Monthly Archives: October 2003

I wonder how many fortunate breaks the Red Sox have enjoyed in their storied history? We sure know about the ones that have gone against them. But if Pedro Martinez can lead the Sox to victory tonight, the shoddy umpiring in Game 3 will stand as one of the best presents Sox fans have ever had. (Aside: if there was campus rioting in Boston after just one victory, will the town go down in flames if they ever win it all?) Mike C has written an extensive piece on the obstruction rule, and it’s his opinion that the A’s were robbed, regardless of their own stupidity. Mike’s analysis is thorough and in depth, as it always is.

Take a peek, don’t sleep.

Check out the following blogs for the latest playoff news:

Futility Infielder
Universal Baseball Blog, Inc.
Aaron Gleeman
Seth Speaks
Twins Geek
The Cub Reporter
Will Carroll’s Weblog
Bambino’s Curse
Elephants in Oakland
Replacement Level Yankees Blog
Clifford’s Big Red Blog
Baseball Musings

Yankees 8, Twins 1

David Wells didn’t want yesterday to be his last start as a Yankee, and his offense made it easy for him. The Yankees busted out in the fourth inning at the Metrodome, scoring six runs, chasing Johan Santana from the game, and effectively ending the Twins season. Nick Johnson ended an 0-27 slump with a clutch, two-out double; Giambi, Bernie—who had a nice offensive series–and Matsui also had doubles, and Alfonso Soriano added a 2 run single.

That was all Boomer would need, and he pitched into the eighth, allowing just one run. Derek Jeter, who was robbed of a home run by Shannon Stewart in the sixth inning, put the cherry on top of the victory, with a solo homer off of Easy Eddie G in the ninth.

This was far and away, the least dramatic and exciting game of the weekend, and that was just fine as far as I’m concerned. (I was able to digest and fall asleep peacefully last night.) The Yankees wash the sour taste of last year’s playoff defeat out of their mouths, and come home, a confident bunch, to play for the pennant.

Yipee.

In the late game, Kerry Wood dominated the Braves once again, and the Cubbies won their first playoff serious in 95 years. Chicago will play the Marlins for the pennant. Now, who would have guessed? Fantastic. Congrats to Sam Plummer, Will Carroll, Ruz, and all the Cub fans out there. Enjoy it.

The A’s blew another golden opportunity to polish off the Red Sox yesterday, but Boston’s bats did the job against Oakland’s bullpen, scoring two runs in the eighth inning and forcing a Game 5 tonight in the Bay Area. It was the eighth time in four years that Oakland has failed to clinch a playoff series.

The A’s had the bases loaded in both the first and second innings against John Burkett and came away with one run. They eventually caught up to him and held a 4-2 lead in the middle innings. But the Sox fought back. Todd Walker hit another homer, and David Ortiz came through with the game winning hit–his first of the series. Manny Ramirez, who spent more time predicting home runs than hitting them, scored the go-ahead run.

It was a gorgeous day in Boston. The clouds were out early, but the sun was brilliant late in the game, creating an array of memorable pictures. At one point, every shot of the field looked like it was composed by Orson Welles. When the Sox were still behind in the eighth, I noticed smiling faces in the first couple of rows behind the plate. Later, during Manny or Ortiz’s at bat—I can’t remember which—half of the fans behind home plate were standing, cheering, while the other half remained seated.

It illustrated the split in Red Sox Nation: the cautious, suspertitious half, and the wild, cowboy-up half. Many Sox fans must have been waiting for the bottom to drop out, but it never happened. Oakland was too busy living out its own version of The Curse. Regardless of what happens now, Fenway Park enjoyed a great day.

I won’t lie. The A’s performance made me sick. There is nothing I enjoy more than watching the Sox lose in Boston, yet at the same time, I’m not surprised by what transpired. Not so much from Oakland’s pernt of view, but from Boston’s. This Sox team has refused to be buried all season. The bigger the hole they’ve been in, the stronger they come back. Make no mistake, Oakland’s ineptitude has allowed Boston back into the serious, but Boston took advantage of the opportunity, and here they are, on the verge of moving on. It doesn’t matter if they are winning ugly; like Al Davis said, “Just win, baby.”

