Nightly drama just getting started

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry

There will be a lot of nights like last night over the next 33 days, when the TV remote control becomes life's most indispensable item. On one channel, there was Andy Pettitte seemingly unraveling over an umpire's strike zone, and on another channel, Pedro Martinez was armed with a huge lead and a good fastball, and yet you knew the Phillies would eventually cut into the lead; the question was, how deeply?

And by 8:20 p.m. ET, there was Ben Sheets, getting away with a couple of mistakes in the first inning and smiling about his good fortune as he walked off the mound. On the other channels, the Phillies' comeback had begun, the fading Yankees had taken a body blow, the Dodgers left more runners on base, and Cliff Lee was on his way to his 19th victory. By midnight, carpal tunnel syndrome had set in.  
 

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  • Buster Olney Buster Olney

    Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

    He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

    Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

    Follow Buster on Twitter: @Buster_ESPN

    Ask Buster a question: Buster's Mailbag

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