SLUMPIN
Robin Ventura came to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out in the ninth inning yesterday, and struck out for the fourth time of the day. David Pinto thinks that Ventura is just about warshed up. As likable as Ventura is, I can’t say that I disagree.
STRONG MEN ALSO CRY, SIR
When I first went to work for the Coen brothers in the fall of 1996, they had already cast Jeff Bridges as “The Dude” for their next movie, “The Big Lebowski.” For the first couple of weeks I was with them, they agonized over who would play “Lebowski.” The trouble was, most of the actors on their wish list were dead: Fredy Gywnne, Raymond Burr, Orson Welles. Ultimately, it came down to two actors, one of whom was British. I thought the Brit was the better choice, but for Joel and Ethan it was important that the actor was American, preferably of the midwest variety.
Thinking back on it, George Steinbrenner would have been an ideal choice. I was reminded of this after reading that Boss George got all choked up in front of a group of stunned reporters after yesterday’s exciting win over the Red Sox. As Lebowski would say, “Strong men also cry.” Veteran New York reporters Bill Madden and Joel Sherman were genuinely surprised at Steinbrenner’s reaction. That is saying something. Jack Curry reports in the Times:
The tears were visible beneath his sunglasses soon after Pride delivered for the second straight game. Steinbrenner depicts himself as a tough guy and a tough owner, a man who has avoided tears after winning some World Series titles. But on this emotional day in an emotional rivalry, when two of his best players wound up at a hospital for X-rays, Steinbrenner turned softer than pudding.
“I’m just proud of the way Mussina pitched,” Steinbrenner said. “You know, I’m getting older. As you get older, you do this more.”
According to Madden:
With a security guard behind him looking on in astonishment, Steinbrenner briefly excused himself from the group of reporters that had surrounded him in the press box as the Yankees were loading the bases against the new Red Sox closer, Byung Hyun Kim, with none out in the ninth. Moments later, as jubilation reigned from the 55,000 fans exiting the Stadium and Sinatra was kicking into “New York, New York,” Steinbrenner came back, still teary-eyed, only this time with a tone of defiance to his voice.
“Did you think Martinez was deliberately throwing at your guys?” he was asked.
“I have no idea what’s going on in his head,” Steinbrenner said, “except that it didn’t look too good to me. Two hitters? One of whom, Soriano, is on his way to the All-Star Game. … If he did deliver a message, he delivered the wrong — message!”
The postgame interviews featured relatively tame he-said/she-said accounts of Martinez’s drillings.
Naturally, the Sox left town vexed that they couldn’t win the series. Bob Ryan has a terrific summary of the game in the Globe this morning:
…Of course the Yankees found a way to win by a 2-1 score, and when it was over Niagara Falls took up residence on Steinbrenner’s face. The Boss bawled some serious tears of joy. Seriously. He was really crying. When it comes to this rivalry, there is never any need to make things up. Fact has been kicking Fiction’s butt now for nigh onto nine decades.
Ryan points out how the Red Sox wasted a great opportunity to take the series with Martinez pitching and the Yankees fielding their B (or C?) team.
The journalistic temptation is to get melodramatic when discussing the ceaseless Red Sox fan frustration against the Yankees, but how can you not when you see games like this? Losing this game, and falling back to the same situation the team was in when it arrived here in the wee smalls Friday (i.e. four games behind), on a day when they were playing the junior varsity and your team was suiting up the full varsity is, what? Galling? Humiliating? Exasperating? Oh, God forbid, and worst of all, predictable? Was there a seasoned Red Sox fan out there who didn’t know with 1 trillion percent certainty in his or her heart of hearts that as soon as Giambi’s single tied the game off Martinez that this game was a lost cause and more than likely would end in some messy fashion?
What did we have in the ninth? We had two singles on two-strike pitches, a hit batsman to load the bases with none out, and a botched grounder that had inning-ending 4-2-3 written all over it.
And then we had George opening up the facial faucet.
When the subject matter is the Red Sox and their ongoing battle to slay the big, bad dragon from the Bronx, no mere sportswriter is equal to the task. But Homer is dead, and we are all you’ve got.
Weep on, George. History remains on your side.
WHAT, ME WORRY?
I got a letter from reader Cliff Corcoran who found my general pessimissm surrounding the Sox series off-putting. Fair enough, but I should warn you, it ain’t likey to change anytime soon. I’m a nervous, jumpy fan by nature, so please, bear with me folks. I usually put my own team down, and then hope for the best. It’s not that I lack faith, it’s just that I’m very reserved about expressing it. Plus, I guess I like to out-fox the Sox fans in the gloom-and-doom department (fat chance, buddy), just to try and jinx ’em.
