the eye of the tiger is upon you
Since the David Ortiz/Brett Gardner home run race lost its sizzle after Ortiz leapt ahead of Gardner's two home runs* with a big, whopping third and fourth last week, I think it's time for a new Big Papi rivalry.

I declare 2009 the year of THE DROPPED POP-UP RIVALRY BETWEEN ALEX RODRIGUEZ AND DAVID ORTIZ!

As you all should know, last week Friday saw Alex Rodriguez deliver a new intangible: hitting an un-catchable, almost un-trackable pop-up which allowed two baserunners to score and won the game 9-8.

In last night's game against the Florida Marlins, David Ortiz started off the fifth inning by popping up to third and his soul cried out anguish.


"View this cruel sight, world! This is a man buckling under the weight of the heavens and the expectations of a Nation. See how he falls! This is so much more dramatic than breaking your bat and jogging to first base."

But then the Marlins' third baseman Emilio Bonifacio dropped the ball and Ortiz made his way to first. I haven't seen the footage yet so I'm curious about how long he stood at the plate in agony and whether or not someone had to push him to first base to get there safely.

But the danger has arisen anyway as Ortiz has had the audacity to tie A-Rod for dropped pop-ups. Well, little does he know that the Yankees are playing the Marlins this weekend! That's three games for A-Rod to get his chance to pop-up to Bonifacio.

He'll be ready, Ortiz. You've paved the way for him to best you while you squandered your series against the Mets by having a total of 0 pop-ups dropped by Luis Castillo.

Watch yourself!

*To be fair, Gardner's inside-the-park homer is something we will never see this year from Ortiz unless zombies come pouring out of the stands and rip off the arms of all the outfielders and infielders and probably the pitcher and catcher as well as all the benched players of the opposing team.