Tonight gives Game 5 in Oakland. Pedro Martinez, the man Sox fans want most in a one-game-take-all scenerio, will face last year’s Cy Young winner, Barry Zito. Zito will pitch on three days rest for the first time in his career; Martinez goes on four days rest. The Sox have the momentum, they are rolling, and I fully expect them to win tonight, and then roll back east to face the Bombers on Wednesday.

Having said that, I’ll be pulling for Zito and the A’s.

For more on Saturday’s wild game, check out Joe Sheehan’s free column over at Baseball Prospectus. Sheehan is one of the best baseball commentators going, so check it out.

It’s just about 11:30 on Saturday night, and I’ve been watching baseball since 1:00 this afternoon. I can’t remember a better day for the game in recent memory. It started yesterday evening when I returned home to catch the second half of the Marlins-Giants game. Pudge Rodriguez had one of those kind of superstar performances that will stay with him—and us—for a long time. He was virtually everywhere, making things happen, all day long: hitting an early home run, throwing a runner out a third, crashing into the second baseman to break up a double play, and eventually smacking the game-winning hit into right field.

Florida upset the Giants, and Jose Cruz Jr. opened the door for heartbreak. Later on, Mark Prior and Greg Maddux lived up to advanced billing. Prior was masterful, pitching a complete game two-hitter, and Maddux was very good, allowing 2 runs, but only for six innings. The Cubs won, 3-1.

The Marlins and Giants played another spirted game today, while the Yankess took on the Twins. I missed most of the National League affair, but saw the crucial highlights, and then the finale. And what a dramatic ending it was! Pudge Rodriguez was involved again, as he held onto a throw from Jeff Conine to tag JT Snow out to end the game. The Giants season ended with a plate at the plate: believe it. Snow, the tying run, crashed into Rodriguez, but it was in vain. Earlier, Rodriguez had scored a run by knocking the ball out of the San Francisco catcher’s glove, and now with the game on the line, Pudge held onto the ball, and was immediately tackled by his own pitcher Ugie Urbina as the Marlins upset San Francisco.

It is a dark day for the Giants and their fans. After losing the World Serious last year, this one now has to smart all the more.

Meanwhile, Roger Clemens made what could be the final start of his career in America’s heartland this afternoon and he made the most of it, allowing one run over seven innings. (And no matter what happens to the Yankees in the coming days, Boss George assures us that Joe Torre will return in 2004. Heard that one before?…) Hideki Matsui hit a two-run dinger early in the game, and Bernie Williams added an RBI single later on.

That was all the Yankees would need. Mariano Rivera came on in the eighth inning for the second straight game, and for the second straight game he retired all six batters that he faced, bringing Yankee fans back to the glory years of the late 1990s. Mariano has faced twelve Twin batters in two games and retired them all in order. Mmmm.

Final: Yankees 3, Twins 1.

The Twins got good pitching from their bullpen again, and the Yankee bats were unable to get rolling, but this game was all about Rocket and Rivera, who overpowered the Twins offense. The Bombers will send Boomer Wells to the mound tomorrow afternoon against Johan Santana.

Next up, the Cubs and Braves faced off again in Chicago. It was a brilliant, sunny day, and Chipper Jones blasted two homers for the Braves, who held on for a 6-4 win. Not for nothing, but I called Chipper’s second homer. And as nuts as this sounds, I was rooting for the Braves to win. It’s not that I dislike the Cubs. If they win, I’d be more than pleased, but there is something in me that is pulling for Atlanta. No matter how good they are in the regular season, people tend to dismiss them. More to to point, if Atlanta forced a Game 5, the Yankees would play on Sunday at 4 pm and not 7:30. I wanted to watch the Bombers at 4, so I got my wish.

John Smoltz, who looked hurt in the ninth inning, gutted out the save, getting Sammy Sosa to fly out deep to center to end the game. It was a classic match up of star power. If Sammy had hit the ball six feet further, the game would have been tied. When it left the bat, I got goosebumps for a flash. Just like I did when Mike Piazza made the last out of the 2000 World Serious. It looked good off the bat. The crowd surged and then exhauled.

