January 16, 2005

I'm Thankful to God It's All Over

I suspect there are very few people in America who wouldn't recognize the name Babe Ruth. The Sultan of Swat was America's first media superstar, his feats of baseball prowess so phenomonal that his fame has outlived him by more than six decades. Plenty of Americans are probably nearly as familiar with Barry Bonds, the San Francisco Giants slugger whose hitting abilities outstrip anyone else in the game today, and whose relationship with steroids remains a murky question.

Left in relative obscurity is the man who outstripped the Babe and whose record Bonds is currently chasing: Henry Aaron. In 1974, Aaron entered the year at 713 home runs, only one shy of the Babe's record. On Opening Day, Aaron tied the Babe with number 714. On April 8, the Braves' home opener, Aaron took an Al Dowling fastball into the Braves' bullpen for home run 715, the record-breaker. Aaron would hit another 40 home runs in his career to finish at 755, still the record. Yet as impressive as that mark is, it pales next to what Aaron had to endure to reach it.

Babe Ruth, like all major league ballplayers of his time, was white. Aaron is black. In the early 1970s, the notion that a black man was going to surpass a white icon was too much to take for a large number of people. The hate mail Aaron endured was so horrible I won't even print a sample, because no sample can illustrate the combined weight of racist Hell Aaron was forced to endure. He spent the offseason between 1973 and 1974 under police protection, and there was more than one threat to shoot him dead on the field before he could hit home run number 715.

Through it all, Aaron persevered. Aaron had come up through the Negro Leagues, and was the last Negro League player still in baseball by 1974. He was well-acquainted with bigotry. Yet somehow he kept going, noting once that he didn't want people to forget Ruth, only to remember him. The support he got from baseball was, to put it mildly, not great. On the night he hit number 715, baseball's commissioner was not even present. The support of the league against the torrent of hate mail certainly would not have stopped the hate, but it might well have helped to shield Aaron from some of it. But baseball dropped the ball.

Now Aaron has no interest in reliving that time as Bonds closes in on his record. Orrin Judd notes that Aaron will not attend any of the festivities should Bonds break his record, despite the gravitas and grace Aaron's presence would lend to a moment that will undoubtedly be tainted by allegations of steroid abuse. When baseball needs Aaron, Hank asks the reasonable question: where was baseball when he needed it?

Bonds will almost certainly eclipse Aaron's record next year, barring injury. With that, Aaron will no longer be the home run champion, and he will slide even further into obscurity. Baseball owes it to him to remember his story now, when attention will be sharpest on it. Not just the glory of that April evening when Aaron eclipsed Ruth, but everything he endured to reach that moment.

Much like America, baseball has a long and glorious history. Also much like America, baseball history has plenty of less-glorious moments. Hank Aaron is indelibly tied to both of those, and we would all be well-served to remember everything that went into that moment.

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December 17, 2004

The Red Sox Secret Revealed

Apparently Gabe Kapler was a more important element of the Red Sox' success this year than anyone realized. Dave Pinto explains why. It's an interesting tale, and one that I believe has a great deal of relevance to most aspects of life.

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December 14, 2004

A Farewell to Arm

In what comes as no real surprise to Red Sox fans, Pedro Martinez has pitched his last game in a Boston uniform after signing with the New York Mets pending his passing a physical. Ultimately, as it so often does for ballplayers, it came down to money: the Mets were willing to pay more for Pedro's services than Boston was, and so Pedro jumped. I don't think you can really blame Pedro for that, as baseball is ultimately a business and players have a limited window in which to earn money for their abilities. Nonetheless, this is a painful loss for Sox fans both emotionally and strictly from a team sense.

Emotionally, Pedro had been with the Sox seven years and had become a fixture of the team. While some of his antics could be infuriating, like his need to leave for the All Star break a week early, he could also provide the lighter touch in the dugout, laughing and playing with his teammates to ease the tension during a tough game. And there was never any doubt about one thing: Pedro cared about winning. When he was on the mound, he gave you his all. It was often painful to watch his struggles this year for precisely that reason; it was obvious he'd lost something, yet he refused to give in, taking the mound and trying to make up for lost stuff with more guile and guts. And ultimately getting away with it, as he did in his final start for Boston, shutting down St. Louis for seven critical innings in game three of the World Series. That's not a bad valedictory.

From the team's standpoint, the Sox are certainly no longer nearly as strong as they were. A rotation of Schilling, Martinez, Wells, Arroyo, Wakefield would have been one of the best in the league. Schilling, Wells, Arroyo, Wakefield, Kim is a big letdown. Jason Varitek has to be pleased, as this will put more pressure on the Sox to keep him around. But keeping Varitek won't help the rotation, which needs at least a short-term fix for next year, and which will probably need a long-term fix as well, since the Sox will be lucky to get one good year out of Wells. The one good piece in all this is that the Sox won't overpay for Carl Pavano, who is by far the most overrated pitcher of this offseason.

Good luck to Pedro. I suspect he may yet come to regret this decision, as even without him the Sox are a lot better bet to win than the Mets. But we'll miss him.

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November 30, 2004

One Down, Four to Go

While we're talking baseball, I'm happy to note that the Red Sox have resigned catcher Doug Mirabelli to a two-year deal. While Doug is the Sox' backup catcher, he's been a huge part of the team thanks to his ability to handle Tim Wakefield's knuckleball and his solid bat. Expect him to be an important piece of the Sox' title defense in 2005.

Now, of course, we're still waiting to hear about Pedro, Tek, Orlando, and Lowe or his replacement...

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Baseball Whores

The Washington Post endorses Bud Selig's plan today: they want the city of Washington to spend $600 million-plus to build a stadium for the Expos/Nationals. Their logic: if they don't agree to build the stadium, Washington might not get baseball for years.

I bow to few in my love of baseball. I think it's the best game that has ever been invented, and I concur with the Post when they argue that baseball is good for a city. Both my own beloved Red Sox and the fabled Dodgers provide examples of this. While most people know that Brooklyn is a borough of the city of New York, few people today know that Brooklyn was once an independent city. It was brought into the larger city of New York in the early 20th Century, but it retained its own identity for decades. When did people stop saying they were from Brooklyn and start saying they were from New York? Around 1957, when the Brooklyn Dodgers announced that they would be pulling up stakes and moving to the west coast. Losing the Dodgers took the heart out of Brooklyn, and it has never been the same. For a more positive example, just look at what Boston enjoyed this October: as the Red Sox put together their unlikely run to their first championship in 86 years, the atmosphere in Boston was electric. As my sister-in-law attested, even people who didn't normally care about baseball or the Red Sox were caught up in the excitement, and when Boston beat the Yankees and St. Louis, everyone in Boston was as happy as they've been in years. Baseball can do great things.

But that doesn't mean a city should just roll over for it. Major League Baseball has been playing this game for years. Teams move wherever they can extort the best deal from local government, even when the fans aren't interested in playing the game. My parents live outside Milwaukee, and have to pay additional taxes to finance the new Miller Park despite the fact they and a majority of their fellow citizens voted against public financing of the park. Their local politicians made a deal with Selig to fund it anyhow, and now the perenially awful Brewers get to play their games in a stadium built with taxpayer dollars. A great deal for them, but not such a good deal for the fans. There's no reason to saddle the people of Washington with a similar deal.

Finally, let me address the Post's most clever move: noting that the stadium wouldn't be financed on the backs of taxpayers. Ah, they note, the tax will be on businesses. Really now. How hard is it to figure out who really pays taxes on business? Are the Post's editors really so economically illiterate that they simply believe a tax on business can be absorbed by the business without cost? Or do they not care that a business tax results in either increased prices or reduced profits? I suspect they're hoping for the latter, but reduced profits are not good for society, despite the fond dreams of many leftists. If there are fewer profits to be had in business, than fewer people will go into business. And while the left lives to hate business, they sure do love one of the important byproducts of business: jobs. Fewer profits leads to fewer jobs, but somehow proponents of taxes on business have never been able to make that connection. Here's hoping Washington's city council therefore is at least smart enough to not build the stadium on other grounds.

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November 13, 2004

A Stand Against Baseball Extortion

Jacob Sullum pens a good summary of why the city of Washington D.C. should stand up to Bud Selig and tell him to build his own damn stadium. As regular readers know, I'm a huge baseball fan and I would very much love to see the Washington Greys take the field early next year. But not at any price.

Baseball teams generate massive amounts of money...for the team. Their ability to generate economic booms for localities is questionable at best. Furthermore, there is absolutely no reason for any city to pay to build a ballpark for a local team. The team is a business, not a public trust. Should D.C. also spring for a new Wal-Mart Supercenter? The idea is ludicrous, but sports teams have managed to convince all too many cities that somehow they're different. They're not, and there is no reason to treat them as if they were. Only when local government shows a willingness to stand up to professional sports and tell them to pay their own way can we hope to see this come to an end.

Yes, it might mean Washington doesn't get a major league team immediately. But if the economics of a Washington-based team make sense, someone will put a team there. And if the economics don't make sense, than the D.C. government will have saved itself a lot of money by not springing for a stadium that will be abandoned all too soon anyhow. It's time cities start acting as true stewards of the people's monies.

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October 29, 2004

Now What?

So the Red Sox are World Champions, and the Curse is dead. No more "1918" chants at ballgames. No more replays of Enos Slaughter, Bob Gibson, Bucky Dent, Bill Buckner, and Aaron Boone. In a sense, we're no longer special, because what made us unique is now gone. And apparently some people think that's a bad thing (presumably not Red Sox fans). What a crock.

Let's put things in perspective. We're still at war against a global enemy who would like little more than to see us all put to death. We've got two Godawful candidates running for President, and the rules say one of them has to win. The world still suffers from the four horsemen of war, disease, famine and pestilence. Boston's World Series win clearly doesn't do a damn thing for any of that. Hell, it doesn't even do much on a smaller scale. I still have the same bills. I'm still stuck in El Paso, 600 miles from my wife and thousands of miles from the rest of my family. So what's the big deal?

For eighty-five years, the Boston Red Sox failed to win a title. That's not the longest drought in history; the Cubs are coming up on the centennial of their last victory. But unlike the Cubs, Boston has been consistently competitive since the late 1960s. 2004 was our fourth appearance in the World Series since 1966, and that doesn't even mention our other close calls in 1978 and 2003. Each time, the Sox had a chance to win the Series, and each time they fell short, most painfully in 1986 when the Mets' scoreboard broadcast the fateful "Congratulations Boston Red Sox World Champions 1986." The Curse of the Bambino was a typical human invention in an attempt to explain the inexplicable, no different than the Greek Apollo carrying the Sun across the sky or the theory that thunder was the gods bowling. What else, after all, could explain the Red Sox' uncanny ability to fall just short of greatness?

