By Rex O’Rourke
THE BRONX, N.Y. – 1:15 am – My brain hurts, my stomach aches, basically what I’m saying is that the Yankees/Angels series is making me sick. In another Yankee Stadium slash New Yankee Stadium classic, The Bronx Bombers prevailed 4-3 in what seemed like 47 innings. To alter the mojo, I changed seats, stood, paced, took my pants off, drank my iced tea left handed, switched couches, put my pants back on, grabbed Yogi (my cat) for luck, then quickly shooed him away after the first of Cano’s two errors, turned my tee shirt inside out, grabbed Scooter, (my other cat) proving luckless again, rocked back and forth, and did everything short of turning the sound off on the TV (silent watching was first used in the 1977 ALCS game five and I’m 3-0 lifetime when hitting the mute button, but I only use it in the most dire of situations) to get that one clutch hit, strikeout, call… anything!
This game had everything; great defense, bad defense, rain, cold, an extra inning comeback, clutch pitching, a controversial call, and ultimately, pie, sweet tasty pie! And make no mistake, if the Yankees lose this game they lose the series, I’m convinced of that. Now the Halos have to take four out of five, which is fine when you’re surveying dentists, but a tall order against this particular Yankee squad.
I’d love game three to be a laugher, a 10-2 drubbing, so I could ease up on the Maalox, but you just know it’s going to be another nail biter. The Angels just never make it easy for you. Even with as poorly as they played in game one, they were never out of it. I’d much rather watch Charlie’s Angels than play Arte’s Angels.
Switching gears to The NFL, at a torrid 13-2 against the spread, I’m due; check that, way overdue, for a 1-2 or 0-3 week. This week’s article was going to be on the odds makers and how uncannily good they are at setting the line but the ALCS was the story. Anyway, without further ado, here are the picks.
How can a team that just lost 41-0 be a 9.5 point favorite? The answer? They’re playing St. Louis. Take The JAGUARS (-9.5) over The Rams. I like The FALCONS (-3.5) over The Bears and The Lions, that’s right, The Lions (+13.5) over The PACKERS. I also LOVE The Dodgers in game three.
Until next week,
Rex