What did they really expect? They are Cubs fans, after all. Did they think their boys were going to make it easy on them?
Lastly, the Oakland A’s pissed away a golden opportunity to put away the Red Sox for good. The game was another tense contest, but it was also a fundamentally sloppy affair, with both teams making errors and collecting few hits. In the sixth, the A’s blew two runs by a lack of focus and poise. If they lose the serious, this inning will go down in Boston and Oakland lore.

Eric Bryne was thrown out at home on an infield hit after colliding with Boston’s catcher, Jason Varitek. Bryne never touched the plate. The ball got away from Varitek, but Bryne shoved the catcher when he started after the ball, and then Bryne started to hobble off the field, unware that he hadn’t touched home. Varitek retrieved the ball, and tagged the unsuspecting Bryne for the out. Eric Chavez was the on deck hitter, and he should have been coaching Bryne to go back and touch the base, but he fell asleep at the wheel. It was an inexcusable error on Chavez’s part.

This huge error was outdone moments later when Miguel Tejada rounded third and headed for home on a Nomar Garciaparra error. The tying run had already scored when Tejada ran into the third baseman. (Jason Varitek had been awarded home earlier in the game, scoring Boston’s only run, on an obstruction call on Chavez, and Tejada.) The ump at third signaled interference by raising his hand, and Tejada slowed down. The throw from left field was ten feet up the line, but since Miggy had stopped running, the Sox tagged him and he was called out.

There will be much debate about whether the umps made the right call–there was a lengthy meeting with the entire crew following the play—but the bottom line is, Tejada was not awarded home plate and the A’s had squandered their second run of the innning. One could argue that Tejada had to sell the call, and that is why he stopped. You could also say that he assumed he would get to go home because that’s what had happened to Varitek earlier in the game. However, he chose to give up on the play. If he continued to run hard and finish the play, he would have scored, and the arguement would have effectively been moot.

All I could think about was when Jason Giambi scolded Tejada in Game 5 of the 2001 playoffs. (Derek Jeter would never make a mistake this this.) Both bullpens then did fantastitic relief jobs until Rich Harden gave up a two-out, pinch hit, walk off bomb to Trot Nixon in the bottom of the 11th.

It was fitting that Nixon got the game winner. He’s Mr. Red Sox as far as I’m concerned, and I’m glad he got to be the hero. But Boston did everything they could to not win the game. Their monstrous offense was impotent tonight against Ted Lily, who pitched a stellar game. Several members of the Sox actually taped Lily’s names on the back of their jackets, and stood at the top step of the Boston dugout, promting the fans to heckle Oakland’s young southpaw.

What a class bunch of guys. Kevin Millar, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the heart of the Red Sox offense, failed to cowboy up for the Home Nine, but fortunately for them, Oakland had other things than winning on their minds. If the A’s go on to lose this series, it’s going to get even colder than it already feels by the Bay.

They come back and play the early game tomorrow. Pedro will pitch in Game Five Monday, if it gets that far. Old man Burkett goes against Tim Hudson, who will pitch on three days rest, at 1:00 Sunday.

If tomorrow is anything like today, we’re in for a treat.

Tonight’s pitching match up pits Greg Maddux against Mark Prior, and it has been receiving heaps of hype. And why not? Maddux is a Hall of Famer, and Prior is just about the best young pitcher since Tom Seaver. I’ve been asking heads around the office today who they think will be stronger, and to a man, they’ve all said Prior. Maddux’s reputation as a seven inning pitcher figures heavily in this line of thinking, but dag, can’t the man get any respect at all?

I agree that it’s easier to put your stock in a power pitcher than a soft-tosser when it comes to the post season. Still, I would love to see Maddux pitch a great game, win or lose. I also hope it does turn out to be a classic duel, but quite frankly, all the hype makes my skeptical.

Either way, all eyes will be on Wrigley Field tonight. For all the latest—at least from the Cubbies pernt of view, be sure and check in on Ruz’s Cub Reporter blog.

The Yanks play tomorrow afternoon at one. I’ll most likely be back with a post late tomorrow or sometime on Sunday.

Enjoy the Serious’.