Yet they persevered. Despite all of those failure, despite the belief by many people that Boston simply could never reach its goal, they went on. Last year could have crushed the city, to come so very close only to fall short yet again. Instead, they moved forward and vanquished a still-greater demon, coming back from an 0-3 deficit to win eight straight games, a feat never before seen in baseball history.

The Boston Red Sox won a World Championship. And if we can do that, we can do anything.

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No Joy Without a Little Sadness

In the wake of Boston's historic World Series victory, Edward Cosette of the marvelous blog Bambino's Curse is hanging up his spikes. While I didn't maintain him on the blogroll (mostly because I'm lazy, and because the damn thing is huge already), I loved to read his work, and he will be missed. Hopefully he'll be back sooner than later.

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October 27, 2004

This Is Next Year

I never really followed baseball closely as a kid. Worse, when I was young, I followed the (gasp) Yankees. It wasn't until October 1986 that I discovered the Boston Red Sox.

We were visiting my Dad's father in Maine. On the way back, we stopped at my Uncle Hank's, as he lived only a few miles down the road from my grandfather. Hank invited us in to watch the Red Sox' last game of the season. They were down to the California Angels, three games to one, and losing in the late innings of Game Five. We sat down in front of the television and watched Dave Henderson almost singlehandedly drag Boston to victory and keep the Series alive. Boston would go on to win the last two games at home for their first World Series appearance since 1975, and the first one in my experience.

The World Series opened my eyes to the wonders of baseball. I was on the edge of my seat during Game Six. When Dave Henderson hit a sacrifice fly to put the Sox up by a run in the top of the tenth, I was certain Boston was going to win. Hendu had carried the Sox all through the postseason; it was only right he drive in the winning run tonight. And I watched Calvin Schiraldi suffer a nervous breakdown on the mound, and Bob Stanley allow the tying run to score, and poor Bill Buckner let a grounder eat him alive. Boston would drop Game Seven as well, but at the time I had no sense of history. I knew the Sox would be back.

Sure enough, they won the AL East again in 1988 and again in 1990, but both times Oakland swept them out of the playoffs. I lived and died with the Sox in 1992 when they made up eleven games on Toronto down the stretch, but fell short because Toronto had an 11 1/2 game lead. The pain only grew worse when the Sox reached the playoffs again in 1995 to see Cleveland sweep them aside. In 1998 the Sox finally broke their postseason losing streak, but still went down in the Division Series. Then, 1999. Boston lost the first two games of the Division Series, with Pedro Martinez going down injured, and it looked like Cleveland would steamroller them yet again. But Boston managed to pull out a win in Game Three before putting up 23 runs in Game Four to even the Series. The teams kept the slugging going in Game Five until the fourth inning, when Pedro Martinez stepped out of the Boston bullpen. Pedro shut down the Indians the rest of the way, alloting them precisely zero hits through six innings while Cleveland would twice intentionally walk Nomar to pitch to Troy O'Leary and Troy would twice blast home runs to give Boston all the runs they would need. Boston was back in the ALCS for the first time since 1990.

Thanks to some lousy calls, Boston dropped the first two games to the Yankees, but Game Three would be one for the ages: Roger Clemens back in Boston against Pedro Martinez. Pedro was brilliant, while Roger got bombed, but that was the high-water mark for the Sox, as New York won the next two to take the Series.

Boston then slipped, missing the postseason the next three years before a triumphant return in 2003. Once again, Boston lost the first two games of the ALDS, this time to Oakland, and if not for two incredibly stupid baserunning plays by the Oakland runners in Game Three, Oakland would have completed the sweep. Instead Boston won the game on Trot Nixon's extra innings home run. Boston would beat Keith Foulke to win Game Four, and Derek Lowe would end Game Five with the tying and winning runs on base in Game Five. Boston was heading back to the ALCS, and once again they would face the Yankees.

Boston took Game One in Yankee Stadium, but New York won the ugly Game Two against Pedro. New York would win two of three in Boston and was ready to close out the Series in Game Six, but Boston struggled back and forced Game Seven. Pedro should have been the hero of Game Seven, and I skipped my class to watch Game Seven in the hope I'd see Boston finally return to the World Series. Boston knocked Clemens around yet again, but Joe Torre was smart and hooked him early. Mussina shut Boston down the rest of the way, but after seven innings Boston led 5-2, and Timlin/Embree/Williamson had been lights out throughout the ALCS. Amanda turned to me and asked if we should go out somewhere for dinner to celebrate the Red Sox victory. I declined to answer, but I believed that it was a good idea.

Then Pedro came out for the eighth. No big deal. Let him go until he gives up a baserunner, then bring in Timlin. Pedro got the first batter, but Derek Jeter hit an opposite field double and Grady Little came to the mound to get Pedro. Amanda and I nodded; yep, pat him on the butt and tell him good job and let's give this lead to the bullpen. Little turned around and walked back to the Boston dugout, leaving Pedro in the game, and Amanda and I watched in disbelief as the Yankees pushed three runs across. Only with the score tied did Little finally drag himself back to the mound, too late. Boston would keep it tied through the tenth, but, well, you all know what happened in the eleventh.

I was crushed. I had really believed Boston was going to win that game, and they'd blown it not because New York outplayed them, but because they outmanaged them. It was painful, and watching the Yankees lose the World Series didn't really help. Boston had blown their best chance in years.

Then they failed to get A-Rod (a blessing in disguise, as it turns out), but they did sign Schilling and Foulke in the offseason. But when New York signed A-Rod, and Boston lost Nixon and Garciaparra in spring training, it looked like it would be another long season.

Instead, Boston started strong, taking five of the first six from New York and getting out to an early lead in the AL East. Then, three months of .500 ball punctuated by the trade of icon Nomar Garciaparra. The Sox took about a week to get over that, and then they caught fire. New York's lead was too great for Boston to overcome, although Francona's poor managing was a factor there as he recreated the ALCS nightmare in the infamous "Daddy" game. Still, Boston made the playoffs for the second year in a row, and despite their Wild Card status, an examination of the teams in the playoffs showed Boston to be the class of the AL.

They looked like it against Anaheim, giving fans a scare in Game Three by giving up the lead but holding on to sweep Anaheim on Ortiz's home run. But New York ran roughshod over Boston in the first three games, thanks in part to Curt Schilling's injury, and it was clear this wasn't going to be Boston's year either. I was in the field at JRTC, I hadn't seen any of the first three games, and I was hoping Boston could win Game Four just so that I could actually see a game of the ALCS. Trailing going into the ninth, Boston tied the score against Mariano Rivera before David Ortiz stepped up to crush a ball in the twelvth inning to keep the Sox alive. Game Five was even harder to watch, as Pedro couldn't hold a lead and Boston had to earn back two against Tom Gordon and Rivera. Boston's bullpen managed to hold off the Yankees for six innings, although they never made it look easy, and once again David Ortiz drove in the winning run for Boston.

I would be in the field for Game Six, and once again I just wanted one more chance to see my team play this year. Schilling pulled off the miracle, and Boston had done the unthinkable, forcing a Game Seven. And while I greatly enjoyed Game Seven, it was somewhat anticlimactic after the tension of Games Four, Five, and Six. Boston had made up for their disastrous 2003 loss with a comeback for the ages. Still, St. Louis is a very good team.

I told friends that I would be happy with that comeback, but they knew I was lying. If Boston couldn't win it all, the ALCS would be a consolation prize, nothing more. At least I would be able to watch the games.

And as the Red Sox crushed the Cardinals, I haven't known what to think. In 1986, I didn't know Boston's history of futility. Over the past five years, I've been all-too-aware of it, culminating in the horror of last year's Game Seven. When Boston fell behind New York 3-0, it was obvious they were done. I still haven't full processed that win. Winning the World Series, as important as it is, seems almost anticlimactic, given how easy Boston has made it appear.

But in the ninth inning, it all becomes very real. 86 years of futility. My father is 64 years old, and he's never seen this. Maybe we'll never see it again. But today, the Boston Red Sox are World Champions. I'm shaking in my chair. This is beyond unbelievable. One out away from being swept in the ALCS, Boston has done it all. No more 'wait 'til next year,' baby.

This is next year. 1918 my ass!

Posted at 09:43 PM · Baseball · Comments (8) · TrackBack (0)

Game Four

And here we go! Can Derek Lowe make up for a Godawful season with a victory tonight? Can the Red Sox overcome 85 years of pain with a final offensive outburst? Or will the Cardinals hold the door open at least one more night? It promises to be an interesting and exciting evening, and with a little luck, well see Boston celebrate its first World Championship of the modern era by the time the night is over.

Top first: Damon gets things off to a good start, stroking a leadoff homer to put the Red Sox on top in the first again. Cabrera grounds out on the first pitch, Rolen making a great barehanded pick to throw him out by a step or two. Marquis seems to be keeping the ball down now, as opposed to his pitches to Damon, so he may have settled down. He's behind Manny now, 3-2, but staying low. But his last pitch is both up and away, and Manny is on ahead of Ortiz. Marquis needs a double play. First pitch to Ortiz is up, and it looks like I was early in assessing Marquis as having settled in. Ball two is low, at least, but Marquis doesn't want another walk in the inning, especially with only one out. Strike one is low and away. If Marquis gets Ortiz, he may settle in. If not, the Cards could be in deep trouble. Ortiz swings and misses on high heat, strike two. On 3-2, Ortiz takes Marquis the other way, but not hard enough. Two away, and Marquis is one good pitch away from getting out of the first. He makes it, striking out Varitek. Now we'll see what Lowe has tonight.

Bottom first: Not a great start for Lowe, not because he gives up a leadoff hit, but because it's in the air. Womack at first, nobody out. Walker bunts, an odd decision, although I'll assume he was trying for the base hit. He moves Womack over, but gives Boston an out. Pujols grounds to the right side, moving the runner, but that's two outs, so the Cards need a hit to get on the board. Rolen goes down on a swinging bunt, and the Cardinals waste a leadoff single.

