Los Angeles Kings (5-2, .714) @ Brooklyn Citizens (5-2, .714)
Imagine, if you will, my disappointment when I rifled through my suitcase to discover that, of all things, I had forgotten my sleek, black turtleneck sweater. How am I to assimilate, not just blend, but really present myself as one of them – a card-carrying member of their boredom culture, an equal opportunity critic, and hipster of ill-repute? You can’t drink a doppio, pinky raised in mock salute, God save the Queen and all that, without a proper turtleneck to go with your beret and Kerouac paperback… So, instead, I’m forced to head to Gertie’s for a legendary brunch plus Bloody Mary before heading to the ballpark. Zahur’s customary pre-game scouting report is at the ready, single-spaced, excellent font choice, complete with spray charts, graphs, and stats… there’s even a picture of him and his wife on their honeymoon in Tuscany – not sure why, but it’s there. The problem is, I’m just not into it right now – I’ve been deterred by its length (27-pages!) and we’re at the point where history is irrelevant.
In other news… while things have been quiet on the Foggy front, Yan has made the trip to New York with the club. Yan almost never travels with the team and wouldn’t have made this trip if she didn’t see it as an opportunity to apply for Columbia University. That she already has degrees in International Finance, Inferential Statistics, and Computer Science is of no importance… her aim here is to major in Linguistics, a subject she’s already well-equipped in, as a cover for her desire to join the Columbia-Barnard Fencing team… if she doesn’t get into Columbia (unlikely) she could always apply at Barnard, where, if what she told me is correct, she can major in Dance with a minor in Human Rights. I mean, Columbia is cool – but, if it were me, I’d give Barnard a try first.
Game 3: Aiden Jensen (0-0, 31.50) @ Les Trost (1-0, 1.00)
Loss, 6-4. Jensen managed to cut his postseason ERA in half, but that wasn’t the actual goal here – we needed a win, and, after giving up 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th and 3 more in the bottom of the 6th he didn’t really put us in a position to do that. Brooklyn’s Nehemiah Jenkins went 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs – the former Laker really put it on us in this one, out there prancing around the diamond looking every bit the part of the one that got away. Our offense continued to struggle – there were 4 doubles (Rajkumar, Ethan, Goodwin, and Nolan), a 2-out RBI, and, because we did nothing with any of them, 6 runners left stranded… It’s not that we’re being dismantled, it’s that Brooklyn has been just a little bit better in nearly every facet of the game. What we need now is a good bounce, an overzealous Brooklyn batsman to swing at a bad pitch, and for their bullpen to unravel – to heck with making our own luck, what we need, right now, is for them to have some bad luck.
Game 4: Trevor Dotson (1-0, 2.57) @ Anthony Boswell (0-0, 5.68)
Win, 2-0. 8 innings of shutout baseball courtesy of Trevor Dotson, another save from Brisky, and a clutch, top of the 9th, solo homer from OH HONG to give us more than enough cushion to bring this one home. This was that lucky break I was talking about – our offense is still sputtering, and this game could have really gone either way… but, it didn’t. because Trevor was great, Brisky came though, and OH HONG will not go quietly into the night. We’ve booked a return trip to Los Angeles with this win, have evened things up, and now find ourselves locked into a best of three series for the right to represent the National League in the World Series.
Game 5: Newton Weiser (1-1, 10.50) @ Mer Crawford (2-1, 3.92)
Loss, 3-0. I always liked Merl Crawford when he was in the fold – he had a good head on his shoulders, worked hard, and always kept his off-the-field shenanigans wholesome… I never had to send a car to pick him up on the bad side of town, no hush money was ever doled out on his behalf, and, outside of that time he found his way into the back room of a nail salon on La Brea, I never had the need to question his decision-making. Whatever soft spot I had for the kid, however, has turned into solid granite after he hung a complete-game, 2-hit, shutout on our club tonight. He was, in a word, masterful – taking full advantage of our suddenly sputtering offense and outdueling a surprisingly serviceable performance by Weiser. When you add in the fact that Ruben Zarate, a kid who I didn’t like, a kid who led Merl into the bowels of that Nail Salon, and a kid who cost my staff untold dollars in hush money, went 1 for 4 with a solo shot in the bottom of the 8th that broke our back, I think it’s safe to say that I’ll not be looking forward to returning to Brooklyn anytime soon.
We now find ourselves on the precipice of defeat but will look forward to contesting these next two games in our park, in front of our fans, for the right to, well, party, I guess… The winner gets Toronto, who closed out their set against the Golden State Warriors in spectacular fashion… a 9-0 thrashing at home in from of the Reds Army… Hamza, my main man, went 3 for 4 with an RBI, 3 runs, and a free pass to anywhere within the Toronto Metropolitan area good for two free beers and a plate of Fried Chicken Bao courtesy of the Banh Mi Boys. Good looks, Hamza.
