Apparently they weren’t mayflies but midges. Mayflies are bigger.
This baseball season isn’t going to do any favors for the Cleveland Tourism Board.
“They’ve got snow. And swarms of flies. Let’s go to Pittsburg instead.”
Actually, they were Canadian Soldiers which is a common name for mayflies.
[Carson]I did not know that[/Carson]
Oh man, I’m so there.
Afterwards, can we all buy Jimmy Rollins a drink or something?
I just caught the broadcast, I had it recorded.
The reporter said they were canadian soldiers/mayflies, but they definitely weren’t. Mayflies are much bigger and more distinct looking… they’re slightly longer than a dime.
Trust me - I’ve been swarmed with the damn things worse than what the pitchers in the game got from the midges.
from yahoo sports:
Stupid flies. I’m convinced the Yankees win without the bugs. They really seemed to bother Chamberlain and it looked like his critical half inning was the worst time. Once again A-Rod chokes on the big one. What good are MVP seasons if you crack under pressure?
I’ve been reading about baseball in the NY papers since 1981 and I know how these things are going to play there.
All those other guys have either done it in the past or are paid much less than Rodriguez. That’s why no one cares about anyone’s lack of hitting but his.
You have no idea how long it took the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to train those bugs to attack the pitcher at just the right moment. 
Can anyone dig up some high res pictures of Joba covered in these things? Or at least anything with some clarity. I was working so I couldn’t see the game, and I’m coming up short with all the sports sites I’ve checked.
I’m not saying that Theriot is the same caliber as A-Rod but I’ve been really impressed with his overall playing this year and would hate to see him traded to make room for A-Rod.
This Cubs team is about as emotionally attached to a team as I’ve been since the Grace/Dunston/Sandburg era.
If they were to get rid of anyone to make room for A-Rod I would want it to be Soriano. Unfortunately he is too cocky for his own good and only seems to perform at the plate in short bursts, which is why his overall numbers look decent, but he has long bursts where he can’t hit shit. And I’m really put off by his attitude. The dude will wander around in left with his glove off and put it on right when the ball is hit.
Oh, as far as predictions go, I predict the Cubs to sweep at Wrigley and then return to AZ and lose there unfortunately.
Really? Like, if the Cubs announced tomorrow that they had traded Theriot for A-Rod straight up, you would hate that?
It’s the least we could do. Chase Utley and Shane Victorino too, but Jimmy gets the most drinks because he’s the bestest.
Hate in the sense that I would feel bad for Theriot. He played his ass off this year (even though his numbers may not show it directly) and to get traded after being an important part of an overall team right after they make it to the playoffs would be a bummer.
Like I said, I don’t think Theriot>A-Rod, but I do think Theriot is a good shortstop with a solid bat.
On an aside I think we’ll be hearing from Giovanni Soto in the next few years. He’s going to be the guy to watch. Will he be eligible for ROTY next year even though he played a little this year?
If God is a Red Sox fan, it seems he only started going to games in 2004.
As a Yankees fan, I’m sure the rest of the country has always known God had nothing to do with our past successes. We all know that Beelzebub has been our patron. 
But the Lord of the Flies certainly betrayed us last night. That was one of the strangest things I have ever seen in a baseball game. The bugs were clearly visible on TV - they looked like a snow flurry.
I definitely think the bugs won the game for the Indians. Joba was sharp his first inning. In the next the bugs obviously broke his concentration.
They didn’t look like mayflies to me. They looked a lot like mosquitoes, but I can believe midges too.
What good are MVP seasons?
Well, in the case of 2007, the benefit of MVP seasons is that, without A-Rod’s MVP season, the Yankees wouldn’t even have had the chance to fold like a cheap suit against the Indians. They would have been watching the ALDS on TV. Without A-Rod’s WARP3 of 13.7 (!!!), the Yankees would be playing golf right now and the Tigers would have been the wild card.
As for cracking under pressure: As August ended, the Yankees were 75-60, 5 games back of Boston in the East and just 2 games up in the Wild Card. The Yankees then proceed to go 19-8 in September, challenging for the division and ensuring that Detroit’s resurgent 16-11 September was not good enough to catch them for the wild card. Is that situation not pressure enough for you?
A-Rod’s line in September: .362/.470/.723
Better than a hit every 3 at-bats. On base virtually half the time. And slugging a crazy .723 for a month.
And as for A-Rod being the problem, let me repeat part of my earlier post: In the two ALDS games so far, the Yanks are 8-66. That’s a .121 batting average. Only once have they managed two hits in an inning. Matsui is 0-7, Posada is 0-7, Mientkiewicz is 0-4, Captain Clutch is 1-8, and the only Yankee with more than 1 hit is Bobby Abreu.
In Seattle, in the two seasons where he was a full-time member of the postseason team (1997, 2000), his playoff numbers in 13 games were: .353/.412/.588.
So he has “done it in the past.” Let me quote from a guy who writes for my favorite baseball blog:
[ETA: You’d think Yankee fans might remember this, considering that one of A-Rod’s best playoff series EVER was against the Yankees in 2000, when he went .409/.480/.773.]
Of course, even suggesting he’s never performed for New York in the playoffs is wrong. Remember the 2004 Postseason? How could any Yankees fan ever forget it. You know how A-Rod performed in a Yankee uniform in those playoffs? .320/.440/.600.
In three AL Championship series, Rodriguez has hit .315/.413/.611. But i’m sure it’s his fault that his teams have lost all three of those series.
Having said all that, let me make one final plea, as an Orioles fan: Please, Yankee fans, continue to do everything possible to drive A-Rod out of New York and out of the AL East so we don’t have to face him 18 times a year. Hell, if you can drive him out of the American League altogether, that might be nice too, although it would deny us the pleasure of seeing him return to Yankee Stadium in another team’s uniform to spank your pitching all over the ballpark.
And the idiocy begins in the newspapers. From today’s New York Times, under the title “New October, but Same Old A-Rod.”
Never mind that he had 8 hits, including 2 doubles and 2 home runs, in that series against Boston.
I think the writer is onto something here. The last game where A-Rod got a home run was also the game that “ignited the Red Sox’ humiliation of the Yankees.” Coincidence or conspiracy? Was A-Rod’s home run responsible for Boston’s victory? You be the judge, Yankee fans.
No kidding.
The more petulant the NY fans get, the better I like it. Here’s hoping future free agents look at them and say, “Oh Hell No.”
Hey, He’s a bandwagon-jumper too. Why do you think he’s always on the winning side of a game?
What on earth is your point?
All I’m saying is fairly or not the expectations are higher for A-Rod than for any other human being who wears a professional baseball uniform. He is the most heralded, highest paid player on the most storied franchise in a city that is arguably the media capitol of the world. That media attention builds the further into the postseason his team goes. He is expected to produce at a high level all the time but especially in the postseason.
Is it fair? Hell, I dunno. Is it his life? Yes.
No one cares if Doug Mientkiewicz doesn’t hit, they do care if Rodriguez doesn’t hit. He’s got immense talent and tons of money but until he gets a World Series ring he’s going to be considered a failure amongst New York fans and the media.
(But it will be a comfort to us Yankee fans as we watch the Indians who knocked our team off play our fierce rival the Red Sox in the ALCS that at least A-Rod had a WARP-3 (whatever the hell that is) of 13.7.) :rolleyes: