In Praise of PIP (and the Swap Button)

Here is a log of the events of the two games in chronological order that I made while I watched both and switched from one to the other. I hope I didn't miss anything big:

-Top 1st AL: Erstad homered on a high hanger.
- Top 1st NL: Cairo is starting at third.
- Lofton lead-off walk. Giants draw first blood on Santiago single, 1-0.
- Bottom 1st:HP Ump not giving Rueter corners.
- Bell is playing the bunt on lead-off hitter Vina. Ball hit right to him, 5-3.
- Marrero doubles. Sanders didn't even run hard to cut it off.
- Top 2nd AL: Fullmer's hit: how can it be a double with the bad throw through the cut-off man.
- Spiezio double. Cuddayer misplays ball. Why didn't Fullmer score? 2-0
- Rueter hits Renteria, misses badly to load bases.
- Fullmer goes on contact. Caught in a rundown. Did he cost them a run twice?
- Ugly play: rundown at first as Kennedy fell down. Mientkiewicz took a little too long to throw ball home to get the lead runner. And he threw to wrong side of the plate. Spiezio's knee knocks the ball loose, 3-0.
- Kennedy goes to third as the ball gets away.
- Little nub single by Eckstein scores him, 4-0.
- Top 2nd NL: Lofton 2-out liner. Stolen base.
- Lofton's speed harried St. Louis. Vina played bag and missed Aurelia's grounder right to second baseman spot. Why didn't Morris step off? 2-0
- Lyons is claiming that the mistake was not going to the shortstop in the rundown play since the ss has the best arm. But how do they go to the ss? The play is to the 1B to pick off the runner; then if he throws to short, the run scores.
- Bonds triple on a hanging curve by Morris. Edmonds fell down. 4-0
- Santiago: nice line drive, 5-0. Looks like we have two runaway wins.
- Bottom 2nd NL: Cairo-5th straight hit.
- Buck and McCarver are continually discussing how Rueter looks like Woody from a Toy Story. They even have a graphic comparing the two. Oh my.
- Morris is up with no outs and two on, bunting. I guess LaRussa has no bench so he can't pinch-hit this early. Bunt is good.
- Bottom 3rd AL: Ortiz nice throw to pick Rivas off of first. The only thing is the replay makes him look safe.
- Lyons is so impressed w/ Spiezio's defensive play at first. He was a second baseman, what's the big deal?
- Top 3rd NL: Lofton HR: another Morris pitch that was up. 6-1
- Top 4th AL: Tim Salmon has to come out pulling a hammy apparently running out a fly ball.
- Bottom 3rd NL: Rueter finally has a relatively easy inning. Nice 163 DP to end it.
- Bottom 4th AL: lead-off hitter Ortiz, seeing eye single to right side.
- Top 4th NL: McCarver theorizes that Morris is being left in in the 4th to work out his problems should he have two more starts in this series. Why do you carry 12 pitchers and then let your flailing starter work through his problems.
- Bonds walked.
- Cairo 5-3 DP on Santiago. He started to throw to second after stepping on bag for triple play but didn't.
- Top 5th AL: Brennaman is amazed at Eckstein's HBP totals. The guy is right on top of the plate-what does he expect?
- Bottom 4th NL: Nice play by Snow to knock down Martinez's liner.
- Cairo gets his sixth straight hit.
- Botton 5th AL: Twins DP after lead-off hitter for second straight inning. Kennedy's relay looks like a curve ball-bad grip. Nice pick by Spiezio.
- Top 5th NL: Nice reaction catch on a line drive up the middle by Morris.
- Top 6th AL: Nice pick and throw by Rivas far to his right.
- Bell HR to left-center one pitch after a wicked curve on the inside corner. Morris is gone. 7-1.
- Glaus triple to right off that garbage bag.
- Crudale comes in to face Rueter.
- Fullmer HR on high fastball (I think). Reed is gone. 6-0.
- Benches clear after a slightly tight pitch to Lofton. LaRussa and Baker yelling at each other-oh boy. The ball is maybe four inches off the plate. I don't get it. Warnings issued. Two pitches on the outside to Lofton. Flyball out. Evidently Matheny said something to Lofton to get him mad.
- Bottom 5th NL: Sanders plays the Edmonds ball against the wall tentatively. Could have caught it. He has played that way the entire postseason.
- Pujols HR (of course) on low fastball. 7-3.
- Bottom 6th AL: Ortiz got a ball up to lead-off hitter, Guzman. Double.
- Rueter clearly uses the F word upon watching ball go over wall in replay.
- Guzman's speed gets the Twins a run on a single to right. The ground ball is directly to the right fielder and yet he scores from second. 6-1.
- Tough AB for Ortiz. Punched out after fighting off a few pitches.
- Top 6th NL: Bonds is up. Walk. For all of LaRussa's bluster they seem not to know from one AB to the next how they are going to pitch him.