There was a report in Newsday yesterday that Andy Pettitte is leaning towards leaving the Bronx at the end of the season, when he becomes a free agent:

Since last offseason, and continuing through this 2003 campaign, Andy Pettitte has told friends that he will leave the Yankees when he becomes a free agent this winter. In these conversations, he has expressed a desire to escape the Yankees’ increasingly chaotic atmosphere; he has lamented the departures of teammates such as Paul O’Neill and Scott Brosius, whom he considered good friends; and he has longed to be closer to his Deer Park, Texas, home, where his family resides.

Clemens, his best friend on the current team, intends to retire. Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, with whom Pettitte has developed a father-son relationship during the past eight years, could retire, or he could be fired. Torre also could be let go, if the Yankees fail to meet chaos-starter George Steinbrenner’s expectations this postseason.

Funny, but Pettitte had a lot of pressure to prove himself this year, and he did just that by winning 20 games and having a great second half. He pitched a great game last night. If there are a handful of teams fighting for his services in the off season what are the chances that the Yankees will over pay to keep in him pinstripes?

Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus wrote a touching—and fitting—tribute to Edgar Martinez a few days ago. If you missed it, I suggest that you give it a look, as it illustrates what a terrific player Edgar has been—even if you are prone to frown on the DH:

There are hints that Edgar might not retire: he wanted to hit .300, and he missed it by three hits. He wanted to retire to spend more time with his family, but his son told him he’d rather see his dad play. Edgar’s said he’ll talk to his wife, and it’ll be a while before he makes any decisions. He probably won’t even hold a press conference.

Some time this winter, one of the thousands of people who stood and applauded and would not sit down Sunday will walk by Safeco Field some cold, drizzly afternoon and hear a crack every couple of seconds, and curious, they’ll walk around the stadium for a glimpse inside to see Edgar, bundled up, pitching machine set on the mound with a huge bucket of baseballs, practicing his swing, roping balls down the left field line, double, double, double. And the fan’s going to watch for a minute, take out his cell phone, and start calling everyone in the city. And if it doesn’t happen, we’re still going to walk by and listen for it, and if there’s nothing, well, maybe he’ll be there the next day.

And if he doesn’t come back, at least we told him we loved him.

Every organization should be so lucky to have a trooper, and a champ like Edgar star on its team for the better part of 20 years.

Rich Lederer has been writing pointed and convincing player analysis’ for the better part of the summer, and he’s back with two more: one on the AL MVP, and the other, on Mr. Cub, Slammin’ Sammy Sosa.

Both pieces are winning as always.

Christian Ruzich, The Cub Reporter, who runs all.baseball.com has added Mike C of Mike’s Baseball Rants to the roster. Mike offers great baseball analysis and biting send-ups of the baseball media. He’s a top notch blogger, for sure. Welcome aboard, brother.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire attributes his cherce to pull Brad Radke out of last night’s game on the lengthy 7th inning “God Bless America” stretch at the Stadium:

“It’s ridiculous that my starting pitcher has to wait six, seven minutes before he pitches in the seventh, and their guy gets the normal break,” Gardenhire said. “What happens? He’s throwing great, and he goes out there and the first hitter . . . he plunks him right in the rear end.

“That’s the second time it’s happened to us here. We had a pitcher going great, and then he comes out after the extra-long break and he’s not the same.”

Gardenhire has a point, but it also makes me wonder if Joe Torre will find something to bitch about in the Dome? Not that it is any kind of advantage for the home nine or anything.

Oh, yeah…

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the Yankees-Sox one-game playoff game. It is famously known as the “Bucky Dent” game, but it was much more than that, at least as far as the Yankees are concerned. Lou Pinella made two plays that were just as important to the Bomber’s victory, and oh, by the way, Reggie Jackson’s 8th inning solo bomb to straight-away center turned out to be the difference.

Blaming Dent is like blaming Buckner. It sounds great but doesn’t tell the whole story.

The Red Sox fell to the A’s (5-1) for the second time in 24 hours yesterday afternoon in Oakland and now face an uphill battle to make it past the first round. Barry Zito, last year’s Cy Young award winner, pitched seven effective innings, with a devastating curve ball that vexed Red Sox batters all day. Oakland scored all of its runs early off Tim Wakefield, aided by poor fielding from Manny Ramirez and Todd Walker.

