team takes on Texass for three games this week before battling San Diego on the weekend.

Giant's Saint of the Week: Matt Cain. Cain took a no hitter into the 8th inning on Wednesday and ended up giving up only one hit in his eight innings pitched. Ok, so he gave up 6 runs in Sunday's game, but the Giants had no one really stand out this week, and Cain's performance on Wednesday, in which he also had 10 Ks, was outstanding enough to warrant Saint of the Week.

Around the Horn

Albert "I am the Cardinals" Pujols and Derrek "I am the Cubs' offense" Lee have both returned to their teams from injuries. Given the way the NL Central has been playing of late, this can only improve offense in the division.

The Deadbirds lost six games this week, getting swept by the White Sox and the Tigers thanks to their bullpen, which has pitched like Rick White of late. Here's to hoping it continues.

Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose Reyes hit for the cycle on Wednesday night.

The Tigers have won 51 games already. The Sox, though, are right on their heels with 49 wins. Go Tigers. Jim Leyland is a magician.

Demon of the Week

Ozzie Guillen. This guy needs to shut his mouth. I'm starting to wonder if he isn't a closet case and that's why he feels the need to make these slurs all the time. I hope he doesn't go to the sensitivity training (which is stupid, anyway. If you're a jerk, one workshop is not going to make you a nice guy,) because I want to see him suspended. He would be if he were using the big N word. And who's to say that he won't - he's used all sorts of different ethnic slurs...