Manny Clears Waivers. After spending 48 hours on irrevocable waivers, Ramirez remains the property of the Red Sox. MLB; AP. ... The team did not release a statement, but owner John Henry posted here at 3:02 pm: "We know sometimes it's very difficult having faith in management, especially when information is limited ... Hang in there, the offseason has barely begun."
10.31.2003
Countdown. Jeff Moorad (Manny's agent) said he and Ramirez were caught somewhat by surprise by the irrevocable waivers decision, although Moorad did say he's been "holding steady talks with the Red Sox front office for several months." There have also been reports (Gammons and Shaughnessy) that Manny asked the Red Sox to explore a trade (ideally to the Yankees) or putting him on waivers. Perhaps it was the "irrevocable" part that surprised them. Moorad: "He'll be just fine if he's back in Boston next season. He always expressed a desire to play for the Yankees, and in a strange twist of fate, the Red Sox certainly gave him an opportunity to make that happen, although it seems unlikely to me it will. You certainly can't fault the Red Sox for creating a mechanism for that opportunity to come about."
Gordon Edes runs through the few teams that would claim Manny -- Yankees, Orioles, Mets, Dodgers, Atlanta, Phillies, White Sox, Cubs, Angels -- and rules them all out. ... Three Sox players talk. Millar: "Manny is a great player, but if he doesn't want to pull on the same rope as the rest of his teammates, then, you know what, he can go somewhere where he can be happy. We continually hear he's not happy in Boston." ... Burkett: "The guy is one of the greatest hitters in the game. The only problem is, it seems the days of the $20 million contract could be gone for a while. I still find it odd they're willing to give him up for nothing." ... Ortiz: "He always came out and said, 'I want to be traded.' I never asked him what his reasons were. But one thing I'll never understand as long as I'm in Boston is why people criticize the players so much."
There is some disagreement about Manny and his feelings about Boston. Bob Hohler says Ramirez takes media and fan criticism personally (contrary to the oft-peddled image of Space Cadet Manny) and "high-ranking team sources have said he privately complains far more than they would have imagined." Yet Steve Mandl, his high school baseball coach, said: "You'd think that if he ends up back in Boston next season, a thing like this would bother him, but he's not like the rest of us. He doesn't get hurt feelings because he doesn't care that much. If he has a place to go and a game to play in, that's all that matters to Manny." Moorad agrees, and has previously dismissed reports of any unhappiness, yet Ortiz, Ramirez's closest friend on the team, says Manny "always" wanted to be traded.
The New York Post claims "Boston sources" are saying the Red Sox would like to swing a three-way trade that would bring Alex Rodriguez to Fenway and send Nomar Garciaparra to an unidentified (West Coast?) third team. The Rangers would acquire Casey Fossum and other players from the team that gets Nomar. The Post adds: "The Red Sox are fed up with both Garciaparra and Ramirez." ... The Fort Worth Star-Telegram also reports that the Rangers and Red Sox have spoken about a possible deal. One source said any talk of Texas trading Rodriguez was "very premature" and another source estimated the possibility of a trade at about "20 percent." One possible deal would be Garciaparra and prospects for Rodriguez. ... One Rangers official commented privately that he expects Rodriguez to be playing for another team next season.
New York coverage of Manny: Times, Daily News (and here), Post (and here) and Newsday (and here). ... Also, the Los Angeles Times.
Michael Gee writes in the Herald: "The Red Sox' decision to put Manny Ramirez on irrevocable waivers is an idea that tests the boundaries of weird. It strongly suggests the Boston franchise has cast planning to the wind and blindly is flailing about in the aftermath of a difficult defeat." ... Gee is either disingenious or he's trying to fuel resentment against the Red Sox front office, because if he bothered to read any other coverage, including his own paper, he would understand exactly what's going on. Tim Daloisio elaborates: "I find it hard to believe that the Red Sox front office does not have detailed decision trees mapped out on the walls of their offices in Fenway Park with every possible scenario and outcome mapped out. Given that the most likely scenario after having placed Manny on waivers was that he would clear them, one can only hope that this is exactly what the Red Sox wanted to happen, setting off a chain of events that they have mapped out on the ideal branch of their decision tree."
Throughout this whole discussion, the issue of "payroll flexibility" has been paramount. Henry/Lucchino/Epstein believe that not having to pay Ramirez approximately $20 million a season for the next five years would free up money to get players who would presumably add more overall production to the team. Bill Reynolds writes that Manny's contract "hurts the club's ability to go out in the free-agent market and make the team better. ... robbing management of flexibility, negatively impacting their ability to be creative." Clearly, having that money would give Boston more wiggle room, but that only makes sense if H/L/E is set on not increasing the current payroll, now at about $100 million.
With increased revenues from the park, why wouldn't the team be willing to increase its payroll to $120-125 million? If H/L/E are not comfortable paying Ramirez for the rest of his contract (2004-08), then they have to move him now before his skills decline, because when his batting production drops, he's going to be no good to anyone. And various comments in the past week or so bear this out. Lucchino told a Boston radio station "One of the biggest mistakes you can make in management is to fall in love with your veterans" and Theo has mentioned how huge contracts can hamstring a franchise.
Putting Ramirez on waivers shows that they are willing to lose the slugger if it means ridding themselves of 100% of the contract, but because that's not likely to happen, if H/L/E try to trade Ramirez, they'll have to eat a decent portion of his salary. There may be teams that would like Ramirez at $12 million and they are waiting until the deadline passes and then they can approach Boston about a deal. The Red Sox won't know how much they'll have to absorb until the upper-tier free agents have been signed this winter, though the waiver move has established that free-agent salaries will not approach $20 million. Of course, if Boston waits until January and if (for example) they signed Guerrero, they'd likely be at a bigger disadvantage than they are now.
Other stuff: David Heuschkel on Byung-Hyun Kim: "Given that Epstein had his eyes on Kim for a long time, it's doubtful the Red Sox would give up on him ... A team official described the results of a recent MRI on Kim's shoulder as clean. His ego healed the day Grady Little was fired. Kim, who wasn't happy in the bullpen and was in the manager's doghouse, might be the only player on the team who wasn't disappointed to see Little go." I fully expect Kim (who is still only 24) in the starting rotation next season. ... Jim Baker of ESPN notes that Davey Johnson would be "a good candidate for the Red Sox [because] he is one of the first managers to embrace statistical analysis as a helpful tool in running a ballclub. (One of the more amusing things in baseball in the mid-'80s was reading old school writers expressing their outrage at the presence of computers and computer printouts in the dugout. Of course, Earl Weaver had been carrying his famous three-by-five cards with player stats and tendencies on them for years and the only difference between them and a computer printout was the means by which they were generated.)
Gordon Edes runs through the few teams that would claim Manny -- Yankees, Orioles, Mets, Dodgers, Atlanta, Phillies, White Sox, Cubs, Angels -- and rules them all out. ... Three Sox players talk. Millar: "Manny is a great player, but if he doesn't want to pull on the same rope as the rest of his teammates, then, you know what, he can go somewhere where he can be happy. We continually hear he's not happy in Boston." ... Burkett: "The guy is one of the greatest hitters in the game. The only problem is, it seems the days of the $20 million contract could be gone for a while. I still find it odd they're willing to give him up for nothing." ... Ortiz: "He always came out and said, 'I want to be traded.' I never asked him what his reasons were. But one thing I'll never understand as long as I'm in Boston is why people criticize the players so much."
There is some disagreement about Manny and his feelings about Boston. Bob Hohler says Ramirez takes media and fan criticism personally (contrary to the oft-peddled image of Space Cadet Manny) and "high-ranking team sources have said he privately complains far more than they would have imagined." Yet Steve Mandl, his high school baseball coach, said: "You'd think that if he ends up back in Boston next season, a thing like this would bother him, but he's not like the rest of us. He doesn't get hurt feelings because he doesn't care that much. If he has a place to go and a game to play in, that's all that matters to Manny." Moorad agrees, and has previously dismissed reports of any unhappiness, yet Ortiz, Ramirez's closest friend on the team, says Manny "always" wanted to be traded.
The New York Post claims "Boston sources" are saying the Red Sox would like to swing a three-way trade that would bring Alex Rodriguez to Fenway and send Nomar Garciaparra to an unidentified (West Coast?) third team. The Rangers would acquire Casey Fossum and other players from the team that gets Nomar. The Post adds: "The Red Sox are fed up with both Garciaparra and Ramirez." ... The Fort Worth Star-Telegram also reports that the Rangers and Red Sox have spoken about a possible deal. One source said any talk of Texas trading Rodriguez was "very premature" and another source estimated the possibility of a trade at about "20 percent." One possible deal would be Garciaparra and prospects for Rodriguez. ... One Rangers official commented privately that he expects Rodriguez to be playing for another team next season.
New York coverage of Manny: Times, Daily News (and here), Post (and here) and Newsday (and here). ... Also, the Los Angeles Times.
Michael Gee writes in the Herald: "The Red Sox' decision to put Manny Ramirez on irrevocable waivers is an idea that tests the boundaries of weird. It strongly suggests the Boston franchise has cast planning to the wind and blindly is flailing about in the aftermath of a difficult defeat." ... Gee is either disingenious or he's trying to fuel resentment against the Red Sox front office, because if he bothered to read any other coverage, including his own paper, he would understand exactly what's going on. Tim Daloisio elaborates: "I find it hard to believe that the Red Sox front office does not have detailed decision trees mapped out on the walls of their offices in Fenway Park with every possible scenario and outcome mapped out. Given that the most likely scenario after having placed Manny on waivers was that he would clear them, one can only hope that this is exactly what the Red Sox wanted to happen, setting off a chain of events that they have mapped out on the ideal branch of their decision tree."
Throughout this whole discussion, the issue of "payroll flexibility" has been paramount. Henry/Lucchino/Epstein believe that not having to pay Ramirez approximately $20 million a season for the next five years would free up money to get players who would presumably add more overall production to the team. Bill Reynolds writes that Manny's contract "hurts the club's ability to go out in the free-agent market and make the team better. ... robbing management of flexibility, negatively impacting their ability to be creative." Clearly, having that money would give Boston more wiggle room, but that only makes sense if H/L/E is set on not increasing the current payroll, now at about $100 million.
With increased revenues from the park, why wouldn't the team be willing to increase its payroll to $120-125 million? If H/L/E are not comfortable paying Ramirez for the rest of his contract (2004-08), then they have to move him now before his skills decline, because when his batting production drops, he's going to be no good to anyone. And various comments in the past week or so bear this out. Lucchino told a Boston radio station "One of the biggest mistakes you can make in management is to fall in love with your veterans" and Theo has mentioned how huge contracts can hamstring a franchise.
Putting Ramirez on waivers shows that they are willing to lose the slugger if it means ridding themselves of 100% of the contract, but because that's not likely to happen, if H/L/E try to trade Ramirez, they'll have to eat a decent portion of his salary. There may be teams that would like Ramirez at $12 million and they are waiting until the deadline passes and then they can approach Boston about a deal. The Red Sox won't know how much they'll have to absorb until the upper-tier free agents have been signed this winter, though the waiver move has established that free-agent salaries will not approach $20 million. Of course, if Boston waits until January and if (for example) they signed Guerrero, they'd likely be at a bigger disadvantage than they are now.
Other stuff: David Heuschkel on Byung-Hyun Kim: "Given that Epstein had his eyes on Kim for a long time, it's doubtful the Red Sox would give up on him ... A team official described the results of a recent MRI on Kim's shoulder as clean. His ego healed the day Grady Little was fired. Kim, who wasn't happy in the bullpen and was in the manager's doghouse, might be the only player on the team who wasn't disappointed to see Little go." I fully expect Kim (who is still only 24) in the starting rotation next season. ... Jim Baker of ESPN notes that Davey Johnson would be "a good candidate for the Red Sox [because] he is one of the first managers to embrace statistical analysis as a helpful tool in running a ballclub. (One of the more amusing things in baseball in the mid-'80s was reading old school writers expressing their outrage at the presence of computers and computer printouts in the dugout. Of course, Earl Weaver had been carrying his famous three-by-five cards with player stats and tendencies on them for years and the only difference between them and a computer printout was the means by which they were generated.)
10.30.2003
Pack Rats. Homer and Langley Collyer lived in a four-story brownstone on the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 128th Street in Harlem for much of the 1930's and 40's. According to Franz Lidz: "The elderly Collyers were well-to-do sons of a prominent Manhattan gynecologist and an opera singer. Homer had been Phi Beta Kappa at Columbia, where he earned his degree in admiralty law. Langley was a pianist who had performed at Carnegie Hall. The brothers had moved to Harlem in 1909 when they were in their 20's and the neighborhood was a fashionable, and white, suburb of Manhattan. They became more and more reclusive as the neighborhood went shabby on them, booby-trapping their home with midnight street pickings and turning it into a sealed fortress of ephemera, 180 tons of it by the end." ... Last year, I did some preliminary research centering on March 1947, when city authorities began emptying out the house following reports of the death of one of the brothers, with the idea of possibly writing a book. But Lidz has already done that; "Ghosty Men: The Strange but True Story of the Collyer Brothers, New York's Greatest Hoarders" has just been published.
Yankees Not Interested. An industry source told Gordon Edes of the Globe that the Yankees have "absolutely no interest whatsoever'' in picking up Ramirez off waivers. Teams have until 2 p.m. Friday to make a claim; other teams said to have an interest include the Dodgers, Tampa Bay, Baltimore and the Mets. ... Buster Olney reports the same thing. But why is Manny listed as the Diamondbacks 3B?
Mannyball. What I think the Red Sox are thinking is similar to what Billy Beane tried to do when Jason Giambi left Oakland as a free agent after 2001. Moneyball gets into it on page 141:
"The A's front office realized right away, of course, that they couldn't replace Jason Giambi with another first baseman just like him. There wasn't another first baseman just like him and if there were they couldn't have afforded him and in any case that's not how they thought about the holes they had to fill. 'The important thing is not to recreate the individual,' Billy Beane would later say. 'The important thing is to recreate the aggregate.' He coudn't and wouldn't find another Jason Giambi; but he could find the pieces of Giambi he could least afford to be without, and buy them for a tiny fraction of the cost of Giambi himself."
Like replacing Giambi, replacing Manny would have little to do with foot speed and fielding ability. What Boston would have to replace is the OBP and SLG. Or, I suppose, improve the pitching staff to such a degree that the amount of offense needed to be replaced would be less. That could be done by getting 2-3 players with less-than-household names for less than $20 million. ... I still don't like this idea -- it's a huge gamble (signing any free agents is aways off; teams are forbidden to talk to anyone until mid-November) and I want Manny to stay in Boston -- but it does make a certain amount of sense from a financial standpoint.
And, from the main SoSH discussion:
12:43 pm: "Supposedly word out of [New York sports radio station] WFAN is that George has given the orders to claim Manny, stay tuned."
"The A's front office realized right away, of course, that they couldn't replace Jason Giambi with another first baseman just like him. There wasn't another first baseman just like him and if there were they couldn't have afforded him and in any case that's not how they thought about the holes they had to fill. 'The important thing is not to recreate the individual,' Billy Beane would later say. 'The important thing is to recreate the aggregate.' He coudn't and wouldn't find another Jason Giambi; but he could find the pieces of Giambi he could least afford to be without, and buy them for a tiny fraction of the cost of Giambi himself."
Like replacing Giambi, replacing Manny would have little to do with foot speed and fielding ability. What Boston would have to replace is the OBP and SLG. Or, I suppose, improve the pitching staff to such a degree that the amount of offense needed to be replaced would be less. That could be done by getting 2-3 players with less-than-household names for less than $20 million. ... I still don't like this idea -- it's a huge gamble (signing any free agents is aways off; teams are forbidden to talk to anyone until mid-November) and I want Manny to stay in Boston -- but it does make a certain amount of sense from a financial standpoint.
And, from the main SoSH discussion:
12:43 pm: "Supposedly word out of [New York sports radio station] WFAN is that George has given the orders to claim Manny, stay tuned."
Manny. Reports in the New York Times, Herald, Globe, Projo, Courant and MLB. ... Peter Gammons: "Ramirez talked to the club at the end of the season and expressed that while he likes the Red Sox and Boston, he wouldn't mind seeing what there was in a trade, with his home (New York) an enticing option." ... Rob Neyer lays out his reasons why the Yankees would not (and probably will not) grab Ramirez.
While there is not much to do but wait until the waiver deadline of midnight Friday, there is plenty of discussion here and here and here and here and here. ... Earlier this morning, Art Martone posted this: "It's patently obvious -- and I'm saying this in the absolute knowledge that this is true -- that the view held of Manny Ramirez in the executive suite (and the clubhouse) is very different than the view held of Manny Ramirez by most of the fans. When "throatgate" occured in late August/early September, many media outlets -- including ours -- reported that this incident was merely the tip of a very large Ramirez iceburg. [And we don't pretend to know all, or even most, of what went on ... we heard, and were told, enough to believe that it was true.]"
Ramirez has five years and $104 million remaining on his contract. He is scheduled to earn $20.5 million in 2004, $20 million in 2005, $19 million in 2006, $18 million in 2007 and $20 million in 2008. His club options for 2009 and 2010 are each worth $20 million.
I was in shock last night, but now I realize I have to take a deep breath and wait and see. No one from the Red Sox (or Manny himself) have offered any comment at all, and what the Red Sox roster looks like on April 1 is more important than what it looks like on November 1. I would hate to lose Ramirez as a hitter, but I also understand what the Red Sox are trying to do (or hope to do). None of their moves to date have given me reason to doubt their desire to win a championship. They have not done anything impulsive or without thinking through the implications within the American League; the possible fallout with the fans is a distant concern. So while it wasn't the best timing (on the same day tickets prices are raised and Elias named Ramirez as the second best player in baseball in 2003), I'll reserve comment until the deadline has passed. One thing is for sure -- this got Gump off the sports pages in a hurry! ... The Red Sox also announced a tentative schedule for 2004.
While there is not much to do but wait until the waiver deadline of midnight Friday, there is plenty of discussion here and here and here and here and here. ... Earlier this morning, Art Martone posted this: "It's patently obvious -- and I'm saying this in the absolute knowledge that this is true -- that the view held of Manny Ramirez in the executive suite (and the clubhouse) is very different than the view held of Manny Ramirez by most of the fans. When "throatgate" occured in late August/early September, many media outlets -- including ours -- reported that this incident was merely the tip of a very large Ramirez iceburg. [And we don't pretend to know all, or even most, of what went on ... we heard, and were told, enough to believe that it was true.]"
Ramirez has five years and $104 million remaining on his contract. He is scheduled to earn $20.5 million in 2004, $20 million in 2005, $19 million in 2006, $18 million in 2007 and $20 million in 2008. His club options for 2009 and 2010 are each worth $20 million.
I was in shock last night, but now I realize I have to take a deep breath and wait and see. No one from the Red Sox (or Manny himself) have offered any comment at all, and what the Red Sox roster looks like on April 1 is more important than what it looks like on November 1. I would hate to lose Ramirez as a hitter, but I also understand what the Red Sox are trying to do (or hope to do). None of their moves to date have given me reason to doubt their desire to win a championship. They have not done anything impulsive or without thinking through the implications within the American League; the possible fallout with the fans is a distant concern. So while it wasn't the best timing (on the same day tickets prices are raised and Elias named Ramirez as the second best player in baseball in 2003), I'll reserve comment until the deadline has passed. One thing is for sure -- this got Gump off the sports pages in a hurry! ... The Red Sox also announced a tentative schedule for 2004.
Manny Update. From Art Martone (at 12:10 am): "According to Curry, the Yankees are having internal discussions as to whether or not they should claim Ramirez. Curry also quotes several unnamed major league executives who are puzzled by the move, other than to say the Sox must be extremely anxious to get out from under Ramirez' contract. Sean McAdam's story should be posted on projo.com in about an hour. We've only spoken briefly and I'm not sure how much of what he told me is on the record. (Which is to say, I'm unsure about how much of what he was told is on the record.) But it *is* true, and the Sox are willing to let Ramirez go if someone claims him. (And, just to make it absolutely clear, if no one claims him then Ramirez stays with the Sox. They could, theoretically, release him, but dumping the contract is one of the reasons behind all this then releasing him makes zero sense.)" ... Right now at projo, there is a photo caption (under a photo that is not Manny) that reads: "Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez has worn out his welcome with Boston management, who are eager to dump his salary to use for other free-agent talent."
10.29.2003
Red Sox Place Manny Ramirez On Irrevocable Waivers. At 10:35 this evening, Art Martone, the sports editor of the Providence Journal, posted this to Sons of Sam Horn: "The New York Times just moved a story, by Jack Curry, that says the Red Sox have placed Manny Ramirez on irrevocable waivers. ... What it means -- if the story's true -- is that if another team claims him before Friday, they own him, contract and all. If no one claims him, the Sox still retain him. But irrevocable means that the Sox can't pull him back if someone claims him. They're not doing this to gauge trade interest, in other words; they're doing it, apparently, to get out from under the contract." Fifteen minutes later, Art posted that the story was accurate. ... I'm in shock. There are few teams which have the $$ to claim Manny and one of them lost the World Series to Florida.
Gordon Edes Chat Notes. The Boston Globe writer held a live chat Wednesday at Sons of Sam Horn after answering questions submitted beforehand (transcript). Some of his comments:
"Grady insists that there was a consensus in the dugout prior to his [Pedro's] going to the mound in the eighth. ... I am told on very good authority that Dave Wallace's input was to remind Grady to have Embree ready for Matsui if the eighth inning got that far. And Jason Varitek insisted that he expected Pedro to take the hill in the eighth. ... I spoke with one person who was [in the clubhouse] immediately after the game who said it was the most devastated clubhouse he had ever seen. Grady cleared the clubhouse of all but his players and coaches and talked to them for a few minutes ... When we got in there, the place was still dead silent, with Tim Wakefield crying in one corner and Pedro slumped at his seat, dead eyes staring blankly ahead of him. It was tough. ...
"You got to figure they'll look at Millwood and Ponson ... explore trade possibilities for Javier Vazquez, and maybe take another run at Freddy Garcia. But I think they also have great interest in some of the Dodgers' young pitching, especially Edwin Jackson. ... I'd be shocked if Walker is retained. ... [Luis] Castillo would seem to be a likely object of their affections, though one Sox player with NL experience told me he thought Castillo was too soft for this market. ... If the Sox can't get the second baseman they want, they'd move Mueller to second and go after a third baseman. John Henry loves Mike Lowell ...
"They're prepared to let Pedro walk after next season. They'll make him an offer, but it will be short in years and dough, and he'll move on. They will make every effort to sign Garciaparra ... Varitek to me is the heart of this club; they'll keep him through next season ... They'll make an offer to Lowe, but for short years, and risk losing him at the end of next season. Nixon is the puzzle, for me. He had a great year, his trade value may never be higher, and they may think it's easier to replace a corner OF. ... From what I've heard about Dierker, he was even more casual about pregame preparation than Grady. ... Joe Madden intrigues me [as possible manager], Scioscia's bench coach, minor league manager, stats savvy, personable. Personally, I'd get a kick out of bringing in Whitey [Herzog] for a year, with Hoffman as a bench coach, groomed to be his successor. My No. 1 choice, probably would be Leyland, but i think he's too happy coaching his kid."
"Grady insists that there was a consensus in the dugout prior to his [Pedro's] going to the mound in the eighth. ... I am told on very good authority that Dave Wallace's input was to remind Grady to have Embree ready for Matsui if the eighth inning got that far. And Jason Varitek insisted that he expected Pedro to take the hill in the eighth. ... I spoke with one person who was [in the clubhouse] immediately after the game who said it was the most devastated clubhouse he had ever seen. Grady cleared the clubhouse of all but his players and coaches and talked to them for a few minutes ... When we got in there, the place was still dead silent, with Tim Wakefield crying in one corner and Pedro slumped at his seat, dead eyes staring blankly ahead of him. It was tough. ...
"You got to figure they'll look at Millwood and Ponson ... explore trade possibilities for Javier Vazquez, and maybe take another run at Freddy Garcia. But I think they also have great interest in some of the Dodgers' young pitching, especially Edwin Jackson. ... I'd be shocked if Walker is retained. ... [Luis] Castillo would seem to be a likely object of their affections, though one Sox player with NL experience told me he thought Castillo was too soft for this market. ... If the Sox can't get the second baseman they want, they'd move Mueller to second and go after a third baseman. John Henry loves Mike Lowell ...
"They're prepared to let Pedro walk after next season. They'll make him an offer, but it will be short in years and dough, and he'll move on. They will make every effort to sign Garciaparra ... Varitek to me is the heart of this club; they'll keep him through next season ... They'll make an offer to Lowe, but for short years, and risk losing him at the end of next season. Nixon is the puzzle, for me. He had a great year, his trade value may never be higher, and they may think it's easier to replace a corner OF. ... From what I've heard about Dierker, he was even more casual about pregame preparation than Grady. ... Joe Madden intrigues me [as possible manager], Scioscia's bench coach, minor league manager, stats savvy, personable. Personally, I'd get a kick out of bringing in Whitey [Herzog] for a year, with Hoffman as a bench coach, groomed to be his successor. My No. 1 choice, probably would be Leyland, but i think he's too happy coaching his kid."
If You Read Only One Grady Article ... John Tomase has written what is by far the best summation of Grady's management style, his perceived faults and why he is currently unemployed (and probably will remain unemployed if this article gets any circulation at all).
Both David Heuschkel and Michael Silverman mention Glenn Hoffman (Sox attempted to interview him before hiring Little in 2002), Bud Black (Angels pitching coach), Terry Francona (A's bench coach and former Phillies manager) as three strong candidates. Rico Brogna on Francona: "He's a very personable guy. I think at the beginning, he might even tell you he was a little too player friendly to win over the players. ... He will do statistical analysis. But I think he has such a good feel for the game because of his playing days. He can do a little of everything. He's a tireless worker. His work ethic is phenomenal." Joe Maddon, the Angels' computer-savvy bench coach, is "absolutely" interested in the Red Sox vacancy. "If computers were available when Branch Rickey was alive, he'd have made them popular 50 years ago. ... We take advantage of technology in every other facet of life and we're going to disdain it in sports? I don't get that." ... Silverman notes that "Little remains a possibility for the Yankees' bench coach job, replacing Don Zimmer as manager Joe Torre's right-hand man." I can't tell if he's serious. Can't Gump replace Torre instead? Please?
Hot Stove Logs: Alfonso Soriano for Carlos Beltran? The White Sox say goodbye to Bartolo Colon. ... BlogWatch: Lucchino's comments to WEEI. ... Bronx Banter has several good links and Aaron Gleeman is always worth reading. ... Does God really help Andy Pettitte win baseball games? ... Patriotism at the Ballpark.
From two Boston Herald pay columns:
Howard Bryant: "[T]he biggest reason the fun of 2003 has dissipated is that Sox principal owner John Henry clearly did not enjoy this 95-win journey, and the postscript to the season now contains a revisionist element of the summer. Henry wanted Little out, unhappy with his methods and his lack of reliance on data, and became convinced the team was winning despite the on-field decisions of the manager. When Pedro Martinez was lauded for his gutsy 128-pitch win against Tampa in late September, Henry was furious that his manager would gas his pitcher to beat a 99-loss team. Henry said Martinez would be spent for his next start in Cleveland, and that was Grady's fault. Even when Martinez pitched well against the Indians, Henry could not be mollified, for this was another example of a season's worth of Little costing his team a chance to win today, and more importantly with Martinez, tomorrow. Sources say Henry is now convinced that the high, late-season pitch counts may have weakened Martinez in the postseason. ... the braintrust is still fuming over the June, Jim Thome game in Philadelphia ..."Memo to Braintrust: Me too.
Steve Buckley quotes Rick Burleson (who has managed for 8 years in the Reds minor league system): "[T]hey want a guy who has old-school values, who wants to take advantage of the new technology. I would love to be able to walk into my office and see all that information on my desk every day. Anybody would want to take advantage of all the information that's available now. I have always been very comfortable with the baseball climate in Boston. In a funny way, I was almost glad the Red Sox lost in the playoffs. Because for a long time now I've had this dream that I'm going to be the manager who helps lead the Red Sox to the World Series championship Boston has been looking for for a long time. How great it would be to be that guy."
What Century is this? Nick Cafardo of the Globe asked Cleveland coach Joel Skinner about managing in Boston; after noting the Sox are looking for a "new-breed" type of skipper, Cafardo writes: "Asked if he uses tools such as scouting reports and statistics in his decision-making, Skinner said, 'Sure. It's very important, but there are many tools you use as a manager depending on the situation.'" ... Are scouting reports now thought of as a tool used by new-breed stat geeks? This reminds me of Tony Cloninger proudly telling the media he had no idea how to turn a computer on or off.
Six months ago, George W. Bush spoke on an aircraft carrier deck under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished"; now he claims the White House had nothing to do with the sign. "The "Mission Accomplished" sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished. I know it was attributed somehow to some ingenious advance man from my staff -- they weren't that ingenious, by the way." (WH) A few hours later, the White House admitted there was a link.
I can't blame Bush for wanting to distance himself from such a stupid stunt (and his flyboy outfit was as silly as Dukakis poking his head out of that tank). This lie has the feel of a child's refusal to take responsibility for anything, however trivial it might be. The best summary of the White House's theatrics was in the New York Times. The entire article is worth reading -- how White House aides spent days on the carrier blocking out camera angles, how they timed the speech so Bush would be cast in a golden evening glow, how crew members wore coordinated shirt colors behind Bush and how the carrier was positioned so the San Diego coastline would not be visible on camera -- but I'll snip one sentence: "White House officials say that a variety of people, including the president, came up with the idea ..." The Washington Post agreed: "Aides say the slogan was chosen in part to mark a presidential turn toward domestic affairs as his campaign for reelection approaches."
The Air Force Times: "The White House communications office, well known for the care it takes with the backdrops at Bush speeches, created the 'Mission Accomplished' banner in the same style as banners the president uses in other appearances, including one just a week before the carrier appearance in Canton, Ohio. That banner, with the same soft, brush-stroked American flag in the background and the identical typeface, read: 'Jobs and Growth.' The AFT also provided two pictures:
Both David Heuschkel and Michael Silverman mention Glenn Hoffman (Sox attempted to interview him before hiring Little in 2002), Bud Black (Angels pitching coach), Terry Francona (A's bench coach and former Phillies manager) as three strong candidates. Rico Brogna on Francona: "He's a very personable guy. I think at the beginning, he might even tell you he was a little too player friendly to win over the players. ... He will do statistical analysis. But I think he has such a good feel for the game because of his playing days. He can do a little of everything. He's a tireless worker. His work ethic is phenomenal." Joe Maddon, the Angels' computer-savvy bench coach, is "absolutely" interested in the Red Sox vacancy. "If computers were available when Branch Rickey was alive, he'd have made them popular 50 years ago. ... We take advantage of technology in every other facet of life and we're going to disdain it in sports? I don't get that." ... Silverman notes that "Little remains a possibility for the Yankees' bench coach job, replacing Don Zimmer as manager Joe Torre's right-hand man." I can't tell if he's serious. Can't Gump replace Torre instead? Please?
Hot Stove Logs: Alfonso Soriano for Carlos Beltran? The White Sox say goodbye to Bartolo Colon. ... BlogWatch: Lucchino's comments to WEEI. ... Bronx Banter has several good links and Aaron Gleeman is always worth reading. ... Does God really help Andy Pettitte win baseball games? ... Patriotism at the Ballpark.
From two Boston Herald pay columns:
Howard Bryant: "[T]he biggest reason the fun of 2003 has dissipated is that Sox principal owner John Henry clearly did not enjoy this 95-win journey, and the postscript to the season now contains a revisionist element of the summer. Henry wanted Little out, unhappy with his methods and his lack of reliance on data, and became convinced the team was winning despite the on-field decisions of the manager. When Pedro Martinez was lauded for his gutsy 128-pitch win against Tampa in late September, Henry was furious that his manager would gas his pitcher to beat a 99-loss team. Henry said Martinez would be spent for his next start in Cleveland, and that was Grady's fault. Even when Martinez pitched well against the Indians, Henry could not be mollified, for this was another example of a season's worth of Little costing his team a chance to win today, and more importantly with Martinez, tomorrow. Sources say Henry is now convinced that the high, late-season pitch counts may have weakened Martinez in the postseason. ... the braintrust is still fuming over the June, Jim Thome game in Philadelphia ..."Memo to Braintrust: Me too.
Steve Buckley quotes Rick Burleson (who has managed for 8 years in the Reds minor league system): "[T]hey want a guy who has old-school values, who wants to take advantage of the new technology. I would love to be able to walk into my office and see all that information on my desk every day. Anybody would want to take advantage of all the information that's available now. I have always been very comfortable with the baseball climate in Boston. In a funny way, I was almost glad the Red Sox lost in the playoffs. Because for a long time now I've had this dream that I'm going to be the manager who helps lead the Red Sox to the World Series championship Boston has been looking for for a long time. How great it would be to be that guy."
What Century is this? Nick Cafardo of the Globe asked Cleveland coach Joel Skinner about managing in Boston; after noting the Sox are looking for a "new-breed" type of skipper, Cafardo writes: "Asked if he uses tools such as scouting reports and statistics in his decision-making, Skinner said, 'Sure. It's very important, but there are many tools you use as a manager depending on the situation.'" ... Are scouting reports now thought of as a tool used by new-breed stat geeks? This reminds me of Tony Cloninger proudly telling the media he had no idea how to turn a computer on or off.
Six months ago, George W. Bush spoke on an aircraft carrier deck under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished"; now he claims the White House had nothing to do with the sign. "The "Mission Accomplished" sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished. I know it was attributed somehow to some ingenious advance man from my staff -- they weren't that ingenious, by the way." (WH) A few hours later, the White House admitted there was a link.
I can't blame Bush for wanting to distance himself from such a stupid stunt (and his flyboy outfit was as silly as Dukakis poking his head out of that tank). This lie has the feel of a child's refusal to take responsibility for anything, however trivial it might be. The best summary of the White House's theatrics was in the New York Times. The entire article is worth reading -- how White House aides spent days on the carrier blocking out camera angles, how they timed the speech so Bush would be cast in a golden evening glow, how crew members wore coordinated shirt colors behind Bush and how the carrier was positioned so the San Diego coastline would not be visible on camera -- but I'll snip one sentence: "White House officials say that a variety of people, including the president, came up with the idea ..." The Washington Post agreed: "Aides say the slogan was chosen in part to mark a presidential turn toward domestic affairs as his campaign for reelection approaches."
The Air Force Times: "The White House communications office, well known for the care it takes with the backdrops at Bush speeches, created the 'Mission Accomplished' banner in the same style as banners the president uses in other appearances, including one just a week before the carrier appearance in Canton, Ohio. That banner, with the same soft, brush-stroked American flag in the background and the identical typeface, read: 'Jobs and Growth.' The AFT also provided two pictures:
10.28.2003
Newspeak. George W. Bush says the surge in attacks on American soliders in Iraq (up to 25-30 each day) is evidence that progress is being made. ... So the more soliders that die, the better things are going? Does that mean that if no Americans were being killed, the US would be failing? If Bush bothered to attend a serviceperson's funeral (maybe between fundraising jaunts), I'd like to see him explain his remarks to that dead soldier's parents. But "Bring 'Em On" Bush has not attended even one funeral. Finally, if more attacks and more death is progress, shouldn't the US stop trying to deter the attacks?
In last Sunday's New York Times, Philip Shenon reported that Thomas Kean, the Chairman of the 9/11 Commission, is prepared to subpoena highly-classified documents that the White House refuses to turn over to the Commission. However, the Times violates Journalism Rule #1: never bury the lead. You've got to read Shenon's entire 1,340-word article to get to this quote from Kean: "As each day goes by, we learn that this government knew a whole lot more about these terrorists before Sept. 11 than it has ever admitted." ... The requested documents include the Presidential Daily Briefings — the summary prepared each morning by the CIA — that Bush received in the weeks before the attacks. The White House refused to provide those reports to House and Senate investigators last year for their investigation of the attacks. Bush has still refused to say if the White House will comply.
One of those CIA briefings, presented to Bush in July 2001 warned that Osama bin Laden was about to launch a terrorist strike "in the coming weeks ... The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against US facilities or interests. Attack preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning." ... So with that warning fresh in his mind, Bush left Washington for a month-long vacation -- August 4 through September 3, which would have broken a modern record for a presidential vacation. Cheney was also on vacation for all of August. And John Ashcroft began traveling exclusively by leased jet instead of commercial airlines beginning in late July, citing a threat assessment that has still not been explained. ... In defending the Patriot Act, Republicans say: "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." So what's the big deal?
At some point between April and October 2003, the White House added virtually all of the directories with "Iraq" in them to its robots.txt file, meaning that search engines would no longer list those pages in results or archive them. Among the excluded files (a list) are these:
Disallow: /president/fallatwhitehouse/iraq
Disallow: /president/fallatwhitehouse/text
Are these pretzel-related files? ... Howard Dean's blog adds: "Earlier this year, the White House revised pages on its website claiming that 'combat' was over in Iraq, changing them to say 'major combat'."
In last Sunday's New York Times, Philip Shenon reported that Thomas Kean, the Chairman of the 9/11 Commission, is prepared to subpoena highly-classified documents that the White House refuses to turn over to the Commission. However, the Times violates Journalism Rule #1: never bury the lead. You've got to read Shenon's entire 1,340-word article to get to this quote from Kean: "As each day goes by, we learn that this government knew a whole lot more about these terrorists before Sept. 11 than it has ever admitted." ... The requested documents include the Presidential Daily Briefings — the summary prepared each morning by the CIA — that Bush received in the weeks before the attacks. The White House refused to provide those reports to House and Senate investigators last year for their investigation of the attacks. Bush has still refused to say if the White House will comply.
One of those CIA briefings, presented to Bush in July 2001 warned that Osama bin Laden was about to launch a terrorist strike "in the coming weeks ... The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against US facilities or interests. Attack preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning." ... So with that warning fresh in his mind, Bush left Washington for a month-long vacation -- August 4 through September 3, which would have broken a modern record for a presidential vacation. Cheney was also on vacation for all of August. And John Ashcroft began traveling exclusively by leased jet instead of commercial airlines beginning in late July, citing a threat assessment that has still not been explained. ... In defending the Patriot Act, Republicans say: "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." So what's the big deal?
At some point between April and October 2003, the White House added virtually all of the directories with "Iraq" in them to its robots.txt file, meaning that search engines would no longer list those pages in results or archive them. Among the excluded files (a list) are these:
Disallow: /president/fallatwhitehouse/iraq
Disallow: /president/fallatwhitehouse/text
Are these pretzel-related files? ... Howard Dean's blog adds: "Earlier this year, the White House revised pages on its website claiming that 'combat' was over in Iraq, changing them to say 'major combat'."
Man Versus Machine? There was much more objectivity in the papers today than I expected. A sampling:
Michael Silverman: "According to club sources, some of the problems the Red Sox had with Little were that he did not call upon his coaches for enough input, there was not enough attention paid to offensive and defensive matchups, that game plans were cast aside when the game began, and in the Division Series with the A's, he did not have a meeting with his hitters to go over the A's pitchers. "
Gordon Edes: "The Sox no longer want to discover, to their dismay, that the manager, according to a team source, failed to hold a hitters' meeting before the Oakland playoff series, wasting countless hours of traditional scouting work and sophisticated video and statistical analysis that was done ostensibly to give the Sox an edge. ... It was not Little's managerial style to meticulously anticipate every game situation that might arise, and, armed with the best possible information -- some statistics-oriented, some not -- react to those situations in a manner that would satisfy an owner as mathematical in his world view as a John W. Henry. That is why the Sox are not being dishonest in their insistence that Little was not being cashiered because of what happened in Game 7 of the ALCS. They had reservations that extended back to his first season on the job, which is why they did not exercise his contract option this spring..."
Edes is also the first Boston writer to float the name of Whitey Herzog in print. In the spring of 2002, Herzog was offered the job as Joe Kerrigan's bench coach. "I turned that down because I knew it wasn't going to work. Hell, maybe I should have taken it, I'd have been manager by the end of spring training [instead of Grady]. ... You got a good club there. I thought you had a better team there than the Yankees." Herzog says he'll listen if the Red Sox call. Pick up the phone, Theo.
Michael Holley writes of "irreconcilable differences ... It was never personal. The gap occurred when the manager was gently asked -- and sometimes forcefully told -- how to prepare for games. ... They wanted a curious thinker, a man who never would stop prodding and poking. ... Little listened to his bosses during these sessions, but he is not that kind of manager. If there is a legitimate criticism of him, it is that he should have tried harder to do what they wanted. If there is a legitimate criticism of them, it is that they should have quickly known what he was when they interviewed him."
Bob Hohler: "Principal owner John W. Henry, who believed Little too often made tactical decisions without adequately applying the vast statistical resources the team provided him, 'took the position well before the post-season that the club may need to question a long-term commitment to its manager,' ... The decision cleared the way for a wide-ranging search for a manager who possesses Little's deft touch in handling the players and media in one of baseball's most demanding markets but who also gives greater weight to the volumes of quantitative analysis developed by senior adviser Bill James and his statistical specialists. ... Despite the front office's unhappiness with Little's use of statistics, Lucchino said the Sox are not seeking a slave to computer analysis. 'This is not going to be a stat geeks organization, nor is it going to be an organization run by old salty dog baseball traditionalists,' Lucchino said. 'It's going to be an organization that mixes and matches and has balance and employs all the tools that might be available.'
Gerry Callahan: "The Sox expect to be in the playoffs again next year and the year after that. Grady says he'll be there to haunt them, but the Sox' owners can live with that. They saw him manage in a big game in October. Nothing can be as frightening as that."
Sean McAdam: "Said a club source: 'Grady wasn't fired for one wrong move. He was fired for the wrong way he went about making decisions.' ... Little was often reluctant to incorporate statistical data in making personnel decisions, lineup choices or in-game strategic moves. Additionally, communication with the coaching staff was often lacking, and management expressed dismay that input and scouting reports on players weren't disseminated to coaches."
Steven Krasner mentioned the June 21 nightmare in Philadelphia: "Very often, a game comes down to late-inning strategy. Specifically, how a manager runs his pitching staff is a major factor in the perception of how well he is doing his job. ... all along the way there were many moves made by Little that were of the head-scratching variety. ... One thing Little did often was stick with his starters longer than other managers. ... Little was slow in having relievers get up in the bullpen, generally waiting a batter too long before being able to get a favorable matchup. ... Every manager gets second-guessed. It goes with the territory. Other managers may look better from afar because you don't see each one of the thousands of decisions a manager has to make over the course of a season. But rest assured, if you spent a week with any manager, there would be some head-scratching. In the Sox' view, Little's strategic decisions during a game weren't made by using all of the tools at his beck and call."