Top second: Marquis looks much better starting the second, getting the ground ball he needs from Bill Mueller to put the first man away. Nixon rips a double to right, however, meaning that the Red Sox will get Lowe to the plate this inning, if nothing else. Nice shot of Pedro cheering Trot on; Pedro may not be quite as selfish as he's often reported to be. They're pitching to Bellhorn with first base open and the pitcher coming up. Interesting choice. Bellhorn crushes a 3-1 pitch foul, putting a scare in the Cardinals. Bellhorn draws the walk, and we'll see if Lowe can help himself by advancing the runner. The wheel play is on for the Cardinals, but Marquis misses with his first pitch. Rolen nearly botches the play, but with Lowe running Rolen is able to throw him out, but it's a successful sacrifice. Nice job by Lowe. Can Damon put his mark on this game in a hurry? Marquis falls behind him 2-0, and this is a crucial at-bat for both teams. If Boston scores, St. Louis may not be able to recover. But if St. Louis gets out of this, they could take some momentum away from the inning. Damon hits an easy grounder to first, and St. Louis gets out of the inning.

Bottom second: Lowe needs to shut down the Cardinals here to prevent them from taking anything away from their success in the top of the second. That's a tall order against this lineup, though. Edmonds flies to left, a good start for Lowe. LaRussa has shaken up his lineup, leading off with Womack and moving Renteria to the six hole. Renteria works the count to 2-2, but grounds to third. Here comes John Mabry for his first start of the World Series, as Reggie Sanders gets the day off. That's got to be a painful blow for Sanders. Mabry hits the ball hard, but not hard enough, a line drive out to right. Great work by Lowe thus far.

Top third: Cabrera has a nice swing, but he must have caught it off the end of the bat, as the fly ball to left doesn't actually travel very far. Manny is positioning himself well for World Series MVP, if the Sox win, with another sharp grounder to left. He's hitting close to .500 in the Series. Ortiz keeps the competition friendly with a rip down the first base line for a double. Red Sox threaten St. Louis again, demonstrating just how good their lineup is. And Pedro is looking very excited in the dugout. Varitek needs to put the ball in play here. He does so, but he hits it so hard Pujols is able to throw home and get Manny at the plate. Two away, runners at the corners. St. Louis is living on the edge tonight. Marquis walks Mueller on four pitches to load the bases, giving Nixon a chance to break the game open. Another huge at-bat for both teams, as St. Louis refuses to go quietly into that good night. Marquis falls behind Nixon 3-0; he's thrown seven straight balls. Nixon is swinging away on 3-0 and he misses a home run by no more than a few feet, driving in two more runs to put Boston on top, 3-0. Look for St. Louis to walk Bellhorn to face Lowe. It's the third inning, and Boston has sent 18 batters to the plate thus far. Nobody up in the Cardinal bullpen; has LaRussa quit? It seems to me he'll want to pinch hit for Marquis in the bottom of the inning. OK, Reyes is up now. Lowe should be Marquis' last hitter, unless he blows it and allows Lowe to walk or even single. Marquis is losing his cool after he doesn't get a close call. I did think it was a strike, but I don't see much help in complaining. Lowe whiffs, but the damage is done, and for the fourth straight game, Boston has knocked out the Cardinal starter before the end of the fifth inning.

Bottom third: If Lowe shuts St. Louis down here, they may not recover. Boston has completely dominated the Cardinals throughout the Series, and if they can't get something going soon, they're probably going to strart giving up as they realize that they've lost. Molina whiffs on a ball way down and away, and Lowe is looking strong. LaRussa lets Marquis bat, which I consider a stupid move. Yes, he's a good hitter for a pitcher; that's not the same as being a good hitter. If Marquis is the best option LaRussa has in that spot, the Cardinals are done. Marquis grounds out on the first pitch. Two away, and Womack steps in. Lowe is throwing strikes, which is sometimes a problem for him. Womack grounds to short, and Lowe is looking like a man who may have turned his career around in two short weeks.

Top fourth: I was wrong; Marquis is out to start the fourth. Maybe LaRussa has seen something I haven't. Or maybe he doesn't have any faith in the rest of his bullpen. That's a bad sign. Womack makes a gorgeous scoop and toss to Pujols to barely catch Johnny Damon on a bang-bang play at first. One away. Maybe LaRussa just doesn't want to be remembered for having none of his starters last five innings. Cabrera hits another can of corn, and Marquis quickly gets two outs. Now Manny and Yadier Molina are getting into it at the plate, a dumb move. Manny wisely apologizes quickly, although they're still jawing. Like Nixon, Manny swings away 3-0, but Manny can't get enough of it and Marquis has his first 1-2-3 inning.

Bottom fourth: The Sox have the lead, but it's not big enough for Lowe to relax. The heart of the Cardinals order is coming up, so it's their best chance to score, and Lowe falls behind Walker 2-0. Walker rips a 2-1 pitch, but it's hit at Nixon so it's just a loud out. Lowe strikes Pujols out swinging; he's really fooling them tonight. Rolen pops the first pitch to first, and Lowe is making this look easy.

Top fifth: Marquis is three outs away from going deeper into the game than any of his predecessors. Impressive. Although if Lowe stays hot (and he's throwing less than ten pitches an inning), it won't matter. Ortiz draws a leadoff walk, so Marquis may not last the inning. Duncan is coming to the mound to try and stall. Varitek strikes out looking after getting ahead 2-0, a nice recovery by Marquis, who has been the most effective Cardinals starter of the Series so far. Mueller hits a sharp grounder to second, but David Ortiz is running on the 3-2 pitch and Boston avoids the double play. Will Marquis pitch to Nixon? Yes, and he gets Nixon on one pitch. St. Louis gets their first five-inning start of the Series.

Bottom fifth: Lowe has only thrown 38 pitches so far. Can he stay hot? Edmonds hits a sharp liner but it stays low and Mueller puts it away. Lowe goes 3-2 on Renteria and goes after him (rightly), but Renteria hits the ball in just the right spot for a one-out double. Suddenly Lowe looks a little flaky, as he throws the ball to the backstop on what appears to be mixed signals between Lowe and Varitek. Renteria is at third with less than two out, and St. Louis really has to score here. Lowe needs a strikeout, and he gets ahead of Mabry 0-2. Mabry strikes out on what looked like it might have been a foul tip. Mabry is arguing, and here comes LaRussa. Nothing is going St. Louis' way this Series, but it looks like the ump made the right call here. The last replay did look like Mabry might have ticked the ball, but there's nothing definitive. Once again, St. Louis needs a hit to score. Molina grounds to short, and the shutout is intact. Unbelievable.

Top sixth: The only question in this inning is, will Lowe get a third at-bat, or will Francona go to the bullpen for the last four innings? I'd stick with Lowe, but we'll see what Tito does. LaRussa sticks with Marquis, which probably isn't a bad idea at this point, since he's done as well as anyone in a Cardinals uniform this Series. Bellhorn whiffs on a sinker, and Marquis is making LaRussa's decision look great. Lowe is batting for himself. Lowe puts the ball in play, but Marquis makes a great play to put him away. Damon scorches a two-out triple to prevent Marquis from recording another 1-2-3 inning. Cabrera battles, but Marquis induces a fly to right and St. Louis is still alive.

Bottom sixth: Lowe had a little trouble last inning. Can St. Louis finally get to him? Marlon Anderson pinch-hits for Marquis, and he bunts to Lowe for out number one. Marquis is done for the night, but St. Louis can't complain with what he gave them: six innings, only three runs and 121 pitches. Not his fault the Cards couldn't score against Lowe. Womack flies to center, and Lowe will face St. Louis' big bats with the bases empty. Lowe falls behind Walker 3-1. He hasn't walked anyone yet, and this is a bad place to start. But he does, and now Pujols will bat with Walker at first. At-bats don't get any bigger than this. Lowe gets ahead of Pujols, 0-2, and starts nibbling. Granted, Pujols is a great hitter, but Lowe is going to have to be more aggressive. If he walks Pujols, Scott Rolen will be the tying run, and he is way overdue for a hit. Lowe pops Pujols up, and Boston is nine outs away from history.

Top seventh: Boston would love to get a few insurance runs here. If their pitching is perfect, they won't have to face Pujols again, but the odds are against that. Therefore, we want as much of a cushion as we can get. It looks like Lowe is done. Bad idea, for my money, as he's thrown only 71 pitches. Haren is in for St. Louis. He was tough on Boston in Game One. Manny is overly eager and he strikes out despite Haren throwing him only one strike in the at-bat. Figure this to be Ortiz' last at-bat, as Francona will shift to the hands team for the last three innings. Ortiz hits the ball hard, but on the ground, and he is out number two. Now Varitek will try and get only his second hit of the Series. Tek gives one a ride, but he got under it just enough, and he's just a loud out.

Bottom seventh: Sure enough, Mientkiewicz is on at first now, and Lowe is still on the mound, but they have Embree and Arroyo up in the bullpen. Lowe needs to throw strikes. He goes to 3-2 on Rolen, a bad start. He can't afford to walk anyone. He challenges Rolen, and Rolen flies to center. Barring a big collapse, it's safe to assume Rolen won't have any fond memories of this Series. Edmonds hits a sharp liner to center, but it hangs up and Damon is there. Renteria gets his second hit of the evening, an opposite field single. It's a line drive, meaning Lowe may be tiring. Let him pitch to Mabry, but if Mabry reaches, Francona needs to pull Lowe. Don't put him in a position to lose this game, not with all he's done for them. Lowe strikes Mabry out on another sinker, and the Sox are six outs away.

Top eighth: Mueller gets things started for Boston with a sharp single to right, and Boston has a chance to get some much-needed insurance. It looks like Lowe is done for the night. I wouldn't pull him until he started to get hit, but I can understand where Francona is coming from. Nixon rips one to right for his third double of the night, and Trot's bat has finally come alive. Second and third, nobody out, Boston could seal the deal right here. Typical McCarver, telling us that St. Louis would have to make a double switch here. Of course, it would be wise to make a double switch, but obviously they don't have to. In any case, they do, and Isringhausen will make his first appearance of the Series. Good call by LaRussa, as St. Louis cannot give up any more runs. Kapler nearly pops Trot in the nose when he comes in to pinch-run for him. Now it makes sense to lift Lowe for a pinch-hitter, and Millar is in the on-deck circle. Bellhorn draws the walk and the bases are loaded with nobody out. Millar could, for all intents and purposes, end the Series with a big hit right here. Pokey Reese comes on to run for Bellhorn, giving the Sox a faster baserunner and better defense. The Cards bring their infield in, a dangerous move against Millar. I wonder if Isringhausen is having trouble because of his long layoff? He walked Bellhorn, and Millar is up 2-0 quickly. Millar swings and misses at the 2-0 pitch, looking to break the game open. He fouls the next pitch back, and Isringhausen will look to strike him out. He gets it, making Millar look foolish, and Johnny Damon has to take up the load. Boston only needs a fly ball here, but if St. Louis gets out of this, that should have them thoroughly charged up for the last six outs. Damon grounds to first and Pujols makes a marvelous catch and throw to get Mueller at the plate. St. Louis is one pitch away from getting away unscathed, a big failure for the Red Sox offense. Cabrera gets the count 3-0, but Isringhausen comes back to make it 3-2. Biggest pitch of the night coming up. Cabrera fouls three back, one almost out of the catcher's mitt, but he strikes out on ball four. Great job by the Cardinals, and this isn't over yet.

