Bleacher Creature Feature

#56: ALCS Games 4-7

16-17 October 2003

Joe Buck claimed that Mike Mussina has yet to step up and win a big game in post-season for the Yankees, having totally forgotten about Game 3 of the ALDS against the A's in 2001. The shovel-pass notwithstanding, Mussina was the one who won that 1-0 game, not Derek Jeter.....

Anyhow, for the second time in a row, Mussina pitched well, but was handcuffed by a total inability for the Yankees to score runs. I honestly don't have much to say about this game.

Games 5-6:

How 'bout that David Wells?

These two games illustrated the best way for the Yankees to win and the best way for them to lose. If the starting pitching -- which has been consistently brilliant all year, to a degree that is perhaps underappreciated because it is so taken for granted -- can keep it together and get the ball to Mariano Rivera, and the offense can score enough runs to win, they'll do the job. If the starting pitching falters and the Yankees have to depend on the non-Mo parts of the bullpen, they're screwed.

In Game 5, they followed the procedure. Wells was not 100% perfect, but he was pretty damn good, Mo did his job, and the offense did its job. In Game 6, Andy Pettitte had a love/hate relationship with the strike zone, and then the back end of the bullpen imploded.

Which is too bad, since the Yankee offense finally woke up in Game 6. Everybody except for Bernie Williams contributed something to the offense. Even Aaron Boone, who didn't get on base, but got an RBI groundout. Even Jason Giambi, who got a home run to start the scoring. Even Karim Garcia, who reached on an error and scored a run between lame-ass strikeouts.

Game 6 was probably the most manic-depressive game I've ever attended. First the Yanks take an early lead. Then they're down 4-1. Then the Yanks come back. Then someone replaces Jose Contreras with a pod person between the sixth and seventh, and the Red Sox re-take the lead.

Contreras was the game in a nutshell. In the sixth he was literally unhittable. Three strikeouts sandwiching a Johnny Damon walk. Then, ten pitches into the seventh, he'd coughed up the lead. There wasn't even time to warm anybody up, as he lost the lead that fast.

Some notes on That Other Series, before we get to Game 7.

With any luck, Dusty Baker's halo will get a little tarnish, as he managed his way out of the postseason quite admirably. We'll leave aside his confusing preference for Randall Simon and Eric Karros over Hee Seop Choi. How about leaving Mark Prior in for way longer than necessary to protect an eleven-run lead, when you really want him as fresh as possible for his next start -- and then compound that by leaving him in during that next start way past the point where he can pitch.effectively, leading to The Big Eight-Run Crash?

It's fashionable to blame the collapse on the poor bastard who instinctively went for a foul ball without realizing that Moises Alou might have been able to possibly catch it, but back in the real world, the Chicago Cubs lost that game all by themselves. Remember, that was only the second out, and the Cubs still had the lead.

The defining moment, to my mind, of the Cubs-Marlins series wasn't that foul ball, which was, frankly, irrelevant. The defining moment was the fact that with the 2003 season on the line, Baker brought in Dave Veres to get out of a rally instead of someone like Matt Clement, a sinker-baller who'd had three days' rest, where Jack McKeon was happy to use his best pitchers, like Josh Beckett, knowing that there was no tomorrow.

The Cubs had their chance, and they blew it. They have enough talent to do it again, but I don't think that Baker will pull it off. He was well suited to manage the Giants, but he's not to the type of club the Cubs need to be to consistently contend. They won the division as much because Houston and St. Louis imploded as anything. This is a team that needs someone who will nurture young talent, not drag in useless veterans to provide diminished skills. Joe Sheehan of BaseballProspectus.com described Baker's year as managing a 90-win team to an 88-win season, and I fear that the Cubs are going to be looking at more disappointment.

On the other hand, you've got to give the Marlins credit. Most everyone in April predicted that they'd be at best a distant third behind Atlanta and Philadelphia, at worst in a dogfight with the Expos and Mets for the basement. Kudos to them for overcoming Barry and the Mighty Giants and Dusty and the Cubs of Destiny to go to the big show for the second time in their short history.

Game 7:

So it comes down to this. Ultimately, this is probably for the best.

The Red Sox and the Yankees playing in the stadium dubbed "the House that Ruth Built," after the player who has come to epitomize the differences between the franchises. Two teams that are evenly matched in so many ways. Two of the best pitchers in baseball. Roger Clemens facing his old team. Pedro Martinez facing a team that has given him a lot of trouble. Toss in the mishegos of Game 3, and we got us a ballgame for the ages.