Maybe I just want to be a Red Sox fan. I sure sound like one often enough. I don’t know where I got this from. Perhaps it comes from growing up with the Yankees in the 80s. Or maybe it’s because I’m a Knicks fan and a Jets fan too.
Otherwise, I think I’m a well-adjusted adult. Honest.
THE ONLY SPLIT THAT FITS
So who should steal the headlines from the big boys today, but Curtis Pride, of course. Pride hit a slow grounder to second; Bill Mueller bobbled the ball and then threw the ball over Jason Varitek’s head, allowing Hideki Matsui to score the winning run. It took a full 20 seconds for “Mlb Gameday” to display what happened after they signaled that a pitch had been ‘hit into play.’ I thought my heart was going to pop out of my shirt.
I received the following e-mail from Ed Cossette when Ventura came to bat:
Bases loaded. No outs. By the time you get this it’ll all be over.
I don’t know how much longer I can take this. If I wasn’t stuck having to write for Fox, there is no chance I’d blog tomorrow.
Why didn’t my parents live in New York? Why God why?
The Yanks earn a split of the four game series, and once again lead Boston by four games. Hey Millar, yer evicted buddy.
ONIONS!
Mr. Kim showing he’s got some brass ones, comes back and whiffs Ventura.
OR…
Or Posada’s fat ass could get hit. Kim plunks Jorge to load the bases for Robin Ventura. Still nobody out.
RALLY…?
Matsui leads off the ninth with a single, and then Karim Garcia hits a single too. With Flaherty up, Posada must be pinch-hitting here. He can be a double-play machine…
POPPING OFF
Me and my big, fat mouth…Manny popped out to Jason Giambi to end the Boston ninth. Game is still tied. I am now in the process of chewing my entire hand, forget the nails. Who says we take this rivalry too seriously?
DOWN TO THE WIRE
So every Yankee fan feels confident that the Bombers will win this one, while every Sox fan feels that somehow the Sox will lose, right? (Or, almost right?)
I say Manny tags Mo in the ninth. Hope I’m very wrong.
STOP IT MAN, YER KILLIN ME
Mike Mussina issued a two-out walk to Bill Mueller and then struck out Jason Varitek for the third time of the day to end the Boston eigth. Byung-Hyun Kim has replaced Pedro. You think the Stadium is rocking?
I just got an e-mail from the Mr. Cossette. It appears his e-mail is acting screwy (a likely story). He put it bluntly:
This game is killing me. If Yanks win then it’s all shit. First two wins mean less than nothing.
NAIL BITING TIME
Pedro survived a lead off single and made it through the eighth. The game is still tied at one. I e-mailed Ed Cossette, who runs Bambino’s Curse but haven’t heard back from him yet. Superstitious sort.
STRETCH
Mussina made it through Nomar and Manny in the top of the seventh, and the Yanks are right where they want to be. Close against Pedro, late in the game. Whatever happens, at least they had a fighting chance. Once again, Martinez has brought out the best in Mussina. Pedro has thrown over 100 pitches. How long before they yank him? Or will he even come out for the seventh? Hmmm.
DANDY
After six innings, this game is turning out to be the dandy everyone expected. While Pedro might have seemed wild early, I guess we could call it ‘effectively wild.’ He has thrown 102 pitches, struck out ten and walked none thus far. He’s crazy like a fox that Pedro.
Enrique Wilson has two doubles off Martinez. Jason Giambi has two singles and that’s all the hits the Yanks have. Fortunately, Giambi drove Wilson home in the sixth to tie the game at one.
Mussina has k’d five and walked none through six.
