Rocket Failure
By lefty
The radio was tuned to WFAN out of New York as I drove home from work this All-Star game night. I listened, as Roger Clemens watched pitch after pitch fly by him at twice the velocity he threw them. The game was still in the first half inning but the person speaking on this sports call-in talk show was euphoric. The admitted Yankee fan had obviously lost all muscular control of his tongue caused by a complete meltdown of the valued human process known as thought.
That was the host.
The callers were even further unhinged. They couldn't decide which was sweeter — watching Clemens, their former lover turned traitor, get shelled, or the thought of this years World Series starting at Yankee Stadium. The rest of us were wondering if Mike Piazza secretly whispered the coming pitch selection to Manny Ramirez and Alfonzo Soriano, who both took the “Lone Star Rocket” deep in the first inning.
Major League Baseball, in its never-ending desire to give meaning to the All-Star game, declared this years winner would gain home field advantage in the World Series this October. "This one counts," is their slogan, sealing the argument for those who argued that past All-Star games didn't.
Before the third out was called, Clemens was riding the pine and this game was all but over as the American League coasted to a 9-4 victory. Clemens performance was so poor it may stop the Yankee faithful from dreaming of Clemens finishing the year in Pinstripes. Boston sluggers Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, hit homers.
In a game dominated by current and former Yankees, one couldn’t miss the irony in the doling out of the biggest post-game award. Alfonso Soriano the player the Yankees traded to get Alex Rodriquez, was presented with the Ted Williams MVP award.
Yahoo! recap
