The Goat

I'm sorry, why is this Philly fan toting Ryan Howard along by leash through what appears to be a tailgating party?

Oops, my bad. That's not Howard, it only bears a strong resemblance to the Phillies' slugger, who has played like pure fecal matter so far this World Series. We're talking 1-for-8, seven-strikeouts bad. The Yankee pitchers have held Howard hitless since the first inning of Game 1. Ouch.

Howard has looked an awful lot like Pedro Cerrano the last two nights, slugging a fastball for a double but swinging roughly two feet over every curve. One at-bat in Game 2 A.J. Burnett threw Howard four straight curves. He K'd, en route to the ol' golden sombrero (right). 

As a Yankee hater, it pains me to watch one of the great sluggers of this era flop against them in this spot. Fans in the Bronx have no respect for players and team without "Red Sox" or "Angels" on their chests. In fact, most of these self-obsessed clowns actually believe Mark Teixeira is a better hitter than Howard, one of the baseball monsters of the last half century. I really hoped he'd put them in their place, stamping a few dents in the Komatsu sign in right field, miles past that Little League wall.

Hat for bat? Rum for Jobu? Sacrifice a live chicken? Whatever it takes, Ry.