One man's opinion

10-28-07

Post-Game 4: Little Things Mean A Lot

So now World Series is over, and it's time for me to put away my love of baseball and get out the winter wardrobe. (In New Mexico, that means sweaters).

For the first time in writing this blog I actually got to sit down and watch a game from start to finish, except for a pitch or two missed while channel surfing (gotta get my fix of Desperate Housewives). And watching Boston's 4-3 victory over Colorado to complete its four-game sweep of the best-of-seven series, once couldn't help be impressed. This is a complete team that has it all -- pitching, defense, power and the baseball smarts to play the game in a way true fans like myself really appreciate.

It was one of those games where it was tough to find a turning point. It was a pitcher's duel where both starters, Jon Lester for Boston and Aaron Cook for Colorado, made their own personal stories more compelling with their performances.

Lester, 23, came back this seson from a bout with cancer to hurl 5 2/3 innings of three-hit shutout ball in his first postseason game. He threw 93 pitches in his first start since mid-September after being pressed into duty in the Series to replace the injured Tim Wakefield.

Cook, meanwhile, did what he could to keep his team in the game, allowing only six his in six-plus innings. Cook, making his own comeback from life-threatening blood clots in his lungs, was driven from the game after Series MVP Mike Lowell, himself a cancer survivor, hit a leadoff home run in the seventh inning.

For the second straight night Hikeki Okajima gave up a big home run to allow the Rockies to close within a run. Saturday it was Matt Holliday who reached Okajima for a three-run homer before the Red Sox pulled away. Sunday Garrett Atkins two-run shot, coupled with Brad Hawpe’s solo blast in the seventh, was too little, too late.

The game showed all the elements of Boston's entire season. Strong solid starting pitching got to an mostly effective bullpen and dominant closer, Jonathon Papelbon, who did not allow a run in 10 2/3 innings of postseason action. There was power (homers by Lowell and pinch hitter Bobby Kielty), defense and a little speed.

But it was the ability to do the little things that made the difference, especially in Game 4..

Boston put the heat on from the start. Jacoby Ellsbury lead off with a double, moved up on Dustin Pedroia's ground out and came home on a single by David Ortiz. Classic "small ball:" Get 'em on, get 'em over and get 'em in.

Colorado's failure to execute in a similar situation is where, in my mind, the game turned. In the bottom of the second Todd Helton led off with a typical Coors Field double, where Ellsbury in right center had to play so deep to cover the angles in expansive outfield that Helton was able to hustle into second base. But Atkins couldn't advance Helton to third, and Ryan Spilborghs' long fly ball to center ended up as just another out, not a sacrifice fly RBI.

And after Hawpe worked Lester for a walk, Yorvit Torrealba left both base runners stranded by grounding out to short. That left Colorado a miserable 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position for the Series.

That failure continued in the next inning, as Colorado also squandered another opportunity when both Troy Tulowitzki and Holliday struck out after a one-out double by Kaz Matsui.

It's hard for me to say Colorado hitters "choked" even the greatest players only succeed in the batters' box once in every three attempts, and I was quite familiar with failure as a hitter in my Little League days. Most experts say hitting a baseball is the toughest thing to do in sports, so I prefer to say Lester and almost all the Red Sox pitchers this postseason just did a better job than the hitters they faced. The Colorado players are pros and they didn't get the job done, which leaves me three basic questions:

* Will the Red Sox ever lose another World Series game? Coupled with the sweep of Stl Louis in 2004, Boston is now 8-0 in the Fall Classic under Terry Francona. (No manager had ever started 7-0 before).

*Now that Alex Rodriguez has decided to opt out of his contract with the New York Yankees, will he join the Red Sox nation -- r will Boston reward Lowell? (I have a hunch that A-Rod will start hitting A-Bombs for the Cubs under his original manager, Lou Piniella, while playing shortstop.)

*And, most important: How many days until pitchers and catchers report for spring training and we get to start it all over again?

10-27-07

Post-Game 3: The Greatest Game Ever

If I’m lucky and this is the first time you are reading this blog, it looks like perhaps it’s time to get out the brooms. The Boston Red Sox won again Saturday night, scoring three runs in the eighth inning to break open a tight game and beat the Colorado Rockies 10-5. That means Boston is one victory away from its second World Series title in four years after breaking an 86-year drought in 2004.

If you’ve been following along as I’ve been writing (below), then you know I predicted the Rockies would take at least two games in Denver and force the Series to return to Fenway Park. Oh well, that’s the difference between a journalist and a doctor – a doctor’s mistakes get buried.