Paul Doyle: "Henry and Epstein are unabashed fans of James, known for his unconventional ideas. James does not believe in the traditional use of a closer and values on-base percentage above most other statistics. James also opposes the use of the sacrifice bunt because he does not believing in giving up outs." ... I get the strong sense Doyle hasn't read James. James is fine with sacrificing in specific situations, but not as a knee-jerk reflex. Statistically, the odds of scoring a run with a man on first and none out and a man on second and one out are nearly identical, but after the bunt, you have one less out. And who knew getting on base as much as possible was "unconventional"?
Howard Bryant: "The bottom line in Boston is that men lost out to machines yesterday. The job Little did in massaging the disparate personalities of Ramirez, Timlin, Garciaparra, Martinez, et. al., was to Henry secondary to his refusal to write out his lineup based on the numbers."
Why does it have to be one or the other? Why can't it be both? Red Sox management clearly believes it's possible. Why employ someone who steadfastly continues to rely on only 50% of available resources? Every writer who posits this as man versus machine is doing nothing more than commenting on a battle that isn't being fought.
Naturally, there was some crap (here and here). And all Dan Shaughnessy needed to do was drop in a few quotes from the press conference and then tell everyone that of course -- wink wink nudge nudge -- we all know the Sox are lying. ... Several other writers, including this one, have mentioned McKeon likewise going with his gut in sticking with Beckett in Game 6 of the World Series. There is a big difference. One, Beckett is much younger than Pedro. Two, there is no way McKeon sits on his ass with a Gump-grin on his face as Beckett allows 3 or 4 line drive hits and the Yankees tied the game (or take the lead). No way.
BlogWatch: Bambino's Curse moves back to its original home for the off-season. ... Ben Jacobs takes Adrian Wojnarowski's latest ESPN column apart. ... Dwight's House: "Those evil statheads, run by Grand Poobah stathead Bill James have dispatched another Good Baseball Man. Little will get a job soon enough. ... happily staring into space as his starting pitcher dies on the mound ... That will always be Grady Little's baseball legacy in Boston. Grinning like an idiot, while the world collapses." ... Portland Sox Fan has a question for the writers who are incredulous that if Grady had taken the Red Sox to the World Series, he might still have been replaced: "What happened to Dusty Baker last year?"
The Yankees' off-season will likely be even busier than Boston's. I'd love to stay on top of the New York papers for tidbits, but I doubt I'll have the time. So far, we know Giambi loves porn and Zimmer won't return to the Yankees "even if they wanted to have a day for me." Don Zimmer Day at Yankee Stadium? Yeah, that'll happen. Maybe that tumble on the Fenway turf did screw him up after all. And one Yankee player blasted Giambi for not starting Game 5. Because this player apparently was with the Yankees in 1996 and 2003, it has to be Jeter, Williams, Pettitte, Nelson or Rivera.
Michael Silverman: "According to club sources, some of the problems the Red Sox had with Little were that he did not call upon his coaches for enough input, there was not enough attention paid to offensive and defensive matchups, that game plans were cast aside when the game began, and in the Division Series with the A's, he did not have a meeting with his hitters to go over the A's pitchers. "
Gordon Edes: "The Sox no longer want to discover, to their dismay, that the manager, according to a team source, failed to hold a hitters' meeting before the Oakland playoff series, wasting countless hours of traditional scouting work and sophisticated video and statistical analysis that was done ostensibly to give the Sox an edge. ... It was not Little's managerial style to meticulously anticipate every game situation that might arise, and, armed with the best possible information -- some statistics-oriented, some not -- react to those situations in a manner that would satisfy an owner as mathematical in his world view as a John W. Henry. That is why the Sox are not being dishonest in their insistence that Little was not being cashiered because of what happened in Game 7 of the ALCS. They had reservations that extended back to his first season on the job, which is why they did not exercise his contract option this spring..."
Edes is also the first Boston writer to float the name of Whitey Herzog in print. In the spring of 2002, Herzog was offered the job as Joe Kerrigan's bench coach. "I turned that down because I knew it wasn't going to work. Hell, maybe I should have taken it, I'd have been manager by the end of spring training [instead of Grady]. ... You got a good club there. I thought you had a better team there than the Yankees." Herzog says he'll listen if the Red Sox call. Pick up the phone, Theo.
Michael Holley writes of "irreconcilable differences ... It was never personal. The gap occurred when the manager was gently asked -- and sometimes forcefully told -- how to prepare for games. ... They wanted a curious thinker, a man who never would stop prodding and poking. ... Little listened to his bosses during these sessions, but he is not that kind of manager. If there is a legitimate criticism of him, it is that he should have tried harder to do what they wanted. If there is a legitimate criticism of them, it is that they should have quickly known what he was when they interviewed him."
Bob Hohler: "Principal owner John W. Henry, who believed Little too often made tactical decisions without adequately applying the vast statistical resources the team provided him, 'took the position well before the post-season that the club may need to question a long-term commitment to its manager,' ... The decision cleared the way for a wide-ranging search for a manager who possesses Little's deft touch in handling the players and media in one of baseball's most demanding markets but who also gives greater weight to the volumes of quantitative analysis developed by senior adviser Bill James and his statistical specialists. ... Despite the front office's unhappiness with Little's use of statistics, Lucchino said the Sox are not seeking a slave to computer analysis. 'This is not going to be a stat geeks organization, nor is it going to be an organization run by old salty dog baseball traditionalists,' Lucchino said. 'It's going to be an organization that mixes and matches and has balance and employs all the tools that might be available.'
Gerry Callahan: "The Sox expect to be in the playoffs again next year and the year after that. Grady says he'll be there to haunt them, but the Sox' owners can live with that. They saw him manage in a big game in October. Nothing can be as frightening as that."
Sean McAdam: "Said a club source: 'Grady wasn't fired for one wrong move. He was fired for the wrong way he went about making decisions.' ... Little was often reluctant to incorporate statistical data in making personnel decisions, lineup choices or in-game strategic moves. Additionally, communication with the coaching staff was often lacking, and management expressed dismay that input and scouting reports on players weren't disseminated to coaches."
Steven Krasner mentioned the June 21 nightmare in Philadelphia: "Very often, a game comes down to late-inning strategy. Specifically, how a manager runs his pitching staff is a major factor in the perception of how well he is doing his job. ... all along the way there were many moves made by Little that were of the head-scratching variety. ... One thing Little did often was stick with his starters longer than other managers. ... Little was slow in having relievers get up in the bullpen, generally waiting a batter too long before being able to get a favorable matchup. ... Every manager gets second-guessed. It goes with the territory. Other managers may look better from afar because you don't see each one of the thousands of decisions a manager has to make over the course of a season. But rest assured, if you spent a week with any manager, there would be some head-scratching. In the Sox' view, Little's strategic decisions during a game weren't made by using all of the tools at his beck and call."
Paul Doyle: "Henry and Epstein are unabashed fans of James, known for his unconventional ideas. James does not believe in the traditional use of a closer and values on-base percentage above most other statistics. James also opposes the use of the sacrifice bunt because he does not believing in giving up outs." ... I get the strong sense Doyle hasn't read James. James is fine with sacrificing in specific situations, but not as a knee-jerk reflex. Statistically, the odds of scoring a run with a man on first and none out and a man on second and one out are nearly identical, but after the bunt, you have one less out. And who knew getting on base as much as possible was "unconventional"?
Howard Bryant: "The bottom line in Boston is that men lost out to machines yesterday. The job Little did in massaging the disparate personalities of Ramirez, Timlin, Garciaparra, Martinez, et. al., was to Henry secondary to his refusal to write out his lineup based on the numbers."
Why does it have to be one or the other? Why can't it be both? Red Sox management clearly believes it's possible. Why employ someone who steadfastly continues to rely on only 50% of available resources? Every writer who posits this as man versus machine is doing nothing more than commenting on a battle that isn't being fought.
Naturally, there was some crap (here and here). And all Dan Shaughnessy needed to do was drop in a few quotes from the press conference and then tell everyone that of course -- wink wink nudge nudge -- we all know the Sox are lying. ... Several other writers, including this one, have mentioned McKeon likewise going with his gut in sticking with Beckett in Game 6 of the World Series. There is a big difference. One, Beckett is much younger than Pedro. Two, there is no way McKeon sits on his ass with a Gump-grin on his face as Beckett allows 3 or 4 line drive hits and the Yankees tied the game (or take the lead). No way.
BlogWatch: Bambino's Curse moves back to its original home for the off-season. ... Ben Jacobs takes Adrian Wojnarowski's latest ESPN column apart. ... Dwight's House: "Those evil statheads, run by Grand Poobah stathead Bill James have dispatched another Good Baseball Man. Little will get a job soon enough. ... happily staring into space as his starting pitcher dies on the mound ... That will always be Grady Little's baseball legacy in Boston. Grinning like an idiot, while the world collapses." ... Portland Sox Fan has a question for the writers who are incredulous that if Grady had taken the Red Sox to the World Series, he might still have been replaced: "What happened to Dusty Baker last year?"
The Yankees' off-season will likely be even busier than Boston's. I'd love to stay on top of the New York papers for tidbits, but I doubt I'll have the time. So far, we know Giambi loves porn and Zimmer won't return to the Yankees "even if they wanted to have a day for me." Don Zimmer Day at Yankee Stadium? Yeah, that'll happen. Maybe that tumble on the Fenway turf did screw him up after all. And one Yankee player blasted Giambi for not starting Game 5. Because this player apparently was with the Yankees in 1996 and 2003, it has to be Jeter, Williams, Pettitte, Nelson or Rivera.
10.27.2003
It's Official. Grady Little is no longer employed by the Boston Red Sox. Larry Lucchino and Theo Epstein answered questions for more than 30 minutes at a press conference Monday afternoon. I watched the NESN broadcast via the Web and the Red Sox said all the right things, emphasizing Grady's strengths numerous times and saying they understood the players' admiration and respect for him, but noting that in the end, there was not 100% support for giving Grady the multi-year deal he was looking for. Hopefully, MLB will post a transcript tomorrow.
Lucchino hinted that Grady was told as early as spring training that management had issues with certain aspects of his managerial style and hoped he could integrate the front office's philosophy into what he was already doing. Grady clearly didn't do that; whether he didn't or couldn't is debatable. I believe he never understood some of the progressive ideas the club believed in, starting with bullpen usage. Epstein said he wouldn't discuss the search for a new manager, but noted it would take a while, adding "Maybe we'll have a new manager when my hair grows back from the postseason debacle ... [pause] of my hair."
Lucchino and Epstein said numerous times the decision was not made solely because of Grady's Game 7 goof -- and anyone who watched more than a handful of Red Sox games should know Grady was chronically overmatched in game situations all season. But that won't stop most writers from looking at the number of Red Sox wins in 2002 and 2003 and wondering how Boston could dump such a nice successful skipper over one bad decision. ... But the Red Sox should have won many more games this summer than they did and if a lot of Grady's brain farts hadn't occurred, many of the comebacks that showed the team's resiliency wouldn't have been necessary.
The Herald should be ashamed of two articles it published today, blaming both the front office or the fans for Little's departure. Ed Cossette offers some pointed comments. Also, Bob Hohler of the Globe notes that "though some of Little's lineup decisions were questioned...." By who? Certainly not by Hohler -- or any of the other Boston beat writers/columnists. They gave Grady a free ride all season and would have given him a free ride in the ALCS too, but Grady ended up making a decision so mind-bogglingly wrong, so bone-headedly stupid, so historically inept that even his apologists couldn't look the other way.
Not once was Grady ever asked why he brought in the team's worst relievers into the highest-leverage situations or why he'd send up one pinch-hitter when there were obviously better options on the bench. When Grady's decisions resulted in a blown lead or a stalled comeback, the game stories focused on the players not doing their jobs or the fact that Grady was simply burdened with poor pitchers, etc. Never once did Gump have to deal directly with the results of his own stupidity. [By the way, I have every single article written by the Boston press corps in 2003 on a CD-R, so if anyone can cite chapter and verse of Gump being called on his moronitude, let me know.] ... The media has to keep defending Grady, because if they suddenly start writing about Grady's poor moves costing the Red Sox games all season long, one might reasonably ask: "Why didn't you write about this stuff as it was happening?" The press turned a blind eye to Grady's incompetence in April, May, June, July, August, September and October 1-15, so how could they do otherwise now?
Hohler also points out that while batters hit .221 against Pedro's first 105 pitches this season and .364 on all pitches thereafter, the three-year split is not as drastic and thus perhaps Grady shouldn't be hung out to dry for staying with him. Hohler says the sample size is too small. It is small, but it's small for two reasons: (1) when Pedro is tired and getting lit up, he gets pulled and (2) the Red Sox have made efforts to not overwork Pedro during the season, to both avoid injury and have him rested for possible October play. Here are Pedro's last four seasons:
"One Red Sox player suggested to his agent recently that statman Bill James come down to the dugout, make an IBM manager his bench coach, and install modems in the offices of John W. Henry and Larry Lucchino so they instantly could convey their wishes, instead of having to wait until after the game to question the manager's strategy." ... It must be tough knowing you are a dinosaur and knowing that the old, conventional ways of doing things are changing for good and that you either don't understand the new ways or are afraid of being left behind.
Lucchino hinted that Grady was told as early as spring training that management had issues with certain aspects of his managerial style and hoped he could integrate the front office's philosophy into what he was already doing. Grady clearly didn't do that; whether he didn't or couldn't is debatable. I believe he never understood some of the progressive ideas the club believed in, starting with bullpen usage. Epstein said he wouldn't discuss the search for a new manager, but noted it would take a while, adding "Maybe we'll have a new manager when my hair grows back from the postseason debacle ... [pause] of my hair."
Lucchino and Epstein said numerous times the decision was not made solely because of Grady's Game 7 goof -- and anyone who watched more than a handful of Red Sox games should know Grady was chronically overmatched in game situations all season. But that won't stop most writers from looking at the number of Red Sox wins in 2002 and 2003 and wondering how Boston could dump such a nice successful skipper over one bad decision. ... But the Red Sox should have won many more games this summer than they did and if a lot of Grady's brain farts hadn't occurred, many of the comebacks that showed the team's resiliency wouldn't have been necessary.
The Herald should be ashamed of two articles it published today, blaming both the front office or the fans for Little's departure. Ed Cossette offers some pointed comments. Also, Bob Hohler of the Globe notes that "though some of Little's lineup decisions were questioned...." By who? Certainly not by Hohler -- or any of the other Boston beat writers/columnists. They gave Grady a free ride all season and would have given him a free ride in the ALCS too, but Grady ended up making a decision so mind-bogglingly wrong, so bone-headedly stupid, so historically inept that even his apologists couldn't look the other way.
Not once was Grady ever asked why he brought in the team's worst relievers into the highest-leverage situations or why he'd send up one pinch-hitter when there were obviously better options on the bench. When Grady's decisions resulted in a blown lead or a stalled comeback, the game stories focused on the players not doing their jobs or the fact that Grady was simply burdened with poor pitchers, etc. Never once did Gump have to deal directly with the results of his own stupidity. [By the way, I have every single article written by the Boston press corps in 2003 on a CD-R, so if anyone can cite chapter and verse of Gump being called on his moronitude, let me know.] ... The media has to keep defending Grady, because if they suddenly start writing about Grady's poor moves costing the Red Sox games all season long, one might reasonably ask: "Why didn't you write about this stuff as it was happening?" The press turned a blind eye to Grady's incompetence in April, May, June, July, August, September and October 1-15, so how could they do otherwise now?
Hohler also points out that while batters hit .221 against Pedro's first 105 pitches this season and .364 on all pitches thereafter, the three-year split is not as drastic and thus perhaps Grady shouldn't be hung out to dry for staying with him. Hohler says the sample size is too small. It is small, but it's small for two reasons: (1) when Pedro is tired and getting lit up, he gets pulled and (2) the Red Sox have made efforts to not overwork Pedro during the season, to both avoid injury and have him rested for possible October play. Here are Pedro's last four seasons:
Pitches 1-105 105+There is a bigger difference in 2003, but rather than letting Little off the hook by noting the splits haven't been as bad in previous seasons, Gump actually deserves more blame for ignoring very clear evidence that THIS SEASON, Pedro's ability declined greatly after 105 pitches. Batters hit him like a collective Ty Cobb. And the Pedro we are talking about re October 16 is the 2003 Pedro -- not the Pedro of 2000 or 2001 or 2002.
2000 111- 698 .159 15- 70 .214
2001 77- 396 .194 7- 27 .259
2002 138- 699 .197 6- 27 .222
2003 135- 612 .221 12- 33 .364
4 years 461-2405 .192 40-157 .255
"One Red Sox player suggested to his agent recently that statman Bill James come down to the dugout, make an IBM manager his bench coach, and install modems in the offices of John W. Henry and Larry Lucchino so they instantly could convey their wishes, instead of having to wait until after the game to question the manager's strategy." ... It must be tough knowing you are a dinosaur and knowing that the old, conventional ways of doing things are changing for good and that you either don't understand the new ways or are afraid of being left behind.
A Little Shove. Peter Gammons reports the Red Sox have announced a press conference for 3:00 this afternoon. It will likely be carried live on MLB.
Boston Herald: "[R]eports also have begun to trickle in about the scene in the stands at Yankee Stadium in Game 7, when the Red Sox lost their lead in the eighth inning. As the lead evaporated, several eyewitnesses reported seeing and hearing team president Larry Lucchino saying, to paraphrase, 'What is (Little) doing, what is he doing?' And general manager Theo Epstein was spotted shaking his head repeatedly as the inning dragged on with the Yankees continuing to score runs."
Boston Herald: "[R]eports also have begun to trickle in about the scene in the stands at Yankee Stadium in Game 7, when the Red Sox lost their lead in the eighth inning. As the lead evaporated, several eyewitnesses reported seeing and hearing team president Larry Lucchino saying, to paraphrase, 'What is (Little) doing, what is he doing?' And general manager Theo Epstein was spotted shaking his head repeatedly as the inning dragged on with the Yankees continuing to score runs."
10.26.2003
White Rat In Red Socks? Newsday's Jon Heyman: "Because the best move of the year was 72-year-old Jack McKeon replacing Jeff Torborg, Whitey Herzog is having thoughts about attempting a return to managing. 'He would be outstanding. I know he wants to do it,' said a person close to Herzog, who will be 72 next month." I would love Herzog in Boston!
In an email to the Boston media, John Henry rejected the idea that Gump would be let go because of his Game 7 debacle. "It is absolutely ridiculous to assert that we would make any managerial, coaching or player decision based on one game -- no matter how important that game is or was. Give us a little more credit than that. Maybe a fan can do that, but a serious enterprise cannot and does not."
Gammons: "There is a lot of Alfonso Soriano trade talk around the Yankees. What has bothered them most is that he's become enveloped in a fog so thick that when Willie Randolph tries to position him from the dugout, he hears nothing. So, the staff has to have Jason Giambi or Nick Johnson get his attention from first base and direct him to the right place."
Joe Sheehan: "You can trace the Yankees' position in this series to the decision to have David Dellucci bunt in the 11th inning of Game Four. ... That bunt is the dividing line in this series. The Yankees had a 2-1 lead in games, a situation in which they could expect to score one run and had a shot at two, and the Cyborg Reliever ready to get three outs. After the Dellucci bunt, they had two lousy hitters trying to get a run home against a guy who eats righties. Then they had Jeff Weaver in the game. Then they were tied in the series. ... After the Dellucci bunt, the Yankees went completely into the tank offensively: 17-for-71 with five walks, one of them intentional. They scored just four more runs, three after falling behind 6-1 in Game Five. For a team that oozes postseason experience and veteran leadership, those two traits didn't do them a lot of good when it came to the most important games of the year. Isn't it fair to ask what good those qualities are, given the amateurish way in which the Yankees approached their at-bats in the last two games?
"This isn't hyperbole: the core of the Yankee offensive problems was a disintegration of their plate discipline. ... Before the game, I expected that the Yankees would treat Josh Beckett the way they'd treated Pedro Martinez over the years: make him work, get him tired ... Beckett opened the game with a 12-pitch inning in which the Yankees let just four balls go by. It got worse. The Yankees went down on seven pitches in the fourth, 10 pitches in the fifth, and nine pitches in the sixth. Beckett did his part by throwing strikes and keeping his mechanics in tune, but if you'd told me going into last night that Beckett would throw 26 pitches over any three consecutive innings, I would never have believed it. It was basically the dream scenario for McKeon and the Marlins, and it was a big reason why the decision to start Beckett worked."
Buster Olney: "New York faces an uncertain future with many changes imminent: volatile owner George Steinbrenner is bound to make extensive alterations to a franchise that is just starting to list, because of advancing age and increasingly impulsive personnel decisions."
After the ALCS, Derek Jeter said that eventually the ghosts of Yankee Stadium come out and help the home team. Not Saturday. As Rough Carrigan put it: "Grady's managing the ghosts now. He forgot to send 'em in in the 8th." ... If you listen to most Yankee fans and New York's media sycophants, Jeter delivers the goods approximately 101% of the time. Not last night. With the tying run on second in the bottom of the 5th, Jeter struck out to end the inning. A couple of minutes later, he bobbled Jeff Conine's grounder to start the 6th; Conine scored Florida's second run. In the bottom of the 8th, with Soriano on first and no one out, Beckett put the brakes on Mr. Clutch. Jeter (representing the tying run) flied out harmlessly to center, unable to even advance the runner.
During the middle innings, Yankees radio man John Sterling noted Andy Pettitte's great pitching performances this month. New York lost the first game of the ALDS, ALCS and the World Series and Pettitte won Game 2 every time. That's very impressive, and a huge reason why the Yankees advanced as far as they did, but Sterling cherry-picked his data. What about the fact that Pettitte was unable to put away the Red Sox (5 IP, 4 R, 8 H) in Game 6 of the ALCS (Pettitte also could not seal the deal in Game 6 of the 2001 World Series in Arizona)?
In an email to the Boston media, John Henry rejected the idea that Gump would be let go because of his Game 7 debacle. "It is absolutely ridiculous to assert that we would make any managerial, coaching or player decision based on one game -- no matter how important that game is or was. Give us a little more credit than that. Maybe a fan can do that, but a serious enterprise cannot and does not."
Gammons: "There is a lot of Alfonso Soriano trade talk around the Yankees. What has bothered them most is that he's become enveloped in a fog so thick that when Willie Randolph tries to position him from the dugout, he hears nothing. So, the staff has to have Jason Giambi or Nick Johnson get his attention from first base and direct him to the right place."
Joe Sheehan: "You can trace the Yankees' position in this series to the decision to have David Dellucci bunt in the 11th inning of Game Four. ... That bunt is the dividing line in this series. The Yankees had a 2-1 lead in games, a situation in which they could expect to score one run and had a shot at two, and the Cyborg Reliever ready to get three outs. After the Dellucci bunt, they had two lousy hitters trying to get a run home against a guy who eats righties. Then they had Jeff Weaver in the game. Then they were tied in the series. ... After the Dellucci bunt, the Yankees went completely into the tank offensively: 17-for-71 with five walks, one of them intentional. They scored just four more runs, three after falling behind 6-1 in Game Five. For a team that oozes postseason experience and veteran leadership, those two traits didn't do them a lot of good when it came to the most important games of the year. Isn't it fair to ask what good those qualities are, given the amateurish way in which the Yankees approached their at-bats in the last two games?
"This isn't hyperbole: the core of the Yankee offensive problems was a disintegration of their plate discipline. ... Before the game, I expected that the Yankees would treat Josh Beckett the way they'd treated Pedro Martinez over the years: make him work, get him tired ... Beckett opened the game with a 12-pitch inning in which the Yankees let just four balls go by. It got worse. The Yankees went down on seven pitches in the fourth, 10 pitches in the fifth, and nine pitches in the sixth. Beckett did his part by throwing strikes and keeping his mechanics in tune, but if you'd told me going into last night that Beckett would throw 26 pitches over any three consecutive innings, I would never have believed it. It was basically the dream scenario for McKeon and the Marlins, and it was a big reason why the decision to start Beckett worked."
Buster Olney: "New York faces an uncertain future with many changes imminent: volatile owner George Steinbrenner is bound to make extensive alterations to a franchise that is just starting to list, because of advancing age and increasingly impulsive personnel decisions."
After the ALCS, Derek Jeter said that eventually the ghosts of Yankee Stadium come out and help the home team. Not Saturday. As Rough Carrigan put it: "Grady's managing the ghosts now. He forgot to send 'em in in the 8th." ... If you listen to most Yankee fans and New York's media sycophants, Jeter delivers the goods approximately 101% of the time. Not last night. With the tying run on second in the bottom of the 5th, Jeter struck out to end the inning. A couple of minutes later, he bobbled Jeff Conine's grounder to start the 6th; Conine scored Florida's second run. In the bottom of the 8th, with Soriano on first and no one out, Beckett put the brakes on Mr. Clutch. Jeter (representing the tying run) flied out harmlessly to center, unable to even advance the runner.
During the middle innings, Yankees radio man John Sterling noted Andy Pettitte's great pitching performances this month. New York lost the first game of the ALDS, ALCS and the World Series and Pettitte won Game 2 every time. That's very impressive, and a huge reason why the Yankees advanced as far as they did, but Sterling cherry-picked his data. What about the fact that Pettitte was unable to put away the Red Sox (5 IP, 4 R, 8 H) in Game 6 of the ALCS (Pettitte also could not seal the deal in Game 6 of the 2001 World Series in Arizona)?
10.25.2003
Go Fish! Soriano and Giambi are back in the Yankees lineup tonight, though both have been dropped in the order, Soriano to 9th. ... Aaron Gleeman is providing fantastic running WS commentary. ... Jim Caple imagines a Red Sox/Cubs World Series (Games 1-2, 3-4-5, 6-7) ... Knuckles versus kisses.
In New York, the pressure builds, for tonight and beyond:
Also: The Bush administration is enforcing a standing policy that forbids news coverage of killed American soldiers as their remains are returned to US military bases. ... In response to the leaking of an internal Pentagon memo (text) (in which Rumsfeld says the US "is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan" in Iraq, predicts "a long, hard slog" and wonders if "the harder we work, the behinder we get"), one Senate Republican aide says Rumsfeld has "laid a giant turd on the front doorstep of all the happy talk."
In New York, the pressure builds, for tonight and beyond:
Also: The Bush administration is enforcing a standing policy that forbids news coverage of killed American soldiers as their remains are returned to US military bases. ... In response to the leaking of an internal Pentagon memo (text) (in which Rumsfeld says the US "is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan" in Iraq, predicts "a long, hard slog" and wonders if "the harder we work, the behinder we get"), one Senate Republican aide says Rumsfeld has "laid a giant turd on the front doorstep of all the happy talk."
Bowlshit From Burkett? John Burkett believes if Grady is not retained as manager, "there's going to be a lot of pissed-off players in that clubhouse next year. This is going to fire up a lot of guys in the wrong way and this would not be a good start for them. They are making a mistake." Teams change managers all the time. Was Grady Little so unique, so special, so gol'dang dreamy that seasoned major league players will revolt? I don't think so. These are the strongest comments to date about Grady's clubhouse support and because Burkett has likely thrown his last major league pitch, he isn't trying to curry favor with anyone with his comments. Then again, Burkett got the benefit of the doubt on the mound from Grady more than any other starter, so I can understand why he's in Gump's corner. Once the announcement comes (Monday?), I imagine we'll be hearing from other players.
Michael Silverman also reported (same link) that "a source close to Little said the manager and Epstein spoke at length ... the conversation was termed 'awkward' by the source." It appears this source listened in on the conversation between Grady and Theo, since the source also relayed some of the conversation (Little getting in a pointed jab at Epstein's authority) to Silverman. It sounds like Grady is the source.
Gump is still scheduled to sail on the annual Red Sox Cruise on January 18. Organizer Ken Nigro said: "One guy called about dumping Grady overboard." ... Tim Daloisio begins his "2003 Organizational Report Card" ... Eric Enders looks at pitching performances in elimination games... Baseball Primer's 2003 NL and AL RoY ... Dirt Dogs reports that Bud Black signed a contract extension as Anaheim's pitching coach, thus taking himself out of the manager search. ... Rob Neyer, in his Friday ESPN chat, said he knows first-hand that Larry Dierker would like the Red Sox manager's job. Also: "Tim McCarver would have Jeter's babies if he could."
Michael Silverman also reported (same link) that "a source close to Little said the manager and Epstein spoke at length ... the conversation was termed 'awkward' by the source." It appears this source listened in on the conversation between Grady and Theo, since the source also relayed some of the conversation (Little getting in a pointed jab at Epstein's authority) to Silverman. It sounds like Grady is the source.
Gump is still scheduled to sail on the annual Red Sox Cruise on January 18. Organizer Ken Nigro said: "One guy called about dumping Grady overboard." ... Tim Daloisio begins his "2003 Organizational Report Card" ... Eric Enders looks at pitching performances in elimination games... Baseball Primer's 2003 NL and AL RoY ... Dirt Dogs reports that Bud Black signed a contract extension as Anaheim's pitching coach, thus taking himself out of the manager search. ... Rob Neyer, in his Friday ESPN chat, said he knows first-hand that Larry Dierker would like the Red Sox manager's job. Also: "Tim McCarver would have Jeter's babies if he could."
10.24.2003
Internet Baseball Awards. Coverage and full results.
National League Most Valuable Player
National League Most Valuable Player
Name 1 2 3 4 5 PtsAmerican League Most Valuable Player
---------------------------------------------
1 B. Bonds 1271 176 36 15 10 19872
2 A. Pujols 195 1151 92 28 11 14158
3 G. Sheffield 9 35 489 355 181 8581
4 J. Lopez 12 42 394 265 151 7156
5 J. Thome 6 14 94 181 198 4664
Name 1 2 3 4 5 PtsNational League Cy Young
---------------------------------------------
1 A. Rodriguez 1109 188 85 31 37 18535
2 C. Delgado 134 363 299 221 141 10470
3 M. Ramirez 66 214 233 197 134 7904
4 B. Boone 21 232 189 153 132 6498
5 J. Posada 76 193 170 143 125 6488
Name 1 2 3 4 5 PtsAmerican League Cy Young
----------------------------------------------
1 M. Prior 559 534 262 58 14 10826
2 E. Gagne 535 278 324 122 54 9336
3 J. Schmidt 352 479 336 57 17 8741
Name 1 2 3 4 5 PtsI haven't looked at the stats as closely as I'd like (I suppose I should), but I was leaning towards Delgado as AL MVP and Pedro and Schmidt as Cy Youngs (though my choice of Pedro may be based more in sentiment than statistics).
----------------------------------------------
1 R. Halladay 746 316 218 158 24 11260
2 P. Martinez 392 414 330 173 66 9053
3 E. Loaiza 207 385 424 270 60 7755
Will He Post In The Game Threads? Maalox started a SoSH thread discussing "buying a newspaper ad thanking the Red Sox for giving us a Hell of a run this year." The idea took off, evolved a bit and actually got Red Sox owner John Henry to post several times! Do you think Steinbrenner would ever post to a Yankees Message Board?
Michael Holley is impressed with Grady Little's gumpton (pun intended?), but he loses a lot of credibility when he writes: "He [Little] was delivered Ramiro Mendoza, Byung Hyun Kim, Scott Sauerbeck, Jeff Suppan, and Scott Williamson as pitching reinforcements; they and everyone else saw only one of them -- Williamson -- be effective in the postseason." Using Mendoza as an example shows Holley is not talking about mid-season pickups only, so why did he leave out Mike "Lights Out" Timlin?
Michael Silverman in the Herald: "A club official said yesterday he would be 'real surprised' if Little survived the incendiary response [after Game 7] ... 'There is no obvious, imminent replacement' for Little, said the team source, but the 'ideal person' would be a hybrid, someone who not only has Little's unquestioned deft touch with handling players' egos and temperaments, but also someone more inclined than Little is in relying on statistical data to make game-related decisions." Silverman tosses out Bobby Valentine, Bud Black, Bruce Bochy, Frank Robinson, Willie Randolph and Glenn Hoffman as possibilities. But longtime Grady booster Sean McAdam writes that Valentine will not be interviewed, adding: "It's the position of many in the Red Sox organization that Little's decision to stay with Pedro Martinez in the eighth inning of Game 7 was symptomatic of a larger problem -- namely, his habit of ignoring statistical data in favor of 'hunch' moves."
WTF? "In the days since the game, an anecdote has been revealed to at least two sources that illustrates the lack of faith Little had in turning the game over to his bullpen. A canker sore on the lip of reliever Scott Williamson demonstrated to Little the degree to which the stress of the playoff game had affected the mindset and confidence of his relievers."
Michael Holley is impressed with Grady Little's gumpton (pun intended?), but he loses a lot of credibility when he writes: "He [Little] was delivered Ramiro Mendoza, Byung Hyun Kim, Scott Sauerbeck, Jeff Suppan, and Scott Williamson as pitching reinforcements; they and everyone else saw only one of them -- Williamson -- be effective in the postseason." Using Mendoza as an example shows Holley is not talking about mid-season pickups only, so why did he leave out Mike "Lights Out" Timlin?
Michael Silverman in the Herald: "A club official said yesterday he would be 'real surprised' if Little survived the incendiary response [after Game 7] ... 'There is no obvious, imminent replacement' for Little, said the team source, but the 'ideal person' would be a hybrid, someone who not only has Little's unquestioned deft touch with handling players' egos and temperaments, but also someone more inclined than Little is in relying on statistical data to make game-related decisions." Silverman tosses out Bobby Valentine, Bud Black, Bruce Bochy, Frank Robinson, Willie Randolph and Glenn Hoffman as possibilities. But longtime Grady booster Sean McAdam writes that Valentine will not be interviewed, adding: "It's the position of many in the Red Sox organization that Little's decision to stay with Pedro Martinez in the eighth inning of Game 7 was symptomatic of a larger problem -- namely, his habit of ignoring statistical data in favor of 'hunch' moves."
WTF? "In the days since the game, an anecdote has been revealed to at least two sources that illustrates the lack of faith Little had in turning the game over to his bullpen. A canker sore on the lip of reliever Scott Williamson demonstrated to Little the degree to which the stress of the playoff game had affected the mindset and confidence of his relievers."
10.23.2003
Long World Series Games. Alex Gonzalez's solo home run off Jeff Weaver ended the 13th 12-inning game in World Series history. In 99 years, only one game has had more innings.
14 Innings
October 9, 1914, Game 2, Boston Red Sox 2, Brooklyn Dodgers 1
13 Innings
None
12 Innings
October 8, 1907, Game 1, Detroit Tigers 3, Chicago Cubs 3
October 12, 1914, Game 3, Boston Braves 5, Philadelphia A's 4
October 4, 1924, Game 1, New York Giants 4, Washington Senators 3
October 10, 1924, Game 7, Washington Senators 4, New York Giants 3
October 4, 1934, Game 2, Detroit Tigers 3, St. Louis Cardinals 2
October 8, 1945, Game 6, Chicago Cubs 8, Detroit Tigers 7
October 14, 1973, Game 2, New York Mets 10, Oakland A's 7
October 21, 1975, Game 6, Boston Red Sox 7, Cincinnati Reds 6
October 11, 1977, Game 1, New York Yankees 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 3
October 22, 1991, Game 3, Atlanta Braves 5, Minnesota Twins 4
October 21, 2000, Game 1, New York Yankees 4, New York Mets 3
November 1, 2001, Game 5, New York Yankees 3, Arizona Diamondbacks 3
October 22, 2003, Game 4, Florida Marlins 4, New York Yankees 3
11 Innings (11 games) and 10 Innings (27 games)
14 Innings
October 9, 1914, Game 2, Boston Red Sox 2, Brooklyn Dodgers 1
13 Innings
None
12 Innings
October 8, 1907, Game 1, Detroit Tigers 3, Chicago Cubs 3
October 12, 1914, Game 3, Boston Braves 5, Philadelphia A's 4
October 4, 1924, Game 1, New York Giants 4, Washington Senators 3
October 10, 1924, Game 7, Washington Senators 4, New York Giants 3
October 4, 1934, Game 2, Detroit Tigers 3, St. Louis Cardinals 2
October 8, 1945, Game 6, Chicago Cubs 8, Detroit Tigers 7
October 14, 1973, Game 2, New York Mets 10, Oakland A's 7
October 21, 1975, Game 6, Boston Red Sox 7, Cincinnati Reds 6
October 11, 1977, Game 1, New York Yankees 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 3
October 22, 1991, Game 3, Atlanta Braves 5, Minnesota Twins 4
October 21, 2000, Game 1, New York Yankees 4, New York Mets 3
November 1, 2001, Game 5, New York Yankees 3, Arizona Diamondbacks 3
October 22, 2003, Game 4, Florida Marlins 4, New York Yankees 3
11 Innings (11 games) and 10 Innings (27 games)
It Sure Helped Sell A Lot Of Papers. What's the use of saying I'm not writing about Gump Little any more when the wound remains raw and any news about the Idiot gets me riled up? But at least this is good news. Grady is now saying he may not want to come back to Boston: "I'm not sure that I want to manage that team. That's how I felt when I drove out of town. If they don't want me, fine, they don't want me. If they want me to come back, then we'll talk and see if I want to come back up there."
Red Sox brass have not spoken to Gump since he returned home to North Carolina. That is also a good sign. As soon as the World Series is over, John Henry should announce that because Grady Little has expressed reservations about returning to the Red Sox in 2004, the club has elected to not pick up his option and has begun searching for a new manager. That would be the best solution.
In a pre-game chat back on October 9, Gordon Edes said that "if [Grady] doesn't get what he wants, he'll walk away. It will take more than the Sox exercising his option to keep him." Little was apparently hoping for a 2-year extention and an increase in salary. There is 0% chance of that happening now. If Grady is brought back, it will be for 2004 only and I don't think he'll want to be a lame-duck manager for the entire season, dealing with hostile fans and a media waiting for his to screw up.
Gump remains clueless. He made what might be the worst managerial decision in the history of the Boston Red Sox and he refuses to take responsiblity for it. He refuses to say "I made a mistake." He continues to say it was the right thing to do and he'd do it again (so you know that if given the chance next April, he'd leave Pedro in for 150 pitches just to prove he was right). He also blathered on about ghosts and curses as if he's auditioning to be Dan Shaughnessy's writing partner.
1. "Right now I'm disappointed that evidently some people are judging me on the results of one decision I made -- not the decision, but the results of the decision. Less than 24 hours before, those same people were hugging and kissing me. If that's the way they operate, I'm not sure I want to be part of it."
Philly Sox Fan, a poster at Sons of Sam Horn, wrote: "No obsessive fan can ever be satisfied by his team's manager." It is next to impossible to judge a manager's performance without watching him closely every single day. So while I'm sure there are people out there thinking that Little is being hung for one move that didn't pan out, fans who have followed the Red Sox intensely have been frustrated and furious at Gump for two entire seasons. The failure to pull an exhausted and ineffective pitcher was a mistake Gump made time and time and time again during his tenure, up to and including John Burkett in Game 4 of the ALDS. Tim Daloisio looks at a similarly gruesome Pedro inning, also against the Yankees.
And through it all, Gump showed absolutely NO ability to learn from any of his mistakes. In fact, he rarely, if ever, admitted that they were mistakes. I don't think Grady ever said "It was my fault" after a loss. His comments were always "We trust Player X" or "Player X was the best guy to have out there," making the failure not the initial decision, but the player's ability to come through, even though the player probably shouldn't have been put in that situation to begin with. This was a huge problem with the bullpen all season. Grady had no clue how to use the pen in April and after July, with a nearly new cast of pitchers, he still couldn't make it work. As one fan put it: "Ultimately, his worst quality appears to be a total inability to recognize and understand his own mistakes. That's a very common characteristic of mediocre people. People who truly excel in their chosen fields know when they've screwed up and know that they must constantly work on correcting their faults."
2. "I know that wherever I go, I'll do the best I can. I know what we did there. I'm sorry the results of one decision caused so much pain, and it sure helped sell a lot of papers. I feel bad for it. But gol'dang, I can't turn back the clock and make another decision, not knowing whether the results of that decision are good or not."
Did he really say gol'dang? Wow. ... Sorry Red Sox fans, them's the breaks, but did you see the way the Globe and Herald flew off them thar newsstands? What an idiot. Gump still thinks he's being second-guessed. He's dead wrong. Millions of Red Sox fans were screaming at him at the very beginning of the 8th inning and their screaming only got louder as the Lump on the bench watched the game (and pennant) slip away. The Red Sox (like every single team) lost games in which reasonable decisions went awry, and fans (like Portland Sox Fan) accept those losses: "Had the Sox lost with the pen used as it had been all playoffs, I could have lived with that." It's the avoidable losses that come from obvious (and repetitive) blunders that are hard to take.
3. "Just add one more ghost to the list if I'm not there, because there are ghosts. That's certainly evident when you're a player in that uniform. ... If Grady Little is not back with the Red Sox, he'll be somewhere. I'll be another ghost, fully capable of haunting."
If Gump believes in ghosts and curses, that's enough reason to dump him right there. He also said after Game 7 that his players had thoughts of Bill Buckner in their minds. Why is he saying this bullshit? And Grady thinks he'll haunt the Red Sox in future seasons? What can you say to something like that?
4. "You've got to win the World Series in Boston before it's considered winning."
There's some partial truth here, especially this year, when the current Red Sox team is capable of winning the World Series. But this quote also reinforces Grady's Little League mentality that playing a good, hard game should be enough. It's not. It's not enough in the Bronx and it's not enough in Boston. I want my team to have a manager who relishes the pressure and will fight for as many wins as possible, who will put his players in the best position to win, and make decisions based on the good of the team and not any individuals.
5. "[T]his ain't bothering me like it's bothering a lot of other people. I'll tell you right now, I did the best I could do, and I still think [his handling of Martinez] was right. Baseball people think that -- maybe not Red Sox fans -- but baseball people tell me over and over. But in Boston, it's not just this one decision, or just one game. It's like this in May. People are talking about devastating losses, and it's the end of April or first of May. That's serious stuff. You don't play 162 games. You play 162 seasons a year. Every game is a season. That's why this doesn't affect me like it does a lot of people."
I wish Gump would tell us the names of these "baseball people" who believe he didn't make a mistake. I haven't seen anyone defend him (Torre and McKeon made bland statements), so I think they are as real as the ghosts in Gump's head.
Gump's biggest fault in my eyes is that he managed Game 7 like it was April 16 and not October 16. "Oh well, we'll get 'em tomorrow." No, there is no tomorrow, it's Game 7, you have to go all out to win THIS game. But he didn't try to win every game, that was clear numerous times this season when he seemed to concede defeat if the team was down by 3-4 runs after 6-7 innings. Which would be maddening under any circumstance, but with the strong Red Sox offense this year, it is unforgivable. ... And now Gump's saying "it's not just this one decision" after saying the exact opposite for days? Which is it, you pennant-flushing moron?
