October baseball
Dave · October 18, 2004 at 8:09 pm · Filed Under Mariners
A six hour marathon sends the ALCS back to New York. Brandon Backe and Woody Williams throw dueling one-hitters and the Cards-Astros are scoreless in the ninth inning of a tied series.
I’m sorry, but there’s just nothing better than October baseball.
Comments
40 Responses to “October baseball”
Man that was a great sox game, It is going to be nuts down at fenway. I might have to take a stroll down there. I am afraid of what will happen to this city if they win another 2 in a row…
Beltran making things happen…
Beltran is amazing.
Great game in Boston. But does any contending team (or even non-rebuilding team) have less useful players occupying the 21-25 roster spots than the Yankees? This must give Wilie Bloomquist hope.
Great game in Houston (or at least the parts Fox let us watch). Yet another big post-season walk off HR given up by a Tony LaRussa closer. At least this time, he’s going back to St. Louis where the fans can make a difference and not Oakland.
Looks like Houston-St. Louis is headed to a game seven, with the Cards going in front of a frenzied home field against Clemens on four days’ rest, with Oswalt available out of the pen. It’s hard to beat that sort of drama.
As for the AL series, I get the feeling that the Sox are one good punch away from folding, but the Yankees can’t seem to deliver it. It will be very interesting to see how Schilling looks in game six.
I can’t take anymore extra innings baseball…it’s pushing me over the edge 🙂
on the other hand, i doubt either pitching staff can either.
Yeah, October baseball would be better if the Mariners were playing.
Yeah, October baseball would be better if I could have been able to watch the games today. But no, my power went out, meaning that I missed out on the epic Cardinals-Astros Game 5. The power came on after Jeff Kent hit that walkoff HR. Go figure.
And I missed out on David Ortiz’ 2nd walkoff HR as in many days.
Thanks a lot, Arkansas weather. Thanks a whole lot.
Ortiz’ hit was actually a walkoff broken bat single.
Mark,
My mistake.
Again, thanks a lot Arkansas weather, for making me miss out on a great night of baseball. I appreciate ya!
So much for Beltran being a streaky player…how bad was that Ortiz CS out call in the NYY/BOS game tonight? The ump had a horrible position for the call (right behind Jeter’s back). Sure, Ortiz shouldn’t be stealing and his slide was about as pretty as Edgar running the 40 but he was safe none the less.
I couldn’t have had a better birthday.
Ortiz was screwed a few times, and STILL managed to win a game for the second time today.
Brandon Backe … the mind reels. This is a pitcher dumped by TAMPA BAY, for crying out loud. And not entirely without justification.
Nothing to be sorry about. One only hopes that several months of offseason roster maneuvers can equal this excitement.
I’ve always thought an excellent profit margin and a competitive team had their plusses.
I cannot think of another sport that would keep me in front of a television for 5 plus hours. I hope Schilling can win tomorrow. I can’t imagine how any players on either team have much left, especially Posada and Varitek.
Ortiz also got robbed on a check swing. The standards I’d always heard were 1) did the bat handle cross the hitter’s chest, 2) did the batter’s wrists “break” and 3) did the plane of the bat cross the front of home plate. On all three counts, Ortiz wasn’t even close.
OT, has anybody ever seen a worse defensive outfielder than Manny? I swear it’s even worse than Glenallen Hill. He tiptoes up to every ball, then it gets by anyway.
Speaking of outfield play, I was surprised by Bernie Williams’ charge-jog-“oh $#!+” on Ortiz’s blooper. It looked like he started to charge in, eased up when he realized he couldn’t catch it, then noticed that pesky baserunner rounding third and made half of a second effort to get to the ball.
Damon was probably safe no matter what, but where was the Yankee Professionalism and Will to Win?
An ordinary second best team will gracefully bow out, as the Braves, Dodgers, Twins and Angels did. But that’s not good enough for a team whose reputation has become one of being legendary losers. Legendary losers have to look like they could win, to keep hope alive for as long as possible. It makes the final crash even more memorable and spectacular. Besides, the legend needs a single big mistake or big play, a Bill Buckner for a new generation, which you don’t get when a team gets crushed in four straight. The last two nights were necessary, as we are now ready for another chapter to be added to the legend.