Bottom eighth: The Red Sox may end up looking back at their pitiful performance in the top of the eighth as the start of the disaster. In comes Arroyo. Foulke will certainly be ready if he gets into trouble, though. Roger Cedeno will leadoff for the Cardinals. Arroyo gets Cedeno to pop up for the first out. Now Sanders will bat, still looking for his first hit of the postseason. Sanders smokes strike one foul. Now 2-2. Arroyo needs to learn to throw closer to the strike zone, as Sanders isn't going to swing at pitches that aren't borderline. Arroyo blows it, walking Sanders, a piss-poor performance from the Boston hurler.

Bottom eighth (continued): Embree is called upon to get the Sox to the ninth. He'll pitch to Hector Luna, who is pinch-hitting for Womack. I'm not sure if that's a bright call. Yes, it gets the lefty-righty matchup, but Womack's a much better hitter than Womack. After a quick strike, Embree can't find the strike zone either, as he's fascinated by Sanders on the basepaths. Embree needs to forget the irrelevant run and get the hitter. He does, and Luna goes down swinging. Four outs to go.

Bottom eighth (continued): LaRussa engages his brain and leaves Walker in to face Embree. Walker pops to short, and Boston is three outs away. Here comes Foulke.

Top ninth: Manny swings at the first pitch at is an easy out for Scott Rolen. Another third baseman might have had trouble there, but Rolen's too good. Now Mientkiewicz will bat. He pops to right, and the Sox can't seem to handle Isringhausen. Varitek has one more chance to double his hit total for the Series, but the one hit he had was so huge, nobody will hold the failures against him. He knocks an opposite field job for a single, extending the inning. Bill Mueller, hometown boy, has one more chance to put down the Cardinals. Instead he grounds to short, and we're going to the bottom of the ninth.

Bottom ninth, first batter: It's never easy, as the Sox will have to get the heart of the Cards' order to close it out. Foulke starts with a strike, the best pitch in baseball. Ball one is close, but outside. Pujols fouls off strike two, and Foulke is one strike away from the first out. Pujols hangs in on the high fastball, still 1-2. Pujols nearly takes Foulke's legs out with a single up the middle. Not good.

Bottom ninth, second batter: Two quick strikes to Rolen. This is Rolen's last chance for redemption. Ball one inside, 1-2. Rolen goes the other way, but it's a can of corn to Gabe Kapler, one away.

Bottom ninth, third batter: Foulke goes right after Edmonds and gets strike one swinging, strike two fouled away to the left. Strike three blows past Edmonds, and Boston is one out away.

Bottom ninth, fourth batter: Ball one to Renteria. Comebacker to the pitcher. The Red Sox are World Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Final update: For God's sake, let's be sensible in Boston tonight, and celebrate without rioting.

Posted at 06:24 PM · Baseball · Comments (15) · TrackBack (0)

October 26, 2004

Why Not Us?

The Red Sox have gotten all the breaks thus far in the postseason and they've taken advantage of them. St. Louis gave away two runs tonight through bad baserunning, and after Suppan was picked off third, Pedro turned into the Pedro of old. He gave the Sox everything they could have asked for and he earned his first World Series victory. Now the Sox have to make sure they don't take their eye off the ball. History is on their side, but they certainly can't forget their own defeat of the Yankees last week. This team is one win away from erasing 86 years of frustration. They cannot afford to slip up.

Posted at 09:42 PM · Baseball · Comments (1) · TrackBack (0)

Game Three

This is the big one. If the Red Sox win tonight, St. Louis is in deep trouble (although, as the Sox themselves know, they're not champions until they win that fourth game). If the Cardinals play like they have all year, the Series becomes competitive again. Not to mention the question of Pedro. If he pitches well tonight, he's back on course for the Hall of Fame. If he gets beat again, he ends up (fairly or not) with the reputation of a pitcher who can't get the job done when the pressure is on. I hope to see Pedro do well tonight, both because he deserves to be better-remembered than that, and because I don't want to see Boston let the Cardinals back into the Series.

Top first: Good job by Suppan going right after Damon. Johnny does a great job of forcing the starter to throw lots of pitches, so it's best just to throw him strikes. Only five pitches to retire Damon is exactly how St. Louis wants this game to start. St. Louis has to force Boston to put the ball in play, or they'll give up another passel of runs. Cabrera, like Damon, hits the ball well, but like Damon's ball, the hit hangs up long enough for Edmonds to get there. Could be a pitcher's night if balls continue to hang up like that. After an iffy strike call, Manny finally breaks out with a laser into the left field stands to put the Sox on top, 1-0. Pedro has the lead before he takes the mound. Ortiz follows Manny's blast with a solid single through the right side, forcing Suppan to pitch with a runner on for the first time tonight. But with Ortiz on base, will he pitch from the stretch or use the windup? Looks like an abbreviated windup, but I wasn't paying enough attention to his earlier windup to be sure. They are holding Ortiz on at first. Varitek ends the inning on an easy grounder to second. The Sox have to be happy with the inning, though, as they forced 20+ pitches out of Suppan and took the lead.

Bottom second: St. Louis can be happy with the first as well, since Suppan generally has trouble in the first, and it could have been a lot worse than 1-0 if Damon and Cabrera's hits had dropped in. Pedro quickly falls behind Renteria 2-0 before finding the strike zone. With St. Louis' dangerous offense, Pedro doesn't want any baserunners for them, and he comes back to get Renteria on a groundout to second. Now the work really begins. After a first pitch strike, he puts Walker on with a freebie. The Red Sox lead isn't likely to last through the inning, as walks just kill teams. Looks like a big strike zone tonight, as the home plate ump calls a strike on Pujols that looked low and away to me. This has been Pedro's problem all year: he gets hitters 0-2, then can't put them away. Can he do better tonight? Pedro can, but the Red Sox defense continues to let them down as Mueller can't come up with Pujols' grounder. Pedro is in early trouble. And it gets worse, as he's behind Rolen 3-1. Bases loaded as Pedro issues his second free pass of the inning, and Boston is in deep trouble. They gave away outs with errors in the first two games, now they're handing out runs with free passes tonight. It's sad, because Pedro is doing this all to himself; the only hit came on a grounder that could have been the second out of the inning. Dumb play by the Cardinals saves the Red Sox, as Walker is gunned down easily at the plate on a shallow fly to left.

Top second: Mueller continues the Red Sox tradition of hitting the ball on the nose, but right at a fielder. Edmonds was playing him shallow, and Mueller almost burned him on it. Nixon pops up on the second pitch, and this looks to be an extremely short inning for Suppan. Worse, if Bellhorn doesn't reach, Martinez will lead off the third. Will Bellhorn at least force Suppan to throw a few pitches? He does, but the ump rings him up on the eighth pitch of the at bat. Good comeback by Suppan. Is Pedro warmed up now?

Bottom second: I really dislike Varitek's habit of standing up to get a high pitch on 0-2 counts. I've never seen the hitter swing, so it just seems like a big waste of time. Pedro comes back on the 1-2 pitch to induce a pop-up from Sanders. Once again, Pedro goes 3-1 on the second hitter of the inning, but he recovers to get the groundout. Now the Sox have a shot at the easy inning and the pitcher leading off the third. I guess the zone isn't as big as I thought in the first, as Pedro's 0-2 pitch looked like strike three to me. Pedro ends up with his first strikeout with Matheny, and both pitchers have settled down.

Top third: Pedro never takes the bat off his shoulder, which is probably a good idea. Making Pedro run the bases might be the smartest thing St. Lous could do. Damon follows with an easy grounder, and Suppan looks like he's in the groove now. Bad news for the Red Sox, as Pedro isn't likely to shut down this Cardinals offense. Silly crap from McCarver about Edgar Martinez as a Hall of Famer. Why this guy is considered a good announcer is beyond my ken. If you're going to send a DH to the Hall, he'd better be the best hitter of his era, and Martinez doesn't come close. Orlando Cabrera is the luckiest hitter in baseball, as nobody wants to walk him to face Ramirez and Ortiz. Yet Suppan does just that. Can Manny punish him for it? He certainly tries hard with his swing at strike two, but that ball never touched the zone and Manny nearly flies out of his socks. He tries to go the other way, but it's just a can of corn to Walker.

Bottom third: Kudos to Suppan, who's making Pedro throw lots of pitches to the worst hitter in the Cards' lineup before reaching on a swinging bunt. On the other hand, this will make Suppan run, so this is a mixed blessing for the Cards. If the Sox can get out of this without giving up a run, they may be able to get to Suppan in the fourth. Ramirez makes Pedro pay with an opposite field double, and once again Pedro has put himself into a tight spot, now with the big hitters due up. And once again, terrible baserunning kills the Cardinals as Suppan is thrown out at third when he should have scored easily. Two out, but Pedro still must get Pujols. LaRussa looks like he's in shock, which is understandable. The Red Sox made eight errors in Fenway, but the Cardinals have made two mental errors so far at Busch. Pedro gets away with another bad inning as Pujols grounds to third.

Top fourth: Boston has gotten very lucky thus far, but if they can't put some runs on the board, it's unlikely to help them in the long run. Pedro doesn't have shutout stuff tonight, and he's already over 50 pitches. Ortiz goes down easily as Suppan dekes him with a down-and-in pitch (Ortiz' bread and butter) that dives so far Ortiz can only ground it to first. Obviously Suppan's legs aren't bothering him as he gets Varitek swinging. But Bill Mueller (perhaps trying to make up for his errors in Game Two) gets a hustle double to give the Red Sox a runner in scoring position. And Trot Nixon, who has driven me nuts all postseason with weak at-bats, smokes a single to the wall in right and makes it 2-0 Boston. Now Bellhorn will look to at least get Pedro to the plate this inning. Suppan hits the fourth Boston player of this Series, and from the look on Francona's face, the Red Sox are getting tired of being plunked. Look for Pedro to drill someone with two outs and the bases empty, if the opportunity presents itself. Pedro actually swings the bat! Unfortunately, he swings at a ball the second time, though in his defense it was a very good curve. Pedro then takes strike three, but at least he won't lead off the fifth, and the Sox did get another run.