Sean McAdam reports that a "high-ranking official in baseball, one familiar with the thinking of the Red Sox' ownership group, has been telling people that Grady Little will not return as manager of the club." McAdam says it's common knowledge that John Henry did not want Little managing in 2003, but was persuaded by Larry Lucchino to stick with him, adding "In the last two seasons ... Henry is said to take issue with Little's game management and decision-making. Henry favors a more analytical approach in the dugout ... [whereas Little] often rel[ies] on instinct." ... Ed Kubosiak writes that the Game 7 call is "a call the manager has to make. In the same way Sox brass can't leave this decision up to the players in the clubhouse, no matter how much they admire and respect Little. The call has to come from the top, and there is little doubt which way it's going to go." ... Stan Grossfield visits Bill Buckner in Boise, Idaho. ... The Red Sox hired Jason McLeod from the Padres as the director of scouting administration. McLeod worked with Theo Epstein in San Diego. ... Both Boston and the Yankees may pursue free agent 2B Luis Castillo this winter.
Red Sox brass have not spoken to Gump since he returned home to North Carolina. That is also a good sign. As soon as the World Series is over, John Henry should announce that because Grady Little has expressed reservations about returning to the Red Sox in 2004, the club has elected to not pick up his option and has begun searching for a new manager. That would be the best solution.
In a pre-game chat back on October 9, Gordon Edes said that "if [Grady] doesn't get what he wants, he'll walk away. It will take more than the Sox exercising his option to keep him." Little was apparently hoping for a 2-year extention and an increase in salary. There is 0% chance of that happening now. If Grady is brought back, it will be for 2004 only and I don't think he'll want to be a lame-duck manager for the entire season, dealing with hostile fans and a media waiting for his to screw up.
Gump remains clueless. He made what might be the worst managerial decision in the history of the Boston Red Sox and he refuses to take responsiblity for it. He refuses to say "I made a mistake." He continues to say it was the right thing to do and he'd do it again (so you know that if given the chance next April, he'd leave Pedro in for 150 pitches just to prove he was right). He also blathered on about ghosts and curses as if he's auditioning to be Dan Shaughnessy's writing partner.
1. "Right now I'm disappointed that evidently some people are judging me on the results of one decision I made -- not the decision, but the results of the decision. Less than 24 hours before, those same people were hugging and kissing me. If that's the way they operate, I'm not sure I want to be part of it."
Philly Sox Fan, a poster at Sons of Sam Horn, wrote: "No obsessive fan can ever be satisfied by his team's manager." It is next to impossible to judge a manager's performance without watching him closely every single day. So while I'm sure there are people out there thinking that Little is being hung for one move that didn't pan out, fans who have followed the Red Sox intensely have been frustrated and furious at Gump for two entire seasons. The failure to pull an exhausted and ineffective pitcher was a mistake Gump made time and time and time again during his tenure, up to and including John Burkett in Game 4 of the ALDS. Tim Daloisio looks at a similarly gruesome Pedro inning, also against the Yankees.
And through it all, Gump showed absolutely NO ability to learn from any of his mistakes. In fact, he rarely, if ever, admitted that they were mistakes. I don't think Grady ever said "It was my fault" after a loss. His comments were always "We trust Player X" or "Player X was the best guy to have out there," making the failure not the initial decision, but the player's ability to come through, even though the player probably shouldn't have been put in that situation to begin with. This was a huge problem with the bullpen all season. Grady had no clue how to use the pen in April and after July, with a nearly new cast of pitchers, he still couldn't make it work. As one fan put it: "Ultimately, his worst quality appears to be a total inability to recognize and understand his own mistakes. That's a very common characteristic of mediocre people. People who truly excel in their chosen fields know when they've screwed up and know that they must constantly work on correcting their faults."
2. "I know that wherever I go, I'll do the best I can. I know what we did there. I'm sorry the results of one decision caused so much pain, and it sure helped sell a lot of papers. I feel bad for it. But gol'dang, I can't turn back the clock and make another decision, not knowing whether the results of that decision are good or not."
Did he really say gol'dang? Wow. ... Sorry Red Sox fans, them's the breaks, but did you see the way the Globe and Herald flew off them thar newsstands? What an idiot. Gump still thinks he's being second-guessed. He's dead wrong. Millions of Red Sox fans were screaming at him at the very beginning of the 8th inning and their screaming only got louder as the Lump on the bench watched the game (and pennant) slip away. The Red Sox (like every single team) lost games in which reasonable decisions went awry, and fans (like Portland Sox Fan) accept those losses: "Had the Sox lost with the pen used as it had been all playoffs, I could have lived with that." It's the avoidable losses that come from obvious (and repetitive) blunders that are hard to take.
3. "Just add one more ghost to the list if I'm not there, because there are ghosts. That's certainly evident when you're a player in that uniform. ... If Grady Little is not back with the Red Sox, he'll be somewhere. I'll be another ghost, fully capable of haunting."
If Gump believes in ghosts and curses, that's enough reason to dump him right there. He also said after Game 7 that his players had thoughts of Bill Buckner in their minds. Why is he saying this bullshit? And Grady thinks he'll haunt the Red Sox in future seasons? What can you say to something like that?
4. "You've got to win the World Series in Boston before it's considered winning."
There's some partial truth here, especially this year, when the current Red Sox team is capable of winning the World Series. But this quote also reinforces Grady's Little League mentality that playing a good, hard game should be enough. It's not. It's not enough in the Bronx and it's not enough in Boston. I want my team to have a manager who relishes the pressure and will fight for as many wins as possible, who will put his players in the best position to win, and make decisions based on the good of the team and not any individuals.
5. "[T]his ain't bothering me like it's bothering a lot of other people. I'll tell you right now, I did the best I could do, and I still think [his handling of Martinez] was right. Baseball people think that -- maybe not Red Sox fans -- but baseball people tell me over and over. But in Boston, it's not just this one decision, or just one game. It's like this in May. People are talking about devastating losses, and it's the end of April or first of May. That's serious stuff. You don't play 162 games. You play 162 seasons a year. Every game is a season. That's why this doesn't affect me like it does a lot of people."
I wish Gump would tell us the names of these "baseball people" who believe he didn't make a mistake. I haven't seen anyone defend him (Torre and McKeon made bland statements), so I think they are as real as the ghosts in Gump's head.
Gump's biggest fault in my eyes is that he managed Game 7 like it was April 16 and not October 16. "Oh well, we'll get 'em tomorrow." No, there is no tomorrow, it's Game 7, you have to go all out to win THIS game. But he didn't try to win every game, that was clear numerous times this season when he seemed to concede defeat if the team was down by 3-4 runs after 6-7 innings. Which would be maddening under any circumstance, but with the strong Red Sox offense this year, it is unforgivable. ... And now Gump's saying "it's not just this one decision" after saying the exact opposite for days? Which is it, you pennant-flushing moron?
Sean McAdam reports that a "high-ranking official in baseball, one familiar with the thinking of the Red Sox' ownership group, has been telling people that Grady Little will not return as manager of the club." McAdam says it's common knowledge that John Henry did not want Little managing in 2003, but was persuaded by Larry Lucchino to stick with him, adding "In the last two seasons ... Henry is said to take issue with Little's game management and decision-making. Henry favors a more analytical approach in the dugout ... [whereas Little] often rel[ies] on instinct." ... Ed Kubosiak writes that the Game 7 call is "a call the manager has to make. In the same way Sox brass can't leave this decision up to the players in the clubhouse, no matter how much they admire and respect Little. The call has to come from the top, and there is little doubt which way it's going to go." ... Stan Grossfield visits Bill Buckner in Boise, Idaho. ... The Red Sox hired Jason McLeod from the Padres as the director of scouting administration. McLeod worked with Theo Epstein in San Diego. ... Both Boston and the Yankees may pursue free agent 2B Luis Castillo this winter.
10.22.2003
Random Notes. Jack McKeon, the man who made Grady Little apologize after the Red Sox beat his Marlins 25-8 back on June 27, says that Gump's decision to stick with Pedro may have been correct and it shouldn't determine his fate. "Grady's done a hell of a job there the last two years and it's tough to think that because they lost one game to the Yankees they want to lynch him. Everyone has been asking me if Grady should have taken him out, but I'll tell you one thing, if I've got a star pitcher like Pedro, with the credentials he has, and he tells me he's OK, I've got to believe him."
Are 7-game World Series more common than expected? ... Dave Barry describes Don Zimmer as "the result of an ill-conceived genetic experiment involving W.C. Fields and a manatee." ... The Sporting News named Cleveland outfielder Jody Gerut as its AL Rookie of the Year. ... How often does a team blow a three-run lead with 7.1 innings in the books? BP looked at all regular season games from 1972-2003 (teams in the same situation the Red Sox faced still managed to blow the game about one time in 15):
Visitors have three-run lead with one out in the 8th inning: 6281-445 (.934)
Visitors have three-run lead with one out in the 8th inning, starter still in game: 1849-114 (.942)
Visitors lead 5-2 with 1 out in 8th inning: 1380-99 (.933)
Visitors lead 5-2 with 1 out in 8th inning, starter still in game: 411-29 (.934)
Time magazine reported last week that the FBI has long believed that Zacarias Moussaoui "played no part in the 9/11 scheme and was only a minor player in al-Qaeda." "Long believed? How much time is that, exactly? So, more than two years after 9/11, despite allegedly having 40 supporters of the hijackers in custody on 9/13, the US is still batting .000 in charging anyone in connection with the attacks. ... Sixteen American soldiers on leave have failed to show up for return flights to duty in Iraq. Are these troops failing to support the troops? Or are they following the shining example of their Commander-in-Chief? ... Must Read: "The Stovepipe" by Seymour Hersh in the current issue of The New Yorker ("How conflicts between the Bush Administration and the intelligence community marred the reporting on Iraq's weapons.")
Are 7-game World Series more common than expected? ... Dave Barry describes Don Zimmer as "the result of an ill-conceived genetic experiment involving W.C. Fields and a manatee." ... The Sporting News named Cleveland outfielder Jody Gerut as its AL Rookie of the Year. ... How often does a team blow a three-run lead with 7.1 innings in the books? BP looked at all regular season games from 1972-2003 (teams in the same situation the Red Sox faced still managed to blow the game about one time in 15):
Visitors have three-run lead with one out in the 8th inning: 6281-445 (.934)
Visitors have three-run lead with one out in the 8th inning, starter still in game: 1849-114 (.942)
Visitors lead 5-2 with 1 out in 8th inning: 1380-99 (.933)
Visitors lead 5-2 with 1 out in 8th inning, starter still in game: 411-29 (.934)
Time magazine reported last week that the FBI has long believed that Zacarias Moussaoui "played no part in the 9/11 scheme and was only a minor player in al-Qaeda." "Long believed? How much time is that, exactly? So, more than two years after 9/11, despite allegedly having 40 supporters of the hijackers in custody on 9/13, the US is still batting .000 in charging anyone in connection with the attacks. ... Sixteen American soldiers on leave have failed to show up for return flights to duty in Iraq. Are these troops failing to support the troops? Or are they following the shining example of their Commander-in-Chief? ... Must Read: "The Stovepipe" by Seymour Hersh in the current issue of The New Yorker ("How conflicts between the Bush Administration and the intelligence community marred the reporting on Iraq's weapons.")
10.21.2003
The Blank Page Is My Couch. Bill Simmons shares some of the 2,200+ emails he received following Game 7.
Torre Defends Little. That's what the Globe and Herald headlines imply, but his quotes are really just an acknowledgement that a manager's decisons are often difficult. "To have a manager be questioned about leaving the best pitcher in baseball in a ballgame when he's thrown 115, 120 pitches -- it's tough. But, again, that is what our game is all about. Our game is about winning. A lot of people don't necessarily care what the reasons are; it's just the bottom line that makes things happen like that. ... But it's a shame. Leaving Pedro Martinez in the game -- if that's the wrong decision, then that's a tough way to go."
There is NO WAY Torre leaves his starter for that 8th inning pounding with Timlin/Embree/Williamson throwing like a 3-headed Rivera. For anyone to suggest otherwise is an insult to our intelligence. This is simply one manager refusing to badmouth another manager. There is no news here. Torre's actions in pulling Clemens in the 4th speak much louder than this pro forma statement. I'm sure Torre would love it if the Red Sox retained Little, since Grady's gumping of so many games made Torre's job easier.
Boston police will seek a complaint this morning in Roxbury District Court charging Yankees Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia with misdemeanor assault and battery charges for allegedly attacking a Red Sox grounds crew worker during Game 3 of the ALCS. The players will be summoned for a hearing next month, at which time a clerk magistrate will hear evidence and decide whether to issue charges. [police report]
There is NO WAY Torre leaves his starter for that 8th inning pounding with Timlin/Embree/Williamson throwing like a 3-headed Rivera. For anyone to suggest otherwise is an insult to our intelligence. This is simply one manager refusing to badmouth another manager. There is no news here. Torre's actions in pulling Clemens in the 4th speak much louder than this pro forma statement. I'm sure Torre would love it if the Red Sox retained Little, since Grady's gumping of so many games made Torre's job easier.
Boston police will seek a complaint this morning in Roxbury District Court charging Yankees Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia with misdemeanor assault and battery charges for allegedly attacking a Red Sox grounds crew worker during Game 3 of the ALCS. The players will be summoned for a hearing next month, at which time a clerk magistrate will hear evidence and decide whether to issue charges. [police report]
10.20.2003
Henry and Lucchino Speak. The Red Sox should make a decision about their 2004 manager shortly after the World Series. So we'll have an answer in about a week.
John Henry: "Initially, I thought New Englanders would just finally throw up their hands. But their level of commitment and resolve is astonishing and deserves our full attention to moving this franchise forward without a break. It shows you how little I know about the toughness of this region. And it shows me how tough I need to be in making sure that we accomplish our goals. ... How amazing is it, that even the angriest/saddest/most broken-hearted fans offer thanks and remain determined to see this team prevail? It's astonishing. ... There isn't anything I wouldn't do for these people. You know, there isn't anything these people wouldn't do for the Red Sox. We owe them." [Also here.]
Larry Lucchino answered a few questions and then nailed the disappointment so many of us feel: "After that loss I vowed not to watch the World Series or eat solid food until the World Series was over. I have broken both vows. ... I've started to take food orally again. I'm on the road to recovery. Before Game 7, I braced myself for triumph or disaster. But it's become a little more painful as I get a better sense of how unbelievably close we came. I've lived with other disappointments in my life and I'll live with this, too. With a little heartache. The weather outside now feels like the depths of fall, a metaphor for the baseball season -- cold and over for us. ... I admire those who have a little more perspective on the year we had. But if one more person in my family tries to console me, I'm going to strangle them."
Good discussion of Lucky's comments here. ... Kim is having an MRI on right shoulder. ... Baseball card company Donruss is cutting a Babe Ruth game-worn Yankees 1925 home jersey into 2,100 pieces and will insert 1-by-1 inch swatches into card sets through 2006. ... Hey, Chad Fox, you're a loser.
BlogWatch: Go read "Ground Hog Day, 2003" by Paul Hunt of Topsham, Maine ... Gregg Rosenthal is moving on. ... Dewey's House thinks he's recovered too. ... Ed Cossette fears we may not be that close again for awhile. ... Bill Simmons offers a lengthy postscript ["have you ever seen a manager turn an Enrique Wilson at-bat into an advantage for the other team?"], but he's not bitter. Gordon Edes notes that "some fans outside of Yankee Stadium this weekend were devoting their energy to collecting signatures on a giant thank-you card to Red Sox manager Grady Little." It would be a huge sign of disrespect if the Yankees failed to vote Gump a full World Series share. And no, I'm not bitter either.
John Henry: "Initially, I thought New Englanders would just finally throw up their hands. But their level of commitment and resolve is astonishing and deserves our full attention to moving this franchise forward without a break. It shows you how little I know about the toughness of this region. And it shows me how tough I need to be in making sure that we accomplish our goals. ... How amazing is it, that even the angriest/saddest/most broken-hearted fans offer thanks and remain determined to see this team prevail? It's astonishing. ... There isn't anything I wouldn't do for these people. You know, there isn't anything these people wouldn't do for the Red Sox. We owe them." [Also here.]
Larry Lucchino answered a few questions and then nailed the disappointment so many of us feel: "After that loss I vowed not to watch the World Series or eat solid food until the World Series was over. I have broken both vows. ... I've started to take food orally again. I'm on the road to recovery. Before Game 7, I braced myself for triumph or disaster. But it's become a little more painful as I get a better sense of how unbelievably close we came. I've lived with other disappointments in my life and I'll live with this, too. With a little heartache. The weather outside now feels like the depths of fall, a metaphor for the baseball season -- cold and over for us. ... I admire those who have a little more perspective on the year we had. But if one more person in my family tries to console me, I'm going to strangle them."
Good discussion of Lucky's comments here. ... Kim is having an MRI on right shoulder. ... Baseball card company Donruss is cutting a Babe Ruth game-worn Yankees 1925 home jersey into 2,100 pieces and will insert 1-by-1 inch swatches into card sets through 2006. ... Hey, Chad Fox, you're a loser.
BlogWatch: Go read "Ground Hog Day, 2003" by Paul Hunt of Topsham, Maine ... Gregg Rosenthal is moving on. ... Dewey's House thinks he's recovered too. ... Ed Cossette fears we may not be that close again for awhile. ... Bill Simmons offers a lengthy postscript ["have you ever seen a manager turn an Enrique Wilson at-bat into an advantage for the other team?"], but he's not bitter. Gordon Edes notes that "some fans outside of Yankee Stadium this weekend were devoting their energy to collecting signatures on a giant thank-you card to Red Sox manager Grady Little." It would be a huge sign of disrespect if the Yankees failed to vote Gump a full World Series share. And no, I'm not bitter either.
10.19.2003
Gump Talks. Grady spoke to the media Saturday and what he said was both shocking and sad. He did not take direct responsibility for what happened nor did he offer an apology to Red Sox fans for how his plan blew up in the Nation's face. In fact, he said he'd make the same decision if faced with a similar situation in the future. He did acknowledge, in a colossal understatement, that it just didn't work out. It's obvious that Grady has no real idea of the impact of his decision. On Friday afternoon, when told by a sports radio interviewer that Red Sox fans wanted his head on a stick, Little's response was: "For what?"
Grady claimed that four managers called him and supported his decision. If that's true, I'll bet two of them were Dusty Baker and Bob Brenly. Theo Epstein had better find out who these men are, so he doesn't interview them for the 2004 manager's spot. Grady: "Pedro Martinez and Grady Little operate on one basis, we're totally honest with one another all the time." Sorry, Gump, not according to Pedro, who admitted after Game 7 that he would never surrender the ball if given the option of continuing to pitch.
It took a day or two, but the apologists are emerging: Edes, Holley and Massarotti all take Grady's side. Mazz notes that Pedro's last three pitches of the 7th inning were clocked at 94, 95 and 94 mph. Yeah. Martinez cranked it up because he knew Soriano was his last batter and any major league hitter can pound a flat 95 mph fastball. ... Raging against Grady's failure to pull Pedro is not "second-guessing." Millions and millions of Red Sox fans logically expected a reliever in the 8th inning, and their screams and curses (first-guessing?) grew louder the longer Pedro stayed in the game.
After the ALDS, Bill Simmons wrote: "[T]here are two kinds of disastrous managerial moves: The ones you second-guess, and the ones that make you scream 'Wait a second... what the hell is he doing????' right as they're happening." ... Grady leaving Pedro in for four hard hit drives against the Yankees is the quintessential "what the hell" moment. (Grady also left John Burkett in for four hard hit drives in Game 4 against Oakland.) I sense a pattern.
BCSoxFan went back and looked at a tape of the 8th inning. His conclusion? "I STILL think he should have gone to the pen, but now I'm not as sure it was a RIDICULOUSLY boneheaded move, maybe just a pretty bad decision. The thing is, Petey was pretty damn good in the eighth. ... Grady should be fired because he sucked in his strategic decision making all year. Removing Petey in the eighth wasn't the worse he's made. ... The results were just so frickin' bad, I don't think it can be evaluated until now."
EricVan's comment: "[T]his is an interesting analysis, and it reaches to the core of sabremetrcs vs. scouting as a tool to examine the game. ... Before 105 pitches he was the best pitcher in MLB. After 105, he allowed .390/.458/.512. ... What your eyes are telling you is that the opponents mysteriously start having good or great AB against Pedro once he reaches the point where he ought to be tired, even though he doesn't look tired. ... More predictable pitching patterns, as Pedro narrows his arsenal, may be the biggest culprit. A higher percentage of pitches that miss out over the plate is certainly a factor. Less movement is certainly a factor. ... [A] manager or GM has to be acutely aware of these situations, these illusions, where his scouting eye is going to feed him the wrong conclusion. Pedro's meltdown last night was completely predictable. It was Grady Little's job to know that Pedro after 105 pitches usually looks good but yields bad results."
Opponents against Pedro Martinez in 2003:
home run
single
single
strikeout
pop out
double
single
double
double
Two posts from SoSH:
Gene Conleys Plane Ticket: "Based on the transcript of his statements, I believe Grady feels that he did not make a mistake. He believes that he made the right move but "the decision Thursday didn't turn out well." According to Grady's statement, in fact, he has never made a wrong decision, only decisions that either "turned out well" or "didn't turn out well." ... I honestly believe that Grady does not realize the magnitude of his blunder. I am sure he is very disappointed not to be in the World Series, but I believe that in his view, this was just another game that only happened to be the last one of the season. It's a bummer to lose it, but we had a great season and there's a lot to be proud of. ... He believes that he is being made a "scapegoat," though that is a role he is "glad" to accept. He believes this was another game that he managed the same way he has managed every other game. He quite obviously, even after two years, has no clue about the depth of feeling that exists in New England and among the Red Sox nationwide fandom."
Cuzittt: "I actually saw Grady Little's "interview" on NESN's Sportsdesk this morning ... What amazes me about the whole thing is how different my reaction was when listening to Grady than reading the comments. Let me just say... I feel no sympathy for him. I want him DEAD. The thing is, there was no emotion at all in his voice. There was no emotion in his eyes. While many have mentioned that it seems like he doesn't know the magnitude of his blunder just by the written words ... it becomes so apparent that he does not get it when viewing the tape."
I considered reviewing the 7th and 8th innings with an open-mind, but my emotions are too raw right now. I'm going to try hard to not write about Grady Little after today (though I'll likely remember what he did last Thursday several times a day for the foreseeable future). I've watched or listened to almost every single Red Sox game during his two seasons and he's been in over his head since the day he was hired. Everyone says he's a great guy and I'm sure he is, though it doesn't explain why he didn't foster a similar spirit of camaraderie in 2002 before Ortiz, Millar, Mueller, Walker, et al. rode into town. Regardless, I don't want a nice guy managing the Red Sox. I want a guy who understands (and is even excited by) the progressive ideas of Theo Epstein, John Henry and Bill James and is whipsmart when it comes to in-game strategy and bullpen management. The sad thing about reading Grady's comments is that he's too dim to realize all the things he doesn't know.
Finally, here is an excellent take on the situation by Peter Gammons.
Grady claimed that four managers called him and supported his decision. If that's true, I'll bet two of them were Dusty Baker and Bob Brenly. Theo Epstein had better find out who these men are, so he doesn't interview them for the 2004 manager's spot. Grady: "Pedro Martinez and Grady Little operate on one basis, we're totally honest with one another all the time." Sorry, Gump, not according to Pedro, who admitted after Game 7 that he would never surrender the ball if given the option of continuing to pitch.
It took a day or two, but the apologists are emerging: Edes, Holley and Massarotti all take Grady's side. Mazz notes that Pedro's last three pitches of the 7th inning were clocked at 94, 95 and 94 mph. Yeah. Martinez cranked it up because he knew Soriano was his last batter and any major league hitter can pound a flat 95 mph fastball. ... Raging against Grady's failure to pull Pedro is not "second-guessing." Millions and millions of Red Sox fans logically expected a reliever in the 8th inning, and their screams and curses (first-guessing?) grew louder the longer Pedro stayed in the game.
After the ALDS, Bill Simmons wrote: "[T]here are two kinds of disastrous managerial moves: The ones you second-guess, and the ones that make you scream 'Wait a second... what the hell is he doing????' right as they're happening." ... Grady leaving Pedro in for four hard hit drives against the Yankees is the quintessential "what the hell" moment. (Grady also left John Burkett in for four hard hit drives in Game 4 against Oakland.) I sense a pattern.
BCSoxFan went back and looked at a tape of the 8th inning. His conclusion? "I STILL think he should have gone to the pen, but now I'm not as sure it was a RIDICULOUSLY boneheaded move, maybe just a pretty bad decision. The thing is, Petey was pretty damn good in the eighth. ... Grady should be fired because he sucked in his strategic decision making all year. Removing Petey in the eighth wasn't the worse he's made. ... The results were just so frickin' bad, I don't think it can be evaluated until now."
EricVan's comment: "[T]his is an interesting analysis, and it reaches to the core of sabremetrcs vs. scouting as a tool to examine the game. ... Before 105 pitches he was the best pitcher in MLB. After 105, he allowed .390/.458/.512. ... What your eyes are telling you is that the opponents mysteriously start having good or great AB against Pedro once he reaches the point where he ought to be tired, even though he doesn't look tired. ... More predictable pitching patterns, as Pedro narrows his arsenal, may be the biggest culprit. A higher percentage of pitches that miss out over the plate is certainly a factor. Less movement is certainly a factor. ... [A] manager or GM has to be acutely aware of these situations, these illusions, where his scouting eye is going to feed him the wrong conclusion. Pedro's meltdown last night was completely predictable. It was Grady Little's job to know that Pedro after 105 pitches usually looks good but yields bad results."
Opponents against Pedro Martinez in 2003:
AB AVG OBP SLGFrom 2000-2002:
Pitches 61-75: 107 .215 .234 .355
Pitches 76-90: 93 .215 .276 .290
Pitches 91-105: 65 .231 .306 .354
Pitches 106-120: 27 .370 .419 .407
Pitches 120-135: 6 .333 .429 .500
AB AVG OBP SLGAfter Pedro retired the first two Yankees in the bottom of the 7th inning, he had thrown 86 pitches and held a 4-1 lead. By the time that inning was over, he was up to 100 pitches (and the score was 4-2). In the 8th inning, Boston scored another run and Grady Little sent Martinez out to throw 23 more pitches. When Pedro was finally pulled from the game, the score was tied 5-5. The last 9 batters went 7-for-9 (including 3 doubles and 1 home run):
Pitches 61-75: 281 .199 .243 .310
Pitches 76-90: 257 .195 .247 .268
Pitches 91-105: 180 .183 .236 .300
Pitches 106-120: 74 .297 .391 .338
Pitches 120-135: 12 .250 .400 .333
More 1 .000 .000 .000
home run
single
single
strikeout
pop out
double
single
double
double
Two posts from SoSH:
Gene Conleys Plane Ticket: "Based on the transcript of his statements, I believe Grady feels that he did not make a mistake. He believes that he made the right move but "the decision Thursday didn't turn out well." According to Grady's statement, in fact, he has never made a wrong decision, only decisions that either "turned out well" or "didn't turn out well." ... I honestly believe that Grady does not realize the magnitude of his blunder. I am sure he is very disappointed not to be in the World Series, but I believe that in his view, this was just another game that only happened to be the last one of the season. It's a bummer to lose it, but we had a great season and there's a lot to be proud of. ... He believes that he is being made a "scapegoat," though that is a role he is "glad" to accept. He believes this was another game that he managed the same way he has managed every other game. He quite obviously, even after two years, has no clue about the depth of feeling that exists in New England and among the Red Sox nationwide fandom."
Cuzittt: "I actually saw Grady Little's "interview" on NESN's Sportsdesk this morning ... What amazes me about the whole thing is how different my reaction was when listening to Grady than reading the comments. Let me just say... I feel no sympathy for him. I want him DEAD. The thing is, there was no emotion at all in his voice. There was no emotion in his eyes. While many have mentioned that it seems like he doesn't know the magnitude of his blunder just by the written words ... it becomes so apparent that he does not get it when viewing the tape."
I considered reviewing the 7th and 8th innings with an open-mind, but my emotions are too raw right now. I'm going to try hard to not write about Grady Little after today (though I'll likely remember what he did last Thursday several times a day for the foreseeable future). I've watched or listened to almost every single Red Sox game during his two seasons and he's been in over his head since the day he was hired. Everyone says he's a great guy and I'm sure he is, though it doesn't explain why he didn't foster a similar spirit of camaraderie in 2002 before Ortiz, Millar, Mueller, Walker, et al. rode into town. Regardless, I don't want a nice guy managing the Red Sox. I want a guy who understands (and is even excited by) the progressive ideas of Theo Epstein, John Henry and Bill James and is whipsmart when it comes to in-game strategy and bullpen management. The sad thing about reading Grady's comments is that he's too dim to realize all the things he doesn't know.
Finally, here is an excellent take on the situation by Peter Gammons.
10.18.2003
What's In A Name? Some sportswriters, in commenting on Game 7 of the ALCS, have lengthened Aaron Boone's name to "Aaron Bleeping Boone," putting the current Yankees third baseman seemingly on par in New England lore with a certain former Yankees shortstop. That is preposterous. To Red Sox Nation, Boone is a nobody and will always be a nobody. Aaron Boone will haunt Red Sox fans as much as Aaron Myette.
Grady F'in Little is the man we will hate, truly hate, many of us cursing him to our graves, as the man who single-handedly derailed a World Series-bound team due to his stupidity and cowardice. At SoSH, "Gene Conley's Plane Ticket" wrote: "Grady carries with him a defining moment, an image of a manager sitting idly, to outward appearances contentedly, in the dugout while the greatest moment in Red Sox baseball history disintegrated before our eyes. Every Red Sox fan feels robbed of his or her birthright, and we all know as sure as we know ourselves the man who robbed it. Grady Little will never, ever live that down. There's nowhere for him to run and nowhere to hide from this toxic cloud that he, himself, has cast over Fenway Park."
Grady Little is a coward because he was afraid to remove Pedro Martinez after 7 innings. Pedro has said he believed his night was over at that point (as did his teammates who came over to hug him and shake his hand), but he did not refuse when his manager told him to pitch the 8th. He should have, and he can't be too happy now about that now. ... And when the shit began hitting the fan(s), and Grady couldn't avoid a decision any longer, he went out and asked the one person in Yankee Stadium who wouldn't give him a straight answer (and someone Grady had to have known wouldn't give him a straight answer) to make the call. [And what in god's name was Dave Wallace -- you remember him, the pitching coach! -- doing all this time?]
Pedro did his job; Grady refused to do his. By contrast, when Torre yanked Clemens in the 3rd inning, he tapped his wrist the instant he came up out of the dugout. There would be no questions, no discussion, no chance for Clemens to plead his case -- even in what was looking like the final game of his career. Torre is in another World Series tonight because he wanted to win at all costs. Grady Little will burn eternally in Red Sox Hell because he was scared to lose.
The decision on Little's future with the Red Sox will not be made until after the World Series, but it's impossible for me to imagine him being retained. Owner John Henry wanted to replace Grady before the 2003 season, but Larry Lucchino and Theo Epstein convinced him otherwise. There is NO way Henry gets overruled this time. Life-long Red Sox fan Epstein has looked and sounded shell-shocked in interviews. If Boston had lost Game 7 by a 6-1 score, or had dropped Game 6 the day before, or had even been eliminated by Oakland, there was a good chance Grady would have returned, if only because of the way the players feel about him. Now there is no chance. ... In one of the most important moments in Red Sox history, Grady Little had a decision to make. And he blew it. Henry, Lucchino and Epstein face a similarly obvious decision. The only question is: Are they smarter than Grady Little?
Grady F'in Little is the man we will hate, truly hate, many of us cursing him to our graves, as the man who single-handedly derailed a World Series-bound team due to his stupidity and cowardice. At SoSH, "Gene Conley's Plane Ticket" wrote: "Grady carries with him a defining moment, an image of a manager sitting idly, to outward appearances contentedly, in the dugout while the greatest moment in Red Sox baseball history disintegrated before our eyes. Every Red Sox fan feels robbed of his or her birthright, and we all know as sure as we know ourselves the man who robbed it. Grady Little will never, ever live that down. There's nowhere for him to run and nowhere to hide from this toxic cloud that he, himself, has cast over Fenway Park."
Grady Little is a coward because he was afraid to remove Pedro Martinez after 7 innings. Pedro has said he believed his night was over at that point (as did his teammates who came over to hug him and shake his hand), but he did not refuse when his manager told him to pitch the 8th. He should have, and he can't be too happy now about that now. ... And when the shit began hitting the fan(s), and Grady couldn't avoid a decision any longer, he went out and asked the one person in Yankee Stadium who wouldn't give him a straight answer (and someone Grady had to have known wouldn't give him a straight answer) to make the call. [And what in god's name was Dave Wallace -- you remember him, the pitching coach! -- doing all this time?]
Pedro did his job; Grady refused to do his. By contrast, when Torre yanked Clemens in the 3rd inning, he tapped his wrist the instant he came up out of the dugout. There would be no questions, no discussion, no chance for Clemens to plead his case -- even in what was looking like the final game of his career. Torre is in another World Series tonight because he wanted to win at all costs. Grady Little will burn eternally in Red Sox Hell because he was scared to lose.
The decision on Little's future with the Red Sox will not be made until after the World Series, but it's impossible for me to imagine him being retained. Owner John Henry wanted to replace Grady before the 2003 season, but Larry Lucchino and Theo Epstein convinced him otherwise. There is NO way Henry gets overruled this time. Life-long Red Sox fan Epstein has looked and sounded shell-shocked in interviews. If Boston had lost Game 7 by a 6-1 score, or had dropped Game 6 the day before, or had even been eliminated by Oakland, there was a good chance Grady would have returned, if only because of the way the players feel about him. Now there is no chance. ... In one of the most important moments in Red Sox history, Grady Little had a decision to make. And he blew it. Henry, Lucchino and Epstein face a similarly obvious decision. The only question is: Are they smarter than Grady Little?
10.17.2003
From The Smoking Gun: "The New York Post made a colossal error today on its editorial page. The paper somehow printed an editorial bemoaning last night's Yankees loss to the Boston Red Sox." According to Post Editor-in-Chief Col Allan: ''We had prepared two editorials, one in the event of the Yankees winning, one with the Yankees losing. 'When we transmitted the pages to our printing facility, the wrong button was struck and the wrong editorial sent.'' The mistake was caught and corrected in later editions.
A Yankees Fan Writes:
Dear Red Sox Nation:
I'm sorry your team lost last night.
I'm not being sarcastic. I'm not gloating. I am truly sorry. The 2003 Red Sox were a better team than the 2003 Yankees, a more exciting team, a team with more spirit and the talent to back it up. I'm sorry your manager was too stupid to claim the prize that was being handed to you. Now I finally, truly, and definitively understand what intelligent Sox fans have been complaining about all season.
I am a Yankees fan by accident of geography and timing. I grew up in the New York City area, I learned about baseball from Yankees fans, I attended my first games in the late 1970s, and I was hooked. I don't understand the concept of "switching teams" - your team is your team. You don't choose it, it chooses you.
But the 2003 Boston Red Sox claimed a piece of my pinstriped heart, and they wouldn't let go. I thrilled at their heart-attack comebacks, cheered at the improbability of Bill Mueller winning the batting title, marvelled at the 2003 Sox outslugging the legendary 1927 Yankees. I loved their blue-collar spirit, I loved their hugging, their solidarity, their tenacity, their fierceness. I admire Pedro Martinez, with his outrageous talent, his ultra-cool swagger, even his arrogance. Anyone that talented can get away with a little arrogance if you ask me. And this team happens to play in the best baseball park in the country, bar none. They were irresistible.
Even more than your terrific 2003 team, I admire you. Your loyalty is beyond question and beyond the imagination of most Yankees fans. I ought to know. I frequented Yankee Stadium in the mid- and late-80s, when good seats were plentiful and people said the Bronx was too scary for baseball. Most New Yorkers were Mets fans then. Now I hear an amusing boast: "I've been a Yankees fan since 1996!" Sorry, that only works if you're 10 years old.
I understand your hatred of all things Yankees - how could it be otherwise? But being a fan is like being married. My marriage to the Yankees has brought me much happiness, and I owe it a lot.
Yet now I feel alienated from most Yankee fans. Their arrogance (and hey, they're not Pedro, what have they got to be arrogant about?), the sense of entitlement, the ignorant notion that if it's called Red Sox it must be a losing team. So-called Yankees fans stream for the exits in the 7th inning of a losing game, and they boo even their best players when they're slumping. (We're not all like that. I'm not. There are others like me. But...)
You guys are sometimes sore losers, but I wish my fellow fans were better winners.
I don't believe in a curse. That's just stupid. Many teams have won less. There has been a lot of heartbreak, there's no doubt about that. But that's baseball, and that's life. Both are chock full of heartbreak. No supernatural explanations are necessary.
Some people say when that when the Sox win it all - and they will - their fans won't know what to do, so accustomed have they grown to losing. I know that nothing could be further from the truth. You brave souls will know exactly what to do. I won't be invited to the party, but I'll watch it with great joy in my heart.
A Yankees Fan Writes:
Dear Red Sox Nation:
I'm sorry your team lost last night.
I'm not being sarcastic. I'm not gloating. I am truly sorry. The 2003 Red Sox were a better team than the 2003 Yankees, a more exciting team, a team with more spirit and the talent to back it up. I'm sorry your manager was too stupid to claim the prize that was being handed to you. Now I finally, truly, and definitively understand what intelligent Sox fans have been complaining about all season.
I am a Yankees fan by accident of geography and timing. I grew up in the New York City area, I learned about baseball from Yankees fans, I attended my first games in the late 1970s, and I was hooked. I don't understand the concept of "switching teams" - your team is your team. You don't choose it, it chooses you.
But the 2003 Boston Red Sox claimed a piece of my pinstriped heart, and they wouldn't let go. I thrilled at their heart-attack comebacks, cheered at the improbability of Bill Mueller winning the batting title, marvelled at the 2003 Sox outslugging the legendary 1927 Yankees. I loved their blue-collar spirit, I loved their hugging, their solidarity, their tenacity, their fierceness. I admire Pedro Martinez, with his outrageous talent, his ultra-cool swagger, even his arrogance. Anyone that talented can get away with a little arrogance if you ask me. And this team happens to play in the best baseball park in the country, bar none. They were irresistible.
Even more than your terrific 2003 team, I admire you. Your loyalty is beyond question and beyond the imagination of most Yankees fans. I ought to know. I frequented Yankee Stadium in the mid- and late-80s, when good seats were plentiful and people said the Bronx was too scary for baseball. Most New Yorkers were Mets fans then. Now I hear an amusing boast: "I've been a Yankees fan since 1996!" Sorry, that only works if you're 10 years old.
I understand your hatred of all things Yankees - how could it be otherwise? But being a fan is like being married. My marriage to the Yankees has brought me much happiness, and I owe it a lot.
Yet now I feel alienated from most Yankee fans. Their arrogance (and hey, they're not Pedro, what have they got to be arrogant about?), the sense of entitlement, the ignorant notion that if it's called Red Sox it must be a losing team. So-called Yankees fans stream for the exits in the 7th inning of a losing game, and they boo even their best players when they're slumping. (We're not all like that. I'm not. There are others like me. But...)
You guys are sometimes sore losers, but I wish my fellow fans were better winners.
I don't believe in a curse. That's just stupid. Many teams have won less. There has been a lot of heartbreak, there's no doubt about that. But that's baseball, and that's life. Both are chock full of heartbreak. No supernatural explanations are necessary.
Some people say when that when the Sox win it all - and they will - their fans won't know what to do, so accustomed have they grown to losing. I know that nothing could be further from the truth. You brave souls will know exactly what to do. I won't be invited to the party, but I'll watch it with great joy in my heart.
Numb. Shell-shocked, angry, disbelieving, and impotent. Angry at 11:00 pm when Pedro Martinez was left in as the Red Sox lead crumbled, disbelieving at 12:16 am when the game was finally decided, and numb as I sit down this morning. ... And yet, why should I have expected any different? Grady Little handled Game 7 of the ALCS like he has handled games all season long: as if he had never seen a baseball game in his life and had the barest inkling of the rules and strategies than everyone else around him knew in their bones. I said all summer that Grady's asinine managing would cost this team in the playoffs, where every mistake is magnified. I take no solace in knowing I was right. It kills me that this great team, who battled back against oakland and had battled back against the Yankees, and was 5 outs from the American League pennant, was burdened with this imbicle. ... 2003 makes 1978 pale in comparison. Was this worse than 1986? I don't know. Does it really matter whether you are kicked in the balls 49 times or 50 times?
Yesterday I wrote: "Martinez ... knows he can pitch all-out for 7 innings and turn it over to the reliable trio of Timlin/Embree/Williamson." I mention it again, not because it's great analysis or some secret recipie for success, but because it's so goddamn obvious. If there are 50,000,000 Red Sox fans in the world, 49,999,999 of them knew exactly what to do in the bottom of the 8th inning last night and were screaming those instructions at their radios, televisions and computer screens. But the one person in the world who didn't know what do -- who couldn't bring himself to do what needed to be done -- was also the man in charge of the team. And he blew it. There is no one else. Grady Little fucking lost the pennant. As Hench put it: "Even Antonio Scalia couldn't vote to execute someone this stupid."
The 2003 American League flag belonged to the Boston Red Sox. They had a 5-2 lead with 5 outs to go. The Yankees and their fans knew that, with the Red Sox bullpen having pitched lights out against both Oakland and New York, the later it got, the fewer chances they had. None of the Boston relievers was tired; everyone was rested. These were two innings that could have managed themselves. ... But Boston was stuck with one of the stupidest and gutless managers in the history of the game. This team fought and fought and fought and fought all summer long and came within a handful of outs of a trip to the World Series, but their admirable resilency was not enough to overcome their manager's collosal ineptitude. In the end, as Red Sox Nation feared, Grady the Millstone dragged them down to their deaths.
Pedro had a bit of trouble in the 7th inning, his first real jam of the night. With two outs (one of them a hard liner to Damon in right center by Posada), Giambi hit his second solo home run of the night. It brought New York within 2 runs at 4-2. Wilson hit a single off the bag that Kevin Millar made a nifty snag of in foul territory and instead of tossing to Pedro covering, he tried to take it himself, but slipped on the grass and had no play. On Martinez's next pitch Karim Garcia singled to right field and Wilson went to second. Boston pitching coach Dave Wallace came out to talk with Pedro. Mike Timlin was throwing in the Red Sox bullpen.
