Bleacher Creature Feature

#55: ALCS Games 1-3

11 October 2003

Although you're reading this Sunday night, as I type this paragraph, it's 4-2 Yankees in the top of the seventh of Game 3. I'm also on the road, with the master BCF list on my computer back home, which is why you're getting this late. (Ironically, I'm at the same science fiction convention I was at last year when I watched the Yankees go down in flames against the Angels. Life is strange.)

I'll get to the Fenway Follies in a bit, but first some notes on Games 1-2.

On the surface, it seemed like it's a rerun of Games 1-2 of the LDS, but it really isn't. Against the Twins, Mike Mussina pitched well enough to win, but was victimized by shoddy defense and a nonexistant offense. Against the Red Sox, Mussina was not at his best. He couldn't put hitters away, kept nibbling and missing, and was victimized by an inconsistent umpire. From our view in Section 39 of the bleachers, that inconsistency worked in Tim Wakefield's favor, as it was impossible to judge whether a pitch was a ball or a strike until the home-plate umpire made a call (all too often a delayed one), since obvious (to us) balls were called as strikes and vice versa. Usually in Wakefield's favor, but not Mussina's.

The thing about knuckleballers is that you don't know what you're going to get. When they're on, they're unhittable; when they're off, they're horrendous. Sadly for the Yanks, Wakefield was very much on, and so the offense couldn't get off the mat.

Game 2, on the other hand, was not the same dominating performance from Andy Pettitte. Anybody watching on TV could see that Pettitte did not have his patented serial-killer look on, and that's never a good sign. What he did have was offensive support, starting with Nick Johnson's welcome home run (the kid only has two hits in this postseason, but they've been biggies), and that was enough for him to settle down and keep the lead. The offense also started to look like the Yankee offense instead of the Tigers offense.

Game 3 has been ugly for all the wrong reasons. And it's all on the Red Sox, particularly Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez.

Martinez threw the ball at Karim Garcia. I don't think there's any doubt about that. Martinez's control is excellent, even when he's slightly off his feed, as he has been today. The ball hit Garcia in the back of the shoulder. That was purposeful.

And that was the catalyst for everything else. Garcia was understandably pissed at a 90-MPH ball in the general vicinity of his head. Martinez didn't help matters by inciting the Yankee bench after the later double play by pointing to the Yankee dugout and then to his head. All that served to do was piss off the entire Yankee dugout, who were already peeved because the umpire's warnings only penalized Clemens, as suddenly any inside pitch he makes will be suspect.

Exacerbating the matter is Manny Ramirez. The pitch that Ramirez ducked was a high pitch over the plate that was precisely nowhere near his head, especially since the replay clearly showed that Ramirez ducked about half an hour before the pitch reached home plate. Then he charged the mound.

After the subsequent melée, nobody was thrown out of the game. I don't entirely blame the umpires for erring on the side of leniency, what with it being the postseason and all. But if it was my call, I'd have given serious consideration to tossing Ramirez out on his ass for his wholly unjustified charging of the mound. That's what led to the ugliness between Martinez and Don Zimmer, and to my mind looked like a deliberate attempt to incite a brawl. Ramirez ducked early and walked out to Clemens without ever seeing where the pitch was actually thrown. That looks to me like malice aforethought.

Martinez's behavior with Zimmer was despicable. Granted that Zimmer was out of his mind to go charging a man less than half his age, that doesn't mitigate Martinez throwing a man more than twice his age to the ground like that. Martinez saw Zimmer coming, and could have defended himself in any number of ways, including just dodging out of the way or just putting up his arms. However, the defense he chose was to grab a 72-year-old man by the head and throw him violently to the ground. Yeah, Zimmer was dumb, but Martinez was excessive and brutal.

To the credit of all the players on both sides, the moment Zimmer was thrown to the ground, they all backed off.

After that, the game settled down. The Red Sox were able to scrape a run off of Felix Heredia and Jose Contreras in the bottom of the seventh (aided by Derek Jeter's lack of range and Bernie Williams's lack of a throwing arm), but aside from that, it's been pretty quiet. Clemens and Martinez both pitched quite well, without inciting any more brawls, and the game has actually become the pitcher's duel everyone was anticipating.

In fact, aside from the first inning, Clemens has pitched as well as ever, not letting himself get too worked up, even after being seriously motivated to do so. Clemens has been known to let his emotions get the better of him, and it is to his great credit that he did not do so today.

As for Martinez, he didn't allow another base runner after he hit Garcia.

Which brings us to the bottom of the eighth and Mariano Rivera facing the top of the Red Sox order. From here on in, I'm typing live as the game goes on.

Johnny Damon down on a cheap groundout back to Rivera on a 2-1 pitch. Very nice play by Rivera.

Todd Walker down on a flyout to left field on a 1-0 pitch.

Nomar Garciaparra down on a groundout on an 0-1 pitch. Very nice quick tag by Johnson on a crap throw by Jeter.

While we're between innings, let me rip Tim McCarver a new asshole by decrying his using Martinez hitting Garcia as an excuse for a tiresome, imbecilic screed against the designated hitter. There's no actual evidence to support the notion that the DH makes pitchers fearless because of a lack of retaliation, since the NL actually has more hits-by-pitch than the AL in the years since 1973. This isn't quite as moronic as the similar screeds done when relief pitchers plunk hitters (I'm remembering in particular complaints about Armando Benitez after he hit Tino Martinez in 1996), which conveniently forgets that short relievers almost never come to bat even in the NL, but it's close.

The DH is wholly irrelevant to whether or not pitchers pitch inside and/or brush back.

Joe Buck just proved he can't count. He said that if the Yankees win today, it guarantees that the series will go back to New York. In fact, it guarantees nothing that wasn't already guaranteed by the Yanks' Game 2 victory. If the Yanks win today, tomorrow, and Game 5 on Monday, the series is over. It's only if both teams get two victories that a sixth game is guaranteed.

Johnson just got his third hit of the series, and second of the day. Sadly, it was negated by Hideki Matsui's double play. Such is life.

Some idiot on the Red Sox groundskeeping staff just leapt into the Yankee bullpen, presumably to kick shit. Jeff Nelson was involved, as was Garcia. Jorge Posada set a land-speed record running out to the bullpen to possibly lend assistance, while in full catching gear, no less. The jackass, who probably just lost his job, has been led off by the local cops, who responded quickly and efficiently. However, Garcia appears to have been hurt. He's come out, and has been replaced by Juan Rivera.

Back to Mo...

Ramirez grounded out to Johnson on a 1-0 pitch; Johnson flipped it to Mo for the out.

David Ortiz was just retired on a stellar play by Johnson on a line-drive foul ball.

Kevin Millar skies it to Bernie on a 3-2 pitch.

Game over.

This was an especially satisfying victory. The best revenge against Martinez for his behavior was to beat him on the field. No other retaliation necessary, no better retaliation possible.

NEXT: ALCS Games 4-7

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