Bottom fourth: A big inning for Pedro. If he can shut St. Louis down here, he can start to put doubt in St. Louis' mind after their baserunning errors earlier. Pedro gets Rolen on a weak grounder to third, a good play by Mueller. Edmonds pops up to left center, and if I were Sanders, I wouldn't dig in right now. On the other hand, with only a two-run lead, Pedro probably won't risk the baserunner. The best revenge is winning the game. Pedro whiffs Sanders, and the Sox may yet get seven innings from him.

Top fifth: Damon gets things started with a nice double over Walker's head. The condition of the field in right looks pretty ugly, but it has affected both sides, so I guess there's no advantage for either side. McCarver suggests Cabrera might bunt, a stupid idea that I suppose you can't rule out. Sure enough, he shows bunt on the second pitch. Old Pedro, a third run would probably be fatal to St. Louis, but the current Pedro isn't that certain. They take the bunt off and Cabrera singles to right, setting up Manny and Ortiz. Manny sneaks the 1-2 pitch through the left side and it's 3-0 Boston with nobody out and Ortiz coming up. This is Boston's chance to put St. Louis away, if they can. Critical at-bats right here. Ortiz gets a pitch to hit, but can't drive it and there is one away. Varitek nearly ends the inning, but he beats the throw from the shortstop to give the Red Sox runners at the corners and two out. Nicely played by St. Louis. Suppan had very nearly gotten out of the trouble he put himself in, but Mueller pulls one past the first baseman to bring Cabrera home and continue the inning, and that will be it for Suppan. Once again, the Red Sox have broken into St. Louis' middle relief, although Suppan goes farther than any prior St. Louis starter. Reyes comes in to retire Trot Nixon with one pitch, because you wouldn't want to watch a few pitches to see what the new guy's got, right?

Bottom fifth: Pedro has a 4-0 lead and can put away memories of blown leads to the Yankees forever with two or three more innings of strong pitching here. Womack managed to foul several pitches off, but Pedro strikes him out to get within two outs of a decision. Matheny pops the first pitch to shortstop, and Marlon Anderson will pinch-hit for Reyes whose contribution to the game is one pitch. Anderson pops out on the second pitch, and Pedro is set to win his first World Series start with some gutty pitching (and some help from St. Louis).

Top sixth: The Sox are looking good, but they failed to put St. Louis away in the fifth. Bellhorn tries to decapitate the first base coach with the first pitch, but Calero gets the groundout from him on the third pitch. Pedro bats for the third time, doing his best but looking like an American League pitcher. To his credit, he lays off ball one. And ball two. Way to work the count, Pedro. Then he fouls off a pitch. He's worked the count full, a good job by any hitter who starts 0-2. Unbelievable; he walks. But as I said earlier, I'm not sure having him on base is a good thing. Damon needs to hit a home run here to get Pedro off the bases. Well, he gets Pedro off the bases with a double play instead. With a 4-0 lead, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Bottom sixth: Pedro is at 73 pitches; a good inning here and he should be able to give the Red Sox seven quality innings before turning things over the bullpen. Although he'll have to get through the heart of the St. Louis order to do so. Pedro breaks Renteria's bat, and he's looking pretty strong right now. Pedro breaks Walker's bat as well, so Pujols will bat with the bases empty. Pedro falls behind Pujols, then gets an iffy strike call to draw even before striking him out. Great inning from Pedro, with an assist from the umpire.

Top seventh: Beautiful at-bat by Cabrera, as he fouls off tough pitches until he gets one he likes, and the Sox have another leadoff double. This Red Sox team really does have an embarassment of riches when it comes to hitters. Will we see the 'hands' team come out for the bottom of the seventh if the Sox score again? This strike zone is really flaky, as the second pitch to Manny looked awfully similar to the first one, but one was a ball and the other was a strike. And the third is even further outside, but it's strike two. Bad umpiring. And the 2-2 pitch looked like it should have been strike three. Really bad umpiring. Manny works the walk despite the flaky strike zone, and Ortiz will face a new pitcher. Go figure: Boston's big slugger hits a swinging bunt that moves the runners up and gives Varitek a chance to put a dagger in St. Louis' heart. Will St. Louis give Varitek the intentional unintentional walk? Yep, bases loaded for Mueller, who is two for three tonight. He's from St. Louis; will his bat be the one that finishs them off? He misses a grand slam by about 15-20 feet with his first swing. But his second swing is a textbook 5-3 double play ball, and St. Louis is still alive.

Bottom seventh: Ortiz is replaced by Mientkiewicz. Pedro falls behind Rolen 2-0, but his luck holds as Rolen grounds to first on a check swing. Time to get someone up in the bullpen, as Pedro's control isn't what it should be. But Edmonds swings at ball four for Pedro's fifth strikeout. St. Louis has done a lot of work for Pedro tonight. If this was Pedro's last inning, it was a good one. He strikes out Sanders and has a three-hitter working.

Top eighth: Kapler will bat for Nixon as it looks like Pedro is done for the evening. Pedro did everything the Sox could ask for tonight, shutting down a great Cardinals offense with a little help from their baserunners. I hope Nixon isn't hurting from his tumble early this evening. Kapler bounces to third. Bellhorn pops to shallow right, and it appears the Red Sox offense may be done for the night. Pedro is officially lifted for pinch hitter Kevin Millar. Mike Timlin will try to carry on after Martinez' brilliant performance. Millar hits a sharp grounder to third and Pujols makes a great scoop at first to get Millar. Six outs to go.

Bottom eighth: Defensive substitutions continue as Reese takes over at second. Timlin blew the lead in Game Three of the ALDS against Anaheim. Hopefully he'll be better tonight. At least he can start with the bottom of St. Louis' order. Womack smokes one to the left side, but Mueller is there and throws him out easily. Cedeno is in to pinch-hit for Matheny, as LaRussa will now fire every bullet he's got to try and pull this one out. But Cedeno grounds to short, and the Sox are four outs away. John Mabry comes in to bat for the pitcher. Mabry hits the ball hard, but it's right to Mientkiewicz, and the Cardinals are one inning away from being down three games to none.

Top ninth: Tavarez is in to try and keep the Cardinals close. A Cardinals fan has a picture of Babe Ruth, reminding me of one of the big reasons I'm praying for a Red Sox win: no more stupid 1918 chants. I heard one in Denver this year, for God's sake. What the Hell is that? The Rockies have set the standard for shitty teams, and they're going to pull out 1918? Get away from me. Damon hits the ball reasonably hard, but it's a lazy fly to center and the Sox have one down. Tavarez throws at Cabrera's head, and I'm ready for Foulke to put one right in Pujols' earhole. The Cardinals have gotten away with this headhunting shit for too long; it's time for Boston to show that they're not going to put up with it any longer. Cabrera flies out to center. Tavarez throws inside again, but at least this one wasn't at his head. I'd love to see a diagram of this ump's strike zone, as it sure looked like Manny watched strike three. But he swings at ball three, so it all works out. Three outs away from their third win.

Bottom ninth: Foulke is on to close it out. He's been amazing this postseason, and he deserves a big share of the credit for the Red Sox being this close to their first World Series win in 86 years. Foulke gives the Sox a scare by going to a full count, but whatever he threw to Renteria 3-2 completely fooled him. One away. The shutout is gone as Walker crushes an 0-2 pitch to almost dead center. I can't complain, as with a four run lead, I'd rather Foulke come after hitters than try to nibble. Pujols puts a charge in one as well, but he got under it and the Cardinals are down to their final out. Rolen crushes one as well, but this one is foul and he's 1-2. Rolen watches strike three, and Boston has a commanding 3-0 lead in the World Series.

Posted at 06:30 PM · Baseball · Comments (4) · TrackBack (0)

October 24, 2004

Game Two Recap

Boston did what they had to do in Boston, although they certainly made it look ugly with eight errors in two games. If worse comes to worst, at least the Sox can guarantee they'll come back to Boston. Boston's bullpen regained a little confidence, going three innings and giving up just the one run. And the Sox have to be happy with their ability to overcome their defensive struggles. But now they have to get their heads in the game. In St. Louis, they simply won't be able to get away with those errors.

Now Pedro gets to make what will hopefully be his last start before entering free agency, and he needs to show what he's got. A strong start from Pedro could put the Cardinals away, while a bad start would get them back into it. The Sox don't hit well on the road, and the Cardinals are much better at home, so Game Three is going to be very important to both clubs. Boston doesn't have to win, but they really should, because after Pedro it's tough to tell what they'll get for starting pitching the rest of the way.

A great start for Boston, but now the real Series begins.

Posted at 10:00 PM · Baseball · Comments (2) · TrackBack (0)

Game Two

I really hate all the opening ceremonies BS they pack into the start of each game. Let's just get on the field and play the game. It's bad enough they don't start until after eight on the East Coast, guaranteeing that kids won't be able to see the games. Then we pack in a bunch of silliness before we get down to playing the games. Unsatisfactory, and it helps to explain why baseball's popularity isn't near what it was. When your marquee event wraps up each night after midnight, how many new viewers do you expect to draw?

On the plus side, I do like most of the music choices for all of the leadup hoopla. On the minus side, I love 80s music, which means they're probably still not drawing new fans.

As the barrage of ads pounds down on us, I see Fox is running a second season of the Swan. I'm not sure how to feel about that. I suppose I'm part of the problem, to a tiny extent, since I certainly do like looking at attractive women; while I didn't marry my wife for her looks, the fact she's a babe (schwing!) didn't hurt. But the notion of women undergoing plastic surgery makes me more than a little queasy, especially as the theme for a television show.

Top first: Renteria isn't bunting here, which is probably a wise plan. If bunts are going to hurt Schilling, they're better used later in the game, when Schilling is already on the ropes. Schilling doesn't seem to have his best stuff, though, as he's having trouble putting Renteria away. Another good reason not to bunt. This is a great at-bat from Renteria; even if he doesn't reach, at-bats like this will get the Cards into Boston's middle relief early. Some good defense from the Sox early finally puts Renteria away, as Millar scoops Cabrera's low throw. Twelve pitches for Renteria, though. Walker goes fairly easily, only three pitches, but even a 1-2-3 inning will have been a little wearing on Schilling, thanks to Renteria. Pujols earns his first hit of the Series with a beautiful stroke to left center, an easy double. This kid is awesome. Schilling finally starts a batter with an inside pitch working Rolen. Looks like a tight strike zone tonight early. Rolen tries to get revenge for Tony Womack, but Mueller is too quick for him, and tonight's first looks very much like last night's, at least for the Cards.