But as bad as things may look for Sox Nation, the A’s have been in this position—up 2-0—before. Oakland hasn’t won anything yet, and the Red Sox have played well at home all year:

“They may be jumping off bridges,” Garciaparra said [of Sox Nation], “but I guarantee they’ll get out of the water and they’ll be out there supporting us on Saturday.”

Still, the Sox are going to have to ‘Cowboy Up’ with the quickness in order to get back in this serious. Just ask the rifleman, Kevin Millar:

“What’s left is we’re going back to Fenway Park, where we kill the baseball,” said Kevin Millar, the verbal leader of Papa Jack’s Band of hitters. “What’s left is we’re ready for our fans to be behind us. Sox Nation. We’re going back to our place, and I think it’s going to be a different atmosphere.”

Trot Nixon isn’t ready to pack it in just yet either:

“This loss today shows you how important the first game was,” added Nixon. “Now our backs are against the wall, but it seems like in the past when the Red Sox’ backs were against the wall, there’s been times they saddled up the horses and rode into battle.”

The Fens will be rocking tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if they go home to the all-too familiar silence of a New England winter, or if they send their team back to Oakland in wild style. Stranger things have happened.

About a month before September 11th, 2001, a new spanish restaurant opened on Broadway between 231rst and 232nd streets. It is one of at least a dozen joints in the city called Malecon, which I believe is a beach town in the Dominican. This particular Malecon was a cleaner and smarter version of the rice and beans place directly across the street—naturally the food wasn’t as good.

But no matter, it became my new stop for chicken, plantains and rice. Run by two brothers who love the Yankees—or J’ankees as it were—we spent a lot of time during that emotional 2001 post season talking baseball. But the day after the Diamondbacks tripped up the Bombers in Game 7, Javier, the good looking brother–well dressed, and heavily cologned—was devastated.

Of course, I had been up half the night myself, but come the next day, I tried to put a positive spin on it all. And I put all my hopes in one basket: the Yanks needed to go out and sign Jason Giambi. I pleaded with Javier to relax because the Bombers were going to get this slugger and we would be OK.

But he didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to feel better. So I left him alone. During the following weeks, when I came through to get some grub, I kept up the Giambi talk. Pretty soon, everytime I walked through the door, Javier and the boys working the counter greeted me as Giambi.

Except it sounded more like, “G’om-Bee.” Then of course, Giambi signed with New York, and the nickname stuck. As time passed, the pronounciation became more exaggerated, more sing-songy. Each time I stepped foot into the Malecon, about eight guys greeted me with a chorus of “Gee-oh’mm-beee.” I felt like Norm from “Cheers.” I called each one of them “G’om-bee” in return to make all things equal. It reached the point where they didn’t remember what my real name is and vice versa. We were all “G’om-bee.”

I’ve pulled for Mr. Giambi hard, ever since he came to New York. In fact, I wrote him an eight-page, welcome-to-New York letter during his first spring training. It was the first fan letter I’ve ever written to a ballplayer. I can’t fully explain why I felt the need to connect with the big lug, but perhaps after losing key figures like O’Neill, Martinez and Brosius, I wanted to believe the Yanks would be in good hands.

I’m proud of the way Giambi has played through injuries this season, and hope that the whispers of his decline are premature. But as one AL scout told Ken Rosenthal this week:

“He’s starting to break down physically

The Yankees received a visit from Mr. October, Reggie Jackson at practice yesterday. The legendary pressure performer chatted with Jason Giambi and Nick Johnson.

Joe Torre spoke with the team briefly before practice, and the Yankees sound as if they are loose and confident; expect some line up changes in Game Two.Andy Pettitte takes the ball tonight and makes another huge start for New York.

I know this is a bit belated, but there are some great blog writers who are covering this serious: Jay Jaffe, John Bonnes, Larry Manhken, Aaron Gleeman and Irina Paley. Oh, and my man Cliff has a thing or three to say as well.

Game One between the Red Sox and the A’s lasted well over four hours, and when it was all over—at approximately a 2:45 am est—Red Sox fans were not going to fall asleep easily. Pedro Martinez threw 130 pitches and left with a one-run lead, and Boston was one out away of putting the game away in the ninth, but Eubiel Durazo smacked a game-tying single off of Alan Embree to force extra innings.