The tying run was at the plate and for the first time all evening, I was nervous. But my worry was mitigated by the fact that Soriano was at bat. He had struck out in all three of his appearances against Pedro and had looked foolish and befuddled each time. Pedro had already thrown 94 pitches and this was obviously his last batter. Soriano took a ball inside, then ripped a line drive foul down the third base line. Pedro got strike two away, and after another foul and a ball outside, Soriano whiffed on a 94 mph fastball low and away. Pedro had obviously cranked it up for his final batter and his 100th pitch. He touched his heart and pointed to the heavens as he left the mound and accepted a congratulatory hug from Nomar Garciaparra in the dugout. A job well done.
In the top of the 8th, David Ortiz blasted David Wells's first pitch into the right field bleachers to extend the Red Sox's lead to 5-2. When Nick Johnson led off the bottom of the 8th, he did not face Alan Embree or Mike Timlin, as expected. He stepped in against Pedro Martinez. ... Now I'll be honest. I understood what Grady was doing. He wanted Martinez to close out the Yankees himself. I didn't have a huge problem with that, assuming Pedro could do it on 15 additional pitches or so. If anyone reached base, I would want the pen.
Pedro threw 7 pitches to Johnson and got him on a full-count popup to shortstop. Five outs to go. Derek Jeter fell behind 0-2, then drove the ball over Trot Nixon's head in right for a double. Bernie Williams was next and Pedro was at 110 pitches. In the bullpen, everyone was rested and ready: Timlin (who had retired 25 of the 26 post-season batters he had faced), Embree, Williamson, Arroyo, Jones, Suppan, Sauerbeck, even Wakefield, Lowe and maybe Burkett for a batter or two. The bullpen's post-season ERA was 1.01. Grady stayed with Pedro.
Williams took a strike, two balls and fouled a pitch off. Then he lined a single to right field and Jeter scored. Now it was 5-3. Gump walked out of the dugout to the mound. It was his customary "two batters too late," but thank god Gump had come to his senses before it was way too late. I expected Embree to face the lefty Matsui. Gump talked with Pedro and then he turned and walked back to the dugout. Grady stayed with Pedro. After the game, Gump said that Pedro had told him that he had enough left to get Matsui and get out of the inning. Well, of course, he's goning to say that, what the hell else would you expect? It is the manager's job to say NO, you've gone above and beyond the call tonight, you've thrown 115 pitches, I want you in the World Series, so it's time to sit on the bench watch your teammates nail it down. Grady failed this most obvious of tasks.
Pedro got two called strikes on Matsui. On the 0-2 pitch, Matsui ripped a line drive that hit near the right field line -- fair ball -- and bounced towards the stands, where a fan touched it. Everyone was allowed two bases, so Williams had to stop at third. Now the Yankees had the tying run at second base and still only one out. Pedro was wilting. He was at 118 pitches. And Grady let him continue.
What must they have been thinking in the bullpen? What about the starting players in the field, watching as Pedro's pitchers are being banged all over the lot? And what about Theo Epstein, Larry Lucchino and John Henry? They're smart men. What in the world was going through their heads as Grady left Pedro in to absorb line drive after line drive after line drive and the comfortable Red Sox lead shrank down to nothing?
Posada was the next batter and he blooped a 2-2 pitch into short center field, Williams and Matsui scored and because no one was covering second base, Posada took the extra bag. New York had tied the game 5-5. And here was Grady, walking to the mound to take the ball from Pedro, doing what any fool with more sense than God gave a rosin bag would have done FOUR BATTERS AGO.
The inning went on with both Embree and Timlin pitching, and although New York loaded the bases, they did not score. Mariano Rivera came out of the Yankees pen for the 9th. Varitek singled with one out. Pinch-runner Damian Jackson did not attempt to steal, although he advanced to second on Damon's ground out. Todd Walker nearly poked a line drive over Soriano's head into right field, but the second baseman made the catch to end the inning. Rivera ended up pitching three innings (he also allowed a 2-out double in the 10th to Ortiz) and throwing 48 pitches. If Wakefield could get through the 11th (his second inning of work), Torre would have to bring in either Jeff Weaver, Jose Contreras or Gabe White. ... That 12th inning never came.
Every idiot who wouldn't know what a baseball was if it hit him in the head, and plenty of idiots who follow the sport too, will blather on about the Curse and how evil spirits are conspiring against the Red Sox. That has been a crock of shit since Day One and no matter how many editions of a certain book are printed, it will remain a crock of shit. Let me say this: I am proud of the 2003 Red Sox. I still love this team. ... There were no chokes, no errors, no baserunning mistakes, nothing on the part of the players that could (or should) be singled out as the reason why Game 7 was lost. This loss will go down in history squarely on the shoulders of Grady Little, who will now take his rightful place as one of the most hated men in Red Sox history, the author of one of the dumbest managerial moves in the history of the game (and no, I do NOT believe I'm exaggerating).
Theo should have fired the moron in the 8th inning, but baring that, he should have shit-canned him immediately after the game, and refused to allow him on the charter flight back to Boston. You would think he'll never get another managerial job again, but who knows? Dusty Baker was given the chance to piss away another team's title hopes this year. Maybe Gump can become the Yankees new bench coach. If so, I look forward to Pedro tossing his dumb ass to the ground next season.
Grady: "Pedro Martinez has been our man all year long and in situations like that, he's the one we want on the mound over anybody we can bring in out of the bullpen. He had enough left in his tank to finish off Posada." Well, idiot, if that's the case, why pull him at all? Why not let him finish the 8th and have him go the 9th too? If he's truly better than anyone out in the bullpen, let him go and go.
Aaron Boone? He means nothing to me. A truly insignificant part of this series. No, it is Grady Little, and only Grady Little, that I despise. I have more hatred for him at this point than I do for any New York Yankee I can think of -- past or present. His exit from the Boston Red Sox will be a sliver of happiness I take from this post-season. And any Red Sox players who still believe this shithead is a great "player's manager" and love his "open door" policy, I don't care who you are, but I hope you go with him into oblivion. Anyone that stupid doesn't deserve to wear the Red Sox uniform.
Commiserate, vent and look to 2004 with fellow fans at Sons of Sam Horn, with threads either here or here. As huge as my hatred and disgust is for Grady, that's the amount of love, respect and admiration I have for everyone who posts at SoSH. Thanks to all of them, the site was an unbridled joy and a much-needed comfort station all season. It was on, but Grady turned it off. That is all.
Yesterday I wrote: "Martinez ... knows he can pitch all-out for 7 innings and turn it over to the reliable trio of Timlin/Embree/Williamson." I mention it again, not because it's great analysis or some secret recipie for success, but because it's so goddamn obvious. If there are 50,000,000 Red Sox fans in the world, 49,999,999 of them knew exactly what to do in the bottom of the 8th inning last night and were screaming those instructions at their radios, televisions and computer screens. But the one person in the world who didn't know what do -- who couldn't bring himself to do what needed to be done -- was also the man in charge of the team. And he blew it. There is no one else. Grady Little fucking lost the pennant. As Hench put it: "Even Antonio Scalia couldn't vote to execute someone this stupid."
The 2003 American League flag belonged to the Boston Red Sox. They had a 5-2 lead with 5 outs to go. The Yankees and their fans knew that, with the Red Sox bullpen having pitched lights out against both Oakland and New York, the later it got, the fewer chances they had. None of the Boston relievers was tired; everyone was rested. These were two innings that could have managed themselves. ... But Boston was stuck with one of the stupidest and gutless managers in the history of the game. This team fought and fought and fought and fought all summer long and came within a handful of outs of a trip to the World Series, but their admirable resilency was not enough to overcome their manager's collosal ineptitude. In the end, as Red Sox Nation feared, Grady the Millstone dragged them down to their deaths.
Pedro had a bit of trouble in the 7th inning, his first real jam of the night. With two outs (one of them a hard liner to Damon in right center by Posada), Giambi hit his second solo home run of the night. It brought New York within 2 runs at 4-2. Wilson hit a single off the bag that Kevin Millar made a nifty snag of in foul territory and instead of tossing to Pedro covering, he tried to take it himself, but slipped on the grass and had no play. On Martinez's next pitch Karim Garcia singled to right field and Wilson went to second. Boston pitching coach Dave Wallace came out to talk with Pedro. Mike Timlin was throwing in the Red Sox bullpen.
The tying run was at the plate and for the first time all evening, I was nervous. But my worry was mitigated by the fact that Soriano was at bat. He had struck out in all three of his appearances against Pedro and had looked foolish and befuddled each time. Pedro had already thrown 94 pitches and this was obviously his last batter. Soriano took a ball inside, then ripped a line drive foul down the third base line. Pedro got strike two away, and after another foul and a ball outside, Soriano whiffed on a 94 mph fastball low and away. Pedro had obviously cranked it up for his final batter and his 100th pitch. He touched his heart and pointed to the heavens as he left the mound and accepted a congratulatory hug from Nomar Garciaparra in the dugout. A job well done.
In the top of the 8th, David Ortiz blasted David Wells's first pitch into the right field bleachers to extend the Red Sox's lead to 5-2. When Nick Johnson led off the bottom of the 8th, he did not face Alan Embree or Mike Timlin, as expected. He stepped in against Pedro Martinez. ... Now I'll be honest. I understood what Grady was doing. He wanted Martinez to close out the Yankees himself. I didn't have a huge problem with that, assuming Pedro could do it on 15 additional pitches or so. If anyone reached base, I would want the pen.
Pedro threw 7 pitches to Johnson and got him on a full-count popup to shortstop. Five outs to go. Derek Jeter fell behind 0-2, then drove the ball over Trot Nixon's head in right for a double. Bernie Williams was next and Pedro was at 110 pitches. In the bullpen, everyone was rested and ready: Timlin (who had retired 25 of the 26 post-season batters he had faced), Embree, Williamson, Arroyo, Jones, Suppan, Sauerbeck, even Wakefield, Lowe and maybe Burkett for a batter or two. The bullpen's post-season ERA was 1.01. Grady stayed with Pedro.
Williams took a strike, two balls and fouled a pitch off. Then he lined a single to right field and Jeter scored. Now it was 5-3. Gump walked out of the dugout to the mound. It was his customary "two batters too late," but thank god Gump had come to his senses before it was way too late. I expected Embree to face the lefty Matsui. Gump talked with Pedro and then he turned and walked back to the dugout. Grady stayed with Pedro. After the game, Gump said that Pedro had told him that he had enough left to get Matsui and get out of the inning. Well, of course, he's goning to say that, what the hell else would you expect? It is the manager's job to say NO, you've gone above and beyond the call tonight, you've thrown 115 pitches, I want you in the World Series, so it's time to sit on the bench watch your teammates nail it down. Grady failed this most obvious of tasks.
Pedro got two called strikes on Matsui. On the 0-2 pitch, Matsui ripped a line drive that hit near the right field line -- fair ball -- and bounced towards the stands, where a fan touched it. Everyone was allowed two bases, so Williams had to stop at third. Now the Yankees had the tying run at second base and still only one out. Pedro was wilting. He was at 118 pitches. And Grady let him continue.
What must they have been thinking in the bullpen? What about the starting players in the field, watching as Pedro's pitchers are being banged all over the lot? And what about Theo Epstein, Larry Lucchino and John Henry? They're smart men. What in the world was going through their heads as Grady left Pedro in to absorb line drive after line drive after line drive and the comfortable Red Sox lead shrank down to nothing?
Posada was the next batter and he blooped a 2-2 pitch into short center field, Williams and Matsui scored and because no one was covering second base, Posada took the extra bag. New York had tied the game 5-5. And here was Grady, walking to the mound to take the ball from Pedro, doing what any fool with more sense than God gave a rosin bag would have done FOUR BATTERS AGO.
The inning went on with both Embree and Timlin pitching, and although New York loaded the bases, they did not score. Mariano Rivera came out of the Yankees pen for the 9th. Varitek singled with one out. Pinch-runner Damian Jackson did not attempt to steal, although he advanced to second on Damon's ground out. Todd Walker nearly poked a line drive over Soriano's head into right field, but the second baseman made the catch to end the inning. Rivera ended up pitching three innings (he also allowed a 2-out double in the 10th to Ortiz) and throwing 48 pitches. If Wakefield could get through the 11th (his second inning of work), Torre would have to bring in either Jeff Weaver, Jose Contreras or Gabe White. ... That 12th inning never came.
Every idiot who wouldn't know what a baseball was if it hit him in the head, and plenty of idiots who follow the sport too, will blather on about the Curse and how evil spirits are conspiring against the Red Sox. That has been a crock of shit since Day One and no matter how many editions of a certain book are printed, it will remain a crock of shit. Let me say this: I am proud of the 2003 Red Sox. I still love this team. ... There were no chokes, no errors, no baserunning mistakes, nothing on the part of the players that could (or should) be singled out as the reason why Game 7 was lost. This loss will go down in history squarely on the shoulders of Grady Little, who will now take his rightful place as one of the most hated men in Red Sox history, the author of one of the dumbest managerial moves in the history of the game (and no, I do NOT believe I'm exaggerating).
Theo should have fired the moron in the 8th inning, but baring that, he should have shit-canned him immediately after the game, and refused to allow him on the charter flight back to Boston. You would think he'll never get another managerial job again, but who knows? Dusty Baker was given the chance to piss away another team's title hopes this year. Maybe Gump can become the Yankees new bench coach. If so, I look forward to Pedro tossing his dumb ass to the ground next season.
Grady: "Pedro Martinez has been our man all year long and in situations like that, he's the one we want on the mound over anybody we can bring in out of the bullpen. He had enough left in his tank to finish off Posada." Well, idiot, if that's the case, why pull him at all? Why not let him finish the 8th and have him go the 9th too? If he's truly better than anyone out in the bullpen, let him go and go.
Aaron Boone? He means nothing to me. A truly insignificant part of this series. No, it is Grady Little, and only Grady Little, that I despise. I have more hatred for him at this point than I do for any New York Yankee I can think of -- past or present. His exit from the Boston Red Sox will be a sliver of happiness I take from this post-season. And any Red Sox players who still believe this shithead is a great "player's manager" and love his "open door" policy, I don't care who you are, but I hope you go with him into oblivion. Anyone that stupid doesn't deserve to wear the Red Sox uniform.
Commiserate, vent and look to 2004 with fellow fans at Sons of Sam Horn, with threads either here or here. As huge as my hatred and disgust is for Grady, that's the amount of love, respect and admiration I have for everyone who posts at SoSH. Thanks to all of them, the site was an unbridled joy and a much-needed comfort station all season. It was on, but Grady turned it off. That is all.
From the Game 7 Game Thread. Because every word is true:
"What a freaking asshile this manager is... he single-handedly just cost the team this freaking game. Unbelieveable... if folks thought that guy in Chicago was going to have to move out of town, just wait until Grady gets back to Boston."
"The pen's been lights out this entire series and Gump forgets to bring them in after the first hit."
"You gotta hand that lead over to the bullpen. You just gotta. Oh my god. We have to win this game. We WILL win this game. Despite Grady. What a goddamn moron. YOU are the manager not Pedro. The only one without a pair on this team is Grady. Win. Just. Win."
"I'm fucking speechless right now. The most unbelievable bonehead managing decision I have ever witnessed. 6,000,000 people across america were screaming to get him outta there."
"Grady, you want to be popular with the players let them make the decisions? Go manage a little league team. That was unexcusable asking Pedro is he wanted to stay in the game after 120 pitches. What is he going to do, say he wants out? I hate Grady Little. I will never forgive him for this, win or lose today's game."
"How the fuck do you let Pedro go out there obviously tired and wait until he surrenders the lead? How? I find that incomprehensible. The bullpen was ready. Timlin has been damn near perfect. How do you do it? How how how how how how how how how how?"
"I still can't believe this. A 5-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth. Your entire pitching staff, minus John Burkett and maybe Bronson Arroyo available. Your guy on the mound unable to hit his spots in the bottom of the seventh. Two guys warm in the pen for the bottom of the eighth. Double. Not even a peep from the dugout. Single. Oh Pedro says he is fine we'll let him stay. Double. Well hey we still have the lead and this is what got us here. Another single. Aww darn, now I have to walk out there again. This is the most embarrasing moment in Sox history since Buckner. And errily similar in managerial bullshit stubbornness and stupidity."
"No, seriously, how the fuck do you leave Pedro out there to lose the lead when your fucking bullpen has been so fucking good in the playoffs and they're ready and he looked tired and sweet evermotherfuckinglovingjesus. How the fuck does one do that? What's the thought process? What the fucking fuck?"
"I'm gonna probably say this a dozen more times. I still can't believe I'm watching a tie game now. I can't believe I'm not watching Scott Williamson come in to get the save with a two or three run lead. I mean, I really can't believe it. Like I can't believe it in the same way you can't believe it when you are the innocent victim of a drive-by shooting. With the guy using an M-60, and a grinning jackass North Carolina smile on his face. Everything is all fuzzy and faded and I'm starting to even lose my anger at the bullshit. Motherfucker. Just do this. Do it Timlin. Do it Nomar. Do it Manny. Just do it somebody in a Red Sox uniform. Let me go to bed with euphoria instead of second guessing regret."
"I feel like I'm in a bad dream. I feel like the Red Sox should still be leading 5-2. I feel like I should be watching Timlin mow down the Yankees, and then watch Williamson blow high heat past them in the ninth. No other scenario seems possible. Grady couldn't have let Pedro continue to pitch. That has to be a nightmare. It's just too ridiculous to believe. This must be some sort of reality t.v. joke. The footage to my television is being controlled and secret cameras are watching me. Right? Right?"
"What a freaking asshile this manager is... he single-handedly just cost the team this freaking game. Unbelieveable... if folks thought that guy in Chicago was going to have to move out of town, just wait until Grady gets back to Boston."
"The pen's been lights out this entire series and Gump forgets to bring them in after the first hit."
"You gotta hand that lead over to the bullpen. You just gotta. Oh my god. We have to win this game. We WILL win this game. Despite Grady. What a goddamn moron. YOU are the manager not Pedro. The only one without a pair on this team is Grady. Win. Just. Win."
"I'm fucking speechless right now. The most unbelievable bonehead managing decision I have ever witnessed. 6,000,000 people across america were screaming to get him outta there."
"Grady, you want to be popular with the players let them make the decisions? Go manage a little league team. That was unexcusable asking Pedro is he wanted to stay in the game after 120 pitches. What is he going to do, say he wants out? I hate Grady Little. I will never forgive him for this, win or lose today's game."
"How the fuck do you let Pedro go out there obviously tired and wait until he surrenders the lead? How? I find that incomprehensible. The bullpen was ready. Timlin has been damn near perfect. How do you do it? How how how how how how how how how how?"
"I still can't believe this. A 5-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth. Your entire pitching staff, minus John Burkett and maybe Bronson Arroyo available. Your guy on the mound unable to hit his spots in the bottom of the seventh. Two guys warm in the pen for the bottom of the eighth. Double. Not even a peep from the dugout. Single. Oh Pedro says he is fine we'll let him stay. Double. Well hey we still have the lead and this is what got us here. Another single. Aww darn, now I have to walk out there again. This is the most embarrasing moment in Sox history since Buckner. And errily similar in managerial bullshit stubbornness and stupidity."
"No, seriously, how the fuck do you leave Pedro out there to lose the lead when your fucking bullpen has been so fucking good in the playoffs and they're ready and he looked tired and sweet evermotherfuckinglovingjesus. How the fuck does one do that? What's the thought process? What the fucking fuck?"
"I'm gonna probably say this a dozen more times. I still can't believe I'm watching a tie game now. I can't believe I'm not watching Scott Williamson come in to get the save with a two or three run lead. I mean, I really can't believe it. Like I can't believe it in the same way you can't believe it when you are the innocent victim of a drive-by shooting. With the guy using an M-60, and a grinning jackass North Carolina smile on his face. Everything is all fuzzy and faded and I'm starting to even lose my anger at the bullshit. Motherfucker. Just do this. Do it Timlin. Do it Nomar. Do it Manny. Just do it somebody in a Red Sox uniform. Let me go to bed with euphoria instead of second guessing regret."
"I feel like I'm in a bad dream. I feel like the Red Sox should still be leading 5-2. I feel like I should be watching Timlin mow down the Yankees, and then watch Williamson blow high heat past them in the ninth. No other scenario seems possible. Grady couldn't have let Pedro continue to pitch. That has to be a nightmare. It's just too ridiculous to believe. This must be some sort of reality t.v. joke. The footage to my television is being controlled and secret cameras are watching me. Right? Right?"
10.16.2003
Kevin Millar: "I don't think there is a person in the United States that isn't going to know the Sox and Yankees are playing Game 7 with Pedro and Clemens."
Pedro Speaks: "I feel pretty good, for this time of year. And this is the time of year where you don't have any time to actually say "I'm hurting... I'm sore" or "I feel bad" because regardless of how you feel you have to go out there and make a commitment to the team and to the fans and to yourself ... [In Game Three] I just went with what I had in the first part of the game, I didn't feel all that well. I felt a little sluggish in the first three innings, and then I picked it up and I felt better, so I threw more fastballs and I mixed up my pitchers a little bit better. But at first, that's all I had, and that's how I tried to pitch and it cost me a couple of runs ..."
Check out this snip about Mr. Class, posted in tonight's Game Thread:
"The team has created a monster, and the question is: What are they going to do now? Clemens is up for free agency next year. He has arm problems almost every other year. He will be looking for at least a four-year contract, probably five, in excess of $20 million. His body has changed dramatically over the past five years - he is much bulkier - but his behavior remains erratic at best.
Clemens' track record is becoming unbelievable. After he was ejected, he twice yelled at Cooney, "I'm going to find out where you live and come after you this winter," according to first base ump Vic Voltaggio. This year alone, he apparently lied about pitching to a prison team, walked off a charter flight because of a delay, offered misleading information about his shoulder injury, punched the manager's office door with his pitching hand because the league wouldn't let him decide how long the clubhouse should remained closed after the division clincher, and now this.
Perhaps we should have seen it coming. In Game 1, Clemens left after six shutout innings, then refused to speak because "I just didn't want to confront that situation at that time. I thought it would be a detriment to the team." While in the dugout during Game 2, he yelled at plate umpire John Hirschbeck, then threw a roll of tape and a towel at the back of the dugout when umpire Jim Evans approached him. Shortly after that, he appeared to snap at manager Joe Morgan, and there were unconfirmed reports that he yelled disparaging remarks at A's pitcher Bob Welch, a recovering alcoholic. During Game 3, Clemens later acknowledged, he screamed at Cooney over a close play at first.
"Are being surly and contemptuous punishable offenses? Usually not. Baseball has been loaded with cretins throughout its history. The cliche that a pitcher needs to have a mean streak in him is not far off. But Clemens is out of control with this Possessed/Rebel thing. ..."
--Steve Fainaru, Boston Globe, October 12, 1990
Pedro Speaks: "I feel pretty good, for this time of year. And this is the time of year where you don't have any time to actually say "I'm hurting... I'm sore" or "I feel bad" because regardless of how you feel you have to go out there and make a commitment to the team and to the fans and to yourself ... [In Game Three] I just went with what I had in the first part of the game, I didn't feel all that well. I felt a little sluggish in the first three innings, and then I picked it up and I felt better, so I threw more fastballs and I mixed up my pitchers a little bit better. But at first, that's all I had, and that's how I tried to pitch and it cost me a couple of runs ..."
Check out this snip about Mr. Class, posted in tonight's Game Thread:
"The team has created a monster, and the question is: What are they going to do now? Clemens is up for free agency next year. He has arm problems almost every other year. He will be looking for at least a four-year contract, probably five, in excess of $20 million. His body has changed dramatically over the past five years - he is much bulkier - but his behavior remains erratic at best.
Clemens' track record is becoming unbelievable. After he was ejected, he twice yelled at Cooney, "I'm going to find out where you live and come after you this winter," according to first base ump Vic Voltaggio. This year alone, he apparently lied about pitching to a prison team, walked off a charter flight because of a delay, offered misleading information about his shoulder injury, punched the manager's office door with his pitching hand because the league wouldn't let him decide how long the clubhouse should remained closed after the division clincher, and now this.
Perhaps we should have seen it coming. In Game 1, Clemens left after six shutout innings, then refused to speak because "I just didn't want to confront that situation at that time. I thought it would be a detriment to the team." While in the dugout during Game 2, he yelled at plate umpire John Hirschbeck, then threw a roll of tape and a towel at the back of the dugout when umpire Jim Evans approached him. Shortly after that, he appeared to snap at manager Joe Morgan, and there were unconfirmed reports that he yelled disparaging remarks at A's pitcher Bob Welch, a recovering alcoholic. During Game 3, Clemens later acknowledged, he screamed at Cooney over a close play at first.
"Are being surly and contemptuous punishable offenses? Usually not. Baseball has been loaded with cretins throughout its history. The cliche that a pitcher needs to have a mean streak in him is not far off. But Clemens is out of control with this Possessed/Rebel thing. ..."
--Steve Fainaru, Boston Globe, October 12, 1990
It Is On! There is no man on Earth I want pitching this Game 7 more than Pedro Martinez. Throughout his career, he has used the doubts others have had in his abilities (too small to be a starting pitcher, too fragile to have a sustained career as a power pitcher, etc.) as motivation every time he takes the mound. In Boston, he has used the occasional booing at Fenway Park to the barbs of local sportswriters as fuel. And while Martinez shouldn't need any added incentive to prepare himself for tonight's start, last Saturday's events have made him Public Enemy No. 1 in New York City. This will not faze him; under pressure in Cleveland in 1999, he threw 6 no-hit innings of relief to clinch the ALDS). Martinez is pitching on his normal rest and with the bullpen in top shape, he knows he can pitch all-out for 7 innings and turn it over to the reliable trio of Timlin/Embree/Williamson. He knows the legacy of the Boston Red Sox, he knows what this rivalry means, and he burns for a chance at a World Series ring. Pedro knows this is the biggest start of his career. I expect it to be masterful.
Roger Clemens (aka the Texas Con Man, Fat Judas, Quisling, Fat Billy from Ohio, etc.) is pitching what could be the final start of his legendary career. In storybook fashion, it will come against the team with whom he built his Hall of Fame reputation, with whom he burnt his bridges seven years ago, the team whose fans hate him with an unbridled passion. The stakes could not be higher. Clemens was praised in the national media for holding his composure in Game 3. That was billed as a Big Game (and it was), but it is small potatoes to Game 7. This is a BIG GAME. Clemens may have considered himself rid of the Boston Red Sox forever, but now he has to battle them again, and the Red Sox have the momentum of yesterday's Game 6 victory at their backs.
Will Clemens be remembered as the guy who lost Game 7 of the ALCS to Pedro the Punk? Will he be remembered as the man unable to stop the Red Sox from romping through the Yankees' backyard on their way to the World Series? With George Steinbrenner watching, Clemens's Yankees legacy is on the line. The Red Sox batters must make Clemens work; he'll be wired and will expend precious energy harnessing those emotions (some type of "I thought it was the ball!" meltdown is not out of the question). A patient, sustained Boston attack, much like the offense showed yesterday, can chase Clemens early and make Rivera irrelevant.
Throughout their recent run of success, the Yankees have not lost a playoff series at home. That could change tonight. The Boston Red Sox can win their first pennant since 1986, they can do it in front of 55,000 Yankee fans and they can do it in the game that ends Roger Clemens's career. This is perhaps the most important game ever played between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. ... Today is also my 40th birthday. Go Sox!
Ed Cossette: "[F]or once you can honestly say that no matter how much tonight's game is hyped it just cannot be over hyped. Every cliche, every breathless news report, every drop of ink, every pixel pointing to Game 7 tonight in NY is deserved. ... I'm so excited I can barely think, let alone write."
Larry Mahnken: "It's been several hours since Game 6 ended, and I still have no heart to write about it. It feels as though the Yankees have lost their chance, that they've already lost the series. I felt this way going into Game Four last season, Game Five in 1995 and 1997. Defeat seems an almost forgone conclusion. ... The only chance for the Yankees is Clemens, pitching to save his career. ... If someone other than Clemens or Rivera is pitching tonight, the game is probably lost for New York. ... With the Florida Marlins waiting to be crushed, this game will likely determine who wins the World Series."
Alex Belth: "Pedro vs. Clemens. This is what everybody wants, right? Well, we've got it. ... Martinez pitches better when he's got a chip on his shoulder and with Yankee Stadium giving him the business tonight, I fear he'll use it to his advantage, no matter how much he's got left in the tank. ... It could be the biggest win of the year for the Yankees, or one of the biggest wins in Boston history for the Red Sox. I'll be hiding behind the couch with two hands over my eyes."
Tim Daloisio: "Tonight will answer the age old question, if you had one pitcher in all of baseball to pitch one game with everything on the line, who would you want on the mound? For the Red Sox that answer is Pedro Martinez, and he's going tonight with a trip to the World Series on the line."
Roger Clemens (aka the Texas Con Man, Fat Judas, Quisling, Fat Billy from Ohio, etc.) is pitching what could be the final start of his legendary career. In storybook fashion, it will come against the team with whom he built his Hall of Fame reputation, with whom he burnt his bridges seven years ago, the team whose fans hate him with an unbridled passion. The stakes could not be higher. Clemens was praised in the national media for holding his composure in Game 3. That was billed as a Big Game (and it was), but it is small potatoes to Game 7. This is a BIG GAME. Clemens may have considered himself rid of the Boston Red Sox forever, but now he has to battle them again, and the Red Sox have the momentum of yesterday's Game 6 victory at their backs.
Will Clemens be remembered as the guy who lost Game 7 of the ALCS to Pedro the Punk? Will he be remembered as the man unable to stop the Red Sox from romping through the Yankees' backyard on their way to the World Series? With George Steinbrenner watching, Clemens's Yankees legacy is on the line. The Red Sox batters must make Clemens work; he'll be wired and will expend precious energy harnessing those emotions (some type of "I thought it was the ball!" meltdown is not out of the question). A patient, sustained Boston attack, much like the offense showed yesterday, can chase Clemens early and make Rivera irrelevant.
Throughout their recent run of success, the Yankees have not lost a playoff series at home. That could change tonight. The Boston Red Sox can win their first pennant since 1986, they can do it in front of 55,000 Yankee fans and they can do it in the game that ends Roger Clemens's career. This is perhaps the most important game ever played between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. ... Today is also my 40th birthday. Go Sox!
Clemens v Boston IP H ER R BB K BF PIT
0521 NY 4 @Bos 2 6 9 2 2 1 7 27 100
0526 Bos 8 @NY 4 5.2 10 8 8 2 9 29 133
0705 Bos 10 @NY 2 5.1 6 8 7 2 3 26 95
0831 NY 8 @Bos 4 6.2 6 4 4 2 3 27 112
0906 Bos 12, @NY 0 3.1 7 7 5 2 2 19 77
1011 @NY 4, Bos 3 6 5 2 2 1 7 22 96
Totals 33 43 31 28 10 31 150 613 7.64 ERA
Pedro v New York IP H ER R BB K BF PITBlogWatch:
0707 @NY 2, Bos 1 7 5 1 1 0 11 27 115
0725 NY 4, @Bos 3 6.2 7 3 3 4 10 31 128
0830 NY 10, @Bos 7 4 9 5 5 0 3 22 87
0905 Bos 9, @NY 3 6 4 1 1 1 9 23 94
1011 @NY 4, Bos 3 7 6 4 4 1 6 28 98
Totals 30.2 31 14 14 6 39 131 522 4.11 ERA
Ed Cossette: "[F]or once you can honestly say that no matter how much tonight's game is hyped it just cannot be over hyped. Every cliche, every breathless news report, every drop of ink, every pixel pointing to Game 7 tonight in NY is deserved. ... I'm so excited I can barely think, let alone write."
Larry Mahnken: "It's been several hours since Game 6 ended, and I still have no heart to write about it. It feels as though the Yankees have lost their chance, that they've already lost the series. I felt this way going into Game Four last season, Game Five in 1995 and 1997. Defeat seems an almost forgone conclusion. ... The only chance for the Yankees is Clemens, pitching to save his career. ... If someone other than Clemens or Rivera is pitching tonight, the game is probably lost for New York. ... With the Florida Marlins waiting to be crushed, this game will likely determine who wins the World Series."
Alex Belth: "Pedro vs. Clemens. This is what everybody wants, right? Well, we've got it. ... Martinez pitches better when he's got a chip on his shoulder and with Yankee Stadium giving him the business tonight, I fear he'll use it to his advantage, no matter how much he's got left in the tank. ... It could be the biggest win of the year for the Yankees, or one of the biggest wins in Boston history for the Red Sox. I'll be hiding behind the couch with two hands over my eyes."
Tim Daloisio: "Tonight will answer the age old question, if you had one pitcher in all of baseball to pitch one game with everything on the line, who would you want on the mound? For the Red Sox that answer is Pedro Martinez, and he's going tonight with a trip to the World Series on the line."
Game Six. Boston 9, New York 6.
Boston 1st: Damon and Walker both swing at pitches at their ankles and ground out. The slumping Garciaparra is on top of two Pettitte fastballs, fouling them off, before poking a pitch into right field for a single. Ramirez grounds out, but Nomar's hit is a good sign.
New York 1st: With a 25-mph wind blowing out to both left and right, Giambi lifts a solo home run over the right center field wall (Yankees 1-0). Early on, Burkett is not getting calls on the corner. An inside pitch to Jeter is called a ball, while a similar pitch was called a strike on Ramirez. [My notes are full of exclamation points about the horrible calls made by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. The strike zone changed shape so many times, and Hernandez blew so mnay calls, it's impossible to say which team, if either one, had the upper hand. Hernandez's performance ranks down there with Eric Gregg's 1997 debacle; MLB should be embarrassed to have such erratic and amateurish umpiring in such an important game.]
Boston 3rd: Varitek opens the inning by jumping on a hanging curve and hitting it into the upper deck in left field. Tie game 1-1. Damon walks on five pitches and scampers to third as Walker singles past Johnson into right field. Nomar forces Damon at third and Ramirez walks on four pitches to load the bases. Ortiz wastes no time, smacking Pettitte's first pitch over Jeter into left field (Boston 3-1). Millar follows with a single to shallow center and Boston leads 4-1.
New York 4th: With a 3-run lead, Burkett has an easy 3rd (allowing only a 2-out single to Jeter), but he comes undone in the 4th. Williams grounds out on a fine play by Millar along the first base line. Posada singles to right and Matsui singles to left center. Burkett falls behind Johnson 3-0 (getting squeezed on balls 2 and 3) and is forced to come in over the plate. Johnson crushes a ground rule double to right center. Posada scores and when Matsui crosses on Boone's ground out, the Red Sox lead is cut to 4-3. With two outs, Garcia grounds to shortstop, but Nomar boots it behind the bag and New York has runners at 1st and 3rd. Grady has had Arroyo warming in the pen since Johnson's double, but he allows Burkett to face Soriano, who has battered him in his short career (9-for-14, 1.714 OPS!). It is a questionable move (or non-move), but one entirely consistent with Grady's conservative approach this season. Soriano lines Burkett's first pitch to the left center field wall, Johnson and Garcia score and the Yankees retake the lead 5-4. Grady comes out and replaces Burkett with Arroyo. He walks Jeter but strikes out Giambi in an 8-pitch at-bat.
New York 5th: Posada hits an opposite field home run to left off Arroyo (McCarver the Unprepared refers to him as "Brandon" Arroyo) and New York extends its lead to 6-4.
Boston 6th: Pettitte is gone after five innings and 91 pitches. The big question is whether Contreras can pitch effectively for two or three innings until Rivera can close it out. Contreras pitches a strong 6th: Nixon is called out on a tailing fastball, Varitek strikes out on a splitter and after Damon walks, Walker strikes out on a fastball away.
New York 6th: Todd Jones makes his first appearance of the post-season (great *&%$# idea, Gump!) Jones strikes out Garcia, but Soriano singles to center and Jeter walks. Gump goes to Embree and the Boston infield shifts over to the right side against Giambi. I think this is a bad idea, because it leaves third base uncovered against a possible steal and with only one out, the infield should play for a possible groundball (and DP). But this is a bad move because it potentially gives the Yankees extra bases when they are already up 6-4. ... Sure enough, on the first pitch to Giambi (a called strike), Soriano and Jeter pull a double steal (without a throw to either base) and the double play is now out of the question. This is a huge moment in the game; a single could put the Yankees up by four runs. Embree battles Giambi and fans him on a 97 mph fastball for the 2nd out. Williams hits a hard grounder to Mueller at third, but he makes a nice play and the New York rally is snuffed out.
Boston 7th: Contreras begins his second inning and is hit hard. Garciaparra slams his first pitch over Williams's head to the center field wall for a triple. The ball bounces back towards the infield. Matsui runs over from left, grabs the ball, whirls and heaves it into the third base stands for an error. Nomar scores and Boston is within one run, 6-5. Ramirez also slams the first pitch over Williams's head for a standup double. Contreras uncorks a wild pitch with Ortiz batting (it's only his 3rd pitch of the inning) and Manny trots to third. On a full count, Ortiz hits a smash off the first base bag. The ball sails high into the air and lands in short right field. Manny scores and the game is tied at 6-6. Millar flies out to right, Mueller singles past Jeter into center and Contreras's day is done. Heredia gets Nixon looking, but after intentionally walking Varitek to load the bases, Heredia walks Damon on four pitches to give the Red Sox the go-ahead run. Walker strikes out, but Boston now holds a slim 7-6 lead.
New York 7th: Embree is still on the hill; good move by Grady. He should stay in to face Posdada, Matsui and Johnson. And those are the only batters he faces. Posada grounds to second, Matsui singles to shallow left, and Johnson (a selective batter who is already 3-for-3) grounds into a double play, shortstop unassisted to first. Inning over.
New York 8th: Timlin relieves Embree, with Wakefield warming up (probably a psychological ploy). Boone falls behind 0-2, takes two balls and strikes out on a pitch in the dirt. Garcia singles to left and is forced at second by Soriano. With Jeter at the plate, Soriano steals second right away. Jeter fouls a pitch off his foot and is down 0-2. He hits the ball hard to Mueller at third, who bobbles it slightly, but throws to first to nip Jeter for the third out. [Note to Fox: In a pressure situation, with a chance to tie the game, the New Mr. October has failed.]
Boston 9th: Nelson strikes out Nixon swinging to start the inning, but Mueller lines a double into the left center field gap. Torre brings in lefty Gabe White to face Nixon. Grady stays with Trot, who looks at strike one, fouls a pitch off, takes ball one, then launches a huge home run into the 3rd deck in right field. Yankee Stadium goes silent as Boston takes a 9-6 lead.
New York 9th: Scott Williamson is on to close the game with a 3-run lead. Giambi falls behind 0-2, runs the count full, but goes down swinging on a 95 mph heater. Williams pops an 1-0 pitch into shallow center. Damon jogs in, slips and as he falls he catches the ball. He ends up on his back, smiling. Two outs. Posada flies out harmlessly to center on a 1-1 pitch and at 8:16, Boston wins Game Six.
Damon doubled with two outs in the top of the 9th but was stranded at second base. It was Boston's 16th hit of the afternoon. Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit; Nomar had 4, Mueller 3 and Millar and Ortiz 2 each (Damon also had 3 walks). The bats appear to be out of hibernation -- better late than never -- and that is the best news of the day. Just an average Red Sox offense should be enough to win the pennant.
So here we are. Thursday night. 8:18 pm. Game 7. American League Championship Series. Boston Red Sox v New York Yankees. Pedro Martinez v Roger Clemens. The winner will host the Florida Marlins in Game 1 of the World Series on Saturday.
Boston 1st: Damon and Walker both swing at pitches at their ankles and ground out. The slumping Garciaparra is on top of two Pettitte fastballs, fouling them off, before poking a pitch into right field for a single. Ramirez grounds out, but Nomar's hit is a good sign.
New York 1st: With a 25-mph wind blowing out to both left and right, Giambi lifts a solo home run over the right center field wall (Yankees 1-0). Early on, Burkett is not getting calls on the corner. An inside pitch to Jeter is called a ball, while a similar pitch was called a strike on Ramirez. [My notes are full of exclamation points about the horrible calls made by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. The strike zone changed shape so many times, and Hernandez blew so mnay calls, it's impossible to say which team, if either one, had the upper hand. Hernandez's performance ranks down there with Eric Gregg's 1997 debacle; MLB should be embarrassed to have such erratic and amateurish umpiring in such an important game.]
Boston 3rd: Varitek opens the inning by jumping on a hanging curve and hitting it into the upper deck in left field. Tie game 1-1. Damon walks on five pitches and scampers to third as Walker singles past Johnson into right field. Nomar forces Damon at third and Ramirez walks on four pitches to load the bases. Ortiz wastes no time, smacking Pettitte's first pitch over Jeter into left field (Boston 3-1). Millar follows with a single to shallow center and Boston leads 4-1.
New York 4th: With a 3-run lead, Burkett has an easy 3rd (allowing only a 2-out single to Jeter), but he comes undone in the 4th. Williams grounds out on a fine play by Millar along the first base line. Posada singles to right and Matsui singles to left center. Burkett falls behind Johnson 3-0 (getting squeezed on balls 2 and 3) and is forced to come in over the plate. Johnson crushes a ground rule double to right center. Posada scores and when Matsui crosses on Boone's ground out, the Red Sox lead is cut to 4-3. With two outs, Garcia grounds to shortstop, but Nomar boots it behind the bag and New York has runners at 1st and 3rd. Grady has had Arroyo warming in the pen since Johnson's double, but he allows Burkett to face Soriano, who has battered him in his short career (9-for-14, 1.714 OPS!). It is a questionable move (or non-move), but one entirely consistent with Grady's conservative approach this season. Soriano lines Burkett's first pitch to the left center field wall, Johnson and Garcia score and the Yankees retake the lead 5-4. Grady comes out and replaces Burkett with Arroyo. He walks Jeter but strikes out Giambi in an 8-pitch at-bat.
New York 5th: Posada hits an opposite field home run to left off Arroyo (McCarver the Unprepared refers to him as "Brandon" Arroyo) and New York extends its lead to 6-4.
Boston 6th: Pettitte is gone after five innings and 91 pitches. The big question is whether Contreras can pitch effectively for two or three innings until Rivera can close it out. Contreras pitches a strong 6th: Nixon is called out on a tailing fastball, Varitek strikes out on a splitter and after Damon walks, Walker strikes out on a fastball away.