Bottom first: Scott Rolen sees Bill Mueller's good play at third and raises him with a gorgeous pick and throw to get Damon at first. A very good start for the Cards, as the Sox don't do well when Damon doesn't reach. Cabrera isn't thinking clearly, as he swings at the first strike he sees to ground to short. Morris is working on short rest, so the Sox ought to be trying to work his pitch count. Damon did so, Cabrera did not, and Ramirez is quickly 0-2 as well. Manny comes back to draw the walk, ensuring Ortiz will bat in the first. Ortiz works the second walk of the inning, bringing up Varitek. Tek has got to be tired, but he's done well in the postseason thus far. If he could notch the first hit off Morris tonight, Morris has set him up well for it. If not, if he can at least work the count, he should help starting to wear Morris down. Wow. For a minute, I thought the Sox had their second first inning three-run homer in two games, but they'll have to settle for a two-run triple. Of course, in St. Louis that would have left the yard, but what can you do? Credit Varitek for running hard all the way to earn the triple. Walks kill you in baseball, and Morris is well on his way to commiting suicide as he walks Millar as well. Dave Duncan can't be happy with the number of trips he's had to make to the mound in this World Series thus far. Nixon once again does the Cardinals a favor, swinging at the first pitch to ground out and end the inning.

Top second: The first inning took 24 pitches from Schilling and 32 from Morris. Looks like another long night for the bullpens. The Red Sox defense speaks up early tonight, giving away yet another out when Varitek and Mueller collide going after an easy pop fly. A bad deal for Mueller to get the error, since Varitek should have backed off. Edmonds does ground out, but that was a few more pitches on Schillings arm and ankle. Every one matters, especially as Schilling may not be available for Game Six. Both Cards this inning have swung at the first pitch, a bad strategy in my opinion. Sanders steps out during Schilling's windup, an invitation for a shot at his melon later in the game. Instead Sanders walks, giving the Cardinals an opportunity to make up the two runs quickly. I could live with the annoying 'human interest' stories more if they didn't cut away from the action to show them. Bad baserunning by Sanders on Womack's shot to right center, but the Cards have two on and one out. Now Schilling seems to be having trouble with the strike zone, going 2-0 on Matheny. Another high-scoring affair looks pretty likely right now. Instead Matheny smokes one down the line, but Mueller is there and tags Sanders to end the inning. Big break for the Red Sox.

Bottom second: Mueller's good luck continues, as he sneaks a seeing-eye single through the right side. For once, Bellhorn fails to strike out and the Cardinals turn the double play. I'd say Francona was right not to start Mueller, but it hurts them this time. Now this could be a very easy inning for Morris. Very easy, as Damon goes down swinging.

Top third: Schilling gets an easy pop and an easy grounder to start the inning, just what he needs. Of course, I didn't see the grounder, since we're too damn busy showing replays to show the game. Again, the Cardinals are swinging early against Schilling. I don't know if that's a good idea or not; right now, it's definitely not, since they're making outs. Schilling finally strikes someone out for his first perfect inning.

Bottom third: Man, Morris' pitches really move. If he weren't pitching on short rest, I think the Sox would be in trouble. Hell, they're not in particularly good shape now, although 2-0 beats 0-2. Oy. I'm pretty sure Cabrera just grounded out on ball four. Manny goes down swinging, and suddenly Morris is looking really good. That's bad news for the Sox, since I don't know how long Curt can last on that ankle. Another easy inning for Morris, as Ortiz grounds to first. Quite a turnaround after the early going.

Top fourth: Pujols appears to have found his stroke, lashing another double and giving the Cards their first leadoff baserunner. If this wasn't the middle of their order, I'd be looking for a bunt here. Great baseball on Rolen's gork, as Nixon makes a beautiful catch but Pujols is heads-up enough to tag up and get to third for Edmonds. Schilling counters with his second strikeout of the night. St. Louis will need a hit to get the run home. Big at-bat here. Sanders hits a rocket foul on the first pitch. Mueller finally lets Schilling down, failing to handle Sanders' hot shot to third. That's six errors in two games for the Red Sox. They aren't winning anything if they don't relearn how to field. Fortunately, Schilling induces a lazy man's grounder to second base to get out with no further damage.

Bottom fourth: A phone call distracts me from the action, but let's hear it for Mark Bellhorn finally finding his stroke. Now the Sox need 2-3 scoreless innings from Schilling and they're in very good shape.

Top fifth: Matheny smokes a single through the left side to start the inning. Not a great start to the inning, and it looks like Schilling is tiring. The Sox may be lucky to get five innings out of him tonight. On the other hand, he strikes out Anderson, so he's obviously got a little left. But here comes St. Louis' heavy hitters. Schilling has pitched remarkably well, but he's been lucky, too; how often does Renteria get doubled up?

Bottom fifth: Schilling is at 73 pitches, so he may yet give the Sox the seven innings they desperately need. The sixth will determine it, as he'll face the big bats there. And apparently he came up a little lame coming off the mound to end the fifth, so they may be lucky to get six innings. Morris can't last much longer, as he's 3-0 on free swinging Cabrera. Cal Eldred getting ready as Morris walks Cabrera to start the fifth. We may not see much of either starter. Manny gets yet another chance to break out of his semi-slump here. Morris loses the handle inside as the Cards once again work the Red Sox inside. It works, as Manny hits a can of corn to right on the next pitch. That does it for Morris, who probably gave the Cardinals about as much as they could expect on short rest. Let's hear it for Tom Hanks' comments on the Sox; smart man, knowing what to say while standing in the Monster seats (lucky bastich). I'm surprised LaRussa didn't bring in a lefty to throw to Ortiz, given LaRussa's predeliction for lefties. One other reason I'd like to see the Sox win: LaRussa helped start the obnoxious trend of one-out relievers that extends the game to no good purpose. Ortiz crushes another one, but it was clearly foul. David hasn't learned yet to hit the pole the way Bellhorn does, so there's no doubt. The umpires huddle to make sure they got it right, but I'm pretty sure they did. Eldred knows where not to throw to David now. Ortiz instead hits a soft liner to right, and Eldred is almost out of trouble. Just how many batters is St. Louis planning to hit in this Series? They're lucky the Sox really can't afford to retaliate right now, but expect them to remember these HBPs later. Eldred might be wiser to walk Millar to face Nixon, the way Trot is hitting right now. On the other hand, Nixon is so dangerous, that would probably be an unwise plan no matter how cold Nixon's bat is right now. A full count means the Sox runners will be moving, but can Millar take advantage? Nope, he watches strike three, and the Red Sox have again failed to put St. Louis away.

Top sixth: A critical inning for Schilling and the Red Sox. If the Sox get through this without giving up a run, they can look to bring in Timlin if they must for the seventh. Good start for Curt, striking out Walker. Pujols has given him fits tonight, however. And Schilling knows it, as he's nibbling. Of course, that means he then ends up grooving one, if he's not careful. He's getting plenty of help from Dale Scott, however, as he's getting some iffy strikes. Pujols flies out on a pitch he probably wouldn't have swung at if not for the prior strike calls. Even if the Red Sox win the Series, it's safe to say that Bill Mueller won't be putting this game on his personal highlight reel after his third error of the night. The Red Sox have given St. Louis seven extra outs over the first two games, making it nothing short of miraculous that they're in position to win them both. Now Schilling has a little trouble with Edmonds, falling behind 2-0, then 3-0. Don't want to bring up Sanders as the tying run. Schilling has to be wondering what he has to do here, as Boston commits its fourth error of the night when Bellhorn can't handle an incredibly easy grounder. As McCarver notes, you can't keep doing this and hope to succeed. Mueller finally manages to catch a ball and beats Rolen to the bag to end the inning, but the Red Sox have problems, as they've gotten 7 1/3 innings out of Schilling, more than they might have hoped for, but they're only through six innings.

Bottom sixth: Nixon breaks through with a leadoff single, giving Bill Mueller a chance to atone for his errors. Right now, he has more errors than hits, bad under any circumstances, but even worse when you're two-for-two. Mueller gives the ball a ride, but it's just a loud out. Bellhorn pops out. Damon sneaks a single through the left side, and Cabrera fouls off a series of pitches before crushing one off the Wall. Too bad Cabrera failed to reach second, though. Once again, Manny is asked to help the Sox put St. Louis away. He doesn't put them away, but his power and the wind combine for a bloop single to center to keep the pressure on St. Louis. Eldred is done, and King will pitch to Ortiz. Ortiz looks bad, but it's unfair to expect him to keep carrying the Sox all by himself.

Top seventh: Schilling is done, possibly for the year. Boston's bullpen has been a strength most of the year, but can they get the last nine outs? Embree starts with a strikeout of Womack. It's the bottom of St. Louis' order, so there's no excuse for Embree not to go after them. Instead, he's behind Matheny 3-1. The Red Sox pitching coach needs to figure out how to get guys to throw strikes, or they need a new pitching coach. Matheny does Embree a favor, swinging at ball four. Embree strikes out the side on another iffy strike.

I think I'm as patriotic as most, but I have no interest in hearing "God Bless America" every game.

Bottom seventh: Varitek puts a charge in one, but it's just another loud out for the Sox. For the record, just because you make a basket catch, it doesn't mean you're Willie Mays all over again. Millar walks on four pitches, but Nixon once again offers a can of corn to center. Mueller has another chance to redeem himself now. He walks on what looked like strike three to me. Pokey Reese comes in for only his second at-bat of the postseason. No luck there as he pops up after a decent at-bat. Going to the eighth.

Top eighth: Timlin in to relieve Embree. They should have stuck with Embree, as Timlin walks the leadoff batter to give the Cardinals hope. The Sox are almost certainly going to need Foulke this inning now. Walker offers a swinging bunt, and the big bats are back. A moment of fear as Pujols singles to left, but Ramirez fields the ball cleanly, and the Cardinals have runners at the corners. Once again, Timlin is nibbling, and he's behind Rolen 2-0. Gets it back to 3-2, but having trouble putting Rolen away. Rolen drives one to center to bring Renteria home, but St. Louis is down to four outs behind four runs. Timlin is done, as the leadoff walk scores yet again. You would think the Sox would have figured that out by now, but they seem to have trouble grasping that concept. Foulke will try and close it out.

Top eighth (continued): Foulke continues his outstanding work, striking out Edmonds swinging. The Sox need three more outs.

Bottom eighth: Damon is apparently ready to go home, as he swings at the first pitch and gives up an easy 6-3 groundout. Cabrera works the count well, but pops out. Once again, we're waiting on Manny to break out with some power. Still no joy; Manny just doesn't seem to have his head in the game, as he hits a weak grounder on a 3-1 count.

