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Monthly archives: October 2004
The Revolution Is Being Televised
2004-10-31 01:05
The Internet Baseball Writers Association (IBWA), of which I am a proud member, released their first annual baseball awards. Here are the results. Unlike most other awards, the IBWA got the awards right. No Juan Gone over A-Rod type, eyebrow-raising decisions here. The awards might not be as widely covered but with the idiotic cronyism and flock mentality of the baseball writers in selecting their awards, they need someone to keep them in line. Below is my ballot for what it's worth: 2004 IBWA END-OF-YEAR AWARDS Note that my method for the player, pitcher, and debut categories was to take the rank for each league in Win Shares and VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) and averaging them. There are a few adjustments mentioned in the individual categories. AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR The AL ranking were a bit dicier. Gary Sheffield led the AL in WS but ended up much lower in VORP. Averaging the rankings would place him about sixth. I felt it was only fair that the leaders in the two categories should rank 1-2, so I moved him up. NATIONAL LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE YEAR AMERICAN LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE YEAR NATIONAL LEAGUE DEBUT OF THE YEAR Madson was an eccentric pick based not on the rankings (though he did well there) but rather based on my assessment of his worth watching him pitch this season with the Phils. AMERICAN LEAGUE DEBUT OF THE YEAR NATIONAL LEAGUE MANAGER OF THE YEAR 1. Bobby Cox AMERICAN LEAGUE MANAGER OF THE YEAR 1. Mike Scioscia In the managers categories, I voted for the manager who got the most with the least talent. NATIONAL LEAGUE EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR 1. John Schuerholz Schuerholz had to be rewarding for continuing to win a division while losing a good deal of a his core talent and for doing it by believing in many players (Hampton, Drew, Estrada, Franco, Thomson, etc.) that no one else did. Jocketty: a) same as second point for Schuerholz and b) shoring up the hole he created by trading Drew by getting Larry Walker. DePodesta for his cajones in addressing his starting pitching problems (i.e., by getting Brad Penny) by putting his division lead on the line. AMERICAN LEAGUE EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR 1. Terry Ryan This was the hardest category. I went with the execs who had the most successes without the glaring errors. I wanted to vote for Theo Epstein but the A-Rod and Nomar sagas prevented me from doing so. I wanted to vote for Bill Stoneman, but didn't because a) he signed Jose Guillen and b) he released him for basically nothing with two weeks left in the season in the middle of a playoff race. I wanted to vote for Brian Cashman but given that the Yankees were unable to make the Randy Johnson trade (and the fact that the Yankee minor-league system is in shambles), I couldn't. Mark Shapiro? Remember the Milton Bradley situation? Bily Beane? Can I borrow a closer please? John Hart? Remember the A-Rod closeout sale? Ryan has the best group of young players possibly in baseball. Dombroski took a team from historically bad to respectable. Lamar fleeced the Mets for Scott Kazmir and has a good group of young talent. [By the way, I realized that my ballot got truncated in transit when I retrieved the email. The AL Exec of the Year was not included, so my votes are not in the IBWA totals for this category.]
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Sox de Deux
2004-10-29 00:14
My series with Beth at the former Cursed or First discussing the tail end of the series is at the main A-B site. Here is each part:
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The Worst of Series, The Not Quite Worst of Series?
2004-10-28 19:32
As the jubilant Red Sox players, management, and fans celebrate their championship and the dispelling of "The Curse"—hopefully keeping the body count to a minimum—I am left to mull over whether or not this train wreck of a World Series was the worst in my lifetime or not. Was it 1990 when Eric Davis dived for a ball in game four and put himself in an Oakland hospital? The Reds won so quickly that he was still there when the Series was done, and charitable then-owner Marge Schott left him there to pay his own return airfare. Was it 1976 when the Big Red Machine at its height stormed through the NLCS and World Series without a loss, sweeping the pre-Reggie Yanks? Those are good, but my vote goes to 1989. That's when the Series was interrupted by an earthquake postponing game three for ten days. For a time, it wasn't certain if the World Series would resume or if the Bay Area had the inclination or the wherewithal to continue. Candlestick Park sustained some minor damage. When they resumed the A's led game three 13-3 going into the bottom of the ninth after winning the first games by a combined 10-1 score. In game four San Fran starter Don Robinson lasting 1-2/3 innings and the A's led 8-0 in the middle of the sixth. It did end up being the closest game of the series though (9-6). Things were so bad for the Giants that seldom used Billy Bathe was one of four San Francisco players to homer. Aside from Dave Stewart's and Dave Henderson's performances, there wasn't much to recommend it. Maybe we should have taken the earthquake as a hint. However, this was arguable one of the worst World Series ever from an aesthetic stand point. The Red Sox outscored the Cards by 12 runs in four games. There are only 12 Series sweeps that are that lopsided or worse:
The Cardinals never owned a lead—they tied for one and two-thirds innings in game one. The meat of the Cardinal order was historically bad. Scott Rolen was 0-for-15 with one walk and one pointless sac fly that scored one of only two Cardinal runs in game two but helped kill an eighth-inning rally (first and third with one out, trailing 6-1). Rolen's poor plate at the plate followed an 0-for-12 in the Dodgers series and a seeming rebirth towards the end of the NLCS, that turned out to be short-lived. Here are the men who have collected at least 10 at-bats in a World Series without a hit. Rolen's is tied for the eleventh most ABs without a hit:
The only ones with more hitless at-bats in recent memory were Rafael Belliard who replaced an (I believe) injured Jeff Blauser late in the NLCS in 1995. The other was Mike Epstein who led the Series-winning A's with 26 home runs (really) and had an OPS 67% better than the park-adjusted league average but went hitless in the World Series. He was no longer an A in 1973 and was out of the game within a year. Meanwhile, Jim Edmonds and Reggie Sanders, the number five and six hitters, were the strikeout kings. Edmonds K'ed 6 times in 15 at-bats or 40% of the time. His batting average was .067 for the series. He's one of 36 players to strike out that many times and have 40% of his at-bats consist of Ks. Sanders sat out most of game four but still managed to strike out five times in nine at-bats (plus four walks and one stolen base, the only Cardinal SB for the series). He's one of 30 players to strike at least 50% of the time in the Series Here are the worst strikeout offenders in the Fall Classic (>60%):
Basically, David Justice and a bunch of pitchers. Others in recent memory (last 40 years):
The Cards batted .190 as a team. That ties them for the 16th worst all-time. They also had a .261 on-base percentage and slugged.302 for a meager .563 OPS:
By the way, the Sox .283 team batting average was good for 22nd best (.404 OBP, .478 SLUG, and .882 OPS). Here are the top ones:
The Cardinals pitchers registered a 6.09 ERA struck out only 20 and walked 24. Their team ERA ties them for eighth worst all-time and the highest since 1993:
Their strikeout-to-walk ratio (.833) is the seventh worst in World Series history and the worst since 1990:
The Red Sox meanwhile registered a 2.50 ERA with 12 walks and 32 strikeouts. That's the 66th best ERA and 32nd best strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.667). Here are the best:
The one thing that you can criticize the Sox for was their defense. They recorded 8 errors and had just a .946 fielding percentage though they did turn 5 doubleplays. There were 42 teams who erred more often a Series though. Here are the worst:
Here are the last teams to flub at least 8 balls:
The Red Sox errors led to only 2 unearned runs, but that did help keep the team ERA low. Bill Mueller committed three errors all in the drizzle of game two. There have been 24 players who erred more often. The worst offender was shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh for the 1924 Senators with 8 errors. SS Joe Sewell (who replaced ay Chapman on the 1920 Indians), 2B Davey Lopes (1981 Dodgers), and SS Hans Wagner (1903 Pirates) are next with 6. No one since 1982 (Brewers Robin Yount (3) and Jim Gantner(5)) has recorded more than three. The only players with three since then are 1B Jim Lindeman (1987 Cardinals), 2B Alfonso Soriano (2001 Yanks), 3B Aaron Boone (last year's Yankees), and C Joe Oliver (1990 Reds). Let's measure the disparity between the two teams by looking at some basic stats. The difference between their team ERAs is 3.59, fifth greatest all time:
The Red Sox batting average (sorry, I don't have the other ratios' historical values) was 93 points higher than the Cards'. That's the fourth largest difference between opponents batting average in the history of the World Series:
You'll notice that the 1989 Series is very high on both lists, but so is 2004. It has a very strong argument for Worst Series ever.