New York 6th: Todd Jones makes his first appearance of the post-season (great *&%$# idea, Gump!) Jones strikes out Garcia, but Soriano singles to center and Jeter walks. Gump goes to Embree and the Boston infield shifts over to the right side against Giambi. I think this is a bad idea, because it leaves third base uncovered against a possible steal and with only one out, the infield should play for a possible groundball (and DP). But this is a bad move because it potentially gives the Yankees extra bases when they are already up 6-4. ... Sure enough, on the first pitch to Giambi (a called strike), Soriano and Jeter pull a double steal (without a throw to either base) and the double play is now out of the question. This is a huge moment in the game; a single could put the Yankees up by four runs. Embree battles Giambi and fans him on a 97 mph fastball for the 2nd out. Williams hits a hard grounder to Mueller at third, but he makes a nice play and the New York rally is snuffed out.
Boston 7th: Contreras begins his second inning and is hit hard. Garciaparra slams his first pitch over Williams's head to the center field wall for a triple. The ball bounces back towards the infield. Matsui runs over from left, grabs the ball, whirls and heaves it into the third base stands for an error. Nomar scores and Boston is within one run, 6-5. Ramirez also slams the first pitch over Williams's head for a standup double. Contreras uncorks a wild pitch with Ortiz batting (it's only his 3rd pitch of the inning) and Manny trots to third. On a full count, Ortiz hits a smash off the first base bag. The ball sails high into the air and lands in short right field. Manny scores and the game is tied at 6-6. Millar flies out to right, Mueller singles past Jeter into center and Contreras's day is done. Heredia gets Nixon looking, but after intentionally walking Varitek to load the bases, Heredia walks Damon on four pitches to give the Red Sox the go-ahead run. Walker strikes out, but Boston now holds a slim 7-6 lead.
New York 7th: Embree is still on the hill; good move by Grady. He should stay in to face Posdada, Matsui and Johnson. And those are the only batters he faces. Posada grounds to second, Matsui singles to shallow left, and Johnson (a selective batter who is already 3-for-3) grounds into a double play, shortstop unassisted to first. Inning over.
New York 8th: Timlin relieves Embree, with Wakefield warming up (probably a psychological ploy). Boone falls behind 0-2, takes two balls and strikes out on a pitch in the dirt. Garcia singles to left and is forced at second by Soriano. With Jeter at the plate, Soriano steals second right away. Jeter fouls a pitch off his foot and is down 0-2. He hits the ball hard to Mueller at third, who bobbles it slightly, but throws to first to nip Jeter for the third out. [Note to Fox: In a pressure situation, with a chance to tie the game, the New Mr. October has failed.]
Boston 9th: Nelson strikes out Nixon swinging to start the inning, but Mueller lines a double into the left center field gap. Torre brings in lefty Gabe White to face Nixon. Grady stays with Trot, who looks at strike one, fouls a pitch off, takes ball one, then launches a huge home run into the 3rd deck in right field. Yankee Stadium goes silent as Boston takes a 9-6 lead.
New York 9th: Scott Williamson is on to close the game with a 3-run lead. Giambi falls behind 0-2, runs the count full, but goes down swinging on a 95 mph heater. Williams pops an 1-0 pitch into shallow center. Damon jogs in, slips and as he falls he catches the ball. He ends up on his back, smiling. Two outs. Posada flies out harmlessly to center on a 1-1 pitch and at 8:16, Boston wins Game Six.
Damon doubled with two outs in the top of the 9th but was stranded at second base. It was Boston's 16th hit of the afternoon. Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit; Nomar had 4, Mueller 3 and Millar and Ortiz 2 each (Damon also had 3 walks). The bats appear to be out of hibernation -- better late than never -- and that is the best news of the day. Just an average Red Sox offense should be enough to win the pennant.
So here we are. Thursday night. 8:18 pm. Game 7. American League Championship Series. Boston Red Sox v New York Yankees. Pedro Martinez v Roger Clemens. The winner will host the Florida Marlins in Game 1 of the World Series on Saturday.
10.15.2003
Strong Convictions Precede Great Actions. Faith may be irrational, but I have it. I had it during the ALDS; I truly believed Boston would come back and beat the A's. Now, facing the Yankees and completely frustrated by the AWOL Boston bats, I know the Red Sox can win this afternoon's Game 6 in the Bronx. And that's the only game I'm concerned about today. Faith.
"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today; Let us move forward with strong and active faith." Franklin D. Roosevelt
"All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions." James Freeman Clarke
"If you have abandoned one faith, do not abandon all faith. There is always an alternative to the faith we lose. Or is it the same faith under another mask?" Graham Greene
Reasons for faith?
April 6: After losing a Pedro start 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th, Boston rebounds and beats Baltimore 12-2.
April 15: Boston blows a 5-1 to the Devil Rays in the 8th inning, but Hillenbrand's bases-loaded single wins the game 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th.
April 20: Toronto leads 5-0 in the 5th. Boston ties the game 5-5 in the 7th on Garciaparra's 2-run double. Nomar then blasts a home run leading off the bottom of the 9th to win the game.
April 27: In Anaheim, Boston (up 4-1) allows single runs to the Angels in the 7th, 8th and 9th, but back-to-back home runs by Ortiz and Varitek give the Red Sox a 6-4 victory in 11 innings.
April 30: Boston trails Kansas City 2-1 after 8 innings. The Royals add two runs off Mendoza and Lyon in the top of the 9th, but the Red Sox answer with 3 runs: Walker singles, Garciaparra is hit by a pitch, Ramirez doubles, Millar hits a sacrifice fly, Hillenbrand is hit by a pitch, Damon is hit by a pitch, and Varitek reaches on an error as the winning run scores.
May 26: Boston pounds Clemens for 10 hits and 8 runs in 5.2 innings. The Red Sox win 8-4 as Fat Billy fails to record career win #300.
June 7: After six innings in Milwaukee, the Red Sox trail the Brewers 10-5. Millar hits a pinch-hit grand slam in the 7th and Nixon and Varitek hit consecutive home runs in the 9th and Boston wins 11-10.
June 12: Boston eventually loses this game, but it is one of my favorites of 2003. St. Louis leads 3-0 in Fenway, but Boston scores 3 in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game. The Cardinals score 2 on J.D. Drew's HR in the top of the 10th and Boston matches it with 2 in the home half. Jim Edmonds hits a long 3-run home run in 13th. Boston rallies: Ramirez walks, Millar singles, Nixon singles (run), Mueller grounded into double play (run), Giambi walkes, Varitek walks intentionally, Damon pops to right. Boston falls 8-7.
July 5: Boston beats Clemens like a drum once again (5.1, 8R, 6H) 10-2, one day after tagging New York for a Yankee Stadium-record 7 home runs.
July 19: Boston gets single runs in the 9th (Nomar singles, steals second and scores on Manny's hit) and 10th (Kapler runs for Giambi (who singled), steals second and scores on Nixon's single) and beat the Blue Jays 5-4.
July 26: After blowing a 4-0 lead to the Yankees, pinch-hitter David Ortiz doubles off the Monster against Benitez in the bottom of the 9th. Jeremy Giambi (who had just stolen the first base of his career) scores and Boston wins 5-4.
July 27: Boston trails the Yankees 3-0 in the 7th inning. Facing a succession of New York pitchers -- Weaver, Hammond, Benitez and Orosco -- the Red Sox bang out six runs (Varitek 3-run HR, Damon 2-run HR, Ortiz 2-run triple) and top the Yankees 6-4.
August 22-25: Boston sweeps Seattle: 6-4, 7-6, 6-1 and 8-1.
September 1: In the first game of a crucial road trip, Boston trails Philadelphia 9-7 after 8 innings. Thanks in part to Nixon's grand slam, the Red Sox score 6 runs and beat the Phillies 13-9. The Final Inning: Mirabelli walks. Damon lines out to shortstop. Jackson singles to right, Mirabelli to second. Mesa throws wild pitch, Mirabelli to third, Jackson to second. Garciaparra intentionally walked. Merloni reaches on infield single to third, Mirabelli scored, Jackson to third, Garciaparra to second. Wendell relieves Mesa. Millar walks, Jackson scored, Garciaparra to third, Merloni to second. Nixon homers to right, Garciaparra, Merloni, Millar and Nixon scored. Mueller singles to left. Kim lines into double play to first.
September 3: David Ortiz homers in consecutive at-bats, including a solo shot in the 10th inning as Boston beats the White Sox 5-4.
September 23: Baltimore leads 5-2, but the Red Sox rally in their final at-bat. Todd Walker belts a 2-strike, 2-out, game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th and David Ortiz leads off the bottom of the 10th with a solo bomb into the Monster seats. Boston wins 6-5 and the Red Sox clinch the wild card two days later.
Slightly out of order for a reason:
September 4 & 5: Boston beats New York in consecutive games, shelling both Pettitte (2.1IP, 9H, 8R) 9-3 and Clemens (3.1IP, 7H, 7R) 11-0.
September 19 & 21: Boston shuts out Cleveland 2-0 twice in three days. The two games are pitched by Burkett (7 IP, 3H) and Martinez (7IP, 4H, 11K).
Match-ups for the two games in New York: Burkett/Pettitte and Martinez/Clemens.
It can be done. It will be done. Faith.
"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today; Let us move forward with strong and active faith." Franklin D. Roosevelt
"All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions." James Freeman Clarke
"If you have abandoned one faith, do not abandon all faith. There is always an alternative to the faith we lose. Or is it the same faith under another mask?" Graham Greene
Reasons for faith?
April 6: After losing a Pedro start 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th, Boston rebounds and beats Baltimore 12-2.
April 15: Boston blows a 5-1 to the Devil Rays in the 8th inning, but Hillenbrand's bases-loaded single wins the game 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th.
April 20: Toronto leads 5-0 in the 5th. Boston ties the game 5-5 in the 7th on Garciaparra's 2-run double. Nomar then blasts a home run leading off the bottom of the 9th to win the game.
April 27: In Anaheim, Boston (up 4-1) allows single runs to the Angels in the 7th, 8th and 9th, but back-to-back home runs by Ortiz and Varitek give the Red Sox a 6-4 victory in 11 innings.
April 30: Boston trails Kansas City 2-1 after 8 innings. The Royals add two runs off Mendoza and Lyon in the top of the 9th, but the Red Sox answer with 3 runs: Walker singles, Garciaparra is hit by a pitch, Ramirez doubles, Millar hits a sacrifice fly, Hillenbrand is hit by a pitch, Damon is hit by a pitch, and Varitek reaches on an error as the winning run scores.
May 26: Boston pounds Clemens for 10 hits and 8 runs in 5.2 innings. The Red Sox win 8-4 as Fat Billy fails to record career win #300.
June 7: After six innings in Milwaukee, the Red Sox trail the Brewers 10-5. Millar hits a pinch-hit grand slam in the 7th and Nixon and Varitek hit consecutive home runs in the 9th and Boston wins 11-10.
June 12: Boston eventually loses this game, but it is one of my favorites of 2003. St. Louis leads 3-0 in Fenway, but Boston scores 3 in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game. The Cardinals score 2 on J.D. Drew's HR in the top of the 10th and Boston matches it with 2 in the home half. Jim Edmonds hits a long 3-run home run in 13th. Boston rallies: Ramirez walks, Millar singles, Nixon singles (run), Mueller grounded into double play (run), Giambi walkes, Varitek walks intentionally, Damon pops to right. Boston falls 8-7.
July 5: Boston beats Clemens like a drum once again (5.1, 8R, 6H) 10-2, one day after tagging New York for a Yankee Stadium-record 7 home runs.
July 19: Boston gets single runs in the 9th (Nomar singles, steals second and scores on Manny's hit) and 10th (Kapler runs for Giambi (who singled), steals second and scores on Nixon's single) and beat the Blue Jays 5-4.
July 26: After blowing a 4-0 lead to the Yankees, pinch-hitter David Ortiz doubles off the Monster against Benitez in the bottom of the 9th. Jeremy Giambi (who had just stolen the first base of his career) scores and Boston wins 5-4.
July 27: Boston trails the Yankees 3-0 in the 7th inning. Facing a succession of New York pitchers -- Weaver, Hammond, Benitez and Orosco -- the Red Sox bang out six runs (Varitek 3-run HR, Damon 2-run HR, Ortiz 2-run triple) and top the Yankees 6-4.
August 22-25: Boston sweeps Seattle: 6-4, 7-6, 6-1 and 8-1.
September 1: In the first game of a crucial road trip, Boston trails Philadelphia 9-7 after 8 innings. Thanks in part to Nixon's grand slam, the Red Sox score 6 runs and beat the Phillies 13-9. The Final Inning: Mirabelli walks. Damon lines out to shortstop. Jackson singles to right, Mirabelli to second. Mesa throws wild pitch, Mirabelli to third, Jackson to second. Garciaparra intentionally walked. Merloni reaches on infield single to third, Mirabelli scored, Jackson to third, Garciaparra to second. Wendell relieves Mesa. Millar walks, Jackson scored, Garciaparra to third, Merloni to second. Nixon homers to right, Garciaparra, Merloni, Millar and Nixon scored. Mueller singles to left. Kim lines into double play to first.
September 3: David Ortiz homers in consecutive at-bats, including a solo shot in the 10th inning as Boston beats the White Sox 5-4.
September 23: Baltimore leads 5-2, but the Red Sox rally in their final at-bat. Todd Walker belts a 2-strike, 2-out, game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th and David Ortiz leads off the bottom of the 10th with a solo bomb into the Monster seats. Boston wins 6-5 and the Red Sox clinch the wild card two days later.
Slightly out of order for a reason:
September 4 & 5: Boston beats New York in consecutive games, shelling both Pettitte (2.1IP, 9H, 8R) 9-3 and Clemens (3.1IP, 7H, 7R) 11-0.
September 19 & 21: Boston shuts out Cleveland 2-0 twice in three days. The two games are pitched by Burkett (7 IP, 3H) and Martinez (7IP, 4H, 11K).
Match-ups for the two games in New York: Burkett/Pettitte and Martinez/Clemens.
It can be done. It will be done. Faith.
10.14.2003
Game 4 Scorecard.
1st Inning: Soriano walks, Jeter singles. Giambi rips a line shot right at Millar, who gets the easy unassisted double play. Whew.
2nd Inning: Bret Boone (on Fox) says he admires Zimmer for going after Pedro on Saturday, saying the coach was "sticking up for his team ... protecting his guys." So Boone believes coaches attacking opposing players is a good thing for baseball?
3rd Inning: Nixon singles to lead off. Mueller falls behind 0-2, but takes 3 straight pitches to run the count full. I tell my TV that Gump better not call for another hit-and-run. On Mussina's 7th pitch, Nixon takes off for second. Mueller swings and misses and Nixon is a dead duck at second. This is the 3rd straight game Grady has tried a hit-and-run in the early innings and it has failed every time (though Mueller at least swung at this pitch).
4th Inning: Boston loses a chance to pad its 1-0 lead when Soriano snares a sizzling grounder by Ortiz and turns a 4-6-3 DP to end the inning.
5th Inning: With one out, Dellucci singles, Soraiano singles and Jeter doubles off the 3B bag. One run scores and it's 1-1. If the ball had missed the bag and gone into the corner, Soriano probably would have scored, but he had to hold at third. The slumping Giambi (dubbed Miss-ter October in the tabloids) pops to shallow center. Damon catches it and although he has a noodle arm, Willie Randolph does not send Soriano. Damon's throw is predictably lame, dying in the infield and rolling towards the 3B line. Soriano would have scored easily.
7th Inning: With Boston ahead 2-1, Joe Buck is praising Mussina's pitching performance. He notes the Yankees bullpen is up and says "the Red Sox hitters might carry Heredia into the game to get rid of Mussina." It doesn't dawn on Buck that Mussina is both losing the game 2-1 and being outpitched by Wakefield. Buck also implies several times that Pedro has not spoken to the media about the Zimmer altercation, which is a lie.
7th Inning: Tim McCarver begins calling a different game that the one being shown on my TV. Millar walks with one out and Nixon hits a double off the wall. Matsui misplays the ball, but the run doesn't score, and McCarver says he made a great play. Mueller, mired in a horrific slump, is walked intentionally (thank you Joe Torre!) and Varitek comes jogging in from the bullpen, catcher's gear still on and an equipment bag slung over his shoulder. He will pinch-hit for Mirabelli. (Didn't the Sox have a coach that could carry that bag?) McCarver: "If Varitek comes in, you have to pull Wakefield." Whaaaa? Mirabelli caught Wakefield most of this season, but Varitek has caught him for years and there is no rule mandating a change of pitchers when a replacement catcher comes in. Weird.
Varitek slaps a 1-0 pitch to shortstop. Jeter moves one step to his right, gloves the ball and throws to Soriano, who makes a poor throw to first. Varitek beats the throw (a double play would have ended the inning) and Millar scores to put Boston up 3-1. McCarver makes no mention of the insurance run as his Yankee Love goes into overdrive. He blathers on and on about the great play Jeter made (one, maybe two, steps to his right!) and when he isn't talking about the Captain, he's singing the pitch-blocking talents of Posada (who went 0-4 versus Wakefield).
9th Inning: That insurance run becomes very large as Sierra homers off Williamson to bring New York within one run 3-2. But the Red Sox's new closer strikes out Dellucci for the 2nd out and gets the undisciplined Soirano to wave at three identical pitches (off the plate and down). Williamson was throwing 96 earlier in the inning, but the final pitches to Soriano are about 89-90. The game is over and the series is tied.
Tom Swany, sitting in the right-field box seats on Saturday, said Jeff Nelson and Jeff Weaver had been exchanging words with fans earlier in the game, before the ninth-inning brawl. "Earlier, he was mouthing to fans. He would talk back to them." As for who started the brawl inside the bullpen: "It was Nelson. No question."
Praise the God Squad. ... The Red Sox bullpen postseason ERA is 1.09. Hitters are batting .127. Timlin has retired all 22 batters he has faced, allowing only five balls out of the infield. Yet Ron Chimelis writes: "No wonder the Boston Red Sox are having so much trouble keeping pace with the New York Yankees. Every game for the Red Sox is a nine-inning adventure, a mix-and-match test of a bullpen that has been stellar in the postseason, but remains loaded with question marks." Maybe he was watching the game with McCarver.
Speaking of Chimelis, I saw the headline of his column "Pedro, Manny: Grow Up" and got worried. But it turns out I agree with a lot of what he said. Martinez and Ramirez should come out and say "I'm sorry for my actions"; they will likely get blasted even if they do for (a) not being sincere (more media mind-reading) and (b) taking too long to do it. Here's Chimelis: "It's sad when Don Zimmer becomes our example of honor. This supposedly proud man hasn't been too proud to collect a paycheck for essentially doing nothing but serving as team mascot. Zimmer reached age 72 without ever having to grow up, which can happen when you never have a job outside of baseball. He went looking for trouble, and Pedro had every right to defend himself. The next day, Zimmer faced the media, turned on the waterworks and refused to answer questions. But give him credit. At least he said something, and now he's a national treasure again."
Could Wakefield pitch in relief in Games 6 and/or 7? "Right now I feel great. But I may be running on adrenaline. I always have my spikes on, so we'll see how I feel tomorrow. ... I could be available." ... Pedro will not be moved up to Game 6.
New Rally Footage? "Bill Cosby, a longtime associate of Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, toured the room, stopping at nearly every player's locker, telling jokes. When he got to team prankster/head cowboy Kevin Millar, Millar unveiled his imitation of the comedian, sending Cosby and the rest of the team into hysterics." ... Did Cosby call a Sox fan a coward?
Dave Anderson of the New York Times wrote a thinly-veiled exhortation for Yankees fans to bring batteries to Game 7 and throw them at Pedro. Anderson hopes the series ends in six games "if only to eliminate the possibility of an ugly scene. Should a decisive Game 7 occur Thursday night at Yankee Stadium, all the commotion last Saturday at Fenway Park might resemble a tea-and-crumpets party compared with what could develop with Pedro Martinez on the mound for the Red Sox and a World Series berth up for grabs. ... Over the years, fans at Yankee Stadium have never been known to be hospitable to visiting villains. Forget the usual heated boos. Those boos are polite compared with the little batteries that some outfielders in gray uniforms have had fired at them from the grandstand and the bleachers. And in a Game 7, Pedro Martinez would be a visiting villain unlike any other. ... Names or even nicknames will never hurt Martinez, but in the absence of sticks and stones, a battery might. When he's on the mound or when he warms up in the bullpen, he would be within range of any Yankees loyalist with a good arm. But if there's no Game 7, Pedro the Perpetrator will be safe. Until next season."
1st Inning: Soriano walks, Jeter singles. Giambi rips a line shot right at Millar, who gets the easy unassisted double play. Whew.
2nd Inning: Bret Boone (on Fox) says he admires Zimmer for going after Pedro on Saturday, saying the coach was "sticking up for his team ... protecting his guys." So Boone believes coaches attacking opposing players is a good thing for baseball?
3rd Inning: Nixon singles to lead off. Mueller falls behind 0-2, but takes 3 straight pitches to run the count full. I tell my TV that Gump better not call for another hit-and-run. On Mussina's 7th pitch, Nixon takes off for second. Mueller swings and misses and Nixon is a dead duck at second. This is the 3rd straight game Grady has tried a hit-and-run in the early innings and it has failed every time (though Mueller at least swung at this pitch).
4th Inning: Boston loses a chance to pad its 1-0 lead when Soriano snares a sizzling grounder by Ortiz and turns a 4-6-3 DP to end the inning.
5th Inning: With one out, Dellucci singles, Soraiano singles and Jeter doubles off the 3B bag. One run scores and it's 1-1. If the ball had missed the bag and gone into the corner, Soriano probably would have scored, but he had to hold at third. The slumping Giambi (dubbed Miss-ter October in the tabloids) pops to shallow center. Damon catches it and although he has a noodle arm, Willie Randolph does not send Soriano. Damon's throw is predictably lame, dying in the infield and rolling towards the 3B line. Soriano would have scored easily.
7th Inning: With Boston ahead 2-1, Joe Buck is praising Mussina's pitching performance. He notes the Yankees bullpen is up and says "the Red Sox hitters might carry Heredia into the game to get rid of Mussina." It doesn't dawn on Buck that Mussina is both losing the game 2-1 and being outpitched by Wakefield. Buck also implies several times that Pedro has not spoken to the media about the Zimmer altercation, which is a lie.
7th Inning: Tim McCarver begins calling a different game that the one being shown on my TV. Millar walks with one out and Nixon hits a double off the wall. Matsui misplays the ball, but the run doesn't score, and McCarver says he made a great play. Mueller, mired in a horrific slump, is walked intentionally (thank you Joe Torre!) and Varitek comes jogging in from the bullpen, catcher's gear still on and an equipment bag slung over his shoulder. He will pinch-hit for Mirabelli. (Didn't the Sox have a coach that could carry that bag?) McCarver: "If Varitek comes in, you have to pull Wakefield." Whaaaa? Mirabelli caught Wakefield most of this season, but Varitek has caught him for years and there is no rule mandating a change of pitchers when a replacement catcher comes in. Weird.
Varitek slaps a 1-0 pitch to shortstop. Jeter moves one step to his right, gloves the ball and throws to Soriano, who makes a poor throw to first. Varitek beats the throw (a double play would have ended the inning) and Millar scores to put Boston up 3-1. McCarver makes no mention of the insurance run as his Yankee Love goes into overdrive. He blathers on and on about the great play Jeter made (one, maybe two, steps to his right!) and when he isn't talking about the Captain, he's singing the pitch-blocking talents of Posada (who went 0-4 versus Wakefield).
9th Inning: That insurance run becomes very large as Sierra homers off Williamson to bring New York within one run 3-2. But the Red Sox's new closer strikes out Dellucci for the 2nd out and gets the undisciplined Soirano to wave at three identical pitches (off the plate and down). Williamson was throwing 96 earlier in the inning, but the final pitches to Soriano are about 89-90. The game is over and the series is tied.
Tom Swany, sitting in the right-field box seats on Saturday, said Jeff Nelson and Jeff Weaver had been exchanging words with fans earlier in the game, before the ninth-inning brawl. "Earlier, he was mouthing to fans. He would talk back to them." As for who started the brawl inside the bullpen: "It was Nelson. No question."
Praise the God Squad. ... The Red Sox bullpen postseason ERA is 1.09. Hitters are batting .127. Timlin has retired all 22 batters he has faced, allowing only five balls out of the infield. Yet Ron Chimelis writes: "No wonder the Boston Red Sox are having so much trouble keeping pace with the New York Yankees. Every game for the Red Sox is a nine-inning adventure, a mix-and-match test of a bullpen that has been stellar in the postseason, but remains loaded with question marks." Maybe he was watching the game with McCarver.
Speaking of Chimelis, I saw the headline of his column "Pedro, Manny: Grow Up" and got worried. But it turns out I agree with a lot of what he said. Martinez and Ramirez should come out and say "I'm sorry for my actions"; they will likely get blasted even if they do for (a) not being sincere (more media mind-reading) and (b) taking too long to do it. Here's Chimelis: "It's sad when Don Zimmer becomes our example of honor. This supposedly proud man hasn't been too proud to collect a paycheck for essentially doing nothing but serving as team mascot. Zimmer reached age 72 without ever having to grow up, which can happen when you never have a job outside of baseball. He went looking for trouble, and Pedro had every right to defend himself. The next day, Zimmer faced the media, turned on the waterworks and refused to answer questions. But give him credit. At least he said something, and now he's a national treasure again."
Could Wakefield pitch in relief in Games 6 and/or 7? "Right now I feel great. But I may be running on adrenaline. I always have my spikes on, so we'll see how I feel tomorrow. ... I could be available." ... Pedro will not be moved up to Game 6.
New Rally Footage? "Bill Cosby, a longtime associate of Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, toured the room, stopping at nearly every player's locker, telling jokes. When he got to team prankster/head cowboy Kevin Millar, Millar unveiled his imitation of the comedian, sending Cosby and the rest of the team into hysterics." ... Did Cosby call a Sox fan a coward?
Dave Anderson of the New York Times wrote a thinly-veiled exhortation for Yankees fans to bring batteries to Game 7 and throw them at Pedro. Anderson hopes the series ends in six games "if only to eliminate the possibility of an ugly scene. Should a decisive Game 7 occur Thursday night at Yankee Stadium, all the commotion last Saturday at Fenway Park might resemble a tea-and-crumpets party compared with what could develop with Pedro Martinez on the mound for the Red Sox and a World Series berth up for grabs. ... Over the years, fans at Yankee Stadium have never been known to be hospitable to visiting villains. Forget the usual heated boos. Those boos are polite compared with the little batteries that some outfielders in gray uniforms have had fired at them from the grandstand and the bleachers. And in a Game 7, Pedro Martinez would be a visiting villain unlike any other. ... Names or even nicknames will never hurt Martinez, but in the absence of sticks and stones, a battery might. When he's on the mound or when he warms up in the bullpen, he would be within range of any Yankees loyalist with a good arm. But if there's no Game 7, Pedro the Perpetrator will be safe. Until next season."
Zimmer on Clemens Beaning Piazza. Thanks to the delightfully named Kiss My Aase:
USAToday: Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer, hit in the head twice during his playing career in the 1950s and was once in a coma for 13 days after being beaned, said he got a "sick feeling" when Clemens hit Piazza. "There's no doubt he was trying to pitch him tight," Zimmer said. "There's also no doubt that no one felt worse about it than Roger Clemens."
The New York Times: "I don't believe there's a human being in professional baseball who would throw a ball hoping to hit a man in the head," Zimmer writes. "I was disappointed with Piazza coming out and saying Clemens threw at him on purpose. What's Clemens supposed to do? Throw the ball over the plate so Piazza can keep hitting home runs off him -- or make him feel uncomfortable? I've been hit in the head twice, and without the benefit of a protective helmet. The problem you have in baseball today is that hitters don't know how to get out of the way of pitches because pitchers are afraid to pitch inside anymore. ... As for the bat-throwing incident, do you think Clemens was going to throw that bat at Piazza if he was standing at home plate? He had no idea Piazza was in the first-base path. If he were deliberately throwing the bat at Piazza, he would have hit him. Clemens has been made a villain in all of this because he pitches inside. I think that's unfair."
Zimmer is a joke, a clown and a hypocrite.
USAToday: Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer, hit in the head twice during his playing career in the 1950s and was once in a coma for 13 days after being beaned, said he got a "sick feeling" when Clemens hit Piazza. "There's no doubt he was trying to pitch him tight," Zimmer said. "There's also no doubt that no one felt worse about it than Roger Clemens."
The New York Times: "I don't believe there's a human being in professional baseball who would throw a ball hoping to hit a man in the head," Zimmer writes. "I was disappointed with Piazza coming out and saying Clemens threw at him on purpose. What's Clemens supposed to do? Throw the ball over the plate so Piazza can keep hitting home runs off him -- or make him feel uncomfortable? I've been hit in the head twice, and without the benefit of a protective helmet. The problem you have in baseball today is that hitters don't know how to get out of the way of pitches because pitchers are afraid to pitch inside anymore. ... As for the bat-throwing incident, do you think Clemens was going to throw that bat at Piazza if he was standing at home plate? He had no idea Piazza was in the first-base path. If he were deliberately throwing the bat at Piazza, he would have hit him. Clemens has been made a villain in all of this because he pitches inside. I think that's unfair."
Zimmer is a joke, a clown and a hypocrite.
10.13.2003
Disorder In The House. Baseball players cannot win; they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Either they are out-of-touch millionaires who care only about their paychecks or they are overly exuberant after winning a playoff spot. They either don't hate their historic rivals like they used to in the "good old days" or they show their hatred for their historic rivals too much and are decried by holier-than-thou sportswriters who wish these players would play the game like they did in the "good old days."
Boston police detectives intend to appear in court on Tuesday to seek a complaint that could result in assault and battery charges against Yankees Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia for what was described as an "unprovoked attack" on a red Sox groundscrew member in the visitors bullpen. Nelson maintains he did nothing wrong. ... Despite a claim by Yankees president Randy Levine of an atmosphere of lawlessness at Fenway on Saturday, Sandy Alderson, the executive vice president of baseball operations, said "[S]ecurity was excellent. ... I just met with the Boston Police Department and Red Sox personnel and am very satisfied with the security here."
Tony Massarotti reports "reliable sources" confirmed that Garcia "cut his left hand while punching a member of the Fenway grounds crew in the mouth. ... According to the same sources, however, Garcia's cut was significant enough that it could have warranted stitches. The player then reportedly told medical officials treating him that he sustained the cut on one of Williams' teeth, discouraging medical personnel from stitching up the wound. Given the abundance of bacteria in the mouth, cuts resulting from bites or teeth marks are not closed for fear of infection." ... MLB's fines: Martinez: $50,000; Ramirez: $25,000; Garcia: $10,000; Zimmer: $5,000.
William C. Rhoden of the New York Times says dumping the DH will help lessen brushback/beanball incidents; a San Diego writer agrees, as did Tim McCarver on the Fox broadcast. Now, I hate the DH and would love to see it relagated to history's dust bin, but this is ridiculous. McCarver: "Baseball is easier to police itself when the pitcher has to hit. The designated hitter insulates guys without the fear of retaliation. Pedro needs to put a bat in his hands, but so does Roger (Clemens). Common sense will tell you guys will be less inclined to act like that if they knew there would be a price to pay." I do not agree. Not having a designated hitter did not stop Don Drysdale, Sal Maglie, Carl Mays, Bob Gibson or many, many others from pitching way inside. McCarver claimed the removal of the DH would solve this problem mere minutes of also stating that Pedro had a reputation as a head-hunter in the DH-less National League. McCarver's stunning lack of logic and contradictory statemets have been in full view this post-season. On Saturday, McCarver was convinced he knew what Pedro was saying when he gestured to the Yankees bench; however, unless a recording surfaces, what was said by all parties remains unclear (and as recounted above, McCarver may be 100% wrong). McCarver also stated Pedro threw purposefully at Garcia shortly after saying that throwing at Garcia would be the last thing a pitcher in that situation would want to do. In every broadcast, McCarver invents facts, ignores everything contrary to those self-created "facts" and often describes plays that flatly contradict what is being shown on the screen. McCarver, like the rest of Fox, is "fair and balanced." ... The most amazing thing about McCarver is that Red Sox fans believe he's "pro-Yankee" and has a bias against the Red Sox; Yankees fans hate him because he's so "anti-Yankee." Which means that in the two ALCS markets, 100% of the viewers can't stand McCarver.
Todd Jones was one of the first players at Zimmer's side and tried to help the coach up. "He said, 'I don't have a problem with any of you guys. I want to get Pedro.'" So there clearly was intent to harm Martinez. Zimmer's apology: "First of all, last night, we won a hell of a game, and the media gathered around me and I didn't want to be rude. I was hurting, and I had to get to the trainer's room, and I didn't want nothing to take away from the win that we had last night. I'm embarrassed of what happened yesterday. I'm embarrassed for the Yankees, the Red Sox, the fans, the umpires, and my family. That's all I have to say. I'm sorry."
After Zimmer's apology, Red Sox owner John Henry said: "I wouldn't mind seeing the same thing coming from our side just as conciliatory." It's likely that Henry has spoken with Pedro about this, but it appears an apology will not be forthcoming. Martinez: "I wish that no man has to apologize. It's not a good feeling to apologize. I don't know if you realize that. I think it was only a matter of time before [Zimmer] realized what he means to baseball and who he is. If you look back on the incident, I don't understand why he had so much [anger] with what went on in the game. I'm happy for him that he's OK."
Martinez said his actions had been misinterpreted. "I was just trying to pitch and actually get outs. I was the one in trouble (with runners on second and third and no out). I didn't need to dig myself a bigger hole (by putting another baserunner on). I just wanted to go inside. The previous batter (Matsui) got a hit to right field. I wasn't feeling all that well in the first three innings, and I tried to get inside. I wanted to get inside." And what was Pedro saying to Posada while pointing to his head? "'I remember everything you say,' that's what I said. 'I'll remember.' He was yelling stuff in Spanish and English and I'll remember that because he's pretended to be friendly when things are normal." Also here and here.
Interestingly, Posada appears to have confirmed Pedro's account to Mike Lupica: "... before long, Jorge Posada was yelling at Martinez and threatening to come after him and Martinez was yelling back and pointing to his head. "Was he threatening to hit you in the head next time up?" Posada was asked afterward. "Maybe he was telling me to use my head," Posada said." ... Another Yankee told Mike Lupica: "Garcia said he went over the wall, and said he hurt his hand. But I think maybe he left out the part about how on TV he sure looked to be punching the s--- out of somebody out there."
Martinez's high number of off-speed pitches in the first four innings was apparently by design, not due to fatigue or being unable to get loose. Gump: "When you pitch against a ballclub so many times like Pedro has, you have to do something different. ... He just made an adjustment in his plan to get hitters out. He remembers what he did in Oakland, and that was predominantly fastballs early on. He realizes what other teams are expecting and he tries to adjust to that."
Not only is Nomar not hitting in October, but he batted only .170 (16 for 94) in September. ... ESPN's Darren Rovell takes $200 and tries to scalp a ticket to Saturday's game. ... Do we see what we want to see? ... Theo Epstein said Zimmer's antics "reminded me of the '80s in winter ball when everyone was coked up. Not that I'm saying Don Zimmer is on drugs or anything." ... Adrian Wojnarowski of the Bergen Record writes that Zimmer "left the impression of a disoriented, doddering relative, the crazy uncle that unexpectedly loses it at the summer picnic, leaving himself to apologize over a tipped-over picnic table and potato-salad-stained grass. ... Everyone else had a good laugh at his expense, a cruel commentary on the pitiful picture of a 72-year-old man with a broken-down body lunging for Pedro Martinez, just to end up shoved down face first into the grass of Fenway Park. ... This hadn't been a moment of temporary insanity, but another instance of Zimmer determined to make himself the eye of the storm. ... Zimmer was the manager lording over a 14½-game collapse to the Yankees in 1978, responsible in Sox lore for letting a World Series season unravel one excruciating day at a time. ... [Zimmer is a] calculating self-promoter, desperate to stay in the spotlight. ... Ever since Torre hired him as bench coach, Zimmer has been creating his own chaos."
Check out the Boston Herald's articles on the 1903 World Series, including the game stories.
Boston police detectives intend to appear in court on Tuesday to seek a complaint that could result in assault and battery charges against Yankees Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia for what was described as an "unprovoked attack" on a red Sox groundscrew member in the visitors bullpen. Nelson maintains he did nothing wrong. ... Despite a claim by Yankees president Randy Levine of an atmosphere of lawlessness at Fenway on Saturday, Sandy Alderson, the executive vice president of baseball operations, said "[S]ecurity was excellent. ... I just met with the Boston Police Department and Red Sox personnel and am very satisfied with the security here."
Tony Massarotti reports "reliable sources" confirmed that Garcia "cut his left hand while punching a member of the Fenway grounds crew in the mouth. ... According to the same sources, however, Garcia's cut was significant enough that it could have warranted stitches. The player then reportedly told medical officials treating him that he sustained the cut on one of Williams' teeth, discouraging medical personnel from stitching up the wound. Given the abundance of bacteria in the mouth, cuts resulting from bites or teeth marks are not closed for fear of infection." ... MLB's fines: Martinez: $50,000; Ramirez: $25,000; Garcia: $10,000; Zimmer: $5,000.
William C. Rhoden of the New York Times says dumping the DH will help lessen brushback/beanball incidents; a San Diego writer agrees, as did Tim McCarver on the Fox broadcast. Now, I hate the DH and would love to see it relagated to history's dust bin, but this is ridiculous. McCarver: "Baseball is easier to police itself when the pitcher has to hit. The designated hitter insulates guys without the fear of retaliation. Pedro needs to put a bat in his hands, but so does Roger (Clemens). Common sense will tell you guys will be less inclined to act like that if they knew there would be a price to pay." I do not agree. Not having a designated hitter did not stop Don Drysdale, Sal Maglie, Carl Mays, Bob Gibson or many, many others from pitching way inside. McCarver claimed the removal of the DH would solve this problem mere minutes of also stating that Pedro had a reputation as a head-hunter in the DH-less National League. McCarver's stunning lack of logic and contradictory statemets have been in full view this post-season. On Saturday, McCarver was convinced he knew what Pedro was saying when he gestured to the Yankees bench; however, unless a recording surfaces, what was said by all parties remains unclear (and as recounted above, McCarver may be 100% wrong). McCarver also stated Pedro threw purposefully at Garcia shortly after saying that throwing at Garcia would be the last thing a pitcher in that situation would want to do. In every broadcast, McCarver invents facts, ignores everything contrary to those self-created "facts" and often describes plays that flatly contradict what is being shown on the screen. McCarver, like the rest of Fox, is "fair and balanced." ... The most amazing thing about McCarver is that Red Sox fans believe he's "pro-Yankee" and has a bias against the Red Sox; Yankees fans hate him because he's so "anti-Yankee." Which means that in the two ALCS markets, 100% of the viewers can't stand McCarver.
Todd Jones was one of the first players at Zimmer's side and tried to help the coach up. "He said, 'I don't have a problem with any of you guys. I want to get Pedro.'" So there clearly was intent to harm Martinez. Zimmer's apology: "First of all, last night, we won a hell of a game, and the media gathered around me and I didn't want to be rude. I was hurting, and I had to get to the trainer's room, and I didn't want nothing to take away from the win that we had last night. I'm embarrassed of what happened yesterday. I'm embarrassed for the Yankees, the Red Sox, the fans, the umpires, and my family. That's all I have to say. I'm sorry."
After Zimmer's apology, Red Sox owner John Henry said: "I wouldn't mind seeing the same thing coming from our side just as conciliatory." It's likely that Henry has spoken with Pedro about this, but it appears an apology will not be forthcoming. Martinez: "I wish that no man has to apologize. It's not a good feeling to apologize. I don't know if you realize that. I think it was only a matter of time before [Zimmer] realized what he means to baseball and who he is. If you look back on the incident, I don't understand why he had so much [anger] with what went on in the game. I'm happy for him that he's OK."
Martinez said his actions had been misinterpreted. "I was just trying to pitch and actually get outs. I was the one in trouble (with runners on second and third and no out). I didn't need to dig myself a bigger hole (by putting another baserunner on). I just wanted to go inside. The previous batter (Matsui) got a hit to right field. I wasn't feeling all that well in the first three innings, and I tried to get inside. I wanted to get inside." And what was Pedro saying to Posada while pointing to his head? "'I remember everything you say,' that's what I said. 'I'll remember.' He was yelling stuff in Spanish and English and I'll remember that because he's pretended to be friendly when things are normal." Also here and here.
Interestingly, Posada appears to have confirmed Pedro's account to Mike Lupica: "... before long, Jorge Posada was yelling at Martinez and threatening to come after him and Martinez was yelling back and pointing to his head. "Was he threatening to hit you in the head next time up?" Posada was asked afterward. "Maybe he was telling me to use my head," Posada said." ... Another Yankee told Mike Lupica: "Garcia said he went over the wall, and said he hurt his hand. But I think maybe he left out the part about how on TV he sure looked to be punching the s--- out of somebody out there."
Martinez's high number of off-speed pitches in the first four innings was apparently by design, not due to fatigue or being unable to get loose. Gump: "When you pitch against a ballclub so many times like Pedro has, you have to do something different. ... He just made an adjustment in his plan to get hitters out. He remembers what he did in Oakland, and that was predominantly fastballs early on. He realizes what other teams are expecting and he tries to adjust to that."
Not only is Nomar not hitting in October, but he batted only .170 (16 for 94) in September. ... ESPN's Darren Rovell takes $200 and tries to scalp a ticket to Saturday's game. ... Do we see what we want to see? ... Theo Epstein said Zimmer's antics "reminded me of the '80s in winter ball when everyone was coked up. Not that I'm saying Don Zimmer is on drugs or anything." ... Adrian Wojnarowski of the Bergen Record writes that Zimmer "left the impression of a disoriented, doddering relative, the crazy uncle that unexpectedly loses it at the summer picnic, leaving himself to apologize over a tipped-over picnic table and potato-salad-stained grass. ... Everyone else had a good laugh at his expense, a cruel commentary on the pitiful picture of a 72-year-old man with a broken-down body lunging for Pedro Martinez, just to end up shoved down face first into the grass of Fenway Park. ... This hadn't been a moment of temporary insanity, but another instance of Zimmer determined to make himself the eye of the storm. ... Zimmer was the manager lording over a 14½-game collapse to the Yankees in 1978, responsible in Sox lore for letting a World Series season unravel one excruciating day at a time. ... [Zimmer is a] calculating self-promoter, desperate to stay in the spotlight. ... Ever since Torre hired him as bench coach, Zimmer has been creating his own chaos."
Check out the Boston Herald's articles on the 1903 World Series, including the game stories.