Top ninth: Foulke looks to give the Sox a tough 2-0 lead in the Series against the tail end of the Cardinals' order. Ouch. Kapler comes in as a defensive replacement in left field, a sharp rebuke to Manny's performance last night. Nice at-bat by Sanders, hanging in against Foulke, but the first base ump rings him up. No replay, so I couldn't tell if it was a good call or not. Womack hits the ball on the nose, but straight at Nixon. It's up to Matheny to extend the game. I'm surprised LaRussa doesn't pinch hit here, if only to give someone else a little work. Cabrera neatly gloves Matheny's grounder, and the Sox take a 2-0 Series lead. We go to St. Louis with Boston having done what they needed to do.

Posted at 06:28 PM · Baseball · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0)

October 23, 2004

Game One Analysis

The Red Sox did what they had to do tonight, starting off the Series with a win. But it was an ugly win, and the Cardinals have to feel good about their ability to come back against the Red Sox bullpen, something that was supposed to be one of their strengths. Tomorrow's game will be the turning point of the Series. If Schilling pitches well and the Sox win, they're almost a lock for the Series. If Schilling can't get the win, St. Louis becomes the clear favorite. But Morris is pitching on short rest for the first time in his career, so the Red Sox may be able to once again get into St. Louis' bullpen early and knock them around some more. The key for Boston is getting six innings out of their starter.

Posted at 10:21 PM · Baseball · Comments (1) · TrackBack (0)

Game One

OK, I'll be liveblogging the game in the hopes it will help me run off some of my nervous energy. After one batter, it looks like Wake's knuckler is working for him. We'll see if he can keep it up.

Top of the first: Wakefield looked pretty darn good, but give credit to Walker for his double, hanging in on some tough pitches. One big advantage the Red Sox have in Wakefield: he isn't going to get nervous in tough situations. A lot of pitchers might never have come back from his loss in Game Seven last year, but Wakefield is far too tough for that.

Bottom of the first: Great at-bat by Damon, ten pitches punctuated by a double. The Sox are going to have to get into the Cardinals' bullpen, which means they need to make Williams throw a lot of pitches. I don't know what they're thinking trying to bunt Damon over, though. They can score runs; with a leadoff double, the Sox should be trying to get a big inning in the books. Very ugly pitch hits Cabrera, but there's no way Williams intentionally hit Cabrera with Manny and Ortiz coming up. Nice play by Walker to go get Manny's drive. Manny is going to have to start hitting if the Red Sox are to have a chance in this Series. Now Ortiz is in his element. What can you say about Ortiz? The guy is beyond awesome, and he may be trying to strap the Sox on his back and physically drag them to a World Championship. Millar follows Ortiz' blast with a wallball double, keeping the pressure on Williams. They're not making him throw many pitches, but if they keep driving runs in, that won't matter. Nixon continues to flail in the postseason; he's another bat the Sox need to see wake up. Mueller picks up Nixon with a sharp single down the line, bringing Millar home. Mirabelli whiffs on three pitches, but by my count that brought Williams' pitch count to 25 already. A good start for the Sox; now they need a quick inning from Wake.

Top second: Edmonds takes the freebie, not a bad idea leading off an inning already down four runs. Mirabelli makes a nice stop on ball three, but it won't matter if Wake can't get the out. I'm a little surprised St. Louis isn't being a little more aggressive on the basepaths against the knuckler. This is exactly what the Sox didn't need; Edmonds' single was smart, and Sanders' walk is some good hitting. Wakefield needs to get it together fast, or the Sox will squander those early runs. Good bunt by Womack, St. Louis has a great scoring opportunity here, and the Sox need a strikeout or popup. Wakefield can't get the job done despite a 1-2 count, so the Sox now have to hope he can get out without any further damage. Wake comes up and in to Taguchi, reminding the Cardinals that Williams picked the right night to plunk someone. Good at bat by Taguchi, but Wake gets him with a curve(?).

Bottom second: Bellhorn gets almost an excuse me hit to lead off the second; if he gets the barrel of the bat on that, it might have hung up enough for Taguchi to grab it. (Of course, he might also have knocked it off or over the Wall...) Damon hits the ball on the nose, but can't elevate it. I'll say this for Cabrera: he rarely gets robbed during a swing. Unfortunately, he also hits it on the nose, but right at someone. Williams had better be careful with those up and in pitches, because while Wakefield can't really retaliate, Schilling could really ruin someone's day tomorrow. Manny appears to be pressing; I wonder if his lack of production is getting to him. Apparently it's not too bad, as he smokes a single to left. Williams is getting some people out, but other than the Mirabelli strikeout, he hasn't fooled anyone. If the Sox keep hitting ball on the nose as they have, it could be a long night for St. Louis. Whoops, and St. Louis already has a man up in their bullpen. And Ortiz walks to load the bases, giving Kevin Millar a chance to knock Williams out early. And he gave it his best shot on his first swing, nearly coming out of his shoes, but missing. Millar hits an easy grounder to third to end the inning, so the Sox threaten but can't get the job done.

Top third: For all the talk about St. Louis' defense (and it is well-deserved), the Red Sox aren't exactly throwing stonegloves out there, either, as Bill Mueller robs Renteria with a beautiful diving stop. Larry Walker appears to have little trouble with Wakefield, as he smokes a line shot past the Pesky Pole reminding the Red Sox that they can't afford to miss opportunities like they did last inning. Both home runs tonight are probably foul balls anywhere but Fenway. Wakefield then plunks Pujols with what would have been ball four anyhow. Like Williams, Wakefield is simply not controlling his pitches; neither of them are trying to hit batters in these situations. Wake gets ahead 0-2 to Rolen and starts to nibble, a very bad habit of Sox pitchers. But he pulls off the double play ball instead, a great job after the home run and the hit by pitch.

Bottom third: Nixon once again goes down easily, although this time I though the home plate ump squeezed him a little. Nice at bat by Mueller, though, drawing a walk after being down 1-2. Mirabelli continues the two strike hitting with a laser off the Wall, sending Mueller to third. The Sox need to score here. Bellhorn's a good hitter, but he has to really watch the strikeouts now. Bellhorn damn near gets the double, but now he's a strikeout threat again. Instead he draws the walk (something else he's good at) to load the bases again for the Sox. Williams is not going to last much longer without some serious luck. Damon needs to avoid the double play and get the runner on third home. Damon tries to get his second grand slam in as many games, but he's out in front of the pitch. Damon does his job with a single, keeping the bases loaded for Cabrera. Time for a crooked number. The Sox knock Williams out early. Cabrera greets Haren with a sharp single, and the Red Sox appear poised to feast on St. Louis' middle relief. Manny is really pressing; that swing was incredibly ugly, and he's a double play threat. He nearly does so, but manages to get it far enough into the hole that the Sox score another run, and Ortiz will bat with runners in scoring position for the third time in as many innings. As I watch Ortiz take his eighth straight ball since hitting his home run, I'm reminded of what one of my battalion's NCOs used to say: If you're scared, say you're scared. Can Millar pick him up? Nope, another groundout. Stay tuned. St. Louis is down, but they have an impressive offense as well.

Top fourth: Wakefield doesn't seem to understand the concept of a five-run lead, as he walks the leadoff hitter, functionally giving the Cardinals a run back. Not good. It may be time to get Arroyo up, as Wakefield has lost the strike zone. Back-to-back walks to start the inning; Francona had better get someone up fast, or the Sox are going to be watching a big inning unfold. Good, Arroyo is now up in the 'pen. He's probably going to be coming into a bases-loaded situation, as Wakefield has completely lost it. Sometimes it comes back, but they can't afford to wait very long. This is now officially ugly; Wake was a hero after the ALCS, but he's about to give that status away in a hurry. Once again, the nibbling hurts him, as he gets Matheny down 1-2, and is now back at 3-2. And the Red Sox defense is back, as the Sox give away a freebie when Millar throws the ball into the St. Louis dugout. It's sad to say, but seven runs isn't going to be enough to win this. Taguchi brings home the fifth (second unearned) run with a high bouncer to third. If Wakefield doesn't get Renteria, it should be his last batter, as Walker owns him. Wakefield issues his fourth walk of the inning, and the ALCS hero is now officially the WS goat early.

Top fourth, continued: no help from Arroyo, as Walker stays hot with a sharp single to right. Millar has killed the Sox early, failing to drive in a single run in two bases-loaded situations and throwing away the sacrifice fly in this inning. Arroyo ends the pain by getting Pujols to ground to short. The Sox need another big inning.

Bottom fourth: (Conversely, if the Cardinals can shut the Sox down this inning, they're in great shape.) Nice at bat by Nixon, as the Sox look to wear down yet another Cardinals pitcher. Ten pitches and a leadoff walk. Will the Red Sox execute one of their postseason specialties, the strikeout/throwout double play? No, Mueller draws another walk in front of Mirabelli. But Doug can't get the good part of the bat on the ball, so what could have been an RBI double is instead a soft liner to left. Bellhorn is needed again. The Cardinals almost give him a break, but no joy, and the Sox may squander yet another scoring opportunity. I don't know why the Sox were so eager to swing early after two walks, but they may be asking themselves that if they blow this. Which they do. Arroyo had better be on his game.

Top fifth: Good start by Arroyo, getting Rolen on two pitches. Edmonds argues ball and strikes early, an interesting strategy. Arroyo gets him on three pitches, and the third strike may have been helped along by Edmonds' bitching about the first pitch. Almost a six-pitch inning for Arroyo, but there's a very stiff breeze in Boston tonight. Instead Arroyo strikes him out with a nasty curve. Nice.

Bottom fifth: Cabrera looks pretty bad against Haren. Is this the moment when Manny finally breaks out? No, just another single, although that could be enough for Ortiz. If they'll pitch to him. First pitch strike, so it looks like Haren will go after him, a wise decision. Ortiz makes it look wiser with an ugly swing at ball one. Ortiz lays off two more low balls, but Haren jams him to retire him for the first time tonight. Once again, it comes down to Millar. Once again, he can't get the job done, although he smokes a drive down the line. The Sox need another two scoreless innings from Arroyo.

Top sixth: Womack gets hold of one, but Nixon is (barely) able to track it down. Good recovery from Arroyo after throwing two balls, and good job by Nixon sticking with the ball. I love Arroyo's leg kick. He overmatches Matheny, still making it look easy. He needs to get Taguchi, because next inning will be tough enough. Instead, he makes a stupid decision on a swinging bunt, giving St. Louis yet another break. Now Arroyo is really in trouble, as he really doesn't want to face Walker with runners on base. But he will as Renteria smokes one to left, scoring Taguchi. The Sox are in trouble, as the heart of the Cardinals order is now coming to the plate. Walker continues the pain with a double down the line, scoring Renteria. It's a new ballgame, and all the momentum is with the Cardinals. On the plus side, Arroyo's error turns out to have been completely meaningless. On the minus side, Boston has blown a great job by its hitters. Arroyo at least keeps it tied, but Boston hasn't been able to score in two innings; they need to pick it up quick.