Its just too bad that the Damnyankees will be the benficiaries, when there are twelve other more deserving teams in the league.
Awaiting for DMZ or Dave to start a new thread, but the M’s have hand fed to Finnigan that the list is down to two: Grady Little and Mike Hargrove.
Those two supposedly get the honor of meeting with Lincoln, Armstrong, and Chris Larson. Good gawd, another Seattle process hire: Slick Rick, Melvin, and Bavasi all won their jobs threw their interviews and not the accomplishments on their resume. And none of the three involved in the manager interviews know baseball other than counting gate receipts and whining about arbitration awards.
I guess this means that the token mandatory minority candidate was merely given a phone interview.
It’s the Retread-o-Rama!
Ortiz was screwed on the check swing… but a francona decision makes me think back to grady little last year (please god, pick hargrove)…
little had a very similar situation as francona did, and mccarver (for all his idiocy) and buck (who i like more all the time) brought up the fact that they could pinch run for him, but with one out they wouldn’t do it at first.
grady did. and lost last season’s clutch hitter early in a game that went long. i can’t remember the exact situation, but it was a poor choice. just look at the sportsguy archives on ESPN… NOT GRADY!!!!
what a great game. and i called to my friends a sneaky win in game 4 with Derek Lowe, a Pedro win in 5 and then Schilling returns triumphant in game 6… .if… if…. if…. then game 7 becomes like a high school game. you pitch everyone for a couple, see if anyone can go long, and pull at the FIRST SIGN of trouble. and keep foulke ready for the most crucial situation, be it the 5th or the 7th or the 9th…
But that would include forward thinking.
also.. i thought damon could have been called safe, and ortiz was WAY safe at 2nd. thought the baseball gods were continuing to curse the Sox…
perhaps not… perhaps not.
they are plucky, those BoSox.
Dream on Tyler. The Red Sox have NO shot. This is just the Yankees letting up a little, so that when they drop the hammer, you and all the other Red Sox fans will be that much more depressed. And by the way, whichever team signs Pedro this off-season is making the biggest mistake ever. The guy completely losses his stuff after his 100th pitch, he is almost finished and some team will be giving him $10M + this offseason. Have fun. Welcome Jerry Rice!!!!!!!!!!!!
if… IF you face a (semi)healthy schilling who can push off, with a fresh arm… see you for game 7.
is it just me, or is Ortiz the best clutch hitter in the league. you just have a feeling with him…
and, yankees fans… it’s in NY now. Pressure is off the Sox, they’ve finally “shown up.” They really aren’t supposed to win. Anything they get now is gravy.
And I hope they do win. That means Steinbrenner will spend another 50 million. Might as well make the last 4 neutral fans in america yankee haters too.
This is why the good lord – or the good tv manufacturers at least – invented PiP. If the Sox win tomorrow and the Astros win on Wednesday, the advantage in the Series might have to go to Houston since they can start Oswalt/Backe/Clemens in games 1-3.
If you saw the brief picture of Schilling throwing some yesterday you couldn’t help but conclude that IF he pitches game 6 it will be a DISASTER like his first outing. You could see that he couldn’t push off and his only power came from his arm.
did i mention, my favorite teams are the mariners… and whoever is playing the yankees.
If Schilling can’t pitch, then the only thing the Sox can do is pray and pray and pray for rain.
I’m sorry, but having Brandon Backe start two games in the World Series is an ADVANTAGE?
Yeah, he had a Howard Ehmke/Bob Wolcott style fluke games, but geez…
That Francona only used Arroyo for one inning (where he was dominant) last night suggests he’ll still pitch game 7.
The Yankees and Red Sox have played more than 15 hours of baseball over the past three days.
The Red Sox need to break game 6 open. They haven’t done it yet this series, and they need a big cushion to take some pressure off those bullpen arms. When every out absolutely HAS TO be made, every pitch is maximum effort. And with Foulke throwing 72 pitches over the last two games… MAN, what a great series.
“…The Red Sox have NO shot. This is just the Yankees letting up a little, so that when they drop the hammer, you and all the other Red Sox fans will be that much more depressed.”
And somehow, people still wonder why nobody likes the Yankees or their fans.
Another non-call was Manny’s check swing that wasn’t.
