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December 8, 2006

Thank You, Keith Foulke

With Keith Foulke declining arbitration, his Red Sox career is likely over.

His shitty treatment by the Boston media is a darker stain than most on those writers' dubious resumes. And the lemming fans who followed suit and booed him throughout 2005 should have all but the first three games of the 2004 ALCS wiped from their memories.

Without his amazing bullpen work, that glorious October would have been yet another Yankee nightmare. In the process of bringing us what we wished for all our lives, he ruined his career:
                IP  H  R  BB  K  PIT
ALDS 1 10/05
ALDS 2 10/06 - 1.1  0  0   0  2   14
10/07
ALDS 3 10/08 - 1.2  2  0   1  3   37
10/09
10/10
10/11
ALCS 1 10/12 -  .1  0  0   0  0    5
ALCS 2 10/13 -  .2  0  0   1  1   17
10/14
10/15
ALCS 3 10/16
ALCS 4 10/17 - 2.2  0  0   2  3   50
ALCS 5 10/18 - 1.1  1  0   1  0   22
ALCS 6 10/19 - 1.0  0  0   2  2   28
ALCS 7 10/20
10/21
10/22
WS 1   10/23 - 1.2  2  0   1  3   36
WS 2   10/24 - 1.1  0  0   0  2   19
10/25
WS 3   10/26 - 1.0  1  1   0  2   14
WS 4   10/27 - 1.0  1  0   0  1   14
  
11 of 14 gms  14.0  7  1   8 19  256    0.64)
The moment I remember best (not counting the WS-ending underhand toss to Malphabet): the bottom of the 9th of ALCS 6 in Yankee Stadium. The Bloody Sock Game.

Boston had led 4-0, but New York scored once in the 7th (Bernie HR off Schilling), once in the 8th (Jeter single off Arroyo, followed by the Slappy slap), and had the tying runs on (two Foulke walks) in the bottom of the ninth.

The inning: Matsui walks. Williams strikes out. Posada pops to third. Sierra walks. Thermos (bbcfb) struck out swinging.

It capped a stretch of 5 innings and 100 pitches in the amazingly short time span of 48 hours. In the celebration on the mound, Foulke is absolutely beaming, and after hugging Arroyo, he says, in a very hoarse voice: "Gotta make it interesting".

14 comments:

  1. One of the scariest all-time moments it was, with Tony Clark up there. The perfect guy to break our hearts once again, and in classic two-syllable first name, one-syllable last name fashion. But we got him. How sweet it was, as me and dozens of others spilled out of the Riviera into the streets of Mew York, celebrating like it was...New Curse's Eve!

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  2. Mew York, said the kitten.....Tony the Kitten. That's totally what I meant, I swear.

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  3. Yep, thanks and good luck to Foulkie. I liked him from day one. When he was healthy he didn't exactly make it look easy, but he always looked in control. The whole over-blown mantra of 'leaving it on the field' certainly applies to him in the 04 post-season and in most other markets he'd be toasted as a 'warrior'. Can't help but think that somebody like Manny observes all this and concludes that he's better off keeping his thoughts to himself. Of course, the same idiots that hounded Foulke never give Manny credit for being capable of thinking for himself.

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  4. I'll never forget that terrifying Tony Clark at-bat.

    At least, not until I forget everything, which should be happening some time in the next, um, what was I saying?

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  5. Can't help but think that somebody like Manny observes all this and concludes that he's better off keeping his thoughts to himself.

    Yep. Good point.

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  6. Nope, the scariest moment for me was 'tek trying to catch Wake in extra innings. Please, in the name of everybody's god, never again.

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  7. Seriously, if you weren't screaming, crying and/or praying to god (whether you believe or not) during that 9th inning, you have no soul.

    When I rewatched it this morning, I gave a little involuntary yelp as Clark swung and missed.

    (And I remember watching it again for the first timer when the DVDs came in the mail. My palms were sweaty and my heart was racing.)

    Seriously: How the hell did we survive that week?

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  8. Sometimes I still can't believe we lived through all that. What an experience.

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  9. Ha! We were posted at the same time, and practically the same thought.

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  10. aww *tears well up*

    we'll never forget him tho. the last play of the world series..totally emblazened on all our memories. and the alcs..my god. i think there is still pent up stress in some of my neck muscles over that. just amazing to think of us conquering them, against all odds. best alcs ever?

    good post red sock :)

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  11. best alcs ever?

    Best. ALCS. Ever.

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  12. redsock and l-girl have already written it but every single time I re-watch the games, or parts thereof, I can't figure out what fuelled us through that week: it wasn't anything normal. I don't know why I even bothered going to work, except that riding the T each day was so much damn fun once they started turning it around!

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  13. I think all I did during those days was read stuff online and wait for the next game. It didn't blog all that much during crunch time.

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  14. I wish Foulke would have stayed by basically the media completely and utterly ran him out of town. That is the bottom line. People like that negative nitwit 'Dirtdogs' seemed to have something against him from the getgo and his vendetta against Foulke was ugly, aggressive and uncalled for.

    I have always supported Foulke in his battle against one of the more inane media crusades against a player and have written plenty about it.

    I have my Foulke jersey, myself and a friend also got jerseys with 'Foulke U NY' on the back. I have my 2004 memories and I will follow his career no matter where he goes and root for him

    As we say here in Ireland, 'Go Ndeirigh an bothar leat, Keith'.

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