Bottom sixth: The Red Sox may want to consider replacing Nixon with Kapler, much as I hate to say it. Nixon has shown little ability to drive the ball, and he's killing the Sox in a game where they're going to need all the runs they can find. If the Cardinals come all the way back, give Haren all the credit, as he's done a marvelous job of shutting down the Red Sox. I thought the Cards' middle relief was suspect? Mueller flies out to center, and Varitek is pinch-hitting, an admission of desperation by the Sox. Tek whiffs, and here comes the Cards' best chance to take the lead.

Top seventh: Timlin makes it look easy in the seventh, getting Rolen and Edmonds to hit easy fly balls before eking a grounder from Sanders. Timlin challenges Millar with a low throw, but Millar digs it out. The Sox don't have to face the heart of St. Louis' order again if they can score in the next three innings.

Bottom seventh: Actually, the Sox will have to face at least Pujols once more, and probably more unless they can get Walker out. Bellhorn leads off the seventh, giving the Sox two big OBP guys at the top of the inning. Bellhorn draws the leadoff walk on a close 3-2 pitch. But the Sox have been squandering these opportunities all night, so we'll see what Damon can do. I don't like the bunt with the top of the order coming in. Damon isn't bunting, but he's quickly in a hole, 0-2. He ends up with a functional bunt; the broken bat was a big break, as otherwise that could have been a double play or at least a force. Now Cabrera's bat is needed. Cabrera works the walk to bring up Manny, and Manny finally comes through with a shot to left-center. Will the pitcher's failure to cover first cost the Cardinals? Ortiz follows that up by trying to kill Tony Womack; normally, the pitcher retaliates for a hit batsman, but it looked like Ortiz is going to do it all tonight. Hopefully Womack will be OK for tomorrow's game. Awesome at-bat by Millar, although this late in the game it still does little good if he doesn't bring Manny home. And he fails again, popping up to catcher. Now the overmanaging beings, as the pinch-hitters and relievers come in and out in a blur. If Kapler can come up with a hit here, Manny's baserunning blunder and early celebration won't cost the Sox. But Kapler is caught looking, so the Sox now must turn back to their bullpen.

Top eighth: The Sox start to turn to their all-defense team, putting Mientkewich at first and Kapler staying in right. Timlin retires Anderson on one pitch, but Matheny reaches on a single to center. LaRussa brings out Cedeno to pinch-hit. That will do it for Timlin, who gets four of five, doing his job. Out comes Embree to bridge the game to Foulke. Embree has a little trouble finding the strike zone, which is a big problem with the top of the Cards' order coming in. A bloop to right puts the go-ahead run at the plate. So Embree drops the ball, and the Red Sox turn to the man they got in the off-season just for this moment.

Top eighth (continued): The third error of the night and an iffy call at the plate make it a one-run game. Manny needs to take some additional fielding practice, as that's not the first time that's happened this postseason. The Sox are back in deep trouble. Foulke has trouble getting a strike to Walker, but he has little choice with Pujols on deck. Walker does Foulke a favor on ball three, making it 2-2. Manny then makes his second error of the inning as his foot gets caught in the turf. This is getting pathetic. Now the Sox will load the bases to pitch to Rolen, and they may be lucky to get out of this inning tied or even only down one. Foulke gets Rolen to pop up, but Edmonds is no easy out either. Strike two to Edmonds looks inside to me, and strike three is even further inside; I wonder if his earlier quibbling is hurting him now.

Bottom eighth: Tavarez comes in to try and hold the Red Sox down. Neither team has much to brag about in this game, but the Cards get credit for continuing to come back. Mueller grounds to second, and the Sox are running out of time. I didn't like the decision to bring in Varitek for Mirabelli; Tek has to be tired after so many postseason innings. A complete day off might have helped. On the other hand, Tek reaches on a tough play to short. On a less windy night, Bellhorn might have given the Sox the lead again with a shot to right, but instead it's a loud foul ball. But Bellhorn keeps at it, and his second attempt gives the Sox the lead again. But is eleven runs enough? Damon pops up, so it's up to Cabrera to try and extend the lead. Wonder if Tavarez will break another bone tonight? Cabrera makes an easy grounder to short, and it's up to Foulke.

Top ninth: Reese in for Bellhorn, and the Sox are all about defense now. Although Manny is still in left... Foulke strikes out Sanders swinging. With a two-run lead, Foulke just needs to throw strikes until the Cardinals go down or get a baserunner. He's ahead of Anderson 2-2. Now 3-2, and Foulke needs to come after Anderson here. He does, but Anderson strikes back with a double. Now it gets interesting. Molina nearly ties it with an opposite-field job, but Foulke is ahead of him 0-2 now. Pop-up, so Foulke is one out away. Of course, the Cards are one swing away from tying the game. Now one strike away. Cedeno strikes out swinging on a ball diving out of the zone, and the Sox take Game One.

Posted at 06:11 PM · Baseball · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0)

The Real Mission Begins

It was great beating the Yankees, and doing it in such a stunning fashion was even better. But the Red Sox have won the ALCS before. What's missing from the mantlepiece is a World Series trophy. Now they're there for the first time in 18 years, and many people still want to talk about the ALCS. But if the Sox don't beat the Cardinals, the ALCS won't really have mattered much.

St. Louis is a very good team. They won 105 games in the regular season, and they offer an impressive combination of offense and defense. The Red Sox pitching is probably superior, and their offense stacks up well, but St. Louis' defense and their speed could give Boston a lot of problems. Boston has the home field advantage and the better starting pitchers, two elements that are normally sufficient to give a team a victory in the postseason, but there are no guarantees in the postseason, especially against as talented a team as the Cardinals.

It's no time to get complacent. If the Sox get good pitching from Schilling and Martinez, Red Sox in six. If not, Cardinals in seven.

Posted at 05:36 AM · Baseball · Comments (3) · TrackBack (0)

October 20, 2004

Do You Believe In Miracles?

For the first time in 18 years, Boston is going to the World Series after their 10-3 drubbing of the Yankees. To say that it's hard to believe is an understatement, as the Sox had to come back from a 3-0 deficit to take the Series, coming back in two of the four games. But I believed that the Sox were the favorites going in, so while I was surprised that the Sox were able to come back against such tough odds, I wasn't surprised to see them win. Naturally, Francona's dumb move in the seventh means that the Sox are in a poor position for the World Series, but at least they're going.

See you Saturday.

Posted at 10:41 PM · Baseball · Comments (4) · TrackBack (0)

Stupid, Really Stupid, and Francona Stupid

Somebody please explain this to me. The Red Sox put eight runs across through six innings, making a fairly strong case that they will still be playing baseball this coming Saturday. Schilling won't be available, but Martinez would be, so the Sox could still get two starts each from Schilling and Martinez in the World Series.

Instead, Francona brings Pedro in to pitch the seventh despite Lowe cruising through six, meaning that Pedro won't be available any sooner than game three of the World Series. Better yet, Pedro gives up back to back doubles to start the inning, and a single brings in a third run.

The only explanation I can offer is that Steinbrenner has paid off Grady Little and Terry Francona over the past two years, because even a complete mental defective couldn't be as stupid as they've been in these Game Sevens. Absolutely unbelievable.

Posted at 09:06 PM · Baseball · Comments (1) · TrackBack (0)

October 11, 2004

It's On: ALCS 2004

So the Red Sox will face the Yankees for a second straight year in the ALCS, the showdown it seems much of the baseball world has been waiting for since Aaron Boone took Tim Wakefield downtown three innings after Grady Little's brain shut down for the winter, taking the hearts of Boston fans everywhere with it. (And, naturally, I probably won't get to see a game of it.) So let's ask the hard question: who's going to the World Series?

I'll probably pay for this, but I've got to say Boston. Despite New York's three game superiority in the regular season, Boston is the better team. New York is tough, and as long as Joe Torre is in the dugout, you have to like their chances, but the Sox will send Schilling and Martinez to the hill twice each, and their #3 starter is no slouch, either, having pitched better than his record all year. Yes, the Yankees have allegedly knocked Pedro around, but much of that has occurred because his manager left him out too long, not because the Yankees own Pedro. Note that in both games Pedro 'blew,' he was knocked out in the eighth inning while the opposing starter was long gone (Clemens went four, if I recall correctly, while Mussina went six). As long as Francona is willing to lift Pedro when the time comes, he's fine. In the playoffs, starting pitching is critical, and the Red Sox have the Yankees outclassed this year.

Will it be easy? Almost certainly not. The Yankees have the infamous mystique that gives them the confidence to struggle on when other teams might fold, and the two teams' histories clearly favor the Yankees. But when push comes to shove, you bet on the better team, and that's the one from Boston. Red Sox in six.

Posted at 04:22 PM · Baseball · Comments (1) · TrackBack (0)

September 30, 2004

Bring on the Grays

It appears, although the deal won't be certain until an owner is found, that the Montreal Expos will be moving to Washington for the 2005 season. This is an occasion of both joy and sadness. Montreal certainly has the potential to be a great baseball team, as is evidenced by the incredible support the town gives to its remaining sports franchise, the Canadiens. But Montreal's Expos were the greatest casualty of one of the greatests sport tragedies of our time, the 1994 strike. When the players began their strike in August of 1994, the Expos were not only leading their league, they were the best team in baseball. Behind the impressive management of Felipe Alou and stars like Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom, Ken Hill, John Wetteland, and more, the Expos were tearing up the National League and would have been heavily favored to win the World Series that fall. Instead, there was no World Series, and the attendance slump that struck baseball following the strike was nowhere more pronounced than in Montreal. The team was never again able to draw significant support, and the past few years under MLB's stewardship have been a sorry joke on the team and its remaining fans. It is certainly in the best interests of the team to find a new home and, more importantly, a real owner if they are ever to become anything more than a joke again.

On the other hand, MLB isn't moving the Expos to Washington because it's necessarily the best place for a team, but because that's where they could extort the best deal. As always, the teams want the local community to pay for a stadium for them, as if the team isn't already seeking to batten on the local citizenry's entertainment dollars. And local politicians, as always, are more than willing to use other people's money (i.e., yours and mine) to further enrich millionaires, rather than risk losing the local sports franchise. So it is in Washington, where a city with a lot bigger problems than not having a professional baseball team (and that's saying a lot, coming from me, as I consider baseball something on a par with religion), will use taxpayer funds to build a stadium that will provide additional profits to whoever ends up buying the team.

But if Washington is to ha