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World Series Game 4 Log
2004-10-27 20:27
Pregame National Anthem—More country hee haw schmaltz. Some nondescript country singer. Now, let some fan site link to that. Montage—ends with Babe Ruth winking. Didn't think he was playing tonight. Chris Myers—references lunar eclipse, "the planets are aligned" for a Red Sox win. More schmaltz. Red Sox 1st Damon—2-seamer called strike. 2 high 4-seamers. Why fastballs? 2-seamer—gone to right. Red Sox 1, Cards 0 Cabrera—4-seamer nubber halfway to third, great play Rolen Ramirez—low. Called strike. Inside. Low. High. Walk. Ortiz—outside. McCarver—"LaRussa's one batter away from getting Haren up". Low. Strike on outside corner. 4-seamer, swings through. Outside—full count. Flies to straightaway left. Ah, Mabry is finally in a game—too late. Varitek—called strike outside corner. Change at knees right over plate—0-2. Low—blocked Molina. Fastball called a ball, looked good—at knees. Foul tip on same pitch. Outside—curve? Ks Go Johnny Go—"Johnny B Goode", Chuck Berry for Damon. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 LOB Cards 1st Womack—way outside. Looked outside—called strike. Lines off Cabrera's glove as he leaps. Jumped early. Single. Walker—inside. Throws to first. Bunts to Lowe's right. Sacrifice good. I guess they are desperate for runs. Pujols—high and inside—checks. Grounds to right of back. Bellhorn positioned there. Out. Rolen—fouled off. Low. Hits dribbler down first base line. Lowe gets it, rolen dive headfirst, tags him. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 LOB Red Sox 2nd Mueller—2-seamer at knees—called ball. Outside—curve? Strike called—outside corner. Grounds to Womack. Nixon—In the dirt. Inside. Lines 4-seamer to right-center. Walker—sliding stop, nice, holds him to a double. Bellhorn—Low. "Let's Go Red Sox"?—greatest fans in the world? Strike—outside corner. Low. Outside. Crushes one inside to deep right—foul. Outside. Walk. So when do they get Marquis? McCarver—predicts wheel play. Lowe—outside. Bunt down, to mound, Rolen there but bobbles. Slides and barely gets Lowe. Well done by Cards. Damon—Low. Outside. 2-seamer gets the outside corner. 4-seamer-fouls to left of third. Pujols unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 2 LOB Cards 2nd Edmonds-strike inside corner. Flies to left. Hank Aaron. Barry Bonds. Lot o' homers there. Renteria—Called on the outside corner. Low. Low and outside. Fouls at plate. Mistake up—lines to Mueller on one hop, out. Mabry—low and inside. Catches inside corner. Hanger—right to Nixon. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Red Sox 3rd Cabrera—More fastballs? 2-seamer right over plate—called strike. Outside. Low and outside. 2-seamer, just misses, flies to shallow left. Little league pitches of Jason Marquis. Varitek also in LL World Series. Ramirez—2-seamer in—fouled. Inner half—lined to left. Ortiz—low I guess—fastball. Again—lines into RF corner. 2nd and third. Good pitch selection! Varitek—video from LL WS with Bad News Bears theme. High and In. Low. Curve—looked low—called strike. Varitek doesn't like it. Again—outside. 3-1. 4-seamer—grounds to first, Pujols at line, goes home, Ramirez way out. Mueller—1st and 3rd. Outside. To mound. Outside. In the dirt—blocked Molina. High—walk. No one up still in the pen! Incredible! Nixon—called low, looked borderline. Low again. Again. Goes on 3-0, high heat outside, deep to right-center, 2/3 up the wall. Double. 2 runs. 2nd and 3rd. Bellhorn—IBB to get to pitcher. Lowe—low and outside. Finally LaRussa on phone to pen. Misses high heat. Fastball right over the plate. 1-2. Called ball—looked good at knees on outside corner. Ks. 2 runs, 3 hits, 3 LOB Cards 3rd Molina—Ugly K on change? (doesn't like sinker) Marquis—why is he batting? Grounds to short Womack—called strike. Low twice. Grounds to short. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Red Sox 4th Damon—"Red Sox fighting back smiles in their dugout". Fouled back. Called inside—looked borderline. Outside. Called inner corner. Grounds slowly to second, past Marquis, Womack shuffles with glove to first. Out. Nice play. Cabrera—high heat up and in. "Let's Go Red Sox!" High heat—fouled. Curve low. Ball. Missed change? Flies high heat to center. Ramirez—arguing with Molina? Ump? Someone? Francona out. Wonder what Manny said. Outside. Low. Outside. Flies to deep center-out. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Cards 4th Walker—Outside. Inside but close—2-0. Fans are up for first time. Curve on outside corner. Hits to warning track in right. Nixon has it. Pujols—Called strike—looked borderline low. Again—not this time. Fouled off. Ks on curve outside. Ugly. Rolen—jams to 1st base side in front of dugout. Ortiz squeezes it. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Red Sox 5th Bonnie Tyler—Total Eclipse of the Heart. Ortiz—called strike outside corner. Outside. Same as #1—didn't get it. Fouls off low fastball. 2-2. Bouncer. 3-2. Low and inside. Take yer base. Haren up in pen. Duncan to mound. Varitrek—low and outside. Outside. Right over plate—takes. Fouled off. Low fastball—called third K. Mueller—checks, but called on inside corner—I guess. Fouled off. 100th pitch. Molina sets up outside. Inside fastball—just missed, fouled back. Curve—in dirt inside again Moina outside. In dirt. Low. Ground low fastball to Womack, runner going, goes to first. Nixon—flies out Edmonds going back. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Cards 5th Edmonds—Called strike. Lines to Muller. Renteria—2 low and outside. Change on inside corner, had him turning away. Outside—but foul tipped. Boul. Sinker, one hands into gap left-center. Damon falls down after catch. Double. Mabry—fastball way outside. Varitek misses it completely. PB—Renteria to 3rd. change—fouls to right. Fouls to left. Foul tip? Varitek reacts that way. Then tags. Out. Way outside—hard to tell. Diamond Cam? Argues. Hard to tell. Shouldn't complain when he swings at that cheese. Molina—Outside. Called strike. In dirt—blocked. PH? Grounds to short. Boos rain down. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 LOB. Red Sox 6th Marquis is still in???? Bellhorn—called strike at knees. Little lower—ball. Called strike. In dirt. No one in pen. Ks on low curve? Chris Myers—interviews a Boston kid playing hooky. Where's the truant officer? Lowe—grounds hard to pitcher. Damon—More F'ing fastballs! Lined to right-center. Triple. Reyes up in pen—Reyes again???? Cabrera—"Let's go red sox!" and "A-holes" Outside twice. Fouled. Called on outside corner—looked like off. Foul. King now up—for Ortiz? Sheez. Flies to right. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 LOB Cards 6th Anderson---Really!?!?! Called strike. Bunts on one hop to Lowe. Pathetic. Womack—sinker low. Outside. Called right on the plate. Flies. Walker—Ball outside. Fouls down 1B line. Outside. Bud Selig—Ahh! Is it Halloween already? Wide again. 3-1. Take yer base. Pujols---crowd gets up. Takes change right over plate. Fouled off. Outside curve—doesn’t go. Varitek to mound. Just missed low—2-2. Again—Lowe wanted it. 3-2. Ortiz and Varitek to mound. Change right over plate--Pops to second. Thinking fastball? 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 LOB Red Sox 7th Haren in. Ramirez—Called strike. Outside. Again. Splitter low and outside—Manny swings way ahead. Again—couldn't check. Ks. Ortiz—low. Low and inside—fouled off. Outside. Grounds behind 1B bag, 31, out. Varitek—Low. Right over plate. Edmonds on the run. Basket catch at track. Almost overran it. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB "God Bless America"—Guy from Creed? Tool? Nondescript post-grunge crappy band. Herman Munster was a better singer Cards 7th Rolen—Arroyo and Embree up. Inside. Foul Tip. High heat—didn’t get call. Again—now strike. Low—checked swing. Flies right to Damon. Edmonds—Flies to shallow center. Damon has it. Renteria—Called strike. Low. Lines to right. Single. Mabry—Foul. Outside—couldn't hold back. Outside. Sinker—Ks. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 LOB Red Sox 8th Mueller—called strike on outside corner. Singles to right. Conference on mound. Nixon—into the corner. Double. 2nd and 3rd. Isringhausen coming in. Kapler PR at first—defensive change too.Sanders in left double-switch. Bellhorn—low. Inside but goes. High heat—holds up, 2-1. Fouls. Change—in and low—3-2. High—walks to load bases. Millar—PH for Lowe. Reese PR for Bellhorn—also a defensive change. Inside. Called low—looked borderline. Swings through cut fastball. High heat—fouled back. Just missed. Ks on high heat. Damon—change grounded to Pujols to his right on infield grass, across body, FO at home. Nice play. Cabrera—in dirt—blocked. Outside. Arroyo—up in pen. Off the corner—throws to first to late. Fastball on the outside corner—taking all the way. On inside corner—acts like it almost hits him—1 ft away. Fouled back. Foul tip in and out of glove. High heat—fouled back. Don’t throw that again. Ks—on high heat! 0 runs, 2 runs, 3 LOB Cards 8th Crappy "In Your Eyes" cover Arroyo in. Cedeno—PH for catcher. Called strike. Low. Way inside—hits ump's knee? Pops in front of Reese. Out. Sanders-- looks 100 yrs old at the plate. Low. Turns on inside fastball—foul. Called strike. Low/outside. Outside—Varitek wanted it. 3-2. High and outside. Walks. Arroyo gone. Embree—coming in, struck the side last time Luna—PH for Womack. "You'll get to know me when you start doing business with me and stop f'ing around, Hector!" High strike. Low—Sanders takes second. High heat—doesn't get it. Cabrera to mound. Fouled off. Fastball all over the plate—Ks Walker—Foul. Timlin in pen. High and outer half—pops high to short 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 LOB. My friend Mike on the tremendous Luna move: " I always turn to a rule V guy when my season is on the line". Red Sox 9th Matheny catching. Luna at second. Ramirez—Grounds to third. Mientkiewicz—Flies to shallow right. Polar Express Play of the Game—where's Leon? John Henry is an alien Varitek—Outside. Foul. Strike called. In dirt. Fouled back. Mookie Ball replay. Fouled off. Lines to LF. Single. Foulke's up. Mueller—Grounds to short, FO unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 LOB Cards 9th Pujols—Has to be the meat of the order. Called outside corner. Again—called ball. Foul. "It's been an offseason when ordinary foulke been extraordinary foulke"—McCarver keeper. Singles right up the middle. Rolen—called strike at knees. Swinging. Inside. Flies to deep right. Terrible series. Edmonds—misses high heat. Fouls. Misses High Heat. Ks Ok, here it is…Armageddon or Billy Buck II Renteria—Grounds to Foulke… Armageddon. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 LOB Jimmy Fallon french-kissing some chick on the field in a Red Sox jacket? Where's "Leon"? (He's waiting for the coin first.) "We Forgive Bill Buckner"—I feel good for him. Is Epstein old enough to drink champagne? Theo's a frat boy. John Henry does his best Emo Phillips impression. Jeanne with the tough free agent question to Theo. Of course, Schilling has to interrupt with champagne on Theo. Actually, holy water disguised. Jesus helped him because he's sick of hearing all the frigging Red Sox fans' prayers. LaRussa—aw garshes. Red Sox just played better. Schilling—"Greatest team in Red Sox history." Really? "Sweet Caroline"—Neil Diamond? This is 2004, not 1974. "Rest in peace, Babe"—He won plenty of rings. He's resting fine.
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Aint She Sweep?
2004-10-27 19:22
There is some drama in tonight's potential World Series finale. Should the Red Sox win by at least 10 runs—that's 12 baserunning errors in Cardinal-ese—they will win the most lopsided playoff sweep in baseball history. Here's the current list with the 2004 World Series listed as of the third game. Note that the Sox are already on it for the Angels series. Also note the dominance the Yanks had over the Rangers in 1998-98: 6-0 in two series with 23 Yankee runs to just 2 for the Rangers (!):
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World Series Game 3 Log
2004-10-26 20:30
Pregame Hey it stopped raining. Red Sox, 1st Cabrera—outside, 1-0—little too much plate, 1-1—low, high fastball—fouled straight back. NO FASTBALLS TO CABRERA. Again—straight back. Low fastball—lined to left-center, but Edmonds has a nice bead, gets it Ramirez—ball low, fouled straight back, fastball low. Same pitch, but got the call—it was a ball. 2-2—high fastball, crushes it to left, one too many. Too high, too much plate. All Buck cares about is his postseason hit streak. Does anyone care? Ortiz—1-1, fastball ripped to right. Bad signs. They are turning on that fastball. Varitek—Strike called. Outside. Fouls off pitch inside. 1-2—low. Change low, expected fastball but adjusted, grounds to second. 1 Run, 1 Hit, 1 LOB Red Sox 1-Cards 0 Cards 1st Renteria—low and outside, outside, nice outer half and low fastball—2-1. Change, grounds to second, Bellhorn falls, still gets him. Walker—swings through high heat. Tried again—too high. Again. Off the plate outside—3-1. Pedro's birthday yesterday—what did his little friend get him? Again misses high, walk. Pujols—strike one right down the pike. Calls time right before Pedro delivers. Called strike 2-seamer on outside corner, looked low. Called high, but that's the high strike they don’t call. McCarver discussing how Pedro disrupts the running game by holding the ball. Doesn't he have to deliver the ball in 20 secs. Close throw to first, Walker stands up. Lines on one hop far to Mueller's right, backhands but drops it, single. Rolen—this is where he has to come out of his slump. Ball one low and outside. Called strike, borderline, may have gotten the outside corner. Varitek moves way outside on pitch, way outside. Rolen was calling time out. Outside again. Nowhere near the plate yet. Again, walks the bases full on 18th pitch. Fox needs their vertical hold fixed. Edmonds—no K's now! High heat, very. Not looking good. Tips an inside pitch, does Pedro a favor. Misses high inside fastball, 1-2. In the dirt inside. Buck sends kisses to Varitek for blocking ball. 2-2—steps out. Pops to left. What is Walker thinking? No jump, great throw, tries to avoid tag, out. Ends inning. 0 runs, 1 hit, 2 LOB Sox 2nd Mueller—outside, lines another, right to Edmonds. Evidently, Pujols went on fly last inning thinking two outs. McCarver claims that Varitek's insouciance fooled Walker. I think Walker fooled Walker. Nixon—called strike, pops to Renetria roaming back. Bellhorn—called strike outer half. Inside ball. Change fouled. Inside and low—2-2. Fouled off. Bounces in dirt—Full Count. Fouls down first base line. Called strike three on low breaking ball, looked very low. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Cards 2nd Nelson De La Rosa—that's Manny's little friend. Sanders—called, missed over the plate. Varitek stands—high, 1-2. change—popped high to left, got away with one. Womack—High. Again but went—1-1. Again. Looked like he got the corner high but called ball. Womack does him a favor and grounds high pitch to second. Matheny—looks terrible at plate. Two quick called strikes. Curve high and inside, doesn’t go. Fouled back. Ks—of course. If these guys settle down, the Cards will really regret that first inning. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB. Red Sox 3rd Martinez—strike called right on the plate. curveball low. Same as #1—1-2. Again. Pedro wanted no part of that. Damon—strike called, change—grounds to second. Cabrera—low strike. Low. Same as #1, fouled down third base line. Low. Outside. In dirt. Walks. Ramirez—low and outside. Gets that low strike again. Fastball runs inside. Manny way out in front—1-2. Throw to first. Jams him high and inside—flies to straight away RF. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 LOB Cards 3rd Suppan—strike called right over the plate. Inside. Outside. Fouled off. Again—outer half. Dribbler down third base line. Mueller barehands, too late. Safe. Renetria—low and outside. Throws to first. Fouled off. Right over the plate, lines do deep right. Nixon hits a puddle at the warning track, double. Suppan to third. Walker—grounds to second. Suppan holds then goes. Walker slows to draw play from Ortiz, throws to third, way out. Should have scored. They conceded the run. Oquendo looks pissed on the replay—started, stopped, then went. Pujols—Foul. Outside. Called strike. Outside and low—checks. 2-2. Duncan is chewing out Suppan in dugout. Way outside. Bounes to third. Crowd boos. That could become an infamous play. Suppan's Boner--The Soup Bone. 0 runs, 1 hit, 2 LOB Red Sox, 4th Ortiz—Way inside, turns, fouls off. Way high and outside. Grounds right to Pujols unassisted. LaRussa points out that the third baseman wasn't even there, shift. Varitek—low, called on curve. Foul. In dirt. Ks. Mueller-low. Fastball nothing on it right over plate—to gap in left-center. Double. Nixon—Rip in hanging curve over plate, bounces to wall in right. Runner scores. Single. Bellhorn—fouls. Inside. Outside. Hits him. Francona on the steps of the dugout. Martinez—fouls back on inside. Misses breaker in the dirt. No go outside. Got low call. Ks looking. 1 run, 2 hits, 2 LOB Cards 4th Rolen—low 2-seamer strike. Goes on low pitch—0-2. low and outside—grounds to Mueller. Pedro ate him up. Edmonds---fouled. Flies to left-center—Damon has it. Sanders—catches the corner. Outside—1-1. low. Swings threw low fastball—2-2. Again—Ks. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Red Sox 5th Damon—ball outside. Inside called strike. Low. Again. No longer getting that low call. Fastball down the pike, just foul, in the RF Stands. Again—hanging curve. Walker jogs. Bounces off the WT. Double. Cabrera—Fouls off outer half fastball. Shows bunt, low. Corners play in. Suppan steps off looks at 2nd. Singles to right—breaker outer half, goes with it. First and third. LaRussa dials up pen. Ramirez—Fouls. Throws to first. Inner half hanger—fouled off. On the outside corner—called ball. Change--Grounds throw hole at short. One run in. 1st and 2nd. King up in pen. Don't they need to get him. Ortiz—low, gets under low fastball—flies to straightaway center, Edmonds gets it, Cabrera feigns to go to third. Varitek—low. Grounds hard right at Pujols, goes to second, too late at first, throw bounces. 1st and 3rd two out. Mueller—fouls off. Nothing on pitch, inner half, Frozen rope beyond Pujols. Red Sox 4-0. 1st and 2nd. Suppan is gone. Al Reyes comes in… really. Nixon—flies to left-center—Sanders has it. 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 LOB Cards 5th Womack—called strike, but inside. Bounces. Same as #1 but actually a strike. High. Fouled off. Swings threw change low—way ahead. Ks. Matheny—flies to short. Marlon Anderson—PH, outside, pops to mound—Mueller has it. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Red Sox 6th Bellhorn—Calero pitching. Lines one foul. Inside. Grounds to Pujols unassisted. Martinez—strike called. Swings threw breaker in dirt. Low and outside. High. Fouled off. Low. Again. Walks. The strategy is wear Pedro out on the bases. Damon—called strike. Why is he holding Pedro? Low. Again almost went around very close. 2-1. Grounds into 463 DP. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Cards 6th Zombies-Pedro montage—who's your daddy? Renteria—two changes—called strike, foul. Next in dirt. Next shattered bat, to second. Walker—ball. Hanging change. Humpback to second. Mistake—did nothing. Pujols—2-0, right down the pike. Again a little lower. Why is he taking these? Ks on change. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Red Sox 7th I am thinking the turning point of the series was when walker went from super hot to super cold (in the middle of game 2) along with the rest of the team. Cabrera—ball. Fastball right down the pike, fouled back. Outside. Outer half—called. Outside—fouled back. Another fastball outside—fouled back. 4-seamer—drilled to left-center. Double. Ramirez—King up in pen—will go for Ortiz. Fastball-caught corner. Outside. #1 again. Outside again. Unintentional walk. Outside again—checks. Low and outside. Take you base. King coming in. Ortiz—outside/low. Way low. Swings through slider. In the dirt, checked swing. Dribbler to Pujols, unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 LOB Cards 7th Rolen—2-0, excuse me swing to first. Walker—strike called. Inside. Outside. Swings through 4-seamer. In dirt—3-2. 4-seamer—Ks. Sanders—called. Swinging. Foul. High 4-seamer. Gets him on the change. Sanders aged about 10 years in the postseason. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Red Sox 8th Pedro's gone. Kabler-PH Nixon. 1-1 grounds foul. Low. Grounds to Rolen. Chris Myer—interviewing "Leon" from Bud commercial. WTF is this? Bellhorn—flies to right in the middle of the commercial Millar—PH for Martinez. Takes strike. Another outside corner. Grounds to third. LaRussa said he would use King for six outs and is. Doesn't matter that only lefty in pen since the Cards will be done tomorrow. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Cards 8th Mr. Buttermaker is letting everyone play Timlin in. Kapler in right. Mientkiewicz at first. Reese at second. Womack—grounds to Mueller who was playing up. Cedeno—PH for Matheny. Where's Mabry??? Grounds to short. Mabry—PH for King. To First unassisted. McCarver says that the Red Sox have a pen by committee led by Foulke—what????? 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Red Sox 9th Tavarez in. Molina catching. Foulke up in pen. Damon—ball. fouled off. Ball. Flies to center. Cabrera—ball but looked good. Same but a strike. Inside corner, strike. At his head. Fouls off his foot. Another high heat—flies out. Ramirez—Buck is saying that the Suppan play didn’t determine the outcome because Pedro was "that good", but he wasn't early. Besides only plants seeds for McCarver to say, yeah, but that demoralized the Cards and Pedro took over. Ks. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 LOB Cards 9th McCarver is going to facily make is all about that one play. Foulke in. Renteria—Fouls deep to right, but Fox doesn't show us, cameraman's gone home. Ball. Foul. UGLY swing very late on 2-seamer, wants to go home. Walker—two fouls. 4-seamer drives to deep left-center gone. Pujols—1-0. deep to left. Out in front of the track. Rolen—appropriate he should end it. Polar Express Play of the Game—Where's Leon? Hits it deep to left, foul. 0-2. Fastball inside corner belt-high. Strikes out looking. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 LOB. Pedro in clubhouse with Chris Myers—first question about Suppan. That will become the play of the game/series. This was pathetic, little-league baseball. Tony LaRussa should have to answer for this. Walker AND Suppan? You have to go after Martinez early. They did but couldn't put him away. Kennedy is now blaming the loss on the Jeff Suppan play, but it was just one of many issues. Throwing fastballs to Cabrera is a bigger one. LaRussa's press conference—He says that Suppan heard "No No" not "Go, go" on the play. No tough questions for LaRussa!?!?! As an NL guy, I am now convinced that the NL is like the NBA's eastern conf. The best team there isn't as good as a borderline playoff team in the AL.
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Are Cardinals Lying Suppan? Or Will Sox Get Martinized?