It was three Red Sox rookies who made the difference. Jacoby Ellsbury and Justin Pedroza were the offensive stars, combining for seven hits and four runs batted in. And Daisuke Matsuzaka, the $103 million man, kept Colorado in check until the sixth inning in becoming the first Japanese pitcher ever to win a World Series game. (It might be stretching it to call Matsuzaka a rookie because of his Japanese experience, but it is his first year in the Major Leagues.

Both Ellsbury and Pedroza had RBI doubles in the key eighth inning, Ellsbury driving in one run and Pedroza two. Ellsbury became the first rookie since Joe Garagiola in 1946 to have four hits in a World Series game. The only other time it happened was by New York Giants outfielder Freddie Lindstrom in 1924.

Matt Holliday, the probable Most Valuable Player in the National League, hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to narrow the margin, but the Red Sox rookies stopped Colorado’s momentum the next inning. Jason Varitek added a sacrifice fly RBI in the ninth for the final margin.

All this brings to mind 1975, when two other Red Sox rookies stole my heart and made Boston my team of choice from the American League.

Fred Lynn and Jim Rice came up that year to play outfield for the Red Sox. Lynn, in fact, would become the only rookie ever to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the season. But many true fans will tell you Rice was having a better year until he was injured in September, forcing him to miss the stretch run and entire postseason.

One thing bad about this Red Sox juggernaut is that their young players probably won’t get that memorable moment, that all-time highlight fans will cuss and discuss forever, because it appears the Series will be a rout. Do Red Sox fans talk about their sweep of the Cardinals in ’04? Not nearly as much as the miracle comeback from a 3-0 deficit against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. This year Boston fans will recall the 3-1 comeback against Cleveland, not the sparkling performance of the team in these series.

The Red Sox national following is, in part, largely because of the way they lost in the past, which I have chronicled in the past. And the key was that all of those Series were seven games, leaving us with lasting memories of do-or-die situations.

It is Game 6 of the 1975 Series against the Cincinnati Reds, though, that still lives on from that Series because it was so spectacular it overshadowed Game 7. So vivid are the memories of that game that I don’t even have to look them up. But just for the heck of it I checked, and there are more than 1.7 million listings on a Google search of “1975 World Series + Game 6.” It was, in my mind, still the greatest baseball game ever played.

Everybody remembers Carlton Fisk’s game winning home run in the 12th inning off Pat Darcy, and especially the Boston catcher’s dance down the first base line trying to wave the ball fair. But a lot of other things happened in that game that still are vivid in my mind more than 30 years later

•First, an already exciting and controversial Series had been delayed three days by rain. True Boston fans still believe that Ed Armbrister should have been called out for interfering with Fisk on an attempted bunt, but no call was made, Fisk threw the ball away and the Reds won Game Three  in extra innings. It would turn out that five of the seven games would be decided by one run.

•In Game 6, Lynn woke up the Boston crowd with a three-run homer in the bottom of the first. The Reds tied the game in the fifth on a two-run triple by Ken Griffey (Senior, not Junior) and a single by Johnny Bench, then added two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth on a solo homer by Cesar Geronimo.

•Bernie Carbo: Just say the name to a Red Sox fan and you’ll get a smile. I can still see him barely fouling a pitch off his leg to stay alive, and then jerking the next pitch for a three-run home to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth when the Sox were four outs from elimination.

•Boston almost winning in the ninth, but George Foster makes a catch up against the wall in left field and throws out Denny Doyle at the plate to prevent the score.
•Dwight Evans: Another unsung hero for the Red Sox. His great catch in right field prevented a Joe Morgan two-run homer, and his off-line throw was chased down by Rick Burleson who doubled off (of all people) one of the smartest baseball players (but lousiest gamblers) ever, Pete Rose.

If this trip down memory lane has bored you, tough. Its memories like this that make sports so much fun.

If you are too young to remember, go by the DVD of the game, because my words don’t do it true justice. Watch it and if you don't think it was the greatest game ever, come back and argue. That's what makes sports fun.

10-26-07
Off Day: Things to do in Denver (when you’re alive)

I like to travel and explore new cities, and I’ve had the good fortune to visit many cities. Denver is a great place to me for many reasons, not the least of which is their always seems to be a crispness in the air, no matter the season.

In addition to visiting very close friends to live there, I’ve made the excursion to Denver often to watch sports events. If memory serves, there have been at least three Bronco games in addition to three contests involving the Colorado Rockies.

Each of those baseball games evokes unique memories. The first, believe it or not, was the first home game the Rockies ever played in 1993. An Albuquerque friend responded to a classified ad on a lark and put in for the maximum request of four tickets for the opener, and to his surprise he won the ticket lottery.