10.12.2003
Incident Report filed by Boston Police. The following is the text of the incident report filed by the Boston Police detective assigned to the Red Sox bullpen and the police officer assigned to the Yankees bullpen during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series Saturday night. The report was filed at 9:40 p.m. Saturday, 2½ hours after the altercation:
"While performing a paid detail at Fenway Park, Det. William Dunn, assigned to the Red Sox bullpen, and Officer Michael Pankievich assigned to the Yankees bullpen. Approximately 7:10 p.m., between the top and the bottom of the 9th inning, while standing outside of the bullpens and facing the crowd (and also bullpen occupants), Det. Dunn and Officer Pankievich observed a pitcher (Jeff Nelson) from the Yankees, approach the victim (who was standing in the corner of the bullpen). At this time (what appeared to be) a verbal confrontation ensued between the victim and Jeff Nelson. Officer Pankievich proceeded to that location in an attempt to separate the parties. While enroute, Jeff Nelson was observed pushing/grabbing the victim in the chest area at which time both parties fell to the ground where Jeff Nelson began punching and flaring his legs at the victim. At that point numerous other members of the Yankees bullpen jumped on the victim (some striking the victim and others attempting to break up the melee). The right fielder (Karim Garcia) from the Yankees was then observed jumping the right field wall, into the bullpen and begin striking down at the victim with his left hand. With the aid of other officers and Red Sox security staff, the parties were separated ending the incident. Further investigation revealed victim sustained numerous injuries, transported to Beth Israel Hospital and treated for injuries to his head, mouth and body (including what appeared to be numerous cleat marks). D899 Dets. Tierney and Gill responded to the Beth Israel Hospital where they further interviewed the victim and photographed his injuries. Lt. Kelly McCormick of Area B-3 forwarded witness information to Det. Dunn and P.O. Pankievich regarding their eyewitness account of the incident where they stated they observed member(s) of the NY Yankees baseball team initiate an unprovoked attack upon the victim. Summonses to be sought in Roxbury District Court for assault and battery on both Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia of the Yankees baseball organization."
Game 4 of the ALCS was postponed due to wet field conditions and will be played Monday at 8:18 p.m. Game 5 will be played at 4:18 p.m. Tuesday.
"While performing a paid detail at Fenway Park, Det. William Dunn, assigned to the Red Sox bullpen, and Officer Michael Pankievich assigned to the Yankees bullpen. Approximately 7:10 p.m., between the top and the bottom of the 9th inning, while standing outside of the bullpens and facing the crowd (and also bullpen occupants), Det. Dunn and Officer Pankievich observed a pitcher (Jeff Nelson) from the Yankees, approach the victim (who was standing in the corner of the bullpen). At this time (what appeared to be) a verbal confrontation ensued between the victim and Jeff Nelson. Officer Pankievich proceeded to that location in an attempt to separate the parties. While enroute, Jeff Nelson was observed pushing/grabbing the victim in the chest area at which time both parties fell to the ground where Jeff Nelson began punching and flaring his legs at the victim. At that point numerous other members of the Yankees bullpen jumped on the victim (some striking the victim and others attempting to break up the melee). The right fielder (Karim Garcia) from the Yankees was then observed jumping the right field wall, into the bullpen and begin striking down at the victim with his left hand. With the aid of other officers and Red Sox security staff, the parties were separated ending the incident. Further investigation revealed victim sustained numerous injuries, transported to Beth Israel Hospital and treated for injuries to his head, mouth and body (including what appeared to be numerous cleat marks). D899 Dets. Tierney and Gill responded to the Beth Israel Hospital where they further interviewed the victim and photographed his injuries. Lt. Kelly McCormick of Area B-3 forwarded witness information to Det. Dunn and P.O. Pankievich regarding their eyewitness account of the incident where they stated they observed member(s) of the NY Yankees baseball team initiate an unprovoked attack upon the victim. Summonses to be sought in Roxbury District Court for assault and battery on both Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia of the Yankees baseball organization."
Game 4 of the ALCS was postponed due to wet field conditions and will be played Monday at 8:18 p.m. Game 5 will be played at 4:18 p.m. Tuesday.
It's the ALCS, Gump, Please Try To Win Every Game. I'm still annoyed that Grady Gump did absolutely nothing when Clemens came up and in to Millar in the 4th inning -- after all it was Clemens nearly beaning Millar back on July 5 (Pedro hit Soriano and Jeter two days later) that may have been the genesis for all the craziness we saw yesterday.
I shouldn't be surprised, considering Gump's "yeah-whatever" attitude all year, but this was obviously a crucial game and letting Clemens reestablish the inside half of the plate (and get his emotions under control) without an argument is unforgivable. Any decent manager should know he has to raise hell with the umpire.
If Grady does his job, one of two things could happen: (1) Clemens gets ejected and Torre is forced to go to middle relief (unlikely) or (2) Clemens realizes he really can't pitch inside or he'll get tossed, so he starts pitching off the plate, Boston hitters get comfy and start banging hits. A third possibility is that the umpires do nothing, but Clemens gets miffed at the protest and falters (which is what Torre might have been doing when he asked the umps to check Timlin's cap in game 1). But Grady Little couldn't be bothered to fight tooth and nail for any small advantage for his team in one of the most important games of the year.
Martinez, Ramirez, Zimmer and Garcia were fined by MLB. There was no word on the amount of the fines or what exactly they were for. Zimmer should also be suspended for the rest of the post-season; yes, he's old and looks funny, and everyone (except Red Sox and Cubs fans that had to deal with him (mis)managing their teams) loves him, but coaches that attempt to attack opposing players on the field should be punished. The Boston Globe has footage (from a fan, I think) showing Zimmer "jogging" into the group of players, seeing Martinez, moving around the pile, cocking his right hand in a fist, then putting his hands up to meet Pedro's hands and getting tossed aside. The clip is 34 seconds.
The Boston Globe asked for readers' comments on the 4th inning. I liked this one from Dick Damon, Wayland, Mass.: "Clemens complaining about a Martinez brushback pitch is like Bin Laden complaining about a terrorist attack." ... New York City Mayor Bloomberg thinks Pedro should have been arrested. ... An 11:00 pm New York newscast last night apparently reported a third Yankee (possibly Jeff Weaver) may be charged with assault, but I haven't heard any follow-up to this.
Two fans at the game: FoxInSox: "The first thing I noticed was a uniformed Yankee player (presumably Garcia) streaking full-tilt toward the bullpen, so I looked that way and saw a huge pileup, with a bunch of Yankee players all in a heap, beating the living hell out of somebody. ... I saw the lanyard and ID badge the guy was wearing and determined that it was a Fenway employee. I initially thought he was probably security, and had gotten involved in the fight, but then I saw the cops leading him out of there." ... SeanBerry: "I was sitting in Box 95...which is like right between the Pesky Pole and the Yankee Bullpen. ... see Jeff Nelson whaling on a guy...really hitting him...rest of bullpen makes circle around victim ... and were beating him up. Garcia jumps over the wall and does his share."
Seth Stevenson: "[T]he media cliche holds that Red Sox fans are a crew of quivering Calvinists ... under the spell of a powerful curse ... I cannot stand this image. It makes me want to punch Tim McCarver in the kidneys, which I had already wanted to do, but when I hear the words 'the Curse of the Bambino' suddenly want to do it even more."
I shouldn't be surprised, considering Gump's "yeah-whatever" attitude all year, but this was obviously a crucial game and letting Clemens reestablish the inside half of the plate (and get his emotions under control) without an argument is unforgivable. Any decent manager should know he has to raise hell with the umpire.
If Grady does his job, one of two things could happen: (1) Clemens gets ejected and Torre is forced to go to middle relief (unlikely) or (2) Clemens realizes he really can't pitch inside or he'll get tossed, so he starts pitching off the plate, Boston hitters get comfy and start banging hits. A third possibility is that the umpires do nothing, but Clemens gets miffed at the protest and falters (which is what Torre might have been doing when he asked the umps to check Timlin's cap in game 1). But Grady Little couldn't be bothered to fight tooth and nail for any small advantage for his team in one of the most important games of the year.
Martinez, Ramirez, Zimmer and Garcia were fined by MLB. There was no word on the amount of the fines or what exactly they were for. Zimmer should also be suspended for the rest of the post-season; yes, he's old and looks funny, and everyone (except Red Sox and Cubs fans that had to deal with him (mis)managing their teams) loves him, but coaches that attempt to attack opposing players on the field should be punished. The Boston Globe has footage (from a fan, I think) showing Zimmer "jogging" into the group of players, seeing Martinez, moving around the pile, cocking his right hand in a fist, then putting his hands up to meet Pedro's hands and getting tossed aside. The clip is 34 seconds.
The Boston Globe asked for readers' comments on the 4th inning. I liked this one from Dick Damon, Wayland, Mass.: "Clemens complaining about a Martinez brushback pitch is like Bin Laden complaining about a terrorist attack." ... New York City Mayor Bloomberg thinks Pedro should have been arrested. ... An 11:00 pm New York newscast last night apparently reported a third Yankee (possibly Jeff Weaver) may be charged with assault, but I haven't heard any follow-up to this.
Two fans at the game: FoxInSox: "The first thing I noticed was a uniformed Yankee player (presumably Garcia) streaking full-tilt toward the bullpen, so I looked that way and saw a huge pileup, with a bunch of Yankee players all in a heap, beating the living hell out of somebody. ... I saw the lanyard and ID badge the guy was wearing and determined that it was a Fenway employee. I initially thought he was probably security, and had gotten involved in the fight, but then I saw the cops leading him out of there." ... SeanBerry: "I was sitting in Box 95...which is like right between the Pesky Pole and the Yankee Bullpen. ... see Jeff Nelson whaling on a guy...really hitting him...rest of bullpen makes circle around victim ... and were beating him up. Garcia jumps over the wall and does his share."
Seth Stevenson: "[T]he media cliche holds that Red Sox fans are a crew of quivering Calvinists ... under the spell of a powerful curse ... I cannot stand this image. It makes me want to punch Tim McCarver in the kidneys, which I had already wanted to do, but when I hear the words 'the Curse of the Bambino' suddenly want to do it even more."
A Few Thoughts Before Round 4 (Burkett/Wells).
1. Karim Garcia admitted he went into second base with the intent of hurting Todd Walker: "I was very upset with them throwing at my head, so I was going to take somebody down. Unfortunately, it was him. I have nothing against him. I let my emotions take over. If it wasn't him, it was going to be someone else." And: "No doubt I went to the bag to get him." And: "Walker was upset. ... But once someone hits me, I've got to hit somebody back."
Pitchers have been fined for saying they intentionally threw at hitters in retaliation. How are Garcia's statements any different? If Garcia keeps his mouth shut, Walker doesn't yell back, Posada and Zimmer don't start yelling at Pedro, Martinez doesn't gesture towards the Yankees dugout and Ramirez is less likely to think Clemens is trying to hit him. And if all that doesn't happen, the bullpen fracas probably doesn't occur also. If MLB is going to fine players, they should start with Garcia -- and Zimmer.
2. Zimmer rushed out of the Yankees dugout, "veered away from an angry cluster of Sox red and Yankee blue in front of home plate, charged and swung a left hook at [Martinez]." Another account: "Zimmer ran aggressively toward Martinez, who grabbed the 72-year-old by his head and threw him to the ground in front of Boston's dugout."
Martinez: "I could never hit him, I would never do it. I was just trying to dodge him and push him away and (it was) too bad his body fell. I hope he's fine. I was shocked, really shocked." Martinez's move was purely defensive; he did not slap or punch Zimmer. He pushed him off to the side in an ole type of move and Zimmer's momentum carried him tumbling into the grass. If he wasn't so old and fat, perhaps he would have been able to stop himself from falling.
When Derek Jeter and Clemens saw a bald head, they both thought it might have been David Wells. ... Mel Stottlemyre: "The fact that he [Zimmer] was hit in the head, he gets pretty upset because he'd been on the other end of that." Anyone remember how upset Zimmer was when Roger Clemens drilled Mike Piazza in the head in 2000? [Mike Lupica thinks Clemens has amnesia because he said: "Just because you're being hit around doesn't mean you get to stick one behind somebody's head."]
By the way, what game was MLB's Doug Miller watching?" "Mr. Martinez ... picking on senior citizens isn't very becoming of you. ... Don Zimmer was wrong to run on the field to take a shot at you, but ... [y]ou could have very easily subdued him with a friendly hug to calm him down."
3. The fight in the bullpen. Paul Williams, a Red Sox groundskeeper, celebrated a double play to end the Yankees 9th inning and waved a towel towards the center field bleachers to get the fans cheering. Jeff Nelson took exception to this, words were exchanged and a fight broke out. Scott Williamson said Williams was "sucker-punched." Garcia ran over, leapt the short fence and also got involved. Garcia said he only pushed Williams, but when asked about his bloodied left hand wrapped in a towel (he left the game and was replaced by Juan Rivera), he said he had no idea how he had gotten hurt. ... Williams apparently had cleat marks on his back and arms and was taken to a hospital. The Boston police are investigating and may file assault charges against Garcia and Jeff Nelson.
The New York tabloids (here and here) are hilarious in their portrayals of Pedro as "psycho" and a "punk." I don't expect their sportswriters to be as "fair and balanced" as Fox (cough), but every single "news" story is an opinion piece. Many of the articles, while acknowledging that assault charges may be filed against two New York pitchers, paint the Yankees as rising above the ugliness and the Red Sox as boorish losers. [This is an exception.]
More later, possibly, as I go through the papers.
1. Karim Garcia admitted he went into second base with the intent of hurting Todd Walker: "I was very upset with them throwing at my head, so I was going to take somebody down. Unfortunately, it was him. I have nothing against him. I let my emotions take over. If it wasn't him, it was going to be someone else." And: "No doubt I went to the bag to get him." And: "Walker was upset. ... But once someone hits me, I've got to hit somebody back."
Pitchers have been fined for saying they intentionally threw at hitters in retaliation. How are Garcia's statements any different? If Garcia keeps his mouth shut, Walker doesn't yell back, Posada and Zimmer don't start yelling at Pedro, Martinez doesn't gesture towards the Yankees dugout and Ramirez is less likely to think Clemens is trying to hit him. And if all that doesn't happen, the bullpen fracas probably doesn't occur also. If MLB is going to fine players, they should start with Garcia -- and Zimmer.
2. Zimmer rushed out of the Yankees dugout, "veered away from an angry cluster of Sox red and Yankee blue in front of home plate, charged and swung a left hook at [Martinez]." Another account: "Zimmer ran aggressively toward Martinez, who grabbed the 72-year-old by his head and threw him to the ground in front of Boston's dugout."
Martinez: "I could never hit him, I would never do it. I was just trying to dodge him and push him away and (it was) too bad his body fell. I hope he's fine. I was shocked, really shocked." Martinez's move was purely defensive; he did not slap or punch Zimmer. He pushed him off to the side in an ole type of move and Zimmer's momentum carried him tumbling into the grass. If he wasn't so old and fat, perhaps he would have been able to stop himself from falling.
When Derek Jeter and Clemens saw a bald head, they both thought it might have been David Wells. ... Mel Stottlemyre: "The fact that he [Zimmer] was hit in the head, he gets pretty upset because he'd been on the other end of that." Anyone remember how upset Zimmer was when Roger Clemens drilled Mike Piazza in the head in 2000? [Mike Lupica thinks Clemens has amnesia because he said: "Just because you're being hit around doesn't mean you get to stick one behind somebody's head."]
By the way, what game was MLB's Doug Miller watching?" "Mr. Martinez ... picking on senior citizens isn't very becoming of you. ... Don Zimmer was wrong to run on the field to take a shot at you, but ... [y]ou could have very easily subdued him with a friendly hug to calm him down."
3. The fight in the bullpen. Paul Williams, a Red Sox groundskeeper, celebrated a double play to end the Yankees 9th inning and waved a towel towards the center field bleachers to get the fans cheering. Jeff Nelson took exception to this, words were exchanged and a fight broke out. Scott Williamson said Williams was "sucker-punched." Garcia ran over, leapt the short fence and also got involved. Garcia said he only pushed Williams, but when asked about his bloodied left hand wrapped in a towel (he left the game and was replaced by Juan Rivera), he said he had no idea how he had gotten hurt. ... Williams apparently had cleat marks on his back and arms and was taken to a hospital. The Boston police are investigating and may file assault charges against Garcia and Jeff Nelson.
The New York tabloids (here and here) are hilarious in their portrayals of Pedro as "psycho" and a "punk." I don't expect their sportswriters to be as "fair and balanced" as Fox (cough), but every single "news" story is an opinion piece. Many of the articles, while acknowledging that assault charges may be filed against two New York pitchers, paint the Yankees as rising above the ugliness and the Red Sox as boorish losers. [This is an exception.]
More later, possibly, as I go through the papers.
10.11.2003
Somewhere, Bill Lee Is Laughing. Boston lost a frustrating game to the Yankees this afternoon (and now trail in the ALCS 2-1 with Burkett/Wells Sunday night) and while there are plenty of storylines (the team's AWOL bats for starters), I'm sure a lot of the coverage will center on Pedro Martinez throwing Don Zimmer to the ground during a 4th-inning, bench-clearing skirmish.
First of all, I don't think Pedro was throwing at Karim Garcia in the top of the 4th. However, he undoubtedly wanted to come inside. Garcia had driven in the Yankees' first run back in the 2nd inning and Pedro was likely frustrated at having begun the 4th by allowing a walk, single and double. It looked like the ball grazed Garcia's left shoulder (or maybe even his bat) when he ducked forward under the pitch. (That fact didn't stop Joe Torre from stating (unchallenged by the Fox interviewer) right after the game that Pedro had hit Garcia in the head.)
Garcia was furious and barked at Pedro before going to first base. Soriano grounded into a double play and Garcia went in hard on Todd Walker (Fox showed this play only one and even then it was pushed into 1/4 of the screen, so it was hard to see if the slide was excessive). On his way off the infield, Garcia kept yelling at Walker and Martinez. As the Yankee bench joined in, Pedro walked towards their dugout and pointed at his head, as if to say "If I wanted to hit him, I'd have hit him in the head." Apparently, Zimmer was livid at this display.
Manny Ramirez led off the bottom of the 4th and Clemens's 1-2 pitch was up. Ramirez ducked out of the way, thinking it would break inside. It turns out the pitch didn't move towards Manny all that much. But Ramirez (seemingly unaware of the pitch's actual location) started screaming at Clemens and the F-bombs began flying as both benches emptied. The Fox cameras showed Pedro walking out of the Red Sox dugout behind first base, saying something like "What? What?" Zimmer charged at Martinez and threw his right arm out (he must have moved pretty quickly off the bench). Pedro flinched, then grabbed Zimmer by the head, pushed him aside and he fell to the ground. Many of the players on both teams stopped arguing once they saw the 72-year-old Zimmer on the ground.
Joe Buck and Tim McCarver of Fox were convinced there would be ejections, but the umpires (in a wise move) decided not to boot anyone. Both benches had been warned after Martinez's wild pitch to Garcia, Clemens did not give Manny any chin music, and Pedro had simply defended himself against a feral gerbil.
Fox's coverage was horrible and biased towards the Yankees. McCarver reacted to Pedro/Zimmer as if the Boston pitcher had knifed good ol' Uncle Zim and kicked his teeth in. It was obvious to everyone that Zimmer was not coming out to chat with Pedro, so Martinez had two choices: knock Zimmer out or push him away. Actually, he had a third choice: stand there and get hit. ... Zimmer deserved whatever he got. If he's willing to rush across the field and take a swing at an opposing pitcher, he should accept the consequences. ... McCarver was convinced Ramirez "was looking for a reason" to start something. But what the replays clearly showed -- and what Fox never mentioned -- is that Ramirez never saw where Clemens's pitch went. He assumed it was coming up and in. Maybe the players' quotes in the morning papers will tell a different story, but that's how it looked to me.
Fox omitted key elements of the back story (and overemphasized others). In an earlier Red Sox-Yankees series this summer, Clemens threw near Millar's head and that was what prompted Pedro (later on) to throw inside to Soriano and Jeter, hitting them in the wrists. Fox showed that footage several times, including shots of the ambulance taking the players to the hospital, but never explained WHY Pedro threw inside. The bad blood might have reemerged in Game 2 two nights ago, when Contreras buzzed Ortiz inside and Arroyo then plunked Soriano. Later in today's game, Zimmer was laughing on the bench and Fox's sideline reporter noted how "fiesty" he looked. If a Red Sox coach had tried to punch Clemens or Pettitte in the head and was later shown yukking it up on the bench, I don't believe the announcers would have chuckled along with him.
So after order had been restored, Manny struck out and Ortiz flied out to right. Clemens' first pitch to Millar was up and in, much closer to the batter than the pitch to Manny. And nothing happened. The umpires didn't say a peep. Joe Buck never stopped his story of how calm Clemens was being in the midst of this ruckus. And worst of all, Grady Gump didn't come storming out of the dugout to raise holy hell and demand that Clemens be tossed.
What was also amazing was that Pedro rediscovered his fastball in the 5th inning. He had been relying heavily on breaking pitches in the first four innings and had gotten burned on a few hanging curves. Martinez retired the side in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings before turning things over to Timlin and Embree.
But the Red Sox's lumber remained in slumber. Damon singled and Walker walked to start the 6th, but Nomar struck out on three pitches and Manny grounded into a double play. In the 7th, Contreras walked Ortiz and Millar followed with a single to left center. Ortiz was able to hustle to third without drawing a throw from Bernie Williams. But then Nixon hit into a double play (Ortiz scored) and after Mueller walked, Varitek popped out. Rivera retired the six batters he faced and that was that. ...
Boston missed a chance to pound Clemens in the first inning. Damon, making his first appearance since his ALDS collision, singled off Enrique Wilson's leg for a single (really an error; Jeter botched a grounder on Damon's next at-bat and also was not charged with an error). Walker doubled off the left field wall and after Nomar struck out, Manny put the Sox up 2-0 with a single to left center. Grady tried to hit-and-run with Ortiz at the plate, but for the second game in a row, a hit-and-run turned into a double play because the batter did not swing.
Maybe Millar meant "Cubboy Up", because that what Chicago is doing against the Marlins. The Cubs won 8-3 on Saturday and are now one win away from their first World Series appearance since 1945.
First of all, I don't think Pedro was throwing at Karim Garcia in the top of the 4th. However, he undoubtedly wanted to come inside. Garcia had driven in the Yankees' first run back in the 2nd inning and Pedro was likely frustrated at having begun the 4th by allowing a walk, single and double. It looked like the ball grazed Garcia's left shoulder (or maybe even his bat) when he ducked forward under the pitch. (That fact didn't stop Joe Torre from stating (unchallenged by the Fox interviewer) right after the game that Pedro had hit Garcia in the head.)
Garcia was furious and barked at Pedro before going to first base. Soriano grounded into a double play and Garcia went in hard on Todd Walker (Fox showed this play only one and even then it was pushed into 1/4 of the screen, so it was hard to see if the slide was excessive). On his way off the infield, Garcia kept yelling at Walker and Martinez. As the Yankee bench joined in, Pedro walked towards their dugout and pointed at his head, as if to say "If I wanted to hit him, I'd have hit him in the head." Apparently, Zimmer was livid at this display.
Manny Ramirez led off the bottom of the 4th and Clemens's 1-2 pitch was up. Ramirez ducked out of the way, thinking it would break inside. It turns out the pitch didn't move towards Manny all that much. But Ramirez (seemingly unaware of the pitch's actual location) started screaming at Clemens and the F-bombs began flying as both benches emptied. The Fox cameras showed Pedro walking out of the Red Sox dugout behind first base, saying something like "What? What?" Zimmer charged at Martinez and threw his right arm out (he must have moved pretty quickly off the bench). Pedro flinched, then grabbed Zimmer by the head, pushed him aside and he fell to the ground. Many of the players on both teams stopped arguing once they saw the 72-year-old Zimmer on the ground.
Joe Buck and Tim McCarver of Fox were convinced there would be ejections, but the umpires (in a wise move) decided not to boot anyone. Both benches had been warned after Martinez's wild pitch to Garcia, Clemens did not give Manny any chin music, and Pedro had simply defended himself against a feral gerbil.
Fox's coverage was horrible and biased towards the Yankees. McCarver reacted to Pedro/Zimmer as if the Boston pitcher had knifed good ol' Uncle Zim and kicked his teeth in. It was obvious to everyone that Zimmer was not coming out to chat with Pedro, so Martinez had two choices: knock Zimmer out or push him away. Actually, he had a third choice: stand there and get hit. ... Zimmer deserved whatever he got. If he's willing to rush across the field and take a swing at an opposing pitcher, he should accept the consequences. ... McCarver was convinced Ramirez "was looking for a reason" to start something. But what the replays clearly showed -- and what Fox never mentioned -- is that Ramirez never saw where Clemens's pitch went. He assumed it was coming up and in. Maybe the players' quotes in the morning papers will tell a different story, but that's how it looked to me.
Fox omitted key elements of the back story (and overemphasized others). In an earlier Red Sox-Yankees series this summer, Clemens threw near Millar's head and that was what prompted Pedro (later on) to throw inside to Soriano and Jeter, hitting them in the wrists. Fox showed that footage several times, including shots of the ambulance taking the players to the hospital, but never explained WHY Pedro threw inside. The bad blood might have reemerged in Game 2 two nights ago, when Contreras buzzed Ortiz inside and Arroyo then plunked Soriano. Later in today's game, Zimmer was laughing on the bench and Fox's sideline reporter noted how "fiesty" he looked. If a Red Sox coach had tried to punch Clemens or Pettitte in the head and was later shown yukking it up on the bench, I don't believe the announcers would have chuckled along with him.
So after order had been restored, Manny struck out and Ortiz flied out to right. Clemens' first pitch to Millar was up and in, much closer to the batter than the pitch to Manny. And nothing happened. The umpires didn't say a peep. Joe Buck never stopped his story of how calm Clemens was being in the midst of this ruckus. And worst of all, Grady Gump didn't come storming out of the dugout to raise holy hell and demand that Clemens be tossed.
What was also amazing was that Pedro rediscovered his fastball in the 5th inning. He had been relying heavily on breaking pitches in the first four innings and had gotten burned on a few hanging curves. Martinez retired the side in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings before turning things over to Timlin and Embree.
But the Red Sox's lumber remained in slumber. Damon singled and Walker walked to start the 6th, but Nomar struck out on three pitches and Manny grounded into a double play. In the 7th, Contreras walked Ortiz and Millar followed with a single to left center. Ortiz was able to hustle to third without drawing a throw from Bernie Williams. But then Nixon hit into a double play (Ortiz scored) and after Mueller walked, Varitek popped out. Rivera retired the six batters he faced and that was that. ...
Boston missed a chance to pound Clemens in the first inning. Damon, making his first appearance since his ALDS collision, singled off Enrique Wilson's leg for a single (really an error; Jeter botched a grounder on Damon's next at-bat and also was not charged with an error). Walker doubled off the left field wall and after Nomar struck out, Manny put the Sox up 2-0 with a single to left center. Grady tried to hit-and-run with Ortiz at the plate, but for the second game in a row, a hit-and-run turned into a double play because the batter did not swing.
Maybe Millar meant "Cubboy Up", because that what Chicago is doing against the Marlins. The Cubs won 8-3 on Saturday and are now one win away from their first World Series appearance since 1945.
Where is Roger? Pedro Jamie Martinez will try to bring his team and Red Sox Nation within two wins of the World Series, facing a bigger traitor to New England than Benedict Arnold. William Roger Clemens is making his final appearance in the park he called home for 13 years; it also could be the final start of his remarkable career. So, is this is the duel of the year? Yes, but it is much more than that. Arm-ageddon? That's more like it (though we should probably save that for a possible Game 7 rematch). I like Larry Stone's description in the Seattle Times: "This one is about the thrill of possibilities, inextricably mixed with the hint of danger. This one will take the revved up fans at Fenway Park and juice them right to maniacal levels. This one will be a flat-out, full-bore, roaring, crazy ice-blast of a ballgame."
The results of the previous four Pedro-Roger meetings. ... Damon insists he is playing today, but refuses to cut his hair. "Some of the players wanted to get me when I was still out on the ground [in Oakland]." ... Pitching coach Dave Wallace remembers Pedro from their days in Great Falls, Montana. ... A Red Sox haven in Manhattan. ... For Pedro, it is now more about precision than power. ... Grady might drop Millar in the order, perhaps flip-flopping him with Varitek; he added Millar would not be benched in favor of "Milk Carton" McCarty.
In a Herald pay column, Steve Buckley offers this aside: "It's like all those sportswriters covering this series who keep sending in those 'curse' columns. They can't help themselves. Rather than report on the real reasons the Red Sox haven't won the World Series since 1918 - such as racism, alcoholism and cronyism - they pick up the phone, call the sports editor and say, 'I have a great idea for a column: I believe the Red Sox are cursed.' 'I like it,' says the editor, back home in Kansas City, and we're off to the races."
Dear Boston bats: Please show Mr. Clemens to the Exit. Thank you.
The results of the previous four Pedro-Roger meetings. ... Damon insists he is playing today, but refuses to cut his hair. "Some of the players wanted to get me when I was still out on the ground [in Oakland]." ... Pitching coach Dave Wallace remembers Pedro from their days in Great Falls, Montana. ... A Red Sox haven in Manhattan. ... For Pedro, it is now more about precision than power. ... Grady might drop Millar in the order, perhaps flip-flopping him with Varitek; he added Millar would not be benched in favor of "Milk Carton" McCarty.
In a Herald pay column, Steve Buckley offers this aside: "It's like all those sportswriters covering this series who keep sending in those 'curse' columns. They can't help themselves. Rather than report on the real reasons the Red Sox haven't won the World Series since 1918 - such as racism, alcoholism and cronyism - they pick up the phone, call the sports editor and say, 'I have a great idea for a column: I believe the Red Sox are cursed.' 'I like it,' says the editor, back home in Kansas City, and we're off to the races."
Dear Boston bats: Please show Mr. Clemens to the Exit. Thank you.
10.10.2003
Curse of the Gumpino. [Updated]
Grady's moves are finally rasing some eyebrows in both the Boston and New York media. The Boston Globe questioned bringing in Sauerbeck, who they dubbed the "Rally Kerosene Guy"; Jim Donaldson of the Providence Journal notes three reasons why the game got away, including sitting Walker and using Sauerbeck in a "pressure-cooker"; Little also had Kapler (0-12) leadoff because "I like the way he's swinging the bat" and "Someone's got to bat first." Wow. ... The New York Post proclaimed "Little Comes Up Small." ... Even better: Sauerbeck was injured! Absolutely the worst option out of the pen. I would have rather seen Mendoza last night.
A few more notes on Game 2: Kapler was not a good choice to lead off. His OBP was a paltry .330 and while he singled to begin the game, he was useless thereafter, striking out in each of his last 3 at-bats. In the second inning, Boston led 1-0 and had runners on 1st and 2nd with 0 outs. Seven of the first 9 batters had reached base against Pettitte. Thisd would have been a nice time to bunt. Grady said after the game that the Sox had not bunted that early this season and while that is generally true, I think the situation called for it. It was imperative for Boston to go for the kill in the early going. Kapler grounded into a double play and the rally was killed. After that Pettitte found a groove and the Red Sox never got more than one man on base in any of the next 7 innings.
Derek Lowe pitched decently, but had trouble in the 2nd and the 3rd, allowing a 2-run HR to Nick Johnson and allowing 5 consecutive Yankees to reach base in the 3rd. Still, after 5 innings, Lowe had thrown 71 pitches and trailed only 4-2. Suppan had been warming in the 3rd inning and so I assumed Lowe's his night was done. After all, this is what he had done in the past 9 days:
The Red Sox lefty turned Posada around to bat righty. This was a mistake. He is a better hitter from the right side. Posada looked at ball one, then smashed a double to the left center wall. Both baserunners scored and New York led 6-2. Sauerbeck then walked Matsui before getting the third out. The 4-run lead gave Joe Torre the option of leaving Contreras in for another inning. He was apparently prepared to bring in Rivera for 2 innings. Now, thanks to Gump's blunder, Torre let Contreras pitch another strong inning and had Rivera pitch the 9th, leaving him more rested for the rest of the series. ... Grady managed Thursday's game like it was May 9, not October 9.
My Quote of the Day: "Watching the Red Sox in October is the equivalent of watching a kind of baseball snuff film." One side benefit of winning it all will be shutting these clowns up. Dozens of sportswriters will have no choice but to retire because they have nothing left to say. ... The Rem Dawg speaks.
Cowboy Pop-Up: "As for our fans, I want them all to shave their heads like we did. I want about 20,000 shaved heads out there in the stands at Fenway Park. The spouses and girlfriends don't need to shave their heads, we don't want that. But I want every guy in the stands to have a bald head."
The Yankee Stadium rowdies were chanting "We want Pedro." After the game, Martinez had cordoned off his locker area for a second straight night with tape, this time emblazoned with the message, "Do not enter. Bad mood." This bodes well. ... Sister Grace Gallant of the Sisters of the Episcopalian Society of St. Margaret's Convent in Roxbury, Mass.: "God is a Red Sox fan." Lord, please help Boston's bats bring down some Old Testament-style retribution on Fat Billy from Ohio tomorrow.
Grady's moves are finally rasing some eyebrows in both the Boston and New York media. The Boston Globe questioned bringing in Sauerbeck, who they dubbed the "Rally Kerosene Guy"; Jim Donaldson of the Providence Journal notes three reasons why the game got away, including sitting Walker and using Sauerbeck in a "pressure-cooker"; Little also had Kapler (0-12) leadoff because "I like the way he's swinging the bat" and "Someone's got to bat first." Wow. ... The New York Post proclaimed "Little Comes Up Small." ... Even better: Sauerbeck was injured! Absolutely the worst option out of the pen. I would have rather seen Mendoza last night.
A few more notes on Game 2: Kapler was not a good choice to lead off. His OBP was a paltry .330 and while he singled to begin the game, he was useless thereafter, striking out in each of his last 3 at-bats. In the second inning, Boston led 1-0 and had runners on 1st and 2nd with 0 outs. Seven of the first 9 batters had reached base against Pettitte. Thisd would have been a nice time to bunt. Grady said after the game that the Sox had not bunted that early this season and while that is generally true, I think the situation called for it. It was imperative for Boston to go for the kill in the early going. Kapler grounded into a double play and the rally was killed. After that Pettitte found a groove and the Red Sox never got more than one man on base in any of the next 7 innings.
Derek Lowe pitched decently, but had trouble in the 2nd and the 3rd, allowing a 2-run HR to Nick Johnson and allowing 5 consecutive Yankees to reach base in the 3rd. Still, after 5 innings, Lowe had thrown 71 pitches and trailed only 4-2. Suppan had been warming in the 3rd inning and so I assumed Lowe's his night was done. After all, this is what he had done in the past 9 days:
Date Game S/R IP H ER R BB K BF PITGump sent Lowe out for the Yankees 6th. Big mistake, I thought. But Lowe made quick work of Johnson, Boone and Juan Rivera, retiring them on 3 groundballs and only 6 pitches. Surely, Grady would pull Lowe after 6 innings. ... Think again. Lowe was sent out for another inning, with Sauerbeck in the bullpen. Soriano grounded to first and Jeter grounded to third. With Giambi (1-2 w/BB) and Williams (2-3) next, if Grady was determined to bring in Sauerbeck (he should have even been allowed in New York State in my opinion), this would have been the spot. ... But Grady let Lowe pitch on. He fell behind Giambi 3-0 and gave up a full-count line drive single to right. Grady came out to the mound and I was convinced -- finally -- Lowe was gone. But Grady went back to the dugout. Lowe walked Bernie Williams on 4 pitches. NOW, Grady came back out and pulled Lowe and brought in Sauerbeck.
10/01 ALDS1 R 1.2 1 1 1 4 2 10 42
10/04 ALDS3 S 7 6 1 0 2 2 29 100
10/06 ALDS5 R 1 0 0 0 1 2 4 17
Total ALCS 9.2 7 2 1 7 6 43 159
10/09 ALCS1 (1-5) 5 6 4 4 2 2 24 71
Total 14.2 13 6 5 9 8 67 230
10/09 ALCS1 (6th) 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 6
Total 15.2 13 6 5 9 8 70 236
10/09 ALCS1 (7th) .2 1 2 2 1 0 4 21
Total 9 Days 16.1 14 8 7 10 8 74 257
The Red Sox lefty turned Posada around to bat righty. This was a mistake. He is a better hitter from the right side. Posada looked at ball one, then smashed a double to the left center wall. Both baserunners scored and New York led 6-2. Sauerbeck then walked Matsui before getting the third out. The 4-run lead gave Joe Torre the option of leaving Contreras in for another inning. He was apparently prepared to bring in Rivera for 2 innings. Now, thanks to Gump's blunder, Torre let Contreras pitch another strong inning and had Rivera pitch the 9th, leaving him more rested for the rest of the series. ... Grady managed Thursday's game like it was May 9, not October 9.
My Quote of the Day: "Watching the Red Sox in October is the equivalent of watching a kind of baseball snuff film." One side benefit of winning it all will be shutting these clowns up. Dozens of sportswriters will have no choice but to retire because they have nothing left to say. ... The Rem Dawg speaks.
Cowboy Pop-Up: "As for our fans, I want them all to shave their heads like we did. I want about 20,000 shaved heads out there in the stands at Fenway Park. The spouses and girlfriends don't need to shave their heads, we don't want that. But I want every guy in the stands to have a bald head."
The Yankee Stadium rowdies were chanting "We want Pedro." After the game, Martinez had cordoned off his locker area for a second straight night with tape, this time emblazoned with the message, "Do not enter. Bad mood." This bodes well. ... Sister Grace Gallant of the Sisters of the Episcopalian Society of St. Margaret's Convent in Roxbury, Mass.: "God is a Red Sox fan." Lord, please help Boston's bats bring down some Old Testament-style retribution on Fat Billy from Ohio tomorrow.
Forget The Curse, Because The Gump Factor Is Killing Us. Grady Little is a horrible manager for many reasons, but the main one is: he doesn't try to win every game. And in the post-season, in a best-of-7 showdown against the hated New York Yankees, you must do everything you can to win every game. Grady made all the rights moves in Game 1, but hoping for competent managing for two consecutive days was pushing it. I am convinced this (or any future) Red Sox team will win nothing with Grady Gump calling the shots. Yes, all the players think he's wonderful, but when it comes to making decisions that decide ball games, he is a 200 proof idiot. He has shown (in so many painful ways this season) that he is in way over his head as a major league manager. The Boston offense is historically strong, but it cannot bail Gump out of every blunder, and it will not do so in 2003.
Boston should have treated Game Two as if they were down 0-1. Gump should have managed with his foot on the Yankees' collective throat. Taking a 2-0 lead to Fenway with Pedro pitching on Saturday would have been a huge advantage. But that's not Gump's style; apparently, that wouldn't have been very sporting. Might have to apologize to Mr. Torre in the morning.
I'll get into it later, but the biggest mistakes were: leaving Lowe in at least two innings too long, completely mismanaging the 7th inning, bringing the worst arm (Sauerbeck) into the game's most critical situation, wasting a golden opporunity to grab a big 2nd inning lead against Pettitte, and being slow to pinch-hit in the late innings.
I was hoping for a split of the first two games, and that's what I got, so maybe I should be happy. But I'm not. I know you cannot win every game, but Game Two was within reach and Gump threw it away.
Boston should have treated Game Two as if they were down 0-1. Gump should have managed with his foot on the Yankees' collective throat. Taking a 2-0 lead to Fenway with Pedro pitching on Saturday would have been a huge advantage. But that's not Gump's style; apparently, that wouldn't have been very sporting. Might have to apologize to Mr. Torre in the morning.
I'll get into it later, but the biggest mistakes were: leaving Lowe in at least two innings too long, completely mismanaging the 7th inning, bringing the worst arm (Sauerbeck) into the game's most critical situation, wasting a golden opporunity to grab a big 2nd inning lead against Pettitte, and being slow to pinch-hit in the late innings.
I was hoping for a split of the first two games, and that's what I got, so maybe I should be happy. But I'm not. I know you cannot win every game, but Game Two was within reach and Gump threw it away.
10.09.2003
Either the Yankees win tonight or they go to Boston down 0-2 and facing Pedro Martinez Saturday afternoon. ... Irreconcilable differences: Red Sox/Yankees relationships. ... Kapler's diary.
Tom Boswell: "The baseball world thinks the subtext of the American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees is the exhausted conceit of 'The Curse of the Bambino.' Please, give it a rest. ... The Boston club, called 'renegades' by their own manager, are doing their own personal remake of 'Animal House' with George Steinbrenner as Dean Wormer. ... You'll note that the Yanks do not show a clip of Derek Jeter, bombed out of his gourd, covering Iggy Pop's 'Lust for Life.' And if they found one, they'd burn every copy. Instead, Jeter is in a credit card commercial, vamping it up about tony Manhattan nightspots with Steinbrenner, while wearing a tuxedo. ... If you think this Boston victory in Game 1 was just an opening salvo, a shot across the bow, an introduction, don't be so sure. It was more like a haymaker to the lips."
Damon: "I'm starting to recollect the fly ball coming down and getting in position to catch the ball and -- poof -- not remembering anything. I do remember waving my hands out to the crowd but at the moment, I actually thought I was walking off the field ... I didn't realize I was on a stretcher. I feel OK. I feel a little weak. ... I'll get another good night's rest like that and be ready to take part in some drills [Thursday]. My vision is clear. ... I had no idea if I caught the ball. I had no idea if we won the game. I thought I remembered Varitek's home run --I do not remember Manny's home run."
Moose Droppings or Boston's Blasts Bring Bronx Bummer. Back from a wonderful, cool October evening in Yankee Stadium's left field bleachers. The crowd was oddly subdued throughout the entire game; there were a smattering of Red Sox fans near me, including 4 or 5 guys wearing K Men shirts. When Manny singled in the top of the 9th -- giving him more hits than the entire Yankee lineup -- it was as quiet as a tomb. And fans began streaming out after the end of New York's 7th inning rally. ... Wakefield looked magnificent (from about 600 feet away), retiring the first 4 hitters, giving up a pair of singles, then retiring 14 more in a row. After walking the first 2 hitters in the 7th, he gave way to Embree, who also had trouble throwing strikes, but got out of the inning with a 5-2 lead. Timlin and Williamson made that stand up to give Boston a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. ... In Wrigley Field, the Cubs battered Brad Penny and Rick Helling en route to a 12-3 rout, tying the NLCS at 1-1. Q for Dusty: Why was Prior pitching the 7th inning with a 10-run lead?
10.08.2003
Good versus Evil. [Updated with more media predictions; if you know of others, email me]
Todd Walker is blunt: "No doubt about it, whoever wins this series will win the World Series." ... Bob Hohler knows "It's On." ... More on Lowe ... It's the hugging, stupid! ... A season of thrills ... Bill Lee v Jim Bouton.