At least, that's the plan.

Notes on the game as it happens:

Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, and Bret Boone are being unusually quiet in the top of the first. I guess they're letting the game speak for itself.

Amusing watching the fans get up every time the count goes to two strikes. That happened during Game 6 pretty consistently, particular whenever Pettitte or Contreras got to two strikes -- if people weren't already standing, they definitely got up then. Hell, people were getting up any time a Yankee went to a three-ball count in the box, too....

Okay, Fox camera guys, did we really need a closeup of Martinez's left eye as he sits in the Red Sox dugout?

Joe Torre finally bought a clue and dropped Giambi in the lineup to #7, and put Nick Johnson -- who, based on his 3-4 in Game 6 has finally got his stroke back -- back in the #2 spot where he belongs. And Enrique Wilson and his good history against Martinez again start at third, which is as much an indictment of Aaron Boone's poor batting performance as Wilson's good luck.

Johnson just proved why he's in the #2 slot. Martinez walked him on four pitches. He tried the old trick of pitching inside to brush him off the plate so he'll lunge at an outside pitch. Johnson's got way too good an eye for that, and he kept taking and found himself on first base.

Now he's on second base, as Bernie gets the hit that eluded him last night.

Sadly, Hideki Matsui can't get it done. After brain-hiccuping and running down to first on ball three, he flied out to Damon.

At Game 1, while sitting in the bleachers, I referred to Trot Nixon as being named for a horse's walk and a horse's ass. I am reminded of this as the bastard hits a home run to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the second.

Wilson just handed the Red Sox another run with a crap throw to first on what should've been a routine ground ball. A sad commentary on a player who's primary function is defensive replacement.

The Yankees defense is just pitiful, and something really needs to be done about it. In Game 6, Nomar Garciaparra made an error on a ground ball up the middle by Garcia. The Red Sox were hitting balls to that part of the infield all night, and Derek Jeter never got anywhere near them. Boone came up as a second baseman, Alfonso Soriano as a shortstop. Jeter has good hands and a good throwing arm, but no range anymore. The 2004 Yankees really should rotate the infield around.

And get Bernie the hell out of center field. He looks ever-more lost out there.

Speaking of lost, Giambi went from 3-0 to striking out again. I don't know what's wrong with him, if it's his eyes, his knees, or his superego, but he'd better do something about it in the offseason.

Two innings after Johnson didn't fall for the set-up-inside-and-lunge-at-the-outside pitch, Soriano did fall for it and struck out on a 3-2 pitch, which should've been ball four.

And now it's 4-0 on a Kevin Millar home run. This is agony.

The agony grows. Clemens has just been removed for Mussina. Knocked out in the fourth inning is not the best way to end a great career, but unless the offense wakes up -- and the relief pitching holds the Red Sox down -- it will be.

The first step in that process is taken by Mussina, who strikes out Jason Varitek and induces Damon into an inning-ending double play. Go Moose!

In the fourth, the Yankees are showing a hair more patience. Bernie struck out on a good at-bat, and Matsui got a double, but Posada negated it with a hard ground-out. They're hitting the ball harder, and may get to Martinez eventually. But eventually is a long time, and Grady Little will go to his bullpen as soon as he needs to.

This doesn't look good.

This, however, looks better: Giambi just took the best swing I've seen him take in months to deposit a Martinez changeup into the center-field bleachers. It's still 4-1, but it's a start.

Wilson came within a few feet of making it 4-2 on the next pitch, but it was a broken-bat foul. He eventually flew out to Ramirez.

MY EYES! MY EYES! Sorry, Fox just showed what one fan was putting up for the K count. See, often at baseball stadia, fans will put up a banner with the letter K each time the home pitcher gets a strikeout. The tradition I believe started with Dwight Gooden at Shea Stadium in the mid-1980s. Often they have some kind of funky design on them.

Tonight there are K signs with Don Zimmer's head superimposed over Rocky Balboa's body, in honor of Saturday's shenanigans.

I'm going to have nightmares for a week....

Somebody really needs to tell Buck that the Yankees ended the season and started the post-season with Johnson in the #2 spot in the batting order. He's talking as if it's some kind of radical shift. The only unusual part of tonight's lineup is Giambi batting seventh and Wilson's presence -- Johnson batting second had become normal until he stopped hitting in the ALDS. And somebody needs to tell Bret Boone and McCarver that Torre changed his lineup repeatedly during the year in part because of injuries to Jeter, Johnson, and Williams, not just because of personnel changes.