2004-10-26 12:47
There is no calamity…which equals that which follows a supine submission to wrong and injustice and the consequent loss of… self-respect and honor, beneath which are shielded and defended a people’s safety and greatness. Game three of the World Series returns to Busch Stadium which, of course, has great impact in the series. It means that Tony LaRussa can no longer complain about the hotel accommodations (Evidently Quincy—pronounced Kwin-zE—is too far on the T and LaRussa prefers the North Shore). But seriously, we are being told that the Cardinals are in a real hole. Only seven teams have been able to lose the first two games on the road and win the World Series, and none have done it since the 1981 Dodgers (the others being the1956, '58, and '78 Yankees, the 1955 and '65 Dodgers, and the 1971 Pirates). Overall, 37 of the 48 teams that won the first two games have gone on to win a World Series crown. The Red Sox have won six games straight. The Cardinals have not even owned a lead so far in the series. And god is on Curt Schilling's side—the big man hates QuesTec too it appears. Actually, they covered all of their theological bases with a blessing from a Navajo Code Talker. Heck, the Sox fans probably even view the death of Robert Merrill as some sort of divine intervention. Meanwhile, the Cards are sending a failed starter for last year's Red Sox to the mound (Jeff Suppan) to prevent falling to the brink at 0-3. They might as well just call it a series already. But since they are going to play game three, we may as well take a look at it. The biggest change is the change of venues. With three games at home, the Cardinals could easily find themselves up three games to two by Thursday (or maybe I should say early Friday morning). Well, maybe not so easily, but they could do it. Keep in mind that these are two great home teams. The Red Sox were 55-26 at home and the Cardinals were 53-28, second and third behind the Yankees (57-24) on the year. This postseason the Sox are 5-1 at home and 4-2 on the road. The Cardinals are 6-0 at home and 1-6 on the road (the one win coming game four of the Division Series with LA, 6-2, on October 10). It's odd because the Cardinals were the best road team in baseball in 2004 (52-29). The Red Sox were barely above .500 (43-38) and eleven teams had record better than or equal to them, including every other playoff team. On the road the Red Sox became beatable in the regular season. Their ratios on the road (.260/.342/.441/.783) are nowhere near their home performance (304/.378/.504/.883). Their OPS drops 100 points, 63 from slugging and 36 from on-base (and one from rounding), and their batting average is 44 points lower. The Red Sox scored the most runs (517) and had the best OPS (.883) of any major-league team at home this year. On the road, they were tied for seventh in runs (432) and had the sixth-best OPS (.783). It's even more dramatic when you look at certain individuals. Kevin Millar: home 350/.425/.592/1.018, away .242/.338/.351/.689. Trot Nixon: home .343/.420/.586/1.005, away .291/.337/.443/.780 (though in just 79 at-bats). Bill Mueller: home 344/.413/.579/.993, away .225/.319/.319/.638. Jason Varitek: home .336/.431/.528/.960, away .256/.348/.436/.784. Also consider that game three starter Pedro Martinez is much better at home (9-3 with a 3.22 ERA) than on the road (7-6 and 4.61). That's almost a run and one half difference. Then there's game four starter Derek Lowe, who's been abysmal on the road (6-8 with a 6.21 ERA as opposed to 8-4, 4.55 at home). Game five starter Tim Wakefield has been equally mediocre at home (6-6, 4.99) and on the road (6-4, 4.70). Then again game three starter Jeff Suppan is lighting the world on fire with his 6-8 record and 4.75 ERA at Busch this year 1.2 runs higher than on the road (3.55, 10-1). However, game five starter Woody Williams has been much better at home (5-3, 3.36 vs. 6-5, 5.01). Game four starter Jason Marquis is a push (9-5, 3.76 vs. 6-2, 3.65). The Cardinals batters are about the same at home as on the road (.812 vs.796 OPS). The biggest difference is with Reggie Sanders (.738 road OPS and .858 home) and Mike Matheny (.580 road (!) and .702 home). Then there's Scott Rolen who's been slumping so far in the series (thanks in part to some bad luck outs in game two). His home stats don't inspire much confidence of his pulling out of the downward spiral (club-leading 1.156 OPS on the road vs. .866 at Busch). Of course, the biggest difference on the field with be the fact that Boston DH David Ortiz will move to first base, where his immaculate glove once developed a hole earlier this season. First baseman Kevin Millar will either have to move to right field, shared time there with Trot Nixon, or sit on the bench. With his road stats, perhaps that's best. Also, Tony LaRussa will no longer have to overthink the DH slot and end up putting one of his tail-end bench players (Marlon Anderson anyone?) in the lineup. Also, keep in mind that Pedro Martinez has not had a hit since his Montreal days. He is 0-for-19 since joining the Sox in 1997. His career ratios are .094/.138/.121/.259 with 121 Ks in 265 at-bats. Jeff Suppan is no Barry Bonds but at least he has respectable pitcher numbers (.181 .215 .188 .403 with just 33 Ks in 138). Lowe is 2-for-20 (.100/.182/.150/.332) at the plate in his AL-only career. Tim Wakefield is 1-for 21 since joining the Sox in 1997 (.119/.149/.179/.328 in 84 career ABs with 30 Ks). As far as strategy, Terry Francona had been a manager in the NL for years with the Phils, so I don't expect him to flub the double-switch. He'll be his usual undistinguished, mediocre self. LaRussa will continue to pull his Wile E. Coyote Super Genius-type moves, but without the DH, there's less for him to overthink and he will no longer have the room service problems he had in Boston, or rather Quincy. Lastly, the weather in the Gateway City may be a concern. They are calling for some showers tonight and perhaps even wose weather tomorrow. If the cancel one game, they might be able to play a game on the travel date like they did in the ALCS. However, this is not just a trip up the Merritt we are talking about. Playing on the travel day may require moving the game to earlier in the day, something Fox would surely balk at. Then again, they don't want to be playing baseball in the Back Bay of Boston in November. You can barely complete the Freedom Trail then. I have no idea what they'll do if both games are rained out. My bet is that they will do everything within Bud Selig's power to get the games in—full speed ahead and damn the weather-induced Bill Mueller errors.