Red Sox Roster: Kim and Brown are off, Suppan and Jones are on. Damon is still on the roster. Having Suppan, Jones and Arroyo seems redundant, but it's doubtful any of them will get much playing time. ... Leaving Brown off if Damon cannot play as early as Game 3 Saturday is mind-boggling stupid. McCarty remains in uniform for some reason. ... The story on Kim seems to change every hour. I could have a blind spot with BK, but if his shoulder is okay, I want him in this series. Pitch him only in Boston, if necessary, have him go 3 innings in relief of Burkett, have him set-up Williamson, anything; leaving off a healthy Kim is a mistake. ... Schedule with probable starters:
Game 1 at New York: Wednesday, October 8: Wakefield vs. Mussina, 8:00
Game 2 at New York: Thursday, October 9: Pettitte vs. Lowe, 8:00
Game 3 at Boston: Saturday, October 11: Martinez vs. Clemens, 4:00
Game 4 at Boston: Sunday, October 12: Burkett vs. Wells, 7:30
Game 5 at Boston: Monday, October 13: Wakefield vs. Mussina, 8:00
Game 6 at New York: Wednesday, October 15: Pettitte vs. Lowe, 4:00
Game 7 at New York: Thursday, October 16: Martinez vs. Clemens, 8:00
If this series remotely resembles the 19 games played this summer, it will be one for the ages. I'll be in Row Y of the distant left field bleachers tonight. I hope security is a little better than it was in 1999, when a Red Sox fan had his cap lit on fire while two security cops stood by laughing.
Many papers don't include their prediction boxes online, so this is all I've found so far:
Dan Shaughnessy: Red Sox in 6
Gordon Edes: Yankees (I think)
Garry Brown: Red Sox in 6
Baseball Weekly: Yankees and Cubs.
New York Post
George King: Yankees in 6
Joel Sherman: Yankees in 6
Kevin Kernan: Yankees in 4
Mike Vaccaro: Red Sox in 6
Mark Hale: Yankees in 6
New York Daily News
Sam Borden: Yankees in 5
Peter Botte: Red Sox in 6
John Harper: Yankees in 6
Bill Madden: Yankees in 6
Anthony McCarron: Yankees in 7
Adam Rubin: Yankees in 5
Vic Zeigel: Yankees in 6
Newsday:
Jon Heyman: Yankees in 6
Shaun Powell: Yankees in 6
Ken Davidoff: Red Sox in 5
Mark Herrmann: Yankees in 5
Bob Herzog: Yankees in 7
David Lennon: Yankees in 7
Marty Noble: Yankees in 6
Anthon Rieber: Yankees in 6
Jim Salisbury, Philadelphia Inquirer: Yankees in 6
Roch Kubatko, Baltimore Sun: Yankees in 6
Larry Stone, Seattle Times: Yankees in 6
George Richards, Miami Herald: Yankees in 6
Ken Daley, Dallas Morning News: Yankees in 5
Larry Millson, Toronto Globe & Mail: Yankees in 6
Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times: Yankees
Mike Berardino, South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Red Sox in 6
T.R. Sullivan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Red Sox in 7
Chris Jenkins, San Diego Union-Tribune: Red Sox in 7
Gary Huckabay and Nate Silver, Baseball Prospectus: Yankees in 6
Joe Sheehan, Baseball Prospectus: Yankees in 5
Aaron Gleeman: Red Sox in 7
Wasting print or air time talking about a curse when there is so much baseball news and analysis to offer insults the intelligence of every fan listening/reading and exposes the media as lazy hacks who can't be bothered to do any real work at the most important time of the year. Do books on dentistry waste pages weighing in on the existence of the tooth fairy? No, they do not. Let's can the curse bullshit and focus on the game. ... By the way, in a telegram to the Boston Herald and Journal after he was told of the sale, Babe Ruth wrote: "The Boston club is my favorite, and naturally I wanted to remain there, but as the deal is completed, I suppose I will have to go to New York. ... I appreciate the stand taken by the Boston people and very shortly hope to be in Boston to thank them in person for their support. Thanking you for past favors and wishing you success, I remain, your friend, Babe Ruth."
Take a deep breath. ... Relax. ... It Is On.
Todd Walker is blunt: "No doubt about it, whoever wins this series will win the World Series." ... Bob Hohler knows "It's On." ... More on Lowe ... It's the hugging, stupid! ... A season of thrills ... Bill Lee v Jim Bouton.
Red Sox Roster: Kim and Brown are off, Suppan and Jones are on. Damon is still on the roster. Having Suppan, Jones and Arroyo seems redundant, but it's doubtful any of them will get much playing time. ... Leaving Brown off if Damon cannot play as early as Game 3 Saturday is mind-boggling stupid. McCarty remains in uniform for some reason. ... The story on Kim seems to change every hour. I could have a blind spot with BK, but if his shoulder is okay, I want him in this series. Pitch him only in Boston, if necessary, have him go 3 innings in relief of Burkett, have him set-up Williamson, anything; leaving off a healthy Kim is a mistake. ... Schedule with probable starters:
Game 1 at New York: Wednesday, October 8: Wakefield vs. Mussina, 8:00
Game 2 at New York: Thursday, October 9: Pettitte vs. Lowe, 8:00
Game 3 at Boston: Saturday, October 11: Martinez vs. Clemens, 4:00
Game 4 at Boston: Sunday, October 12: Burkett vs. Wells, 7:30
Game 5 at Boston: Monday, October 13: Wakefield vs. Mussina, 8:00
Game 6 at New York: Wednesday, October 15: Pettitte vs. Lowe, 4:00
Game 7 at New York: Thursday, October 16: Martinez vs. Clemens, 8:00
If this series remotely resembles the 19 games played this summer, it will be one for the ages. I'll be in Row Y of the distant left field bleachers tonight. I hope security is a little better than it was in 1999, when a Red Sox fan had his cap lit on fire while two security cops stood by laughing.
Many papers don't include their prediction boxes online, so this is all I've found so far:
Dan Shaughnessy: Red Sox in 6
Gordon Edes: Yankees (I think)
Garry Brown: Red Sox in 6
Baseball Weekly: Yankees and Cubs.
New York Post
George King: Yankees in 6
Joel Sherman: Yankees in 6
Kevin Kernan: Yankees in 4
Mike Vaccaro: Red Sox in 6
Mark Hale: Yankees in 6
New York Daily News
Sam Borden: Yankees in 5
Peter Botte: Red Sox in 6
John Harper: Yankees in 6
Bill Madden: Yankees in 6
Anthony McCarron: Yankees in 7
Adam Rubin: Yankees in 5
Vic Zeigel: Yankees in 6
Newsday:
Jon Heyman: Yankees in 6
Shaun Powell: Yankees in 6
Ken Davidoff: Red Sox in 5
Mark Herrmann: Yankees in 5
Bob Herzog: Yankees in 7
David Lennon: Yankees in 7
Marty Noble: Yankees in 6
Anthon Rieber: Yankees in 6
Jim Salisbury, Philadelphia Inquirer: Yankees in 6
Roch Kubatko, Baltimore Sun: Yankees in 6
Larry Stone, Seattle Times: Yankees in 6
George Richards, Miami Herald: Yankees in 6
Ken Daley, Dallas Morning News: Yankees in 5
Larry Millson, Toronto Globe & Mail: Yankees in 6
Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times: Yankees
Mike Berardino, South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Red Sox in 6
T.R. Sullivan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Red Sox in 7
Chris Jenkins, San Diego Union-Tribune: Red Sox in 7
Gary Huckabay and Nate Silver, Baseball Prospectus: Yankees in 6
Joe Sheehan, Baseball Prospectus: Yankees in 5
Aaron Gleeman: Red Sox in 7
Wasting print or air time talking about a curse when there is so much baseball news and analysis to offer insults the intelligence of every fan listening/reading and exposes the media as lazy hacks who can't be bothered to do any real work at the most important time of the year. Do books on dentistry waste pages weighing in on the existence of the tooth fairy? No, they do not. Let's can the curse bullshit and focus on the game. ... By the way, in a telegram to the Boston Herald and Journal after he was told of the sale, Babe Ruth wrote: "The Boston club is my favorite, and naturally I wanted to remain there, but as the deal is completed, I suppose I will have to go to New York. ... I appreciate the stand taken by the Boston people and very shortly hope to be in Boston to thank them in person for their support. Thanking you for past favors and wishing you success, I remain, your friend, Babe Ruth."
Take a deep breath. ... Relax. ... It Is On.
10.07.2003
I was out of my chair before home plate umpire Tim Welke raised his arm. It was 11:24 pm and Derek Lowe had just unleashed another nasty breaking pitch that started inside and broke viciously over the plate. Terrence Long was out on strikes and hearts all across New England and Red Sox Nation began beating once again. The Comeback Cowboys edged Oakland 4-3 and captured the ALDS, 3 games to 2. We have been allowed in Eden.
For me, the biggest moments were, in approximate chronological order, Guillen being thrown out at third base (9-6-5) to end the 4th, the patience of Varitek, Damon and Ramirez against Zito, who was tiring, in the 6th, the quick thinking of Nomar and Mueller to get Dye at second base after the Collision and end the 7th, and the relief pitching of Embree, Timlin and (especially) Lowe. Derek needed to get 2 outs with the tying run at third and the ALDS-winning run at second. He struck out Melhuse on a breaking ball and after walking Singleton to load the bases, he got Long on a 1-2 pitch to end the game. If you say that strike 3 to Long was the most important pitch of the year, I won't argue with you. Varitek: "The execution of that last pitch was the best feeling I could ever ask for. It dropped about a foot." ... After watching Lowe come unglued at his own mistakes and simple bad luck several times this year, it was huge to see him retain his focus and save the game. It is time to retire the Derek Lowe Face.
Stung by their own offensive impotence, some Oakland players, notably Tejada and Hatteberg, were pissed because they believed Lowe grabbed his crotch and gave the A's the finger after the final out. Tejada was raging in the clubhouse. Didn't Tejada celebrate with a fist pump after catching a popup to end Game 4, which merely tied the series at 2-2? ... The fact is that Tejada and his mates threw away chance after chance after chance to take this series. Fox kept showing various "1918" signs around the park; those card-carrying A's fans might want to examine their own team's record of failure. If asked, Trot Nixon might suggest they all go read Matthew 7:3.
The ALCS is next. ... Damon will reportedly miss at least the first two games. ... Little said Wakefield will start Game 1 tomorrow, followed by Lowe. ... Boston was planning on taking 11 pitchers (replacing Adrian Brown with Suppan or Jones) but that may change because of Damon's injury. ... Martinez elected to fly with the team after Game 4, getting his rest on the flight by stretching out across a row of seats under a tent of blankets. Little: "It looked like my grandson playing in the living room. I didn't want to disturb him. He looked comfortable to me."
John Tomase: "Doused in champagne and warm beer, Kevin Millar let out a shout in the middle of the jubilant Red Sox clubhouse. 'Evil Empire!' he yelled, 'we're coming to get you now!' ... 'I feel this is our destiny,' said reliever Mike Timlin. 'I know Minnesota had a chance to beat New York, but I just feel it's our destiny to go through New York to get to the World Series.' ... Whereas the Yankees typically scratched out their 10 victories [in 19 games], Boston's nine wins included blowouts of 10-3, 10-2, 10-5, 9-3 and 12-0. ... Privately, Sox officials had hoped for New York, because the turf of Minnesota's Metrodome and the speed-oriented Twins lineup posed more matchup problems than New York's plodding attack."
The Daily News agrees:
For me, the biggest moments were, in approximate chronological order, Guillen being thrown out at third base (9-6-5) to end the 4th, the patience of Varitek, Damon and Ramirez against Zito, who was tiring, in the 6th, the quick thinking of Nomar and Mueller to get Dye at second base after the Collision and end the 7th, and the relief pitching of Embree, Timlin and (especially) Lowe. Derek needed to get 2 outs with the tying run at third and the ALDS-winning run at second. He struck out Melhuse on a breaking ball and after walking Singleton to load the bases, he got Long on a 1-2 pitch to end the game. If you say that strike 3 to Long was the most important pitch of the year, I won't argue with you. Varitek: "The execution of that last pitch was the best feeling I could ever ask for. It dropped about a foot." ... After watching Lowe come unglued at his own mistakes and simple bad luck several times this year, it was huge to see him retain his focus and save the game. It is time to retire the Derek Lowe Face.
Stung by their own offensive impotence, some Oakland players, notably Tejada and Hatteberg, were pissed because they believed Lowe grabbed his crotch and gave the A's the finger after the final out. Tejada was raging in the clubhouse. Didn't Tejada celebrate with a fist pump after catching a popup to end Game 4, which merely tied the series at 2-2? ... The fact is that Tejada and his mates threw away chance after chance after chance to take this series. Fox kept showing various "1918" signs around the park; those card-carrying A's fans might want to examine their own team's record of failure. If asked, Trot Nixon might suggest they all go read Matthew 7:3.
The ALCS is next. ... Damon will reportedly miss at least the first two games. ... Little said Wakefield will start Game 1 tomorrow, followed by Lowe. ... Boston was planning on taking 11 pitchers (replacing Adrian Brown with Suppan or Jones) but that may change because of Damon's injury. ... Martinez elected to fly with the team after Game 4, getting his rest on the flight by stretching out across a row of seats under a tent of blankets. Little: "It looked like my grandson playing in the living room. I didn't want to disturb him. He looked comfortable to me."
John Tomase: "Doused in champagne and warm beer, Kevin Millar let out a shout in the middle of the jubilant Red Sox clubhouse. 'Evil Empire!' he yelled, 'we're coming to get you now!' ... 'I feel this is our destiny,' said reliever Mike Timlin. 'I know Minnesota had a chance to beat New York, but I just feel it's our destiny to go through New York to get to the World Series.' ... Whereas the Yankees typically scratched out their 10 victories [in 19 games], Boston's nine wins included blowouts of 10-3, 10-2, 10-5, 9-3 and 12-0. ... Privately, Sox officials had hoped for New York, because the turf of Minnesota's Metrodome and the speed-oriented Twins lineup posed more matchup problems than New York's plodding attack."
The Daily News agrees:
10.06.2003
Red Sox Retain Home Bar Advantage. Oakland Game 4 starter Tim Hudson was alleged involved in an altercation Friday night at Q, a Boston bar located near Faneuil Hall. "According to a security guard and a member of the bar staff, Hudson got into a skirmish with a Red Sox fan and threw several punches, including one that clipped a bartender. 'It was a big melee. He was throwing haymakers,' said the security guard, who spoke on the condition his name not be used. 'Honest to God, he's 160 pounds and it took eight big guys to hold him back,' the staff member said of Hudson. 'It was five minutes of mayhem.'" Q manager Noel Gentelles denied that any clash had taken place. "Tim and Barry (Zito) were both here, and they couldn't have been nicer. Barry even played with the band. There was no altercation." [Here is an email from someone allegedly in the thick of things.]
Hudson felt discomfort just below his rib cage on his last pitch of the first inning yesterday. "Something tightened up. I tweaked something." A Bay Area columnist wrote: "Hudson went down in such devastating fashion on Sunday, he spent a long time in the dugout cradling his head in his hands. If the rumors of his alleged bar altercation prove to be true, and the incident contributed to his injury, Hudson will spend many months examining his own stupidity." DirtDog adds that "WBZ-TV4 Sports reports that Oakland pitcher Tim Hudson was 'totally smashed' and got tossed out of Club Q." Hudson will have an MRI. More here and here. ... I can only imagine the media shit storm if this had happened to Pedro or Lowe.
From SoSH, late Monday morning: Harry Hooper: "A caller to WEEI who seemed legit was just on, the instigator at Q was with his group of folks there. The caller and a friend were hanging out with Zito and Hudson, buying each other rounds and chatting about Boston, playing in this town, etc. Drunk guy #3 comes over and gets in Hudson's face, yelling some shit. Hudson with several drinks in him clocks the guy, and a bit of a scrum ensued." ... Benzingers BeanBalls: "I think I have heard three different people on WEEI now claim to be the man who punched Tim Hudson. Several years from now I wonder if we will be hearing several thousands claiming to be the guy who started the fight with Tim Hudson. Just like all the millions who were their for Ted's last at-bat or Roger's 1st 20K game."
Ortiz on hitting Foulke in the afternoon shadows: "You can see the white on the ball by that time; you can see it because you've got a shadow behind the pitcher and everything looks dark. When you have a shadow in between the pitcher you just -- you can see when the ball comes out of the pitch, but when it hits the shadows, it goes dark again. I don't know." He added: "Don't give up on me, people. Come on."
Scott Williamson, with his family stress behind him, is emerging as the pitcher we expected from the Reds. The talk is that he should become the closer, with Kim moving into the rotation. ... Kim's shoulder was too sore to pitch on Sunday. Grady says he "felt some tightness in his shoulder [Saturday night]. That's why we got Williamson up right away and got him in the game." There are rumors that when the Red Sox advance to the ALCS, Kim would be left off the roster. ... Also, the Herald reports that some team officials are worried about Kim's emotional and psychological health. "According to one clubhouse source, Kim expressed to teammates a reluctance to pitch again" in the ALDS after being pulled from Game 1."
Globe: "Martinez did not speak on the record yesterday, but did chat with some of his favorite beat writers. His apparent message was that he wanted to win this one tonight for the fans of New England." Apparently, none of Martinez's favorite beat writers work for the Globe.
Kevin Millar: "Nothing comes easy for us and we don't want it to come easy for us. ... We knew we had to come back home and get this thing back there for Game 5, and we've got Pedro going in Game 5. ... It was a battle for sure, but what do you expect? It's the 2003 Sox. We don't make it easy ... We came in here today before Game 4 and packed for four days. We came in here wearing slacks and dress shirts to the yard, because that's what our dress code is for team flights. Supposedly, they didn't check out of their hotel because there was a chance they'd be going straight to New York (for the ALCS). Well, now they better go check out. ... We're gong to have some fun on the plane, have a ballgame tomorrow and it's going to be awesome. Zito threw a lot of curveballs against us for strikes last time. He might make some adjustments but I think we'll come out swinging the bats and try and get Pedro an early lead. Once Pedro gets going, it's going to be the game we want to see."
BlogWatch: Gregg Rosenthal: "The history of this star crossed franchise makes no difference to this team. The history of this season absolutely does. The Red Sox have played so many games like game 4 already. They absolutely expect to win each one of them. At this point, so do I." ... Ed Cossette says "We Live For This" and notes the "weight of expectation and ecstasy. ... I want to go on writing about this rare feeling, but I don't want to obsess on it either. Too much at stake tonight." ... And in the Log-Rolling In Our Time Dept., The Sheriff: "This team has been so entertaining to watch that right now I don't want this season to ever end."
Quote of the Day: Brian Cashman on George Steinbrenner: "He doesn't actually like having to play the games to decide the championship. If he could have his choice, he'd have that trophy just mailed to us."
Oakland Athletics (with possible clinching games in bold):
Hudson felt discomfort just below his rib cage on his last pitch of the first inning yesterday. "Something tightened up. I tweaked something." A Bay Area columnist wrote: "Hudson went down in such devastating fashion on Sunday, he spent a long time in the dugout cradling his head in his hands. If the rumors of his alleged bar altercation prove to be true, and the incident contributed to his injury, Hudson will spend many months examining his own stupidity." DirtDog adds that "WBZ-TV4 Sports reports that Oakland pitcher Tim Hudson was 'totally smashed' and got tossed out of Club Q." Hudson will have an MRI. More here and here. ... I can only imagine the media shit storm if this had happened to Pedro or Lowe.
From SoSH, late Monday morning: Harry Hooper: "A caller to WEEI who seemed legit was just on, the instigator at Q was with his group of folks there. The caller and a friend were hanging out with Zito and Hudson, buying each other rounds and chatting about Boston, playing in this town, etc. Drunk guy #3 comes over and gets in Hudson's face, yelling some shit. Hudson with several drinks in him clocks the guy, and a bit of a scrum ensued." ... Benzingers BeanBalls: "I think I have heard three different people on WEEI now claim to be the man who punched Tim Hudson. Several years from now I wonder if we will be hearing several thousands claiming to be the guy who started the fight with Tim Hudson. Just like all the millions who were their for Ted's last at-bat or Roger's 1st 20K game."
Ortiz on hitting Foulke in the afternoon shadows: "You can see the white on the ball by that time; you can see it because you've got a shadow behind the pitcher and everything looks dark. When you have a shadow in between the pitcher you just -- you can see when the ball comes out of the pitch, but when it hits the shadows, it goes dark again. I don't know." He added: "Don't give up on me, people. Come on."
Scott Williamson, with his family stress behind him, is emerging as the pitcher we expected from the Reds. The talk is that he should become the closer, with Kim moving into the rotation. ... Kim's shoulder was too sore to pitch on Sunday. Grady says he "felt some tightness in his shoulder [Saturday night]. That's why we got Williamson up right away and got him in the game." There are rumors that when the Red Sox advance to the ALCS, Kim would be left off the roster. ... Also, the Herald reports that some team officials are worried about Kim's emotional and psychological health. "According to one clubhouse source, Kim expressed to teammates a reluctance to pitch again" in the ALDS after being pulled from Game 1."
Globe: "Martinez did not speak on the record yesterday, but did chat with some of his favorite beat writers. His apparent message was that he wanted to win this one tonight for the fans of New England." Apparently, none of Martinez's favorite beat writers work for the Globe.
Kevin Millar: "Nothing comes easy for us and we don't want it to come easy for us. ... We knew we had to come back home and get this thing back there for Game 5, and we've got Pedro going in Game 5. ... It was a battle for sure, but what do you expect? It's the 2003 Sox. We don't make it easy ... We came in here today before Game 4 and packed for four days. We came in here wearing slacks and dress shirts to the yard, because that's what our dress code is for team flights. Supposedly, they didn't check out of their hotel because there was a chance they'd be going straight to New York (for the ALCS). Well, now they better go check out. ... We're gong to have some fun on the plane, have a ballgame tomorrow and it's going to be awesome. Zito threw a lot of curveballs against us for strikes last time. He might make some adjustments but I think we'll come out swinging the bats and try and get Pedro an early lead. Once Pedro gets going, it's going to be the game we want to see."
BlogWatch: Gregg Rosenthal: "The history of this star crossed franchise makes no difference to this team. The history of this season absolutely does. The Red Sox have played so many games like game 4 already. They absolutely expect to win each one of them. At this point, so do I." ... Ed Cossette says "We Live For This" and notes the "weight of expectation and ecstasy. ... I want to go on writing about this rare feeling, but I don't want to obsess on it either. Too much at stake tonight." ... And in the Log-Rolling In Our Time Dept., The Sheriff: "This team has been so entertaining to watch that right now I don't want this season to ever end."
Quote of the Day: Brian Cashman on George Steinbrenner: "He doesn't actually like having to play the games to decide the championship. If he could have his choice, he'd have that trophy just mailed to us."
Oakland Athletics (with possible clinching games in bold):
Red Sox fans are unanimous: It Is On.
Games 1 2 3 4 5
2000 v Yankees W L L W L
2001 v Yankees W W L L L
2002 v Minnesota L W W L L
2003 v Boston W W L L ?
10.05.2003
Cowboy Up, Oakland Down. Man, I really love this team. ... With only five outs remaining in their season, the dormant Red Sox bats awoke from slumber and pounded Keith Foulke for 3 quick hits and 2 essential runs. It was enough to win the game 5-4 (read this), giving Boston a cross-country flight and a Game 5 Pedro/Zito showdown in Oakland tomorrow.
After Saturday night's 11-inning trip through Bizarro Land, I was ready for a nice easy rout, something akin to the card-clinching game against Baltimore. No such luck. After an uneventful first inning, Burkett gave up a walk and 3 singles to start the 2nd and trailed 1-0. An implosion seemed imminent, but the next three A's hitters popped up and the bases-loaded rally fizzled.
Hudson threw a 9-pitch 1-2-3 inning, but hurt himself throwing his first warm-up pitch of the second and left the game in favor of knuckleballer Steve Sparks. Damon hit a two-run homer in the 3rd to give Boston a 2-1 lead, but the offense couldn't do much else with Sparks. The Red Sox had Ramirez on 3rd with 2 outs in the 2nd, and received two 2-out walks in the 4th, but couldn't bring anyone home.
Burkett ran into trouble in the middle innings as his pitch count rose. Guillen singled to start the 4th and Melhuse followed with a single to left center. Somehow, Damon's noodle arm was strong enough to throw out Guillen in his foolish attempt to get to third. Then Walker made a nice play on Dye's line drive. In the 5th, Ellis led off with a 5-pitch walk. Durazo scalded a grounder at Millar, who got the out. After a foul pop to Varitek, Tejada ripped a ball to first. Millar again made the play and fed Burkett for the out. ... After 5 innings, Burkett seemed gassed. He had thrown 97 pitches and although he had been hit hard, he still held a 2-1 lead.
Arroyo had warmed up in the 2nd and Wakefield was up in the 5th. I was hoping that Burkett's day was done, but Grady sent him back out for the 6th. Knowing full well that moves like this had backfired earlier this season, I grit my teeth and prayed that if anyone got on, Grady would go to the pen. He had to, right? This game is a must win. Hatteberg opened the 6th with a first-pitch single off Burkett's glove that Nomar had no play on. ... Grady? No. ... Guillen fouled off 2 pitches and ripped a line drive that Mueller dove flat-out to his left to snare. An excellent play on another hard hit ball. ... Grady? Still nothing. ... Melhuse looked at two balls and whacked a long triple over Nixon's head in right. Hatteberg scored to tie the game at 2-2. ... Where was Grady? Was he even awake? ... Dye then pounded an 0-1 pitch into the last row of the Monster Seats for a 2-run home run and Oakland led 4-2. ... Oh, look, some stirring in the home dugout. Here comes Grady to make a change.
&*%$@#%!!! My anger felt beyond words. I don't know how Theo stopped himself from jumping out of the stands and choking the life out of dumb Gump's body. He has more self-control than I would have had. How in the HELL can Grady send an obviously tired Burkett out to the mound for another inning, when he has been hit very hard the previous 2 innings? You could make a strong case Burkett shouldn't have pitched the 5th. ... This exact situation has come up time and time and time again all year long, with predictable results. This season is riding on this game, Gump. Burkett's feelings won't be hurt if you pull him after 5 innings.
With the Red Sox bats in hibernation -- in this series, they were making it happen with excellent pitching and stand-out fielding -- a 4-2 hole felt like 40-2. Wakefield held the line and it was up to the bats.
Rincon came on to start the 6th and Walker greeted him with a long home run to right. Cool. Now it was 4-3. All Boston had to do was score one more run before they made 12 outs (and hold Oakland scoreless). Ramirez, Ortiz and Millar followed Walker with well-hit balls to the outfield, but they were all outs.
In the 7th, Nixon led off with a single. The wheels were turning. Would Grady put in Jackson as a pinch-runner? And if so, could he steal second off the lefty? Would he have Mueller bunt? ... Silly, me, it turns out Gump did nothing, outside of probably hoping Mueller wouldn't hit into a double play. Which he did, on the very first pitch. Varitek tapped back to the mound and that was the end of that.
There have been several times this year when it has seemed as though Grady has decided the game is over, the team cannot come back, and he seems content to let the game roll on, concede defeat, and make no moves to jumpstart the team. Not running for the gimpy Nixon seemed like one of those times. It was beyond frustration, feeling the season sink out of reach, as it was tied tightly to the managerial millstone that is Grady Little.
Scott Williamson went into deep counts with 2 of the 3 Oakland batters in the 8th, but retired them all. Oakland manager Ken Macha brought in his closer, Foulke, hoping for 6--out ALDS-winning save. I was glad to not see any more of Bradford and I thought this move would backfire.
Damon grounded out to shortstop to begin the 8th. Nomar banged a double about 2/3 of the way up the Monster and the tying run stood at second. Walker lined out to center (Byrnes was positioned perfectly and caught the ball in his tracks). Macha came out as Ramirez, nearly invisible in the series and 1-11 against Foulke, stepped in. Foulke worked Manny inside and outside very well, getting ahead 1-2. His missed with ball 2 and then Ramirez dropped a single into shallow left. Nomar had to stop at third (Guillen unleashed a laser beam of a throw to the plate for emphasis). ... At first base, Manny was now exhorting the crowd to rise up and cheer (was there even one fan not standing at that point?) ... Ortiz took ball 1, fouled off a pitch, then took balls 2 and 3. He swung and missed a low, inside fastball and the count was full. Foulke delivered and Ortiz drove the ball on a low line over Dye's head in right. I was listening to the radio, but it sounded as if Dye both turned the wrong way and was bothered by the afternoon sun. Nomar and Ramirez scored and Boston led 5-4.
After Millar flew out, it was up to Williamson to nail it down. He did. Byrnes missed a 2-2 slider, Ellis struck out on a high fastball (95) and Durazo popped out to Mueller. And once again, the Boston Red Sox pulled another rabbit out of their 2003 hat. Maybe the nicest, most beautiful rabbit of the year.
Oakland's flight will likely be as festive as a morgue, as they lost for the 8th straight time in a playoff game in which a win would have clinched the series. ... And Boston's charter? Who knows? Maybe Millar will lead the Red Sox in some full-body shaving ritual that will provide some Monday Mojo.
It will be Pedro/Zito at 8:00 pm (New York won its series over the Twins, so Boston steps into prime time). The focus on Oakland has been so intense, it's hard to believe that a victory tomorrow will set the stage for a Red Sox/Yankees ALCS. But the game Monday has to be won, of course.
Does anyone want to bet against Pedro? There is no other pitcher in the game I would want on my mound in a game like this than Martinez. Pedro likes a little motivation, to be pissed off, out to prove something. I doubt he needs anything more this season, but here's Hudson after today's game: "I think we have the better team. We have the best left-hander in the league going tomorrow. It's alright, I'll take Barry Zito over Pedro Martinez any day." And if someone could remind Pedro that it was Zito who has possession of Martinez's 2002 Cy Young Award trophy, that should do it. As one fan wrote, Oakland will be facing the "the loaded right arm of God [and] they want no part of that."
God goes to work in approximately 26 hours.
After Saturday night's 11-inning trip through Bizarro Land, I was ready for a nice easy rout, something akin to the card-clinching game against Baltimore. No such luck. After an uneventful first inning, Burkett gave up a walk and 3 singles to start the 2nd and trailed 1-0. An implosion seemed imminent, but the next three A's hitters popped up and the bases-loaded rally fizzled.
Hudson threw a 9-pitch 1-2-3 inning, but hurt himself throwing his first warm-up pitch of the second and left the game in favor of knuckleballer Steve Sparks. Damon hit a two-run homer in the 3rd to give Boston a 2-1 lead, but the offense couldn't do much else with Sparks. The Red Sox had Ramirez on 3rd with 2 outs in the 2nd, and received two 2-out walks in the 4th, but couldn't bring anyone home.
Burkett ran into trouble in the middle innings as his pitch count rose. Guillen singled to start the 4th and Melhuse followed with a single to left center. Somehow, Damon's noodle arm was strong enough to throw out Guillen in his foolish attempt to get to third. Then Walker made a nice play on Dye's line drive. In the 5th, Ellis led off with a 5-pitch walk. Durazo scalded a grounder at Millar, who got the out. After a foul pop to Varitek, Tejada ripped a ball to first. Millar again made the play and fed Burkett for the out. ... After 5 innings, Burkett seemed gassed. He had thrown 97 pitches and although he had been hit hard, he still held a 2-1 lead.
Arroyo had warmed up in the 2nd and Wakefield was up in the 5th. I was hoping that Burkett's day was done, but Grady sent him back out for the 6th. Knowing full well that moves like this had backfired earlier this season, I grit my teeth and prayed that if anyone got on, Grady would go to the pen. He had to, right? This game is a must win. Hatteberg opened the 6th with a first-pitch single off Burkett's glove that Nomar had no play on. ... Grady? No. ... Guillen fouled off 2 pitches and ripped a line drive that Mueller dove flat-out to his left to snare. An excellent play on another hard hit ball. ... Grady? Still nothing. ... Melhuse looked at two balls and whacked a long triple over Nixon's head in right. Hatteberg scored to tie the game at 2-2. ... Where was Grady? Was he even awake? ... Dye then pounded an 0-1 pitch into the last row of the Monster Seats for a 2-run home run and Oakland led 4-2. ... Oh, look, some stirring in the home dugout. Here comes Grady to make a change.
&*%$@#%!!! My anger felt beyond words. I don't know how Theo stopped himself from jumping out of the stands and choking the life out of dumb Gump's body. He has more self-control than I would have had. How in the HELL can Grady send an obviously tired Burkett out to the mound for another inning, when he has been hit very hard the previous 2 innings? You could make a strong case Burkett shouldn't have pitched the 5th. ... This exact situation has come up time and time and time again all year long, with predictable results. This season is riding on this game, Gump. Burkett's feelings won't be hurt if you pull him after 5 innings.
With the Red Sox bats in hibernation -- in this series, they were making it happen with excellent pitching and stand-out fielding -- a 4-2 hole felt like 40-2. Wakefield held the line and it was up to the bats.
Rincon came on to start the 6th and Walker greeted him with a long home run to right. Cool. Now it was 4-3. All Boston had to do was score one more run before they made 12 outs (and hold Oakland scoreless). Ramirez, Ortiz and Millar followed Walker with well-hit balls to the outfield, but they were all outs.
In the 7th, Nixon led off with a single. The wheels were turning. Would Grady put in Jackson as a pinch-runner? And if so, could he steal second off the lefty? Would he have Mueller bunt? ... Silly, me, it turns out Gump did nothing, outside of probably hoping Mueller wouldn't hit into a double play. Which he did, on the very first pitch. Varitek tapped back to the mound and that was the end of that.
There have been several times this year when it has seemed as though Grady has decided the game is over, the team cannot come back, and he seems content to let the game roll on, concede defeat, and make no moves to jumpstart the team. Not running for the gimpy Nixon seemed like one of those times. It was beyond frustration, feeling the season sink out of reach, as it was tied tightly to the managerial millstone that is Grady Little.
Scott Williamson went into deep counts with 2 of the 3 Oakland batters in the 8th, but retired them all. Oakland manager Ken Macha brought in his closer, Foulke, hoping for 6--out ALDS-winning save. I was glad to not see any more of Bradford and I thought this move would backfire.
Damon grounded out to shortstop to begin the 8th. Nomar banged a double about 2/3 of the way up the Monster and the tying run stood at second. Walker lined out to center (Byrnes was positioned perfectly and caught the ball in his tracks). Macha came out as Ramirez, nearly invisible in the series and 1-11 against Foulke, stepped in. Foulke worked Manny inside and outside very well, getting ahead 1-2. His missed with ball 2 and then Ramirez dropped a single into shallow left. Nomar had to stop at third (Guillen unleashed a laser beam of a throw to the plate for emphasis). ... At first base, Manny was now exhorting the crowd to rise up and cheer (was there even one fan not standing at that point?) ... Ortiz took ball 1, fouled off a pitch, then took balls 2 and 3. He swung and missed a low, inside fastball and the count was full. Foulke delivered and Ortiz drove the ball on a low line over Dye's head in right. I was listening to the radio, but it sounded as if Dye both turned the wrong way and was bothered by the afternoon sun. Nomar and Ramirez scored and Boston led 5-4.
After Millar flew out, it was up to Williamson to nail it down. He did. Byrnes missed a 2-2 slider, Ellis struck out on a high fastball (95) and Durazo popped out to Mueller. And once again, the Boston Red Sox pulled another rabbit out of their 2003 hat. Maybe the nicest, most beautiful rabbit of the year.
Oakland's flight will likely be as festive as a morgue, as they lost for the 8th straight time in a playoff game in which a win would have clinched the series. ... And Boston's charter? Who knows? Maybe Millar will lead the Red Sox in some full-body shaving ritual that will provide some Monday Mojo.
It will be Pedro/Zito at 8:00 pm (New York won its series over the Twins, so Boston steps into prime time). The focus on Oakland has been so intense, it's hard to believe that a victory tomorrow will set the stage for a Red Sox/Yankees ALCS. But the game Monday has to be won, of course.
Does anyone want to bet against Pedro? There is no other pitcher in the game I would want on my mound in a game like this than Martinez. Pedro likes a little motivation, to be pissed off, out to prove something. I doubt he needs anything more this season, but here's Hudson after today's game: "I think we have the better team. We have the best left-hander in the league going tomorrow. It's alright, I'll take Barry Zito over Pedro Martinez any day." And if someone could remind Pedro that it was Zito who has possession of Martinez's 2002 Cy Young Award trophy, that should do it. As one fan wrote, Oakland will be facing the "the loaded right arm of God [and] they want no part of that."
God goes to work in approximately 26 hours.
The Red Sox, Like Richard Dawson, Are Alive.
I can't say enough about the pitching performances of Mike "I love this city" Timlin and Scott Williamson. Timlin has been one of Boston's most reliable relievers this year (72 games), but he has also had several bad outings when asked to pitch a second inning. He's a control pitcher, always around the plate, and will therefore surrender his share of home runs (11). He went three innings last night, retired all nine batters he faced and made two excellent plays on the mound, leaping high to snare a couple of high choppers from Chavez and Hattberg. He struck out three, including Byrnes on 9 pitches to start the 10th. ... Williamson showed again that when he relies on his fastball, he'll be fine. In the 11th, he started Tejada off with two off-speed pitches (mid-80s) and fell behind 2-0. When he threw heat, he regained his edge and struck Tejada out, although he did pull a string on an 80-mph slider to catch Hernandez looking to end the inning.
Lowe was outstanding. Grady stuck with him even after he allowed three consecutive singles to load the bases with 1 out in the 7th. Timlin and Embree were both warm, but Lowe was allowed to face McMillon (a line drive out directly at Jackson at 2B) and Durazo (line out to center). Thanks to the pen, Oakland would not get another runner on base for the rest of the game.
The only questionable move Grady made was in the bottom of the 9th. Varitek led off with a bloop single to center off Bradford and was removed for pinch-runner Brown. Kapler failed twice to bunt and Brown never tried to steal (he should have). Kapler grounded into a 5-4-3 double play on the 0-2 pitch and pinch-hitter Walker (facing LHP Rincon) popped to short. ... Now, after the mismoves of Game 1, Grady had to have known that Macha would bring in Rincon once the lefty (Walker) was announced. [Interesting that Grady did not hit Nixon for Jackson and then put Walker in the infield. Did Grady feel Walker stood a better chance against Rincon? Was he saving Nixon?]
I would have had Mirabelli hit for Walker against the lefty (and put Merloni in at 2B) because (a) Mirabelli hits lefties better and has more power than Walker, (b) Mirabelli was going to enter the game as the catcher in a possible 10th inning anyway, and (c) I didn't want to see Walker at 2B in extra innings. It turns out there were no ground balls in the next two innings to worry about. ... Little stayed with the hot hand of Timlin and that paid off handsomely. Williamson was a great choice to follow him out of the pen. And hitting Nixon for Kapler was an inspired, if completely obvious, call!
Little said Pedro would be physically able to go today, but Burkett's the man. According to statistician Chuck Waseleski, Martinez has never pitched on three days rest in his entire career. (With Montreal, he pitched on two days rest June 23, 1995 in a 2-0 loss to Pittsburgh (8 innings, 5 hits, and 2 runs), but that was after he was knocked out after .2 of an inning against the Houston Astros, allowing five runs.) ... Martinez told Little he was available for a couple of innings, but Little saw only one scenario in which he'd use him: "[H]e was going to pitch the top of the ninth if we were able to get a run across in the bottom of the eighth inning." That didn't happen, and sure enough, Pedro sat down for good after that.
Dirt Dog says Pedro will be with the team today and fly to Oakland with them Sunday evening. ... Manny calls his shot (Trot's shot that is). ... Nixon played Wiffle ball in the weight room with trainer/pitcher Chang Lee to work on his hand-eye coordination.
Once again: "Over the past seven postseasons there have been 35 starts made on three days rest, resulting in a 6-17 record and a 5.47 ERA ... Hudson gave up five hits and seven runs, two earned, in 3.1 innings while working on short rest in Game 4 of the Division Series vs. Minnesota last year."
Gordon Edes asked some Red Sox how many times they thought the team batted around in an inning. Millar: "Seven." Hitting Coach Ron Jackson: "Four?" Kapler was told it was not a low number: "Twenty-five." ... The Red Sox batted around 38 times (most in the major leagues). In linescore fashion, here are the times by the specific innings:
438 342 644 - 38
Byung-Hyun Kim was booed by fans during introductions. He raised his right arm and touched the bill of his cap, brought his arm down to his side, then raised it again and put up his middle finger. He issued an apology after the game. ... Jin Hyung Park, who works for SportsChosun in Seoul, said Kim told him he was distraught after being yanked in Game 1: "He thought when Grady Little came out of the dugout, he was coming to give him advice." ... Giving the fans the finger is not a good thing. But the frustration that fueled the gesture is understandable. Kim has been an excellent pitcher in his short career (he's still only 24) and had has the supreme misfortune to work for two men who have not one iota of a clue how to use him.
Most Bloggers must be sleeping in ... Ed is up and enjoying the morning; Matthew goes off on Grady: "His moves in the series have been a nutty, chewy mix of overmanaging and simplistic playing the odds and his hunches. ... Grady has been a true amalgamation of Bob Brenly and Jimy Williams."
The definition of a Red Sox fan? Chris Irr, 19: "A real fan is always there each year to stick it out and go through the whole struggle again." ... Pat Totten, 14: "It comes from the heart. Your soul belongs to the Red Sox and you live and die with them." ... Holly Fairchild, 56: "A Red Sox fan is somebody who never gives up hope. If they are up or down, we love them. We are Red Sox fans in Boston and true fans are loyal."
I can't say enough about the pitching performances of Mike "I love this city" Timlin and Scott Williamson. Timlin has been one of Boston's most reliable relievers this year (72 games), but he has also had several bad outings when asked to pitch a second inning. He's a control pitcher, always around the plate, and will therefore surrender his share of home runs (11). He went three innings last night, retired all nine batters he faced and made two excellent plays on the mound, leaping high to snare a couple of high choppers from Chavez and Hattberg. He struck out three, including Byrnes on 9 pitches to start the 10th. ... Williamson showed again that when he relies on his fastball, he'll be fine. In the 11th, he started Tejada off with two off-speed pitches (mid-80s) and fell behind 2-0. When he threw heat, he regained his edge and struck Tejada out, although he did pull a string on an 80-mph slider to catch Hernandez looking to end the inning.
Lowe was outstanding. Grady stuck with him even after he allowed three consecutive singles to load the bases with 1 out in the 7th. Timlin and Embree were both warm, but Lowe was allowed to face McMillon (a line drive out directly at Jackson at 2B) and Durazo (line out to center). Thanks to the pen, Oakland would not get another runner on base for the rest of the game.
