Round 2: NYY over MIN

The Twins had their shot multiple times tonight, but they clearly had no desire to win. Hell, Boof Bonser even gave it his all, but a dumb error by Nick Punto (why, Ron, was he starting at short?) and the incompetence of Jesse Crain rendered that all irrelevant. Then they came back courtesy of a Cuddyer HR off of Edwar Ramierz. But Mauer and that same Cuddyer struck out against Farnsworth in the 9th; Russ Ohlendorf got around a 2-out triple in the 10th thanks to Carlos Gomez's lack of plate discipline; and in the 11th, Morneau, Cuddyer, and Kubel did nothing with runners on first and second with zero initial outs. Why was Craig Monroe not in the game for Gomez in the 10th or Kubel (0-5 up to that point) in the 11th? Who knows. But Garhendire and the Twins offense clearly did not want to win the game, so it's only fitting that that Damon, Cap'n, and Abreu put together the winning run in the 12th so Mo could finally close it out four+ hours later. Geez.

Subpar pitching, sloppy fielding, untimely hitting, and poor managing doomed the Twins tonight. Naturally, the complete opposite helped the Yanks. How about the Yankees: a win on the road AND in extras! But how about Wang: 5 straight starts without a decision. That's no good at all. I say we start a new streak in June.

These two games have been exhausting for me. Caring about both teams is really like watching two separate games at once. Why are there still two more left?

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1) The Capital Region was like a rainforest today. It would rain hard for a few minutes, then get sunny, then thunderstorm, then get bright, and then repeat the cycle. Now it's sticky and humid. Ah, I love the Northeast.

2) I took a bookshelf of papers and memories from grades 6 - 12 and condensed it to a single binder this afternoon. I'm (about to be) a college graduate; I no longer have any sentimental attachment to some 2-paragraph essay I wrote in 6th grade in Comic Sans MS. Nor do I need my AP US History notes, since any reference material I could ever want can be found on Wiki. Hey! Is this a sign of growing up?

3) The DNC Rules Committee met today, and after hours upon hours of deliberating and having to withstand verbal abuse from ignorant Hillary supporters, they came to a conclusion on this FL and MI issue. The delegations will be seated but will only get half a vote. The FL totals will stand, but MI will be split 34.5-29.5, Hillary-Obama. I think, at the end of the day, she gains some 20+ delegates. Whoop-de-doo. All that hubbub and drama for something that won't matter anyway. What excuse will she use for not winning now?

I have two things to say about this. One: DNC, I hoped you learned your lesson. I hope you learned it real well. If you want to punish party elites for breaking silly rules, don't take it out on the people. Either reduce the power of the delegation off the back (like the RNC did), or, even better, just remove the state's superdelegates. But establish reasonable rules and stick with them, god dammit.

And two: a number of videos have surfaced post-decision which contain angry women ranting about how they're "second-rate citizens" and how they've been "disenfranchised" due to the tyranny of some "inadequate black male" and how they're now voting for McCain. This is disturbing. Even if these people ARE in the minority (which I hope to god they are), they symbolize (or, are caricatures of) the mentality that Hillary has helped create. It is her job to her party to heal these divisions. She needs to make it very clear that she DOES support and endorse Barack Obama, and that she doesn't want the sympathy of ANYONE who would vote for McCain out of spite. Because if she doesn't? Then congrats, Hilldawg, for completely decimating the Democratic Party because you're a childish sore loser.

Alright. Tomorrow Nick Blackburn takes the mound, and then I return to Boston afterwards. G'night all.