I was a high school journalism teacher in El Paso at the time, and given the opportunity couldn’t pass it up. The game was played on Good Friday, so because I was teaching in a largely Catholic (read Hispanic) school district, we were given two days off before Easter. That allowed me to drive to Albuquerque on Wednesday, pick up my friend and make Denver on Thursday, watch the game on Friday, drive back to Albuquerque on Saturday and home to El Paso on Sunday. If you’re counting, that’s about 1,500 miles to witness baseball history – and it was historic.

More than 80,000 fans crammed into the old Mile High Stadium to see the game, the largest opening-day crowd in baseball history. The Rockies had lost their first two games on the road to the New York Mets, and the fans were revved up for a victory.

Nearly 15 years later and it’s funny what memories I have:

•Arriving early to watch batting practice, and seeing ball after ball clear the fence in the mile-high atmosphere. It was almost like watching the home-run hitting contest before today’s All Star Games.

•Bearded pitcher Bryn Smith, a former Montreal Expo, mowing down his ex-teammates in the 11-4 victory.

•Eric Young, now a commentator on ESPN, leading off for the Rockies in the bottom of the first and hitting a home run.

•Spending too much on souvenirs, including hats, a special-issue Opening Day pennant and five programs (at five bucks a throw) that play “Take Me Out to the Ballgame) if opened to a certain page. (They’re in storage somewhere).

•A plastic souvenir case for the ticket stub given out by the Rocky Mountain News. Only problem is that ticket takers decided not to tear the ticket stub off, making the ticket more valuable but leaving it sticking out about a quarter inch.
The memory that sticks out the most, however, was climbing to our seats in the nosebleed section of right field, then looking down and seeing how steep the seating was. During batting practice I tipped the beer vendor $5 bucks and told him not to forget us, but the sucker never came back.

That day there was a lot of “you fly, I buy” action on my part because of my fear of tumbling down the steep steps and into right field.

My two trips to new Coors Field weren’t quite as exciting. The first time, the opening year of the new stadium in 1995, was against the Dodgers. A buddy of mine got off late from work and so we missed the opening pitches, but I clearly remember thinking that Raul Mondesi was going to be the next great player because he hit two triples and just zoomed around the bases. His career was O.K. but not nearly as spectacular as he displayed as a rookie.

A year or two later, I caught the Rockies and Houston Astros in a relatively meaningless game in the middle of summer. I decided to meet my buddy at the game this time, and as shocked when I saw the parking spaces closest to the stadium going for $20 each. I arrived a couple of hours early so I could tour the stadium, including the special bricks outside and the microbreweries inside, where I sampled a different product at each location. Other than having to look into the sun for the first few innings, the only other true memory was that by the time I got back to my car, I ended up taking a few wrong turns and instead of making back to my buddy’s home I was driving halfway to Kansas on I-76 before realizing my mistake.

There is, after all, a reason why they call it Coors Field.

All in all, I’ve had a really good time on my trips to Denver. And Colorado sports fans will get to show their mettle Monday night if there is a Game 5 of the World Series because the Broncos and Green Bay Packers will be playing about two miles away on Monday Night Football.

Brett Farve or Manny Ramirez? You make the call.

10-25-07
Post-Game 2: Beware, Red Sox Nation

Now it gets interesting.

The Boston Red Sox defeated the Colorado Rockies 2-1 Thursday night to take a 2-0 led in the World Series, putting them halfway home to their second title in four years and killing he “curse of 1918” once and for all.

Veteran pitcher Curt Schilling and two relievers shut down the young Rockies, who had won 21 of 22 games down the stretch just to make it to the Series. Colorado managed just five hits, all singles, as it headed home to play host to the next three games beginning Saturday night.

This kind of do-or-die, back against the wall time is when heroes are made. Sure, every pitch and every result is magnified because it is the World Series, the final championship round of major league baseball. It’s just like scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl or hitting the winning shot in the Final Four – because of the stage, achievement is going to be remembered much more.

To make those memories, though, the Series needs to even up. Who remembers the stars from a sweep?

Lots of things will play out over the next three games that make the games appealing:

* Can Boston, built to thrive in the cozy confines of Fenway Park, be successful in the largest outfield in baseball? The Rockies, who set a major league record for defense, already have proven they can prosper in Coors Field, losing only 15 games after May at home.

* Will the Red Sox offense suffer with the loss of the designated hitter? In the games at Fenway, Boston’s DH batted third. Colorado, meanwhile, not used to the rule allowing a special hitter for the pitcher, used a substitute player and batted him ninth, the same spot as the pitcher. And if normal Red Sox DH David “Big Papi” Ortiz plays first base, will his defense stand up?

* Will the altitude have any affect on Boston? One Denver writer suggested before the series a key could be if a Red Sox pitcher, now having to bat instead of rest between innings, has to run the bases. That writer said he’s seen the fatigue carry over to the next pitching inning just enough to give Rockies hitters the next time up.