Derek Lowe, Boston’s Game Three starter, pitched two innings. In the bottom of the 12th, with the bases loaded and two out, Oakland catcher Ramon Hernandez pulled the rug out from everyone by laying down a bunt. The squeeze was on, and Eric Chavez—who may have saved the game in the top of the 12th when he robbed Gabe Kapler of a double—raced home from third with the winning run. Oakland takes Game One in dramatic fashion, 5-4.

It was a familiar theme for Boston: the bullpen failed. According to The Boston Globe:

Kim blew the save by striking again – literally. After walking Jermaine Dye with one out in the bottom of the ninth, he drilled Chris Singleton on the left arm with a pitch to push Eric Byrnes, running for Dye, into scoring position at second base. The Sox protested that Singleton was swinging and should have been charged with a strike, to no avail.

Kim retired the next batter, Mark Ellis, before Little summoned Alan Embree to face the lefthanded hitting Erubiel Durazo. No sooner did Kim, visibly upset either at creating the mess, being lifted or both, depart than Embree let Durazo rip a 94-mile-an-hour fastball to left-center to knock in Byrnes and force extra innings.

Martinez and Oakland starter Tim Hudson were far from brilliant, but they pitched admirably all the same. Todd Walker backed up his boasting in a rather royal way, slamming two home runs.

While this can be seen as another devastating loss for the Red Sox, Boston has rebounded from tough losses all season long. They won’t have to wait long to bounce back, as Game Two will be played later this afternoon. But after Martinez threw so many pitches, I wonder how effective he will be if he started Game Four on three days rest. Derek Lowe also pitched last night, but I don’t think that will effect his Game Three start terribly.

For complete coverage of this series be sure to check in on Bambino’s Curse, Elephants in Oakland and The Universal Baseball Blog, Inc.

The Yankees kicked away game one of the playoffs yesterday afternoon at the Stadium. The Twins scored all three runs off of sloppy defensive plays, and their bullpen shut down the Yankee bats; the Bombers were 1-10 with runners in scoring position.

Bernie Williams played a single into a triple, and tripped over first base, reducing a sure double into a single. Jack Curry lectured Bernie in the Times this morning:

Outfielders are taught to surround the ball from the time they begin playing Little League. It is a basic task. If an outfielder cannot corral a liner or a fly ball, he must at least get himself into position to retrieve the ball as soon as possible. Again, basic stuff. Letting a ball rattle in the outfield gaps like a pinball can be as dangerous as losing the opener of a three-of-five-game series at home.

But this should not come as a great shock to Yankee fans. Dig what Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus wrote in his playoff injury report yesterday:

Bernie has knee and shoulder problems that have not significantly impacted his ability, but if he comes up a step short of a sinking liner or a ball into the gap, just nod your head knowingly.

Alfonso Soriano was no better, and he doesn’t have any excuses. Jason Giambi was clearly pressing, swinging at several pitches out of the strike zone. Combined, Giambi, Nick Johnson and Jorge Posada were 0-12. Derek Jeter was his usual self, collecting two hits and a walk. But it wasn’t enough.

The Twins deserve some credit too. Johan Santana was good before he had to leave with a tight hamstring; LaTroy Hawkins was nasty, and they survived a rough 9th inning from their closer too. Shannon Stewart made the catch of the game, robbing Godzilla of a double, but probably saving the Yankees from a lot of embarassement.

Directly behind Stewart, in the first row of the left field seats, was a shmuck fan, leaning onto the field with his glove, ready to catch a ball that was in play—the photo is splashed all over the papers today. If Stewart doesn’t come up with the ball, this dumb ass probably does. But he wasn’t sly like J. Maier. It wasn’t a night game, it was the middle of the afternoon. No way he would have gotten away with it. Can you imagine what the reaction would have been if this putz cost the Yankees an out?

I followed the game at work, periodically checking into a conference room to sneak a peak. It was a tense, exhausting way to follow a disappointing performance. The worst part was hearing all the Mets fans heckle and gloat, which brought my emotional maturity back to its sixth grade heights.

Game Two is now a must-win for the Yankees. Maybe it’s good that they got a swift kick in the ass. I think Pettitte will pitch a good game and then the Yanks can go to Minnie in a better frame of mind.