The only questionable move Grady made was in the bottom of the 9th. Varitek led off with a bloop single to center off Bradford and was removed for pinch-runner Brown. Kapler failed twice to bunt and Brown never tried to steal (he should have). Kapler grounded into a 5-4-3 double play on the 0-2 pitch and pinch-hitter Walker (facing LHP Rincon) popped to short. ... Now, after the mismoves of Game 1, Grady had to have known that Macha would bring in Rincon once the lefty (Walker) was announced. [Interesting that Grady did not hit Nixon for Jackson and then put Walker in the infield. Did Grady feel Walker stood a better chance against Rincon? Was he saving Nixon?]
I would have had Mirabelli hit for Walker against the lefty (and put Merloni in at 2B) because (a) Mirabelli hits lefties better and has more power than Walker, (b) Mirabelli was going to enter the game as the catcher in a possible 10th inning anyway, and (c) I didn't want to see Walker at 2B in extra innings. It turns out there were no ground balls in the next two innings to worry about. ... Little stayed with the hot hand of Timlin and that paid off handsomely. Williamson was a great choice to follow him out of the pen. And hitting Nixon for Kapler was an inspired, if completely obvious, call!
Little said Pedro would be physically able to go today, but Burkett's the man. According to statistician Chuck Waseleski, Martinez has never pitched on three days rest in his entire career. (With Montreal, he pitched on two days rest June 23, 1995 in a 2-0 loss to Pittsburgh (8 innings, 5 hits, and 2 runs), but that was after he was knocked out after .2 of an inning against the Houston Astros, allowing five runs.) ... Martinez told Little he was available for a couple of innings, but Little saw only one scenario in which he'd use him: "[H]e was going to pitch the top of the ninth if we were able to get a run across in the bottom of the eighth inning." That didn't happen, and sure enough, Pedro sat down for good after that.
Dirt Dog says Pedro will be with the team today and fly to Oakland with them Sunday evening. ... Manny calls his shot (Trot's shot that is). ... Nixon played Wiffle ball in the weight room with trainer/pitcher Chang Lee to work on his hand-eye coordination.
Once again: "Over the past seven postseasons there have been 35 starts made on three days rest, resulting in a 6-17 record and a 5.47 ERA ... Hudson gave up five hits and seven runs, two earned, in 3.1 innings while working on short rest in Game 4 of the Division Series vs. Minnesota last year."
Gordon Edes asked some Red Sox how many times they thought the team batted around in an inning. Millar: "Seven." Hitting Coach Ron Jackson: "Four?" Kapler was told it was not a low number: "Twenty-five." ... The Red Sox batted around 38 times (most in the major leagues). In linescore fashion, here are the times by the specific innings:
438 342 644 - 38
Byung-Hyun Kim was booed by fans during introductions. He raised his right arm and touched the bill of his cap, brought his arm down to his side, then raised it again and put up his middle finger. He issued an apology after the game. ... Jin Hyung Park, who works for SportsChosun in Seoul, said Kim told him he was distraught after being yanked in Game 1: "He thought when Grady Little came out of the dugout, he was coming to give him advice." ... Giving the fans the finger is not a good thing. But the frustration that fueled the gesture is understandable. Kim has been an excellent pitcher in his short career (he's still only 24) and had has the supreme misfortune to work for two men who have not one iota of a clue how to use him.
Most Bloggers must be sleeping in ... Ed is up and enjoying the morning; Matthew goes off on Grady: "His moves in the series have been a nutty, chewy mix of overmanaging and simplistic playing the odds and his hunches. ... Grady has been a true amalgamation of Bob Brenly and Jimy Williams."
The definition of a Red Sox fan? Chris Irr, 19: "A real fan is always there each year to stick it out and go through the whole struggle again." ... Pat Totten, 14: "It comes from the heart. Your soul belongs to the Red Sox and you live and die with them." ... Holly Fairchild, 56: "A Red Sox fan is somebody who never gives up hope. If they are up or down, we love them. We are Red Sox fans in Boston and true fans are loyal."
10.04.2003
TROT!!! Nixon channels Carbo ... and the Hitless Wonders romp to a 3-1 win in 11 nutty, nerve-wracking innings. Excellent, excellent pitching tonight (the mediots will focus on the lack of hitting, but Boston's supposedly shitty pen carried the team in this one): Lowe was untouchable early, Timlin had three (?!?) perfect innings and Williamson threw heat in the 11th. ... I was strangely calm throughout, overjoyed at 11:19 and confident for tomorrow. ... Burkett and Arroyo can split duty on the hill, the bats can wake up (please!), and the Athletics can worry about another 5-game mishap all the way back to Choakland. ... Sweet, sweet dreams, cool October night baseball dreams.
Nothing Else To Say. From Holmes Smarter Brother:
"We're Red Sox fans.
"It's going to happen someday. We're going to win the world series someday. You know it. I know it. We all know it. And somewhere buried deep within all of us is the tiniest sliver of the joy that is that someday. And that joy is boundless. If it were a mountain it would stub its toe on Mount Everest. If it were an ocean, it would consider the Atlantic a puddle of rainwater. If it were a painting it would make the Sistine Chapel, the Mona Lisa, and all the works of all the greatest artists in all the great museums of the world look like the fingerpaints of a two year old. In its depth, breadth, and sheer beauty, the world has not seen its like. Perhaps that's why it has been too long, because the world is terrified what might happen if that joy is released. Breaking the atom has nothing on this.
"And we've each got a little bit of that inside us so when we take the field Saturday night our world will be filled with joy. And should we lose, our world will be filled with joy cunningly disguised as anguish, fury, and utter disappointment but only for the moment. Once that moment has passed the crowd will rise as one and cheer for the team, for the joy we've had in watching them, and for the knowledge that someday it will be our day."
"We're Red Sox fans.
"It's going to happen someday. We're going to win the world series someday. You know it. I know it. We all know it. And somewhere buried deep within all of us is the tiniest sliver of the joy that is that someday. And that joy is boundless. If it were a mountain it would stub its toe on Mount Everest. If it were an ocean, it would consider the Atlantic a puddle of rainwater. If it were a painting it would make the Sistine Chapel, the Mona Lisa, and all the works of all the greatest artists in all the great museums of the world look like the fingerpaints of a two year old. In its depth, breadth, and sheer beauty, the world has not seen its like. Perhaps that's why it has been too long, because the world is terrified what might happen if that joy is released. Breaking the atom has nothing on this.
"And we've each got a little bit of that inside us so when we take the field Saturday night our world will be filled with joy. And should we lose, our world will be filled with joy cunningly disguised as anguish, fury, and utter disappointment but only for the moment. Once that moment has passed the crowd will rise as one and cheer for the team, for the joy we've had in watching them, and for the knowledge that someday it will be our day."
10.03.2003
Surfing While Waiting for Maddux-Prior... David Kay, head of the Pentagon-coordinated Iraq Survey Group, told Congress on Thursday that his team had failed to find any illegal weapons after three months of scouring the country. Undeterred, the Bush administration is asking Congress for an additional $600 million to continue the search, bringing the total price tag for the search to almost $1 billion.
The Wilson/Plame story is gathering a lot of steam. Josh Marshall cites an article in which Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) implies the disclosure came from Cheney's office. ... Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson: "I know the name of the person that spoke with Bob Novak. ... [I]f I'm the FBI, I start by having a discussion with [Cheney's chief of staff Scooter] Libby." ... Paul Krugman: [W]e already know what the president knew, and when he knew it. Mr. Bush knew, 11 weeks ago, that some of his senior aides had done something utterly inexcusable. But as long as the media were willing to let the story lie ... he didn't think this outrage required any action." ... Johnny Spann, father of slain CIA officer Johnny "Mike" Spann: "If someone in the Bush administration leaked this, they need to be punished, and they need to be made an example of, because that's not just a leak, that's treason."
Bring back paper ballots!
Sox Note: We have faith, but we're not happy.
The Wilson/Plame story is gathering a lot of steam. Josh Marshall cites an article in which Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) implies the disclosure came from Cheney's office. ... Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson: "I know the name of the person that spoke with Bob Novak. ... [I]f I'm the FBI, I start by having a discussion with [Cheney's chief of staff Scooter] Libby." ... Paul Krugman: [W]e already know what the president knew, and when he knew it. Mr. Bush knew, 11 weeks ago, that some of his senior aides had done something utterly inexcusable. But as long as the media were willing to let the story lie ... he didn't think this outrage required any action." ... Johnny Spann, father of slain CIA officer Johnny "Mike" Spann: "If someone in the Bush administration leaked this, they need to be punished, and they need to be made an example of, because that's not just a leak, that's treason."
Bring back paper ballots!
Sox Note: We have faith, but we're not happy.
Pedro Martinez will be saved for a possible Game 5 in Oakland. Grady: "He would have been available for Game 4, but in the position we're in now, we have to win three games. He can't pitch all the games." ... The last game in which Pedro threw at least 130 pitches was May 1, 2001 (136 in a 2-0 win over Seattle); in the past four seasons, he has had 4 games of 130+ pitches (3 in 2000 and 1 in 2001).
The State of the Nation is hopeful. ... Ed Cossette: "Maybe I've totally lost it or maybe I'm just in deep denial, but I find it impossible to accept that the Red Sox will not bounce back, win the next two at Fenway and even this series out. I'm being totally serious. Is it facile to cling to hope? No, it's really the only rational choice." ... Doc Holliday keeps it short and simple: "We don't need to get bogged down in talk of winning 3 in a row. We need to win Saturday, that is it." ... Jeff at Dewey's House: "This series isn't over, no matter what some "fan" sites and curly haired Boston Globe columnists tell you. Sox just need to play like they did to get here." ... Paul Testa sounds off against the CHB (who writes back). ... PSF is also sick of the naysayers. ... Gregg Rosenthal: "Cowboy Up is a fun, goofy phrase ... To me - it means shut the fuck up, dig a bit deeper, and have a little faith in the 2003 Red Sox."
Millar: "I feel big-time confident because the toughest game to win is that third game. They're going to be antsy to get that third game. But we're going back to our house. We're going back to our fans. Just be out there and be loud. Get all the red you can and wear it because it's going to be Red Sox Nation. It's going to be live and electric. ... This series is far from being over. You've got to win three games, not two. Our heads are above water right now." ... Nomar: "They may be jumping off bridges, but I guarantee they'll get out of the water and they'll be out there supporting us on Saturday." ... Mirabelli: "I expect to be back here on Monday. And I think 25 guys in this room feel the same way." ... Damon: "It's time for some guys to wake up. There's no time to feel sorry for ourselves. We've won three in a row many times this year."
The Red Sox are the 39th team to fall behind 0-2 in a best-of-five series. Of the previous 38, 15 forced a Game 4, 9 forced a Game 5, and 6 won the series. Those 6 teams are:
1981 Dodgers (NLDS over Astros)
1982 Brewers (ALCS over Angels)
1984 Padres (NLCS over Cubs)
1995 Mariners (ALDS over Yankees)
1999 Red Sox (ALDS over Indians)
2001 Yankees (ALDS over Athletics)
Red Sox on Road: .263/.328/.456
Red Sox at Home: .316/.392/.527
Kevin Paul Dupont acknowledges that Grady may have made some bad moves in Game 1. His penultimate sentence reads: "Strategically, there were a number of instances in Game 1 when he could be duly second-guessed from Oakland here on the Bay to Oak Bluffs back on the Vineyard." Dupont doesn't mention what any of those moves might be, but he adds his two cents (along with other Globers) here. Gordon Edes gets into some of the situations, but not as much as Hench, who unloads on Gump (scroll down).
Little said Lowe was going to pitch an inning or two in Game 1 no matter what -- "to increase his sharpness ... that way, there wouldn't be nine days between the times he pitched." (Lowe's last start was September 25.) If that's correct, and Kim came out to close the game in the 9th, when was Lowe going to pitch? ... Tim Hudson said his back wasn't bothering him, it was his thumb.
Jim Donaldson, the King of the One-Sentence Paragraphs, on Manny: "In two games, Manny has made the last out in seven innings. Seven. Is that a big deal? In two games, 10 trips to the plate over 21 innings, he has just one hit -- a leadoff single in the sixth yesterday -- and two walks. Is that a big deal?" ... My answer to the first question is No. The "last outs" bit is trivia and a coincidence. Donaldson's description makes Ramirez's 0-5 in Game 1 sound extra lame, but would Manny have been more productive by making the second out in a couple of those innings? Manny is not the only spaghetti bat wearing red socks. Ortiz is 0-9, Kapler 0-5, Mueller 2-9, Millar 2-10 and Ramirez has been on base more often than any of those guys. ... Donaldson also scolds Manny for missing a bus, although he admits in his very first sentence "nobody on the Red Sox seemed to think it was a big deal." I guess that's just Donaldson being Donaldson.
The State of the Nation is hopeful. ... Ed Cossette: "Maybe I've totally lost it or maybe I'm just in deep denial, but I find it impossible to accept that the Red Sox will not bounce back, win the next two at Fenway and even this series out. I'm being totally serious. Is it facile to cling to hope? No, it's really the only rational choice." ... Doc Holliday keeps it short and simple: "We don't need to get bogged down in talk of winning 3 in a row. We need to win Saturday, that is it." ... Jeff at Dewey's House: "This series isn't over, no matter what some "fan" sites and curly haired Boston Globe columnists tell you. Sox just need to play like they did to get here." ... Paul Testa sounds off against the CHB (who writes back). ... PSF is also sick of the naysayers. ... Gregg Rosenthal: "Cowboy Up is a fun, goofy phrase ... To me - it means shut the fuck up, dig a bit deeper, and have a little faith in the 2003 Red Sox."
Millar: "I feel big-time confident because the toughest game to win is that third game. They're going to be antsy to get that third game. But we're going back to our house. We're going back to our fans. Just be out there and be loud. Get all the red you can and wear it because it's going to be Red Sox Nation. It's going to be live and electric. ... This series is far from being over. You've got to win three games, not two. Our heads are above water right now." ... Nomar: "They may be jumping off bridges, but I guarantee they'll get out of the water and they'll be out there supporting us on Saturday." ... Mirabelli: "I expect to be back here on Monday. And I think 25 guys in this room feel the same way." ... Damon: "It's time for some guys to wake up. There's no time to feel sorry for ourselves. We've won three in a row many times this year."
The Red Sox are the 39th team to fall behind 0-2 in a best-of-five series. Of the previous 38, 15 forced a Game 4, 9 forced a Game 5, and 6 won the series. Those 6 teams are:
1981 Dodgers (NLDS over Astros)
1982 Brewers (ALCS over Angels)
1984 Padres (NLCS over Cubs)
1995 Mariners (ALDS over Yankees)
1999 Red Sox (ALDS over Indians)
2001 Yankees (ALDS over Athletics)
Red Sox on Road: .263/.328/.456
Red Sox at Home: .316/.392/.527
Kevin Paul Dupont acknowledges that Grady may have made some bad moves in Game 1. His penultimate sentence reads: "Strategically, there were a number of instances in Game 1 when he could be duly second-guessed from Oakland here on the Bay to Oak Bluffs back on the Vineyard." Dupont doesn't mention what any of those moves might be, but he adds his two cents (along with other Globers) here. Gordon Edes gets into some of the situations, but not as much as Hench, who unloads on Gump (scroll down).
Little said Lowe was going to pitch an inning or two in Game 1 no matter what -- "to increase his sharpness ... that way, there wouldn't be nine days between the times he pitched." (Lowe's last start was September 25.) If that's correct, and Kim came out to close the game in the 9th, when was Lowe going to pitch? ... Tim Hudson said his back wasn't bothering him, it was his thumb.
Jim Donaldson, the King of the One-Sentence Paragraphs, on Manny: "In two games, Manny has made the last out in seven innings. Seven. Is that a big deal? In two games, 10 trips to the plate over 21 innings, he has just one hit -- a leadoff single in the sixth yesterday -- and two walks. Is that a big deal?" ... My answer to the first question is No. The "last outs" bit is trivia and a coincidence. Donaldson's description makes Ramirez's 0-5 in Game 1 sound extra lame, but would Manny have been more productive by making the second out in a couple of those innings? Manny is not the only spaghetti bat wearing red socks. Ortiz is 0-9, Kapler 0-5, Mueller 2-9, Millar 2-10 and Ramirez has been on base more often than any of those guys. ... Donaldson also scolds Manny for missing a bus, although he admits in his very first sentence "nobody on the Red Sox seemed to think it was a big deal." I guess that's just Donaldson being Donaldson.
10.02.2003
0-2. It's tough to blame this one on Forrest Little. The Red Sox were nine dead men walking this afternoon and Oakland rolled to a 5-1 win. Game 3 will be in Fenway on Saturday (Lowe/Lilly). The A's scored 5 runs in an ugly second inning today: with one out, Guillen walked, moved to second on a wild pitch, Hernandez singled to right (1-0), Dye was grazed by a pitch, Byrnes doubled over Manny's head in left (3-0), Ellis walked, Durazo grounded out 3-1, and Chavez reached on a 2-base throwing error from Walker (5-0).
Boston got a run back in the third with doubles from Mirabelli and Damon., but after a walk to Nomar put runners at first and second with 1 out, both Walker and Ramirez hacked at the first pitch, snuffing out the rally. After that, the Red Sox offense was next to invisible. Zito rediscovered his curve ball and struck out the side in the 4th and the first two men in the 5th. Singles by Damon and Nomar put two on with two outs that inning, but Walker tapped back to the mound to end it. The only other Boston baserunners were Ramirez's single leading off the 6th and Mueller's 2-out single in the 9th off Foulke. Wakefield also settled down after the 2nd, allowing only 3 more baserunners through the 6th inning.
Walker had a great Game 1, but against a lefty like Zito, he has no business batting third. Keep him in the lineup if you must, but bring Mueller up and drop Todd to 8th or 9th. ... Arroyo was warming in the bullpen twice (in the 2nd and 4th), but did not pitch. Embree and Williamson each threw an inning of relief. ... Manny was 1-3 with a walk and looked better at the plate. Ortiz and Millar were overmatched all day (they were both 0-4 with 2 K) and both Kapler and Mirabelli struck out twice in three trips.
The Red Sox will hit in Fenway and the team went through this exact experience with Cleveland in 1999 (in fact, in Game 1 that year, Pedro started and Lowe was tagged with the loss). And while I don't expect a 23-7 fireworks display, I do expect the Sox to battle. They've been through too much to have this season end with a whimper. If they can take two games this weekend, I like Pedro's chances in Game 5. ... I'm not a religious man, but I have faith.
Boston got a run back in the third with doubles from Mirabelli and Damon., but after a walk to Nomar put runners at first and second with 1 out, both Walker and Ramirez hacked at the first pitch, snuffing out the rally. After that, the Red Sox offense was next to invisible. Zito rediscovered his curve ball and struck out the side in the 4th and the first two men in the 5th. Singles by Damon and Nomar put two on with two outs that inning, but Walker tapped back to the mound to end it. The only other Boston baserunners were Ramirez's single leading off the 6th and Mueller's 2-out single in the 9th off Foulke. Wakefield also settled down after the 2nd, allowing only 3 more baserunners through the 6th inning.
Walker had a great Game 1, but against a lefty like Zito, he has no business batting third. Keep him in the lineup if you must, but bring Mueller up and drop Todd to 8th or 9th. ... Arroyo was warming in the bullpen twice (in the 2nd and 4th), but did not pitch. Embree and Williamson each threw an inning of relief. ... Manny was 1-3 with a walk and looked better at the plate. Ortiz and Millar were overmatched all day (they were both 0-4 with 2 K) and both Kapler and Mirabelli struck out twice in three trips.
The Red Sox will hit in Fenway and the team went through this exact experience with Cleveland in 1999 (in fact, in Game 1 that year, Pedro started and Lowe was tagged with the loss). And while I don't expect a 23-7 fireworks display, I do expect the Sox to battle. They've been through too much to have this season end with a whimper. If they can take two games this weekend, I like Pedro's chances in Game 5. ... I'm not a religious man, but I have faith.
Has A Team Ever Fired Its Manager During The Playoffs? Gump made a gaggle of mistakes in Game 1 and Boston lost 5-4 on a bases-loaded suicide squeeze bunt in the 12th inning. I'm skeptical that this team, as good as it is, can overcome its manager's chronic brain farts.
1. Why was Pedro left out to throw a season-high 130 pitches? It was clear Martinez was not completely sharp last night. His velocity was down (although ESPN's radar readings were suspect throughout the game) and after allowing 3 hits, a walk and 3 runs in the 3rd, he started to nibble. Ten of his 19 pitches in the 4th inning were balls (for the game, he threw 80 strikes and 50 balls). Through 6 innings, Pedro had thrown 97 pitches and trailed 3-2. Having Martinez pitch Game 4 on short rest was contingent on not being overworked in Game 1. However, rather than go to the pen, Gump sent Pedro out for the 7th inning. Martinez allowed a leadoff single and (after a force play, an error and a fly out) walked Ellis to put 2 on with 2 outs. Grady came to the mound, and I was positive that was it, but Gump left Pedro in. He threw 11 pitches to Durazo and walked him to load the bases. Chavez then fouled out to Varitek to end the inning, but Martinez's 33 pitches that inning brought his total to 130, possibly hampering his effectiveness later in the series.
2. Gump has pinch-run for slower players like Ortiz late in games throughout the season. This has sometimes backfired and the Sox have been forced to have a weak bat in a crucial situation an inning or two later. Boston led 4-3 and Ortiz began the 8th inning with a walk. Grady did not pull him for a pinch-runner (that's why Adrian Brown is on the team). After Millar struck out, Mueller lined a double into the right field corner. Almost every player on the team would have scored on that hit, but not Ortiz. I wonder if Grady was cautious about having his lineup weakened in case of extra innings. Maybe. But this was the time to get an insurance run and win the game in 9 innings. ... So there was Ortiz at third, where he had a great view of perhaps Gump's dumbest move of the night.
3. After Mueller's double put runners at second and third with 1 out, Gump had McCarty pinch-hit for Nixon against Rincon. I didn't have a huge problem with hitting for Nixon, since he can't hit lefties and was probably still not 100%. As expected, Oakland countered with submariner Chad Bradford. Gump then burned McCarty and sent up Brown instead. I didn't see Macha high-fiving his coaches in the A's dugout when Brown was announced. I guess ESPN's cameras were focused elsewhere. Brown was completely overmatched and Bradford struck him out. Varitek was walked intentionally and Damon grounded into a force at third. Poof, rally over, no insurance run. ... There is no excuse for having Brown up in that situation. He is not on the team for his bat and should be hitting only as a last resort. Of all the possible choices (Nixon/Rincon, McCarty/Bradford or Kapler/Bradford (Kapler ended up PHing for Brown in the 11th and taking his spot in RF)), Gump chose the worst one.
4. Once Pedro wiggled out of the 7th, I expected Grady to use Timlin in the 8th and Kim in the 9th. Timlin pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning, getting Tejada to foul out and striking out Hatteberg and Long. In the 9th, Kim retired Hernandez on a shallow fly to center, but walked McMillon on 4 pitches. But they weren't horrible pitches (ball 3 was clearly a strike); plate umpire Randy Marsh's strike zone was a mess, morphing constantly like a lava lamp. With a 1-1 count on Singleton, Kim came inside, Singleton took a half-swing and the ball hit his mid-section. I don't think the pitch would have hit him if he hadn't swung. But Marsh ruled it a HBP and there were runners at first and second. Facing leadoff hitter Ellis, Kim's sinker was filthy and untouchable and Ellis struck out for the second out. Durazo was next ... and out came Gump. He pulled Kim and brought in Embree. Kim had put two guys on base, but the A's couldn't touch his fastball or sinker. Grady said he wanted LHP Embree to face LH Durazo. But:
Durazo v lefties: .284/.380/.457 (.837); v righties .247/.370/.418 (.788)
Embree v lefties: .262/.272/.424 (.696); v righties .221/.314/.317 (.631)
BHKim v lefties: .221/.319/.342 (.661); v righties .227/.259/.339 (.597)
Kim is better against lefties than Embree is and Durazo hits lefties much better than righties (almost 40 points of batting average). But Gump wanted the lefty-lefty matchup. Moron. Durazo whacked Embree's third pitch into left to tie the game at 4-4. I would have left Kim in to face Durazo and (if necessary) brought Embree in to face Chavez, who can't hit lefties. ... And as they have all year, the press criticized the bullpen without noting that it was mismanaged by Gump. Kevin Dupont wrote that Grady was "looking to play the odds." But the plain truth is that Grady went against the odds.
5. In addition to running the risk of a weaker Pedro in Game 4, Grady may have weakened Lowe for Game 3 by having him pitch two innings of relief. There is one reason Bronson "All I Do Is Get Guys Out" Arroyo is in the pen and that's to pitch multiple relief innings. If Gump doesn't use Arroyo last night, when in the world would he use him? I can only assume Gump was panicking at this point and figured Lowe was his best pitcher, he used to be a reliever and he was going to throw on the side Thursday anyway. (The refusal to use Arroyo told me that it was likely Theo and not Grady who put Arroyo on the roster.) ... Lowe was not sharp, walking the leadoff batter in both innings. Durazo walked to start the 12th and was forced by Chavez, who beat the relay and avoided a double play. (At this point, possible Game 4 starter Burkett was warming in the pen; again, no Arroyo.) Tejada grounded to third and Chavez (running on the pitch) went to second. Grady came out to talk with Lowe. Hatteberg (1-for-14 v Lowe) walked on a full count and Chavez stole third on ball 4. First and third with 2 outs. Long looked at strike one and Hatteberg went to second on the pitch. At this point, Gump decided to walk Long intentionally and pitch to Hernandez. This move made very little sense. While Long's run did not matter and it set up a force at any base, Hernandez is a much better hitter than Long, Lowe did not have good control and Long was already down 0-1. ... Hernandez took a strike, saw that Mueller was playing back, and dropped down a bunt down the third base line. Neither Mueller nor Lowe had a play and Chavez scored the winning run.
Gump's decisions either hampered Boston's chance to score additional runs and avoid extra innings or maximized Oakland's chances to tie and then win the game. Several Red Sox players did not do their jobs, but Gump must bear the blame for having players in spots they are not optimally suited for. ... There were other failures, such as Millar getting caught stealing in the 2nd and Ramirez ending five innings with outs (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th). Also, Manny's stance looked odd to me. He seemed a little further away from the plate (he was lunging at pitches in his first two AB) and was facing the pitcher in a more open stance. The announcers didn't mention it, which shouldn't be a surprise. God, they were awful. David Justice is an idiot; he makes Joe Morgan sound like Vin Scully.
There were some positives of course: Todd Walker is a freaking God, Nomar got more selective at the plate as the game went on, Millar made a great leap on Nomar's throw to end the 9th, and Varitek had a good game (a home run, a single and 2 walks (but he'll be on the bench today)).
This was a game the Red Sox should have won. Theo: "It's appropriate. If we're going to win this series, we've got to lose a game like this. It's us." ... Grady Gump is in waaaay over his head and I hate being reminded of that, especially at 2:30 am. If the Red Sox can score a quick 10-12 runs today, I'll feel much better. ... Wakefield/Zito at 4:00.
1. Why was Pedro left out to throw a season-high 130 pitches? It was clear Martinez was not completely sharp last night. His velocity was down (although ESPN's radar readings were suspect throughout the game) and after allowing 3 hits, a walk and 3 runs in the 3rd, he started to nibble. Ten of his 19 pitches in the 4th inning were balls (for the game, he threw 80 strikes and 50 balls). Through 6 innings, Pedro had thrown 97 pitches and trailed 3-2. Having Martinez pitch Game 4 on short rest was contingent on not being overworked in Game 1. However, rather than go to the pen, Gump sent Pedro out for the 7th inning. Martinez allowed a leadoff single and (after a force play, an error and a fly out) walked Ellis to put 2 on with 2 outs. Grady came to the mound, and I was positive that was it, but Gump left Pedro in. He threw 11 pitches to Durazo and walked him to load the bases. Chavez then fouled out to Varitek to end the inning, but Martinez's 33 pitches that inning brought his total to 130, possibly hampering his effectiveness later in the series.
2. Gump has pinch-run for slower players like Ortiz late in games throughout the season. This has sometimes backfired and the Sox have been forced to have a weak bat in a crucial situation an inning or two later. Boston led 4-3 and Ortiz began the 8th inning with a walk. Grady did not pull him for a pinch-runner (that's why Adrian Brown is on the team). After Millar struck out, Mueller lined a double into the right field corner. Almost every player on the team would have scored on that hit, but not Ortiz. I wonder if Grady was cautious about having his lineup weakened in case of extra innings. Maybe. But this was the time to get an insurance run and win the game in 9 innings. ... So there was Ortiz at third, where he had a great view of perhaps Gump's dumbest move of the night.
3. After Mueller's double put runners at second and third with 1 out, Gump had McCarty pinch-hit for Nixon against Rincon. I didn't have a huge problem with hitting for Nixon, since he can't hit lefties and was probably still not 100%. As expected, Oakland countered with submariner Chad Bradford. Gump then burned McCarty and sent up Brown instead. I didn't see Macha high-fiving his coaches in the A's dugout when Brown was announced. I guess ESPN's cameras were focused elsewhere. Brown was completely overmatched and Bradford struck him out. Varitek was walked intentionally and Damon grounded into a force at third. Poof, rally over, no insurance run. ... There is no excuse for having Brown up in that situation. He is not on the team for his bat and should be hitting only as a last resort. Of all the possible choices (Nixon/Rincon, McCarty/Bradford or Kapler/Bradford (Kapler ended up PHing for Brown in the 11th and taking his spot in RF)), Gump chose the worst one.
4. Once Pedro wiggled out of the 7th, I expected Grady to use Timlin in the 8th and Kim in the 9th. Timlin pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning, getting Tejada to foul out and striking out Hatteberg and Long. In the 9th, Kim retired Hernandez on a shallow fly to center, but walked McMillon on 4 pitches. But they weren't horrible pitches (ball 3 was clearly a strike); plate umpire Randy Marsh's strike zone was a mess, morphing constantly like a lava lamp. With a 1-1 count on Singleton, Kim came inside, Singleton took a half-swing and the ball hit his mid-section. I don't think the pitch would have hit him if he hadn't swung. But Marsh ruled it a HBP and there were runners at first and second. Facing leadoff hitter Ellis, Kim's sinker was filthy and untouchable and Ellis struck out for the second out. Durazo was next ... and out came Gump. He pulled Kim and brought in Embree. Kim had put two guys on base, but the A's couldn't touch his fastball or sinker. Grady said he wanted LHP Embree to face LH Durazo. But:
Durazo v lefties: .284/.380/.457 (.837); v righties .247/.370/.418 (.788)
Embree v lefties: .262/.272/.424 (.696); v righties .221/.314/.317 (.631)
BHKim v lefties: .221/.319/.342 (.661); v righties .227/.259/.339 (.597)
Kim is better against lefties than Embree is and Durazo hits lefties much better than righties (almost 40 points of batting average). But Gump wanted the lefty-lefty matchup. Moron. Durazo whacked Embree's third pitch into left to tie the game at 4-4. I would have left Kim in to face Durazo and (if necessary) brought Embree in to face Chavez, who can't hit lefties. ... And as they have all year, the press criticized the bullpen without noting that it was mismanaged by Gump. Kevin Dupont wrote that Grady was "looking to play the odds." But the plain truth is that Grady went against the odds.
5. In addition to running the risk of a weaker Pedro in Game 4, Grady may have weakened Lowe for Game 3 by having him pitch two innings of relief. There is one reason Bronson "All I Do Is Get Guys Out" Arroyo is in the pen and that's to pitch multiple relief innings. If Gump doesn't use Arroyo last night, when in the world would he use him? I can only assume Gump was panicking at this point and figured Lowe was his best pitcher, he used to be a reliever and he was going to throw on the side Thursday anyway. (The refusal to use Arroyo told me that it was likely Theo and not Grady who put Arroyo on the roster.) ... Lowe was not sharp, walking the leadoff batter in both innings. Durazo walked to start the 12th and was forced by Chavez, who beat the relay and avoided a double play. (At this point, possible Game 4 starter Burkett was warming in the pen; again, no Arroyo.) Tejada grounded to third and Chavez (running on the pitch) went to second. Grady came out to talk with Lowe. Hatteberg (1-for-14 v Lowe) walked on a full count and Chavez stole third on ball 4. First and third with 2 outs. Long looked at strike one and Hatteberg went to second on the pitch. At this point, Gump decided to walk Long intentionally and pitch to Hernandez. This move made very little sense. While Long's run did not matter and it set up a force at any base, Hernandez is a much better hitter than Long, Lowe did not have good control and Long was already down 0-1. ... Hernandez took a strike, saw that Mueller was playing back, and dropped down a bunt down the third base line. Neither Mueller nor Lowe had a play and Chavez scored the winning run.
Gump's decisions either hampered Boston's chance to score additional runs and avoid extra innings or maximized Oakland's chances to tie and then win the game. Several Red Sox players did not do their jobs, but Gump must bear the blame for having players in spots they are not optimally suited for. ... There were other failures, such as Millar getting caught stealing in the 2nd and Ramirez ending five innings with outs (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th). Also, Manny's stance looked odd to me. He seemed a little further away from the plate (he was lunging at pitches in his first two AB) and was facing the pitcher in a more open stance. The announcers didn't mention it, which shouldn't be a surprise. God, they were awful. David Justice is an idiot; he makes Joe Morgan sound like Vin Scully.
There were some positives of course: Todd Walker is a freaking God, Nomar got more selective at the plate as the game went on, Millar made a great leap on Nomar's throw to end the 9th, and Varitek had a good game (a home run, a single and 2 walks (but he'll be on the bench today)).
This was a game the Red Sox should have won. Theo: "It's appropriate. If we're going to win this series, we've got to lose a game like this. It's us." ... Grady Gump is in waaaay over his head and I hate being reminded of that, especially at 2:30 am. If the Red Sox can score a quick 10-12 runs today, I'll feel much better. ... Wakefield/Zito at 4:00.
10.01.2003
Playoff Prospectus. Gary Huckabay sizes up the Red Sox/Athletics series and describes the Boston offense as "AC/DC, circa 1979, showing up to play your high school battle of the bands ... something that causes opposing teams to look over and exclaim "That ain't right." In short, Boston has built the offense that Oakland's been talking about building. ... Boston in 4. Too much offense for the A's to overcome. If Hudson falters at all in Game 1 and the A's start running their middle relievers out there, we could witness some truly ugly blowouts. ... If Boston makes some miscues, gets a poor performance in Game 1 from Pedro, and Macha can spot his bench guys perfectly, Oakland has a chance. But more likely, the A's suffer another first-round exit. ..."
Reminder: Ron Rapoport's column in today's Chicago Sun-Times looks at the 1918 Red Sox/Cubs World Series and cites my book.
Reminder: Ron Rapoport's column in today's Chicago Sun-Times looks at the 1918 Red Sox/Cubs World Series and cites my book.
In Pedro We Trust.
Buckley's Herald pay column on Pedro. ... The last time Oakland faced Martinez, they forced him to throw 101 pitches in 5 innings; they hope to be equally patient tonight. ... Aces: At 80-33, Hudson has a .708 winning percentage, which trails only two pitchers in major league history who have logged at least 50 wins: Spud Chandler's .717 and Martinez's .712. No AL pitcher has won more games (69) than Hudson over the last four years and no one in the league this year held opponents to a lower slugging percentage (.308). Only Martinez's ERA (2.22) was lower this year than Hudson's (2.70), and Hudson held batters to a .223 average, third-best in the league to Martinez (.215) and teammate Barry Zito (.219).
Pedro in September
Oakland Tribune
San Francisco Chronicle
Contra Costa Times
San Jose Mercury News
Sacramento Bee
Sonoma County Press Democrat
MLB
I loved the result of all 3 games yesterday. The Yankees' defense is a big flaw and it could hurt them even more on the carpet in Minnesota. Soriano and Jeter have minimal range; Bernie should be playing in left with Matsui in center, but that isn't going to happen this fall. Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus made reference to "Bernie Williams' Corpse" adding: "... Williams hasn't been even an adequate center fielder in two years. He can't throw--as evidenced on the first run of the game, when he just missed gunning down Cristian Guzman at the pitcher's mound--and his diminished lateral range no longer makes up for a first step measured in geologic time." And Sheehan's a Yankee fan!
Bernie's arm is almost as weak as Damon's. The Twins tested both Williams and Matsui yesterday and, since they were successful, they will keep doing it. Game 2 starter Pettitte allows the most baserunners per inning on the Yankees staff, so that could be a big issue in Game 2 tomorrow.
RC/27
Buckley's Herald pay column on Pedro. ... The last time Oakland faced Martinez, they forced him to throw 101 pitches in 5 innings; they hope to be equally patient tonight. ... Aces: At 80-33, Hudson has a .708 winning percentage, which trails only two pitchers in major league history who have logged at least 50 wins: Spud Chandler's .717 and Martinez's .712. No AL pitcher has won more games (69) than Hudson over the last four years and no one in the league this year held opponents to a lower slugging percentage (.308). Only Martinez's ERA (2.22) was lower this year than Hudson's (2.70), and Hudson held batters to a .223 average, third-best in the league to Martinez (.215) and teammate Barry Zito (.219).
Pedro in September
Date Opp Score IP H R BB K PITHudson in September
0905 NYY W 9-3 6 4 1 1 9 94
0910 Bal W 5-0 8 3 0 2 9 116
0916 TB W 3-2 9 6 2 1 6 122
0921 Cle W 2-0 7 4 0 2 11 115
0926 TB W 7-2 3 2 0 0 2 57
33 19 3 6 37 498 4-0, 0.82
Date Opp Score IP H R BB K PITPedro in Playoffs
0903 Bal L 0-9 3 8 5 0 1 66
0908 Ana L 1-3 7.2 9 3 4 7 127
0913 Tex W 9-3 6 7 3 2 6 100
0919 Sea L 1-6 6 8 4 3 7 112
0924 Tex W 5-3 7 5 2 1 5 100
29.2 37 17 10 26 505 2-3, 4.85
Year Round Tm Opp W/L G ERA W-L IP H ER BB SOCheck out playoff coverage in newspapers in all 30 MLB cities. Links to Boston papers are at left. Here are links to Oakland papers:
1998 ALDS BOS CLE L 1 3.86 1-0 7.0 6 3 0 8
1999 ALDS BOS CLE W 2 0.00 1-0 10.0 3 0 4 11
1999 ALCS BOS NYY L 1 0.00 1-0 7.0 2 0 2 12
3 Postseason Ser 1-2 4 1.12 3-0 24.0 11 3 6 31
Oakland Tribune
San Francisco Chronicle
Contra Costa Times
San Jose Mercury News
Sacramento Bee
Sonoma County Press Democrat
MLB
I loved the result of all 3 games yesterday. The Yankees' defense is a big flaw and it could hurt them even more on the carpet in Minnesota. Soriano and Jeter have minimal range; Bernie should be playing in left with Matsui in center, but that isn't going to happen this fall. Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus made reference to "Bernie Williams' Corpse" adding: "... Williams hasn't been even an adequate center fielder in two years. He can't throw--as evidenced on the first run of the game, when he just missed gunning down Cristian Guzman at the pitcher's mound--and his diminished lateral range no longer makes up for a first step measured in geologic time." And Sheehan's a Yankee fan!
Bernie's arm is almost as weak as Damon's. The Twins tested both Williams and Matsui yesterday and, since they were successful, they will keep doing it. Game 2 starter Pettitte allows the most baserunners per inning on the Yankees staff, so that could be a big issue in Game 2 tomorrow.
RC/27
Boston OaklandNot much else to say ... Just slip into my new David Ortiz Fan Club t-shirt (which arrived about 10 minutes ago!), open a bottle of Sam Adams Octoberfest (for luck) and count down the hours .... Go Giants! Go Cubs!
Ramirez 8.77
Nixon 8.54
Ortiz 7.69
Mueller 7.68
Garciaparra 6.61
Chavez 6.28
Varitek 6.16
Durazo 5.90
Tejada 5.76
Millar 5.70
Damon 5.41
Hernandez 5.15
Walker 4.90
Hatteberg 4.59
Ellis 4.12
Long 3.86
Red Sox ALDS Roster.
Starters: Martinez, Wakefield, Lowe, Burkett.
Bullpen: Arroyo, Embree, Kim, Timlin, Williamson, Sauerbeck.
Lineup: Varitek, Millar, Walker, Garciaparra, Mueller, Ramirez, Damon, Nixon, Ortiz.
Bench: McCarty, Brown, Kapler, Mirabelli, Jackson, Merloni.
Theo must have had significant input, because I refuse to believe Gump and I see eye-to-eye this closely. This is a great roster. Arroyo deserved a spot, and with him and Burkett, Suppan becomes irrelevant. Nixon's questionable status obviously had a lot to do with the decision to go with only 10 pitchers and take Brown. ... Damn. First, the decision to pitch Wakefield in Oakland, now near-flawless roster decisions. All I have left to complain about is tonight's start time. What a strange feeling. ... Tenative times for the rest of the series: Game 3 Saturday 7:30 p.m., Game 4 Sunday 1 p.m./5 p.m., Game 5 Monday 1 p.m.
Starters: Martinez, Wakefield, Lowe, Burkett.
Bullpen: Arroyo, Embree, Kim, Timlin, Williamson, Sauerbeck.
Lineup: Varitek, Millar, Walker, Garciaparra, Mueller, Ramirez, Damon, Nixon, Ortiz.
Bench: McCarty, Brown, Kapler, Mirabelli, Jackson, Merloni.
Theo must have had significant input, because I refuse to believe Gump and I see eye-to-eye this closely. This is a great roster. Arroyo deserved a spot, and with him and Burkett, Suppan becomes irrelevant. Nixon's questionable status obviously had a lot to do with the decision to go with only 10 pitchers and take Brown. ... Damn. First, the decision to pitch Wakefield in Oakland, now near-flawless roster decisions. All I have left to complain about is tonight's start time. What a strange feeling. ... Tenative times for the rest of the series: Game 3 Saturday 7:30 p.m., Game 4 Sunday 1 p.m./5 p.m., Game 5 Monday 1 p.m.
My thanks to Ron Rapoport of the Chicago Sun-Times for a nice article on the Cubs/Red Sox World Series of 1918 (and my book).
Aaron Gleeman has a lengthy recap of the Yankees/Twins game and long previews of all four series. ... Dirt Dog says Arroyo gets the roster nod over Suppan. ... Baseball Primer previews: AL and NL ... Joe Sheehan is the first person I've seen say Sox in 3.
Aaron Gleeman has a lengthy recap of the Yankees/Twins game and long previews of all four series. ... Dirt Dog says Arroyo gets the roster nod over Suppan. ... Baseball Primer previews: AL and NL ... Joe Sheehan is the first person I've seen say Sox in 3.
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