* For the Rockies, can they shake this “slump” of two games? It was almost inevitable that after such a late-season rush, and eight days off between winning the National League title and starting the Series, that Colorado would cool off. Can the crazy crowd in Denver, playing host to its first Series, heat the Rockies back up again?

From this vantage point, the answer is yes. Look for Colorado to win at least two of the next three games to force a return trip to Boston to decide things.

* * *

Meanwhile, Red Sox Nation, be careful what you wish for, because you are getting it.

For many years part of the charm of being a Boston fan is that infamous curse, where Red Sox faithful lament the trade of Babe Ruth from Boston to the Yankees. The Red Sox had won the most World Series of any one franchise up to then, but went 86 years (1918-2004) before finally becoming champions again.

And the way they lost World Series in that draught is stuff of legend any true fan can tell you about in one phrase at a moment’s notice – Pesky held the ball (1946), Yaz and the ‘Impossible Dream’ (1967), Fisk’s home run in Game 6 but frustration in Game 7 (1975), Buckner’s blunder (1986).

A true story about the latter – as a copy editor at the El Paso Times, I had $100 bet with two co-workers on the Series. In those days (pre desktop publishing and doing layouts on computer) we used to have to run out long strings of type, run them through a machine that put wax on the back and make paste them on a bigger page to make the plates for the presses. The composing room was down two flights of stairs from the sports office, and my job in part was to supervise that final production.

I’ll never forget seeing two men count out five $20s and stack them on my desk in the top of the 10th inning headed down to composing for the early edition. But even more vivid was when I returned, we watch the Sox collapse, and they snatched the money from under my nose, literally.

Even so I remained a Red Sox fan for lots of reasons, not the least of which I hated the George Steinbrenner and the money-grubbing Yankees (still do) and Boston seemed to give them the best competition. So the 2003 seven-game loss to New York on Aaron Boone’s extra-inning homer was another jolt, but it made the Red Sox’ epic comeback from a 3-0 deficit the next year even sweeter. And to end the curse besides? Oh, joy!

But now Boston is back in the Series again, and that role of loveable losers is starting to fade. Boston has the second-biggest payroll in baseball behind New York, and is almost beginning to like a junior version of the Yankees.

Not quite yet. The Red Sox still seem to have some loveable characters on their squad, both young and old, who have compelling stories to me. But if they keep winning all the time, they’ll likely become more like the Yankees – the team everybody loves to hate.

They’ll always have a place in my baseball heart, but a couple more Series wins and my loyalties will be moving on to places like Wrigley Field and the Cubs. I’ve been there once, another interesting story to be offered at another time.

10-24-07
Post-Game 1: Are You Really a Baseball Fan?

So the Boston Red Sox pounded the Colorado Rockies 13-1 Wednesday night. Josh Beckett struck out nine, walked only one and gave up just six hits in seven innings as the Rockies showed the rust from their record layoff between their cliinching win in the National League Championship Series.

I'm sure the columns are being generated now about this series being a mismatch, tht the Rockies are outclassed and lack experience, that this will be a TV ratings disaster, etc. The talking heads (and the writing heads) will  no doubt  analyize every detail and offer some opinion, whehter it it based in fact or not.

Enough, I say.

I grew up a baseball fan and remain one to this day. I've heard all the arguments how baseball is know, slow, it's boring, it's not nearly exciting as football, basketball and such. I'm a fan of almost all sports, but baseball still has a place deep in my part because of the memories it evokes from my childhood years.

Besides, does a cold beer ever taste better than at a ballpark?

In my formative years World Series games were played during the day. (It's hard to believe the first night World Series game was in 1971 in my hometown of Pittsburgh). As kids we would sneak a transistor radio into school to listen between (and sometimes during) classes, and the coolest teacher was defined as the one who would play the game aloud.

The Series was a special event. Of course in those days there was no satellite or cable TV coverage that guarantees a game every night if you want to pay for it. It was important to get chores done early so you could settle down to watch the Saturday game of the week, and the addition of Monday Night Baseball was considered an epic event.

There was only the season and the World Series then - no playoffs then. I've come to accept the current format because it does spike interest with a wild-card, and it gives me more games to watch.  But at the same time I hat seeing a World Series game in the rain (and potentially snow in Denver later on), because baseball, to use Roger Angel's book title, truely is The Summer Game.

Either way, I'll take my games when and where I can get them. So to the critics I say shut up and enjoy the games, even if the Fall Classic is now the Pre-Winter Classic.


                                                                                                                     - Eric Maddy


This continuous blog will be updated daily during the World Series.