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Cardinal Number
2004-10-25 12:57
Adrenalin dispels boredom. Run, you sufferers from ennui! Run for your lives! Well, I'm going to disregard Red Smith's warning. I'll forge ahead and say my nothing. And I won't even mention my Al Leiter-"Scooter" murder/suicide pact theories. Game two was not much of a game. The Cardinals could muster only five hits, three by Albert Pujols and no other hits by the other top six hitters in the lineup. The Red Sox used their eight hits and six walks to bunch up six runs. And Curt Schilling was again masterful. But what can we expect when he has the man upstairs suturing his lame ankle before the game all the while ignoring that heathen Scott Rolen. We should have known that there was divine intervention when catcher Jason Varitek tripled in the first two runs in the bottom of the first. Again there was plenty of grist for the Tony LaRussa mill. Should he have gone with Matt Morris on three day's rest, something Morris had never done before, even though he barely outpitched Pete Munro in his last two starts and still couldn't get out of the fifth inning? Why is LaRussa putting So Taguchi and Marlon Anderson in to DH? As a Phils fan it gives me great pride just to see Anderson in the majors, let alone starting in the World Series, but he had a OPS (.649), which is the second lowest among the Cards' active position players (Matheny had a .640). There were three Cardinal pitchers, actually the three Jasons (Jason Simontacchi, Jason Marquis, and Jason Isringhausen) who had a higher OPS. Taguchi at least contributed to two runs, and wasn't a completely horrific choice, just not the best one. Meanwhile, the Cardinals best bat on the bench, John Mabry (13 HR. 40 RBI, .296/.363/.504/.867 in 240 ABs) languishes on the bench waiting for his first World Series at bat. LaRussa prefers to hold him back for that one important at-bat rather than four at-bats. Perhaps Tony LaRussa's worst decision was the one he never made, which was to leave the struggling and apparently injured Scott Rolen in the cleanup spot. Rolen was tremendous during the season but has been an albatross throughout the postseason. He does not look comfortable at the plate, and that calf injury from last month must still be affecting him. Rolen is batting .184 in the last three rounds, with 12 strikeouts in 46 at-bats (.184/.293/.408/.701 overall). He went 0-for12 with six walks in the Dodgers series. He seemed to come around in game two of the NLCS with two homers and ended up having a great series (.310/.355/.690/1.044 with 3 HRs). But he's been back to his old ways in the Series going 0-for-8 plus a useless sac fly last night with one out and two men on in the eighth inning when the Cardinals trailed by five. Yesterday, Rolen had some bad luck as well. He lined to Bill Mueller in the first with two outs and Albert Pujols on second, after a great piece of hitting. Again in the fourth, he followed Pujols who had doubled to lead of the inning but flied out to Trot Nixon on a nice catch (if not a nice run to intercept the ball). In the sixth he reached on one of Bill Mueller's three errors. Then again, with the entire lineup faltering, there's not a lot of juggling LaRussa can do. Reggie Sanders is 0-for-6 with three walks in the Series. Jim Edmonds is 1-for-8 with four Ks. The Cards as a team are a collective .239/.316/.373/.690 and have 18 strikeouts in 67 at-bats in the Series even though they did score nine runs in game one. LaRussa did move Edgar Renteria up to the leadoff spot to replace Tony Womack in the last game of the NLCS. Renteria lead off the game yesterday looking like a real leadoff hitter battling Schilling for a twelve-pitch at-bat, though he grounded out. One would think that would help the other Cardinals batters become familiar with Schilling, but it didn't seem to help them against the crusading hurler. The game devolved quickly from there. The Albert Pujols beauty of a double with two out in the first was followed by the Rolen lineout to end the inning. This typified the Cards night, that is at least while the game was close. In the bottom of the first, Matt Morris got himself into trouble by walking both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz with two outs. He then delivered a nice fat pitch to Jason Varitek that he tomahawked for a triple to the deepest part of Fenway. The Red Sox went ahead 2-0 and barely looked back from there. The second had more bad omens for the Cards. Jim Edmonds could do nothing after being given new life by a Bill Mueller error on a foul fly—he and Varitek pulled a Charlie Brown play on the ball (it was sort of the Bob Boone-Pete Rose Game 6 1980 World Series play in reverse). After Sanders drew a one-out walk, Tony Womack singled to right-center. Sanders passed second and either was deked by Orlando Cabrera or thought he missed second or both (Cabrera took credit later in the dugout), he circled back. Then Mike Matheny lined to Bill Mueller who tagged the lollygagging Sanders for an unassisted double play (that McCarver said would have been a triple play if there were none out—no mention of how many Mueller could have gotten, had there been negative or an irrational number of outs). Mueller's mercurial play at third again became an issue in the fourth. With Pujols leading off with a double and moving to third on a diving catch by Trot Nixon, Sanders hit a two-out ball to Mueller that just ate him alive, scoring Pujols and cutting the lead to one. However, the Red Sox got that back and more in the bottom of the inning. It started with a one-out hit batsman, Kevin Millar, who longer has his bill goat beard to protect him. Mueller doubled to right, sending Millar to third. Meanwhile Tony LaRussa wanting to save what remained of his bullpen had no one getting loose. It was pretty ludicrous given that his starter went on three day's rest and had only gone five innings in his last two starts with regular rest. Mark Bellhorn came up next and sent a nice straight as an arrow fastball to deep center scoring both runners. It was 4-1 and the Cards could do nothing on offense. The Red Sox decided to help out the Cardinals' by flubbing two grounders in the sixth on Mueller's third error and Bellhorn's first as the ex-Cub factor exacted some revenge. But Mueller was able to handle a Sanders grounder to get a force to end the inning. In the bottom of the sixth with one on and two out, Johnny Damon hit a nice opposite field single on cut fastball away. Then Cal Eldred battled Orlando Cabrera seven pitches. He at first started Cabrera with breaking stuff and got ahead 1-2. A couple of fouls and a ball in the dirt, which almost fooled Cabrera, followed. Then Eldred gave him the nice meaty fastball that Cabrera slammed to left, scoring both runs. Eldred had given him a similar pitch earlier in the at-bat that Cabrera just missed, fouling it off. That was essentially the game. The seventh did have some nice moments. Alan Embree struck out the side. Donna Summer, looking a cake left out on the rain, sang the "God Bless America" to the beat of "Last Dance". And Jim Edmonds made a basket catch on a Jason Varitek fly to deep centerfield, drawing comparison's to Willie Mays famous catch. Also, there was more wackiness from LaRussa, who turned to game four starter Jason Marquis in the seventh for one scoreless inning (thanks to Edmonds). Marquis stumblingly pinch-ran in game one. He'll probably be the emergency catcher in game three (shades of Jose Oquendo and Super Joe McEwing). I hope they have oxygen ready for him when he actually starts a game. LaRussa is one of those super-geniuses, whose move I never understand but at least the work out some of the time. But that has not been the case in this series. Either LaRussa feels that preparing for a game is beneath him or his pitchers are disobeying orders by throwing fastballs to Damon and Cabrera. Either that or he's adopting Jo Torre's strategy from the seventh game of the ALCS. And I won't even mention replacing Anderson with Taguchi in the seventh (Embree's big inning). The bottom line is that when game one and game two were within their grasps, LaRussa's wacky genius routine did nothing to help. So the Cards return home with not much to feel too happy about from game two except that the reportedly Curt Schilling will not be able to pitch again. They must rely on ex-Sox Jeff Suppan to keep the series from going to the brink. But then again, maybe that's LaRussa's strategy, to lull them into a false sense of security. He saw how the Sox came back from the same situation in the ALCS and wants to top them. There's a method to his madness. It's "Rope a Dope". He's playing off the Red Sox's admission that they are all a bunch of "idiots". To quote the Guiness guys, "Brilliant!" Tony LaRussa, Super Genius, strikes again.