If the Yanks blow this, Mt. Steinbrenner will erupt and make 1980 (getting swept by KC in the LCS), 1981 (losing a 2-0 lead to the Dodgers in the WS), and 1995 (blowing a 2-0 lead to the M’s in the DS) look like a walk in the park. I don’t buy “the old man has mellowed with age.”
Anyone find “Slider” teaching kids the art of the knockdown pitch as funny as I did?
Paul #27 – Let me clarify a thing or two for you regarding your assumptions made above. I am the farthest thing from a Yankee fan you will ever find, EXCEPT when they are playing the Red Sox. I agree Yankee fans are very unlikable. I just happen to find Red Sox fans even more unlikable. Same arrogance as Yankee fans but nothing to back it up. Yankee fans are very arrogant but they have 26 world titles to back that up. How many do Sox fans have? And don’t give me the standard Mariner fan line about how the Yankees spend all this money blah blah blah. The Red Sox are almost right there with them. See the Shilling trade, did they give up equal value in that deal?, no, they basically bought him cause they could afford his contract when no one else could. Oh yeah, and one more reason for ya, Pedro Martinez really gives Barry Bonds a run for his money when it comes to being the most unlikable player in baseball. Can’t stand his whinney little 150 lbs a$$.
#30 Sox Hater –
Sorry to assume. I just get tired of the constant smugness of Yankee fans, and call it out when i (think I) see it, and when I see a comment like that, signed “sox hater” no less, it gets my back up a bit. No harm no foul.
As a Sox fan who used to live in Boston, though, I will say this – I don’t think the Sox fans are arrogant. They’re desperate to beat the Yankees, because to win the Series from the AL East they’ll have to go through NY, but there’s not a lot of arrogance there. There’s history, sure, and a fair bit of desperation (and probably anger!), but arrogance may be a bit of a stretch.
No argument from me about Pedro, but it does seem that as he’s lost MPH in the last couple years, he’s also kept his mouth shut a bit more.
correct me if i’m wrong, but don’t the Sox have a payroll of 120 mill.. which, depending on estimates, is anywhere from 60-80 million LESS than the Yankees.
So to say that “they’re almost right up there with them” is quite a broad generalization. That puts us right with Montreal salary-wise. Is that a fair comparison? Same dollar difference. (I’m talking payroll, not talent, which is comparable… which is really incredibly pathetic and sad.)
> Yankee fans are very arrogant but they have 26 world titles to back that up.
I am ready to be enlightened. Exactly what those arrogant fans have done to win those 26 world titles?
And the Red Sox have five. Exactly five more than the Mariners. Thank you for asking.
“Unlike the millions of true baseball fans who make pilgrimages to Wrigley Field and Fenway Park to honor those mythical franchises and the fans who live and die with them, Yankees fans are content to sit in their Bronx rat trap congratulating themselves on what splendid fellows they are.” — Joe Queenan
somehow rooting for the yankees is like rooting for the germans…
I’m sorry, but having Brandon Backe start two games in the World Series is an ADVANTAGE?
Hey, give credit where it’s due — he’s pitched pretty well in the playoffs, and not just yesterday: two wins and a 2.89 ERA overall.
okay… let’s talk strategy. it is the 8th inning… your up 3 with 2 innings to go. Do you pull Schilling? Francona did. I save him for game 7 and trust my horse.
personally, i say you go with him. he is dealing. but first sign of trouble, he goes.
second… a 3 run lead. i (gulp) lose offense and put Roberts in for Manny. His defense scares me. And he was just up in the 8th. Plus it sends a message to the yankees that you’re done!
Go Sox. I.e. Anti-yankees
Well, maybe he’s this year’s John Lackey, but still…
Anyway, Yankee Fans: One. Class. Act.
Re #19: Oh, really?
I’ve been pulling for a Red Sox-Cardinals series ever since the Cubs were eliminated, and I firmly believe that rooting against the Yankees is the first duty of any non-Yankee fan, whatever their affiliation, but the best part about this is that it’s always fun to see history made. (And if it comes at the Yanks’ expense, so much the better.)
Man, though, after that series, and the NLCS, the WS is going to be “he whose arm falls off last wins.)
Obviously, that should have been a close quote . . .