I'm trying not to reach for my Maalox as Torre turns it over to the bullpen. Felix Heredia managed to get two outs, and now Jeff Nelson's in. I'm having nightmare flashbacks to yesterday...

Nelson, however, comes through, making Garciaparra look pathetic on a strikeout.

Ronan Tynan once again sings "God Bless America." Ever since Twins manager Ron Gardenhire bitched about how long it took for him to sing the song in Game 1, Tynan has actually slowed the tempo so it takes even longer to sing it. I find this entertaining.

Giambi just hit another homer. Guess being dropped in the lineup had an effect....

Back-to-back singles by Wilson and Garcia. Martinez is starting to look vaguely human. Unfortunately, Soriano -- who has struck out three times -- kills the rally by striking out a fourth time.

We are running out of time. The joy of baseball is that you can't run down the clock, that you have to go through all the innings, but eventually you run out of innings. The Yankees only have two left.

Torre brings in Wells to get two outs, which is the right move on the face of it. Unfortunately, David Ortiz deposited the first pitch into the right-field seats to make it 5-2. The move was still the right one, but damn, it looks bad when it fails. Still, at least Boomer retires the next two in short order.

Two innings left.

Johnson pops out.

Jeter hits a double over Nixon's head.

Bernie slaps a base hit to center field, Jeter scores. 5-3.

Matsui, on an 0-2 pitch, hits a ground-rule double, Bernie to third.

Posada hits a flare into center field. So many people are trying to chase the ball down that no one covers second, so Posada pulls into second while Bernie and Matsui score. Tie game.

Son of a bitch.

Allan Embree is now in to pitch to Giambi, who hits a broken-bat pop out to Damon.

Now Timlin's in. He intentionally walks pinch-hitter Ruben Sierra; Aaron Boone comes in to pinch run.

Garcia, who has been swinging at everything that moves, draws a walk on four pitches. Good on him.

Soriano has had a night to forget. Four strikeouts. Four pathetic strikeouts. Followed by a groundout to end a rally.

We now go into the top of the ninth tied.

Oy.

Unsurprisingly, Mo is in to pitch. This is no time to mess around with inferior merchandise. He retires the Red Sox in four batters, allowing only a single to Varitek.

Going to the bottom of the ninth.

Johnson pops out to Garciaparra.

Jeter, after making a bizarre botched bunt attempt, strikes out. Jeter saw that Mueller was playing back at third, so he tried to bunt, but the bat fell out of his right hand, and it was a called strike.

Bernie grounds out on a spectacular play by Walker.

Extra innings.

Sweet Jesus.

Mo gets out of the top of the tenth. We go to the bottom. Tim Wakefield, who has owned the Yankees, is in to pitch.

Matsui grounds out to Millar.

Posada flies out to Damon.

Giambi pops out to Ramirez.

This game will never end.

Mo goes out for the top of the eleventh. Gak.

This game is killing me.

Killing me, I tell you.

Mo mows down the Red Sox, looking no worse for the wear after going out for a third inning for the first time since September 1996.

And then Aaron Boone comes up against Tim Wakefield.

Just as I'm thinking about how the Yanks are screwed because Wakefield can go several more innings and Mo really can't, the first pitch gets slammed into the left field stands to end the game.

Damn.

At the top of this column, I talked about how this was practically scripted. What better ending than a come-from-behind victory, extra innings, and a walk-off home run by a third-generation baseball player who wasn't even in the starting lineup?

Damn.

Damn.

Damn.

So many people deserve credit for this win. Giambi for his two home runs. Mussina for coming in and getting out of the jam and pitching three solid innings. Jeter, Williams, Matsui, and Posada for tying it up. And especially ALCS MVP Mo for, not one, not two, but three great innings to keep the Red Sox contained until Boone went boom.

Damn.

I have never seen a baseball game like this. And I say that having seen some amazing ballgames, but....

Damn.

I have to give credit to the Boston Red Sox, which is not easy for this Yankee fan to do. But they fought tooth and nail, down to the wire. Every time the Yankees tried to run away with it, the Red Sox kept nipping at their heels. Every time the Red Sox seemed dead, they came to life. These two teams were as evenly matched as any two teams could possibly be. It could just as easily have gone the other way.

I hope the Red Sox fans don't try to cast petty blames. The whole season came down to one pitch. And the Red Sox put together a helluva team, and in the end they almost pulled it off. They never gave up, they never stayed down. They have nothing to be ashamed of.

On to the Marlins.

Damn.

NEXT: "'Tween Series #2"

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