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I'll Be Glad To Beat Up on Balboa Again
2004-10-24 02:46
The Red Sox beat the Cards tonight at Fenway, 11-9, in the highest scoring first game in the hundred years of World Series history. They combined for 24 hits, 14 walks, and five errors. And even though 20 total runs were scored both teams left plenty on base: Red Sox 12, Cards 9. There were plenty of turning points in game that was a play in four acts: first, the Red Sox jump to a big lead, 7-2 in at the end of the third; the Cardinals tie it up, 7-7 at the end of the sixth; the teams trade runs, 9-9 in the middle of the eighth; and finally, the Red Sox pull out the win, 11-9. In the first act, the first three innings, were ruled by David Ortiz's three-run shot with one out in the first. The Sox mounted two rallies in the first, going up 4-0. Woody Williams slider was not biting all night and just about every out he recorded in his scant two and one-third innings were hard to come by. Meanwhile, the Cards were at first having trouble scratching out hits. Through the first three innings Larry Walker's double and home run accounted for two thirds of the Cardinals hits, the other being a bunt single by Jim Edmonds against the shift. In act two, relievers Dan Haren and Bronson Arroyo took over. Haren at first had trouble, giving up a single on his first pitch to Orlando Cabrera, putting the Sox up 6-2. However, with the bases loaded and one out, he got Manny Ramirez to ground out to short (with Orlando Cabrera looking to dance with Tony Womack on that play), pitch around David Ortiz to walk the bases again full, and then got Kevin Millar to ground out. After Tim Wakefield walked the bases full to lead off the fourth, Mike Matheny hit a sacrifice fly to Trot Nixon in right, scoring Jim Edmonds, 7-3. Kevin Millar wisely cut off the throw, but then he threw about twelve feet wide of third and into the dugout. The second runner scored, 7-4, and the runner at first (Womack) went to third. So Taguchi hit a high hopper to third. Womack ran inside the foul line. As Bill Mueller came down with the ball he double-clutched, and then threw to first. Had he thrown home and hit Womack, he would have been called out for running outside the basepath. After Renteria walked, Wakefield was pulled. Reliever Bronson Arroyo's first pitch was hit to right for Larry Walker for his third hit. But Albert Pujols grounded out to end the inning. The Cards had scored five runs but had only four hits, three by Walker. Pujols and Scot Rolen had been up five times and had accounted for five outs. The relievers calm things done for one inning, the fifth. But then the Cardinals got a two-out rally going in the meekest of manners. So Taguchi hit a slow chopper down the third base line. Bronson Arroyo got to the ball but then pivoted wildly and threw the ball wide of first and into the camera crews beyond the dugout, putting Taguchi at second. Inserting Taguchi in the lineup was the first of a handful of typically odd moves by LaRussa. However, Taguchi was effective enough, scoring one run and driving one in without getting a ball out of the infield. Edgar Renteria followed with the first non-Walker, non-infield hit for the Cards, a single to center (7-6 Red Sox). And then of course, Larry Walker, doubled down the first-base line for his fourth hit, tying the ballgame 7-7. That's how it remained until Kiko Calero relieved Haren in the seventh and quickly walked two of the first three batters he faced. After Manny Ramirez singled and the Red Sox took a one-run lead, Calero was gone (and Ramirez almost got caught trying to stretch a single to a double). Ray King came in to face David Ortiz, who hit a sharp grounder to second. The ball hit the infield cutout and then caromed off Tony Womack's collar bone, removing him from the game and possibly the series. The Cards got the runs back in the eighth. After a one-out single by Mike Matheny, LaRussa made his second odd move. He put game four starter Jason Marquis in to pinch-run. After a bloop single by pinch-hitter Roger Cedeno (pinch-hitting for So Taguchi, erasing his first odd move). Jason Marquis tumbled into second doing his best Jerry Lewis impersonation. Boston then called on closer Keith Foulke, who gave up a single to Renteria to bring the Cards within one, 9-7. The hit was a hard grounder through on the left side. Marquis unwisely went home on the play but Jason Varitek fielded the ball on a high hop and couldn't get the tag down in time. Larry Walker hit a shallow fly to left, but Manny Ramirez tried to slide under it for catch, and apparently his cleats caught. He them tumbled headlong, the ball bounced off the back of his glove, and the score was again tied, 9-9. Manny Ramirez was charged with an error on both plays. Albert Pujols was walked with first empty. Scott Rolen had the bases loaded and one out but popped out on the first pitch. Then Jim Edmonds struck out on two highly questionable inside strike calls. In the bottom of the eighth with one out Jason Varitek reached on an attempt by Edgar Renteria to duplicate Manny Ramirez backhand prowess in the top of the inning. Then, on an 0-1 count Mark Bellhorn turned on an inside pitch but drove it foul. On 1-2, reliever Julian Tavarez gave him the same pitch, but grooved a little bit better. Bellhorn socked it to right for two runs and an 11-9 lead. The Cardinals mounted a minor rally in the bottom of the ninth on a one-out double the opposite way by Marlon Anderson. But Tony LaRussa decided to leave scrubs Yadier Molina and Roger Cedeno in instead of calling on lefty John Mabry. He was stuck with Mlolina having pinch-run for Mike Matheny with Marquis earlier on. And while Cenedo is a better hitter from the left side, he's still Roger Cedeno. So that's it. The Cards somehow scored nine runs with Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen going a collective 0-for-8 with 9 men left on. The Cardinals middle relief woes continued. The Red Sox defensive woes from mid-season returned. The Red Sox got five and one-third from their bullpen and that might become a big issue with potentially injured Curt Schilling going tomorrow. The Cards can feel good that they got to Keith Foulke. Tony Womack's injury may be an issue. Those are the more salient results. We'll have to see how they build in game two. If Schilling is ineffective the Cards can come away with a split and go home able to put the Sox away. If the Sox win bug with Schilling, they have Pedro Martinez going in game three and could put the Cards away early.
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The crimson flower of battle
2004-10-23 12:53
Weave no more silks, ye Lyons looms, With the Cardinals and Red Sox both narrowly surviving the League Championship Series round, we have an all-red world series. Given that this sort of novelty, a playoff between two teams of color, is such a trivial novelty, I will pause now to review all of the previous ones before making a prediction for the series. Here are the previous "Color Wars":
OK, that's enough of that. Given that neither of my predictions in the last round (Yankees and Astros) bore fruit, I have to start from square one for the World Series. So here goes, throwing caution to the wind I will risk my history as a negative barometer and predict the Cardinals in six. I think St. Louis has the best lineup in the NL and by adding, say, John Mabry as DH, compare favorably even to a high-powered AL offense like the Red Sox's. The Astros had three holes at the bottom of their lineup with Ausmus, Vizcaino, and the pitcher. Meanwhile, by using Pedro Martinez in a "Daddy" cameo in game 7 of the ALCS Terry Froncona must turn to Tim Wakefield in game one. Schilling, whose physical state depends on his daily standing with god, goes game 2. And Pedro Martinez will finally start game 3. Then game seven star Derek Lowe will start game 4, and one has to wonder what kind of pitcher will he be, the one he was in game 7 or the one he was the rest of the year that causedhim to get dropped from the postseason rotation. Meanwhile, the Cards have Woody Williams tonight, but then turn to Jason Marquis, who owns a 7.36 era in the postseason, Matt Morris, who looks nowhere near the ace he once was, and Jeff Suppan, whose been great in the postseason, but whose old ways may return against his 2003 teammates. The Cards bullpen has been inconsistent at best while the Sox have the superior closer in Keith Foulke. I expect some high scoring games, which of course will lead to more five-hour epics. That's good for Fox and their sponsors, but not so good for those of us still in need of sleep from the last round.
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Everything's coming up roses
2004-10-22 01:32
So it'll be an all-red World Series: the Red Sox and the Cardinals. I know Fox is ticked that they don’t get the Clemens-Red Sox angle, but come on, guys, you get Suppan-Red Sox. You can't beat that. Besides for you baseball historians, you get a rematch of the 1946 and 1967 World Series, both of which were won in seven games by the Cards. 