Opening Series Overreactions

Guy 1: CC's velocity is gone
Guy 2: Did you see how many hard hit balls he gave up?
Guy 1: Yeah! He was practically throwing BP. How can he be our ace if he can't even beat the Astros on Opening Day?
Guy 2: Kuroda is definitely the Yanks top arm. It's too bad the offense was terrible.
Guy1: 1 run against some no name starter. Good thing we won that last game. I couldn't bear to get swept by the Astros.

Sound familiar? I have probably heard this conversation at least three times, or something similar. I am always timid about interjecting into stranger's conversations, but, the internet affords an outlet. Did CC get hit hard? Yes. Do you really believe that he is going to stink this bad all year? I do not. He gave up all 6 runs in the first 2 innings, then settled down. I do expect him to give up home runs, but I also expect him to locate better. As Ken Singleton pointed out in the broadcast, most of the hard hits were because he was missing up in the zone. One or two meatballs here and there, but it was not as bad as most people think. As for the offense, look at the following total hits and errors and try to guess which team scored the most?

Team 1: 19 hits, 0 Errors
Team 2: 20 hits, 2 Errors

If you guessed that the Yankees had more hits but committed more errors, you were correct. Defense definitely played into the losses as well as the wins. More often than not, Yankee hitters were hitting the balls hard as well, just into the shift. It was admirable to see McCann and Soriano try to hit into the gap. In fact, I believe McCann did collect a hit that way. But as much as you have bad luck hitting, sometimes, you have good luck hitting as well. Yangervis Solarte's infield single in Game 3 comes to mind. He hit a "silo" of a pop up right between the pitcher and catcher. With 2 outs, Suzuki, who was on 2nd, ran hard around 3rd and headed home. The backup catcher (who had conveniently replaced starting catcher Jason Castro after two HBPs), the pitcher, and the 3rd basemen promptly set up a campfire and watched the ball hit the ground. Suzuki scored, Solarte was safe, and the Yankees had a 2 run lead.

The moral is, luck has such a big factor in this game. A ball hit down the line is a double off the chalk or a foul ball depending on a half an inch. A line drive two feet to the right becomes an RBI so easily. After three games, fans should not overreact for good or bad. As that WWII poster says, "Keep calm, and carry on" or rather keep calm, and cheer on.

One last note: everyone has got to feel good about this Solarte kid. Spent so much time in the minors and finally gets rewarded. Just need to know what John Sterling's HR call for him will be!