It is Friday night, and I am still high after the Brett Myers Epic Walk and the Shane Victorino Hawaiian Slam at the Phillies game last night.
What is the Epic Walk, you ask?
Let me paint a picture.
It is the bottom of the second inning. The Brewers were up 1-0. There were two outs. CC Sabiathia, pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers was basically cruising on. There were 2 outs. And up to the plate comes Phillies starting pitcher Brett Myers. He had a difficult first inning, allowing the Brewers to load the bases but escaping with just one run. He calmed down in the second inning (and indeed, after this at bat that I am describing now), went on to pitch a gem, allowing only 2 hits in 7 innings.
So there is Brett Myers, a horrible hitter, with I think a .056 batting average. His stance at the plate is wild. The first pitch comes. He swings wildly. Strike One. The second pitch is thrown in. Brett again swings so hard and off quilter that you think the bat will go flying into the stands. Strike Two.
The next pitch is a ball, and for once, Brett didn't swing. The crowd let up a mock Philly cheer. But then the next pitch was a ball as well. Instead of a mock cheer, the crowd got behind Brett. A loud sincere cheer fills the ballpark. In a kind of "Alright big guy, we got you, let's do this" kind of way. The count is 2-2. The next pitch is a way outside ball. 3-2. At this point, everyone already me is saying "CC lost it. He can't find the strike zone." But then he found it again. The next pitch is would have been a strike, but Brett fought it off and fouled it off. The count remains 3-2. The 7th pitch of the at-bat comes in. Brett fouls it off again. This happens twice more, so that 9 pitches are thrown, with two strikes, three balls, and four foul balls. With each pitch, the crowd gets a little louder, and a little more insane. At this point, it is all about raising CC's pitch count. At this point, it is all about getting in his head. At this point, with one runner on, 2 outs, it is all about making something of this inning out of nothing.
And then the 10th pitch comes in.
So the situation is 2 men on, 2 outs, with Jimmy Rollins and the top of the order coming to bat. Jimmy Rollins walks on 4 pitches. "CC Sucks!" chants fill the park. Bases loaded. The Phlying Hawaiian, Shane Victorino stands in.
The Phillies go on to win the game 5 to 2, to take a commanding 2 games to none lead in the best of five series. One thousand miles away, a team widely expected to reverse a century's worth of futility and bad luck was down two games to none, faced with the tough task of winning all three of its remaining games in the series, two of which will be in Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles.
Now Kos, you have been wrong before on a host of political predictions, but your own batting average has vastly improved over the last 2 election cycles. Maybe one day your baseball predicting skills will catch up, and maybe by writing this diary I will jinx the Phillies and reverse jinx the Cubs, but I must say, I will welcome your support of the Phightin Phils against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the upcoming National League Championship Series.