1946 saw Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, and Bobby Doerr match up with Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, and Marty Marion. In '67 the Cards had Lou Brock, Orlando Cepeda, and Roger Maris and the Sox had Carl Yastrzemski, Rico Petrocelli, and Reggie Smith. The big story in each series was a hot pitcher who ended up winning three games, Bob Gibson in 1967 and Harry Brecheen in 1946. Anyway, in the "Greatest Series that Nobody Saw" finale tonight, they was plenty to mull over. Leading 1-0 in the second, the Astros were set to break the game wide open, they had men at first (Vizcaino, who had singled) and second (Kent, who had walked), with one out. Unfortunately, for them Brad Ausmus was up next and then Clemens. However, Ausmus sent a 2-1 ball deep to left center for a sure double and two runs. Jim Edmonds went full out, dove, and timed a fully extended catch perfectly. He even got up and got a throw into second in attempt to double-off Kent. Clemens then K'ed. In the third, Carlos Beltran walked and stole second with one out. Then on the next pitch, a shallow fly to center by Bagwell, he went to third on what seemed an ill-advised tag-up attempt. But Edmonds throw came into third at the same time as Beltran, it got past both third baseman Scot Rolen and Jeff Suppan, who was backing him up, and rolled into the dugout as Beltran scored. Suppan was laboring. The Astros led 2-0, but it could very easily have been at least 4-0, and Roger Clemens was breezing. In the bottom of the third, the Cards used the suicide squeeze by pitcher Jeff Suppan to plate Womack, who had doubled and moved to third on a fielder's choice. In the fourth Kent was hit by a pitch and Ensberg singled in an 11-pitch at-bat. Duncan had already gone to the mound; Danny Haren was up in the pen. Vizcaino hit what looked like a sure double play ball to Pujols, but the Ensberg slid late into second and Renteria held the ball. It was then first and third with one out, and Ausmus and Clemens both struck out. If I were the Astros, I'd have Ausmus bat ninth. It was quiet until the fifth, and then Clemens started to loss control. He gave Jim Edmonds a pitch that wasn't bad but was a bit high on 1-2, and he singled past a jogging Jeff Kent (who if is foot isn’t hurt, must have lost much more range than I realized). He finally registered his first strikeout of the night on Sanders, but then gave up an 0-1 single to demoted leadoff man Tony Womack, on a nice piece of hitting by Womack. (They aired an interview with Houston pitching coach just before that, a certain kiss of death in this series.) Clemens appeared to be laboring already here but Garner, who lost all faith in his middle relievers, had no one up in the bullpen. Clemens then caught a broke, catching Womack leaning and then picking him off even though replays showed he was save, not to mention Bagwell was blocking him off the bag. Then Matheny did him a favor and flied out an outside 2-1 pitch. Next came the fateful sixth. With Clemens looking tired on the mound, Garner still had no one throwing in the bullpen. The Fox crew disclosed that his plan was to bring Roy Oswalt in for an inning before going to closer Brad Lidge. As Bob Brenly pointed out this was not a well-thought out plan because Oswalt would take to long to get ready in a pinch. After pinch-hitter Roger Cedeno started out with two balls, he hit a 2-1 single past a diving statue of Jeff Kent. Nothing else would have that little range. That should have been it for Clemens after a poor but lucky fifth, but no. He went 2-0 on Renteria, all the while worrying about Cedeno at first, before finally giving him something to sacrifice. Again Walker started 2-0. No one up in the pen. He got a meaty low fastball past Walker, and amid taunts of "Roger", got Walker to ground out meekly. It looked like Tony LaRussa's small ball and luck would get him out of this inning again. Garner had a conference on the mound with the entire infield but had no one up in the pen still. With Pujols up, Clemens was missing his spots entirely. He gave him a fastball over the plate that Pujols just missed at 1-1. That brought Ausmus to the mound. The next pitch wasn't terrible, but it was supposed to be up and in and it wasn't in or up enough. Clemens didn’t have anything but the fastball tonight (which was still around 94) and Pujols was obviously timing it. It was the third time he had seen it in the at-bat. Pujols doubled in the tying run. Then he threw the same exact pitch to Rolen and he hit a perfectly timed, line-drive home run right over the left field wall. The Cardinals led 4-2. That finally got Dan Wheeler up in the pen, but the game was essentially done as the Astros could do literally nothing (no hits, no walks, nothing) against three different Cardinal relievers in three innings. No Brad Lidge, but Garber did get two innings out of Oswalt for whatever reason. So again a manager played a game as it were a Sunday afternoon game in May and paid the price. The Astros deserved better, but Phil Garner had clearly decided he was not going to lose with his middle relievers even though he apparently had no qualms about losing with his Hall-of-Fame starter. So he did. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don’t care if you have Cy Young himself on the mound. If he is laboring in a close game in the playoffs, get him out.
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Wild Series?
2004-10-21 20:52
If the Astros win tonight in the seventh game of the NLCS, it will be the second time in the last three years that both World Series combatants are wild card teams. Also, five of the last six World Series opponents would be non-division winners (the 2003 Yankees being the only exception. Of the ten World Series, including this one, since the wild card, half have had a wild card representatives. And it seems that wild card teams are performing better as time goes on. In 2002, both Anaheim and San Francisco gained entrance to the postseason via the wild card and then met in the World Series. It was the first time that had happened since the inception of the wild card in 1994, but could happen this year. Of the first 7 World Series since the wild card, only two had representative teams that were wild cards. Compare that to the fact that the last two World Series champs were wild card teams. Could it be that the teams that were power houses being built when the wild card was in its inception—The Indians, Braves, and Yankees—have been overtaken by a broader range of teams that are now able to compete? Or could it just be luck? Ten years is not enough to determine that. However, it is interesting that the wild cards are slightly outperforming expectations. A given wild card has a one-in-four chance, theoretically, of reaching the Series (slightly less given that they are assured of losing the homefield advantage in both of the first two rounds). On the other hand, the odds that there will be at least one wild card in the Fall Classic are seven out of sixteen. Let me explain: You can't just add the AL odds and the NL odds because you have the overlapping scenario that the both teams are wild cards. Instead, let's determine the odds that a given league is not represented in the World Series by a wild card. That's three out of four, right? There are three division champs and a wild card. So it's 3/4. Square those odds to get the odds that neither league is represented by a wild card and you get 9/16 or 43.75%. Now, consider that there have been five wild cards in the last nine Series, those since the expansion to three rounds. Therefore 5 of 18 World Series teams (or 27.78%) have been wild cards. One would expect there to be just under four (3.9375). Now, if both teams are wild cards this year, bring the total to seven (or 35% of all WS opponents) in the wild card era, while one expect no more than four (4.375 actually). It's odd but we'll have to wait another fifty-odd years to see if there's a trend. Speaking of World Series odds, much has been made of the Red Sox's World Series championship drought since 1918, even a Master Card commercial. That's 86 years. You probably know that two other teams with longer droughts (the Cubs 96 and the forgotten White Sox 87 years). You may not know that they Red Sox are 5-4 in World Series competition, and that there are just four franchises with more World Series rings (the Yankees, A's, Cardinals, and Dodgers). Here is the Red Sox record in the Series:
Also, speaking of 1918, the Red Sox won five of the 15 World Series played by the end of that year, two more than the next best team, the Philadelphia A's. Of course, it's the Red Sox record of futility since 1918 that irks their fans. But consider that it hasn't caused them to defy expectations. If you look at the odds that a team will win a World Series over its history and use them to determine the expected number of rings for the team, the Sox's 5 championships is just about as expected (actually 5.26). If you rank them in order of matching expectations, there are only nine clubs ahead of them who have met or exceeded expectations better than the Sox (led by the Yankees with almost 21 more than expected). If they win it this year, there will only six teams that have done more to exceed expectations. Here's the complete list:
Besides there are teams that have had substantial runs without even tasting champagne in October. The Rangers have had the longest wait, 42 years and two locations, without a Series ring. Anaheim just got theirs two years ago after waiting as long as Texas. The Astros, who might face the Red Sox in this year's Octoberfest, are next with 41 years of futility. You won't hear much about their disaffected fans on the TV broadcast, however. And don't quote Billy Buckner to them when they have the disappointments of both the 1980 and 1986 NLCS's to remember. I, frankly, will be relieved if the Red Sox win and the "Curse" fades into oblivion, hopefully with Dan Shaughnessy's book-cum-cottage industry that helped spur Curse-mania. It reminds of a hockey's teams story of long-suffering but highly devoted fans and a team that had not sipped from Lord Stanley's Cup for decades. Then when the New York Rangers finally did, while some relieved fans exhaled that they could now die peacefully, a funny thing happened. The team went back to mediocrity (or worse), the fans found other things to occupy their time, and I don't think that team even plays anymore.
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Ambien Commercial--A Cruel Joke?
2004-10-21 00:47
I'm much too tired to attempt to sum up what happened in tonight's game. You'll just have to settle for random thoughts: - "The riptide of big innings are walks"--Tim McCarver said this in the midst of the Red Sox barrage. It is now my new personal credo, replacing, "Don't let your meat loaf." If you want to know what was the Red Sox "riptide" tonight... - DON'T THROW FASTBALLS TO JOHNNY DAMON!!!!--The Yankees had made Damon their monkeyboy. And how did they do it? Breaking balls. Well, not litearlly. They threw him changes, curves, sliders, anything but a fastball. He had a four-strikeout game as a result. Did you see the nice meaty fastballs that Vazquez threw Damon tonight? Never mind that both missed their expected locations by a mile. They came in straight. They went out straight. Someone is going to have to answer to why they changed what had been an effective approach to one that was known not to be and why they repeated their mistake. - Pedr-Oh-No?!?--Was bringing in Pedro Martinez the stupidest move ever made by a manager in a playoff game? Derek Lowe was cruising and had thrown only 69 pitches in six innings. Given that he faced 21 batters, that's a little over three a batter. Why to make the guy work, Yankees! Martinez ended giving up just two runs in his inning of work, but had the Sox broken down, Terry Francona would have been flambeed in Boston. He'd have been blown up like the Bartman ball in Chicago. There was mention in the booth that Pedro had asked to come into the game. Great, and let's let Rudi Stein pitch whi |