- Double by Hunter on a ball up from Ortiz. Eckstein knocks it down but it rolls away. Koskie to third.
- Twins score two on hit up middle by Mientkiewicz, 6-3.
- Santiago, 2-run HR on fastball right down the pike, 9-3. That'll teach'em to pitch around Bonds.
- McCarver calls Santiago SF's 2nd most valuable asset to Bonds. How about Kent?
- Donnelly in for Angels. A little chin music to Cuddayer Maker. Got him away.
- Bottom 6th NL: Lofton and Dunston discussing brushback on bench (must be replay from top of inning). McCarver and Buck discussing their discussion. Dunston is apparently explaining that the pitch was payback for Lofton watching his HR. Lofton is very surprised. McCarver says that if so, 80% of batters will get brushed back. Maybe it was just a pitch that was a tiny bit high and tight to set him up away, which is what they did and it worked.
- Cairo HR to left on a high fastball. 7th straight hit, 9-5.
- Rueter is done. They put up that damned Woody picture again.
- Top 7th AL: Ochoa pinch-hitting.
- Felix Rodriguez in for SF.
- Aurilia makes a nice stab on a Matheny line drive.
- Robinson PH for Crudale. Walks.
- Bottom 7th AL: Francisco Rodriguez in for Angels. Dueling F-Rods.
- Santiago great throw from his knees to nail Robinson. End of inning.
- F-Rod pitch on outside corner to Guzman for backwards-K. Impossible to hit.
- Bottom 7th NL: Dave Veres in for Cards.
- Top 8th AL: J.C. Romero in for Twins.
- Felix Rodriguez, the former catcher, bats for himself and swings like a relief pitcher though nice stance. K.
- LaTroy Hawkins replaces Romero after Wooten steps in.
- Bottom 7th NL: Ump is checking with Bob Watson re. something that is obstructing hitter Edmonds. It's a camera light flashing on and off in center bothering Edmonds. Now it's Santiago complaining.
- Wooten strikes out.
- Bottom 8th AL: Koskie K's on power slurve from F-Rod.
- Spiezio nice grab on liner from Ortiz. Tough day for Ortiz.
- Dueling F-Rods again.
- Percival is up in the Angels' bullpen.
- Mientkiewicz blooper. Big Hop. Hunter to third.
- Kielty PH for Cuddayer Maker.
- Percival in. Now second guessing today.
- Tino Martinez is up, but lefty still in bullpen. 1st and 2nd, 2 outs.
- Pop up. Inning over.
- Kielty strikes out looking on a ball that looked about three inches inside.
- Top 8th NL: Rich Aurilia shows bunt on a called strike.
- Umps want to go home. Ball outside called strike 2 on Aurilia.
- Kline up in the Cards' bullpen.
- Top 9th AL: mike Jackson, former Phil, in for Twins. Kielty in right.
- Hunter runs way in to get a popup.
- Kennedy, just foul down the left field line. Strike out.
- Eckstein, little hump-back single over Rivas' head.
- Bottom 8th: Worrell in for SF. Finally out from under his brother's shadow. Must be a decent brother player since never on Phils.
- Erstad single, Eckstein to third.
- Cairo strike out on a sinker to end 7-for-7 streak.
- Pierzynski saves a run on a backhand stab on a one-bounce pitch way to his right. Wow.
- J.D. Drew PH for pitcher.
- Bottom 9th AL: Pierzynski up (how often does that happen that a guy who makes a great defensive play is up the next inning).
- Mientkiewicz is sitting in his rally spot on dugout floor.
- Drew HR to right. Righetti on the phone. 9-6.
- Mohr PH for Rivas. Chases high heat, fouls it straight back.
- 97 MPH fastball down the middle of the plate. Mohr K'ed.
- Full count on Vina. Nubber to Bell ending inning.
- Jacque Jones misses high heat to end it, 6-3.
- Top 9th NL: Bonds due up. Kline in.
- Kline pitching to Bonds. 2-2 w/ 2 fouls.
- Crushes one foul.
- Pitch way inside.
- Another foul.
- Ground ball to Vina playing towards 1st (was shift on?).
- So now they are pitching to Bonds.
- Snow-they say he went around on a textbook check swing. I don't know what they are looking for nowadays.
- Bottom 9th NL: Nen in.
- Marrero shows bunt on first two pitches. Works a full count. Walk.
- Edmonds crushes an 0-1 ball a little up, but foul. He really wanted that. Fouls off two more.
- Edmonds line drive to right. It stays up for Sanders. One out.
- Pujols looks silly on outside slider and change, I think. K.
- Renteria-ground ball to Nen. Game over. 9-6.

Wow, it was like two interpretations of the same story. One team jumps to a big lead early. They add insurance runs as the other team chips away. Finally, they run out of outs. Both games feature an F-Rod, but only the NL game has the Bonds intrigue and the benches clearing.

The reason I made this log was that it was to be the last time this season that two games would be occurring simultaneously. And these were big games. It was a lot of fun.