EXTRA, EXTRA
Here is an e-mail I just received from a Sox fan detailing the game thus far:
Soriano should expect to get plunked quite a good number of times if he
continues to stand where he is standing.Martinez threw a fastball that tailed up and in, Soriano did one of those
half-swing, half-get-me-the-fuck-outta-here! type moves, and the ball hit
the knob at the bottom of the bat along with his pinky finger. I’d expect
it’s fractured.Basically, same deal with Jeter, except instead of hitting the knob it
caught him flush on the hand.There’s no question Martinez was throwing up and in. Soriano standing where
he does in the batters box, and Jeter was diving into the plate with every
swing, so it was only a matter of time.But Martinez doesn’t have the command he normally has today. Lots of his
fastballs have gone way out of the strike zone, up and in the a right handed
hitter. Looks like he’s also throwing harder than usual. Likely a bit
jiuced up for this one.I don’t think Martinez was throwing at anyone. I also don’t think he much
cared whether balls he was throwing to back people off the plate hit someone
or two either.On the plus side for Yankee fans, Mussina has had much better stuff than
Martinez. The one ‘double’ by Ramirez was a routine line out to RF that
Curtis Pride misplayed, and then threw to second instead of home, allowing a
run to score. Frankly, I’d be surprised if the Yanks didn’t win this one
with the kind of stuff Mussina has right now.
As much as I want to scream bloody murder at Pedro, the description above makes much sense. Although I still say the Sox stink if they can’t dominate the Yankee line up today.
FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT
No, that’s just how I’m feeling. It’s bad enough following the game on-line, but it turns out Soriano and Jeter have left the game early after both were hit in the hand by Martinez in the first inning. Todd Zeile has replaced Ventura at third; Robin is now at second, and Enrique is at short. Too bad Boomer isn’t pitching. We might have seen some real fireworks. The Sox have no excuse not to win this game now, while the Yanks have to hope to stay within a run or two by the seventh when Pedro inevitably turns things over to the pen.
PLUMPED UP
The Yankees offense just got plumper, as Enrique Wilson has replaced Soriano at second. Oy veh. Hang in there boys!
WHA HAPPEN?
Both pitchers enjoyed a 3 up, 3 down inning in the second, but Soriano has been lifted from the game. If anyone is watching, give me a shout and let me know what happened to him.
FROZEN
The Yankees had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the first. After striking out Soriano, Pedro was ahead of Jeter, but he plunked him on an inside pitch. Giambi singled, which brought up Ruben Ruben. I took a second to glance at the Yankees line up and saw that after Matsui, the Yanks have Karim Garcia, John Flaherty, Robin Ventura and then Curtis Pride. Not exactly a bomb squad vs. Pedro. Sierra lined out to right, and then Matsui couldn’t get the bat off his shoulder, and went down looking. This could be a long afternoon if Mussina doesn’t shape up quickly.
THAT SHOULD HOLD ‘EM
Manny Ramirez had an RBI double in the first off Moose. The Sox lead 1-0. Now if Mussina can make like Pettitte did yesterday and mow ’em down ’til the 8th, the Yanks’ll have a fighting chance against Prince P.
ON THE MONEY
Like many of us, Larry Mehnken tends to personalize wins and losses. When the Yanks lose, it can keep him up at night, and when they win, everything is fine with the world. What separates Mehnken from most of us, is that he can live and die with his team, yet still be able to write about them in an even-handed fashion. It doesn’t hurt that Mehnken is funny and insightful too. His coverage of the Sox-Yankee Serious has been excellent. Here are two recent pearls of wisdom which caught my eye:
These games are always magnified, and Yankees and Red Sox fans want to place more importance and significance on the result of one or two games than is really warranted. Anyone who thinks that the Red Sox, as great as their offense is, will score 20 runs versus David Wells and Roger Clemens on a regular basis is as foolish as someone who thinks that Andy Pettitte can regularly hold this offense down to a single run. None of these games has been fully representative of the true abilities of these teams, who are, in fact, very close to each other. Anyone who tries to use the result of one game or series to prove otherwise has an obvious agenda.
And this:
I think the defining trait of a Yankees fan, that separates them from fans of all other teams, is confidence. If you’re a Yankees fan, you know your team is going to win. Not necessarily today, not necessarily this year, but eventually. The Yankees lost the Series in 2001, they lost to the Angels last year, but d any of us really think that it’s the last time we’ll see our team have a shot to win? If you’re a Yankees fan, there is no sense of urgency to win now. The only frustration comes from the desire to win always.
Red Sox fans are different. Some are defeatist; they know that they’re going to lose in the end, so they never get their hopes up. Some are ignorant or indifferent, and don’t care about the last 85 years, and then there’s the elitists, who take a special pride in being fans of a team that hasn’t won since WWI. Most young fans are ignorant, most Primate Red Sox fans are indifferent, and most of the writers in New England are either defeatist or elitist. They all share an especial hatred of the Yankees.
And with good reason. It seems that whenever the Red Sox have a good team, the Yankees have a better team. I don’t think they’re really cursed, but it’s gotta be annoying.
