Sometimes Baseball is More Than Just Numbers

In a previous post, Yankees fans and Sox fans alike got together to argue whether New York would win more than 89 games or whether the Sox would win the division and finish with 94 of their own. As is tradition, both sides could make their own arguments and form their own theories using whichever tactic it is that they want to express their statistics.

In the minor leagues today, Mariano Rivera pitched two perfect innings and struck out four batters. Hideki Matsui had a base hit and almost hit one out of the park. Both seem to be progressing successfully as Rivera dominated his first multi-inning attempt and Matsui played left field. Jeff Karstens pitched well in his start, the Yankees bats continued to hit and they won a game, 11-0.

11-0 is the least important part of what transpired today. We can take time out of our days every 24 hours to express how we feel about our teams (and you rightfully should, it increases the traffic and I know for me, motivates me to keep writing), but sometimes where the players we watch everyday are in their progression towards the regular season takes a break. Virginia Tech took a giant step forward in its healing process and, Yankees or Sox fan, you have to be happy about that.

Do you think the players who got to meet Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez (among others) face-to-face care about who wins the division or which team from the northeast is the best? Today saw the Virginia Tech Head Coach, suspiciously named Pete Hughes, a major Red Sox fan straight out of Massachusetts, don his son in Yankees blue on top of his Red Sox shirt. "I will never look at that team the same way again", he said. The families of the 32 victims who passed away and the guardians of the V-Tech baseball team, were treated to a game that featured their children and their former classmates against the New York Yankees.

Sometimes, the Yankees look too corporate and sometimes people mistaken them for not having any fun when they play the game, but there was nothing corporate about taking the time out of your schedule to play a college team who sorely needed a moment like this. And for that, we can all look past the numbers.