Chien-Ming Wang was so smooth today, I didn't realize from my upper-deck seat behind home plate that he was perfect until five innings went by. All hard stuff, from 91 to 95 mph mostly, and getting a lot more swings and misses than usual.
Seattle isn't a great-hitting team (Richie Sexon is sub-.150), but Wang would have shut down about any team today. The outfield for the Yanks backed him up when needed, too, and Melky Cabrera, for all his boneheaded mistakes, is a man with fabulous range.
Jeff Weaver, on the other hand, pulled some magic for five innings before relapsing into the guy with an 18+ ERA entering the game. He was heartily booed, and since he won a World Series last year as, inexplicably, a key part, I've lost any sympathy that might have lingered.
The team looked good today, for whatever that's worth. And some old college friends were present, so it was nice being able to bounce around the stadium and talk over the magic on the mound.
As for stadium experiences, Bob Shepard (spelling?) sounded fantastic, best in years, the work on the new Stadium is flying along (construction workers were clearly working very hard, even late on a Saturday). Alex Rodriguez got the biggest pre-game cheer -- yes, louder than Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada, if not by much.
Bobby Abreu looks OK at the plate, although his power stroke really did disappear last year. Robinson Cano, though, continues to mix powerful swings with disasters caused by either getting fooled or guessing wrong.
A great day at the ballpark, with great weather. Too much travel, but still worth it.
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