Sorry I have been gone. Tried to post a couple of times but didn’t have the heart. This has been tough to say the least. I started a post during the first game of the Detroit series. The team was coming off 2 wins and there was optimism that things were starting to go in a good direction. I was going to write about what a quaint town we were staying in (seriously, Birmingham has to be the only town in America that has a brush bolted into the sidewalk and a sign that says “Please clean shoes before entering outside the police station), about how everyone enjoyed the off day and were ready to go. Well, the warm fuzzy thoughts dissolved quickly and the post was scuttled.

Things seemed to start out well here too. For the club at least. I had a bit of an adventure getting here. I now have my first subway story. Went to visit a friend at MLB.com’s offices in Chelsea. They actually are in the same building as the Food Network which in my world is a dangerous thing. I was told that to get to Yankee Stadium from there I would need to walk up to 8th and get on the A train heading uptown. If you haven’t ridden the NY Subway System the most important thing to get straight when getting on one of the underground trains is to make sure you are getting on a train going the right direction. Uptown or Downtown. The Bronx is uptown. Jeremy Reed didn’t know this the first time he came to Yankee Stadium and ended up in Brooklyn. I have never made that mistake, but today, the train got me.

I got on the A train heading uptown and was told to get off at 125 and take the D train to the Bronx. By the way, I am completely distracting as the Yankees have just scored 8 in the 5th to take a 13-2 lead in the 5th. The Yankee announcers are positively giddy as they get to talk about the knuckleball. Back to the train. I hop off the train at 125th and hear the announcement, “Due to a track fire at 164th, no trains will enter or leave this station.” Great. Gonna have to get a cab. The thing that is weird about taking the subway is you never see where you are going or where you are. I had no idea what would greet me when I climbed up the steps to 125th. I had an idea that it wouldn’t be good because we were so far uptown. I climbed the steps, looked around and realized I was in Harlem. Needless to say, I stuck out like a sore thumb.

So I surveyed the scene, got my bearings and started walking uptown. Then something funny happened. A woman asked me for directions. I laughed and said that I had no idea where the hell I was. She got a good laugh at that and wished me luck. As I walked I saw no taxis. This was very bad. On some blocks I crossed to the other side of the street to get away from abandoned buildings on the other side. At one point I walked by a couple of guys playing giant bongo drums. “We see you girl,” one said smiling. “And we just saw that too, we weren’t supposed to, but we did,” said the other laughing as I stumbled very slightly on my high platform sandals. Not very Carrie Bradshaw of me. I laughed and told them that no, they weren’t supposed to see that. I felt better about my situation after that but still couldn’t find a cab.

The thing that was cool about it is that I went to school here for a short time in the 90s. Back then you didn’t dare even look at anyone on a subway. When you left the apartment you made sure that you had at least $40 in your pocket because you were told that if you were mugged and you had nothing on you you might be killed. No joke. It is much different now and you can certainly look at people which is good because it is all very interesting. Harlem is interesting too. The spot where I got out wasn’t too good, but up ahead further is where Bill Clinton put his offices. The Baseball Television Network will put their offices close by as well.

So no cab after a half hour and the only thing left to do was go back to the sub station and hope they got things running again, which they did. Of course, the D train I hopped on turned express on me and I barely jumped off it on time to avoid going way past Yankee Stadium. I waited for another and finally got there after 2 hours and 15 minutes. The trip should have taken 25 minutes.

On to the team which I guess I must talk about. I honestly don’t know how they handle going out there night after night and either getting bashed by the other team or crushed by their own. There are few explanations for what is happening here. One thing is for sure, it has completely snowballed. One player today told me that he was starting to see guys with their heads down after things start going south during games. “We can’t do that,” he said. “We have got to go out there and find a way to make it fun.”

There hasn’t been too much bickering or fighting from what I can tell. Probably because everyone is in the same boat. No one can point a finger at anyone else but they can all point to themselves. Still, I am surprised I haven’t seen anger yet. It is a tough game, 162 games is a grind and you mentally have to take them one day at a time, but I am a little surprised I haven’t seen anyone really go off yet. I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Ichiro had some strong statements tonight. When asked about his feelings about the slide the team has been on he said “Playing on this team and seeing what is happening around me I feel that something is beginning to fall apart…but if I was not in this situation and I was objectively watching what has happened to this team in the past week I would probably be drinking a lot of beers and booing.” He would not elaborate on what was falling apart which is typical of him as he never talks about teammates or situations that he is not directly involved in.

While the above statement was said without a smile on his face, he couldn’t resist giving us an Ichiroism when asked (it had to be) what kind of beer he would be drinking. “Usually I enjoy Japanese beer but given the situation I wouldn’t care if it was Japanese, American beer or beer from Papua New Guinea.”

Great line.

Ichiro spoke for over 9 minutes which took pressure off of his teammates as he gave us plenty for our stories. I asked why he was always at his locker post game and why he spoke to the Japanese media every night and us whenever we asked. “Because I believe it is the obligation of the player and especially that of a high paid player.” Believe me, it is appreciated.