Did anyone really think we were going to lose that game? Ha!
David Ortiz did it again. ... Of course. ... Sometimes, it feels like he does this about once a week. ... An absolute bomb on an inside fastball. Deep and high to right field. HR #38. Game Over.
Tim Wakefield pitched nine tough innings -- and it was good to see him get credit for the victory. He allowed eight hits: five doubles, two singles, and a home run. ... He was also helped by some great fielding: Bill Mueller, John Olerud, and several plays (catching and throwing) by Manny Ramirez. ... It was the 9th time in 12 games that the Angels have failed to score more than three runs.
And with Rivera giving up a ninth-inning run (thanks to a Cano error) in New York, and Jeter grounding into a game-ending double play, the Yankees are now four games out. ... Wouldn't it be great to go into the Bronx with a six-game lead?
One announcer comment: While John Lackey was busy walking three consecutive Sox in the fifth inning, Remy and Orsillo were talking about Nolan Ryan. "Was he nasty?" Orsillo asked. "Oh, yeah," said Remy, "he was nasty." Remy went on to tell a story about Ryan pitching to Bert Campaneris. After getting brushed back by an inside pitch, Campy pointed to the plate with his bat, as if to say "throw the ball over the plate." Ryan's response? His next pitch drilled Campy in the knee. Remy was laughing as he said this.
A few things: For Remy, who has had about 3,000 knee operations, to joke about a player getting hit in the knee by a Ryan fastball, is pretty bizarre. ... Also, what would his reaction be to a pitcher doing that now?
Forget about it happening to a Red Sox batter -- how about any hitter? Would he be chuckling? Would he think it was cute? I don't think so. ... Yet let enough time go by, and incidents that would have been condemned are recounted as cuddly clues into a gamer's mentality.
Arroyo / Santana at 7:00.
9 comments:
Your comments about time in regard to various incidents (like Ryan hitting Campanaris) are true.
This is why all these "Manny Moments" we have watched, cursed and smiled about will be folklore in 10-15 years.
And as a wacky bonus: Ryan never hit Campaneris! (per retrosheet)
Jere:
Excellent!
So, who has Remy's email address?
Check out the stats here!
Campy was 12-for-61 (.197) against Ryan, all singles. He walked 10 times (for an OBP of .310), struck out 16 times and had 4 sacrifice hits.
Go ahead, email Remy. I'm sure it will give him a good laugh. Silly, silly criticism. a) So what if the batter wasn't Campy? The story is about Ryan. b) The context was about Ryan being nasty...get it? c) Remy's laughter, to anyone not looking to find fault, was obviously of the "Can you believe this guy? You didn't mess with him!" variety, not of the "Ha! Ha! Campy got his knee crushed!" variety. Give him a break. c)I am 100% sure that knee problems or no, Remy would say that if a batter tried to show up a Ryan, or a Clemens, or a Gibson by pointing to the plate, they were asking for what Ryan dished out. 4) Finally, I've never heard Remy disparage a pitcher for a lower-body plunk. He objects to head-hunters, but knows that hitting batters is part of a pitcher's legitimate arsenal.
Silly, silly criticism.
Yes, facts are so silly! Please don't let silly, silly facts get in the way of someone's amusing (made-up) anecdote!
There is no reason to think it is a "made up anecdote." Remy obviously remembered it being Campaneris when it was another A...Bando? Green? So what?
And there is nothing "unethical" about Remy's story or his telling it. Or, for that matter, Ryan's actions, which are well within the limits of baseball standard practice. All professions have distinct ethical values, and they evolve over time. But any player doing what Remy's A's player did has earned himself a message pitch for decades.
Remy obviously remembered it being Campaneris when it was another A...Bando? Green? So what?
How do you know it was an A? Maybe it *was* Campaneris, but it wasn't Ryan?
Ryan's actions, which are well within the limits of baseball standard practice.
That is true, but it misses my main point for mentioning the story:
Remy and Orsillo laughed about it. If it had happened last week, they would have had a much different reaction.
We hear the same stuff about Bob Gibson now that enough years have gone by. But when Clemens drills Piazza in the head, how many sports media people laughed and said, "Well, heh, heh, Mike sure 'earned himself a message pitch for decades.'"
(My second point for posting it was that memory is quite fallible -- which we should remember whenever someone uses his or her memory to tout a player's ability.)
There is no reason to think it is a "made up anecdote." Remy obviously remembered it being Campaneris when it was another A...Bando? Green? So what?
So it didn't happen. So it's made up. It's not unethical. It's just fiction. As is more than half of what we hear on any given broadcast, whether it be clutch hitting, intangible greatness, DiMaggio catching everything waist-high, cute little anecdotes about the past - or player bashing in the present.
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