(Check back on a regular basis for Scott Miller's latest postseason thoughts)
In the World Series aftermath
Oct. 28, 11:29 a.m.
It's not rerun season quite yet, but in case you missed one of the best quotes from the post-Game 4 Red Sox clubhouse last night, here's Boston general manager Theo Epstein again, discussing how big Boston's first World Series win in 86 years is and acknowledging that a lot of people's lives have changed as a result:
"The emotional boost so many people around New England and around the world got from this ... I hope they enjoy it. I hope they will do something good with it. Go vote Tuesday and make the world a better place."
Polls open early in the morning. Don't forget.
Oct. 28, 11:06 a.m.
Boston general manager Theo Epstein wants it known that if he sounded all corny after the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the AL Championship Series, literature is the reason. He read The Teammates last August -- David Halberstam's excellent book chronicling the friendship of Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio and Ted Williams and the baseball times they went through in Boston -- and his mind kept drifting back to the book during last year's ALCS against New York.
"I'm sure I sounded really cheesy after we beat the Yankees," said Epstein, who not only is Boston's GM, but who grew up a Red Sox fan in Brookline, Mass., just a few miles from Fenway Park. "But last year, I read The Teammates and these guys kept popping into my mind. So many great players never got to compete (in a World Series) because of the Yankees. You think of guys who did so much for the Red Sox but never got to win a World Series.
"The '78 team was probably a better club than the Yankees. Ted's teams were ridiculous offensive juggernauts who probably should have won a world championship."
Oct. 28, 10:35 a.m.
The day after ...
I left Busch Stadium in St. Louis last night/this morning at about 3 a.m., and walking out, first thing I saw was ... a group of about six obvious baseball fans walking down the street, one of them wearing a Boston Curt Schilling T-shirt.
Ongoing thoughts from World Series Game 4
Oct. 27, 10:52 p.m.
Red Sox batting in the eighth and loud chants now of "Let's go Red Sox!" in Busch Stadium ... and with Sox runners on second and third and nobody out, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa summons closer Jason Isringhausen in another telling sign. This is Isringhausen's first appearance in the series.
Oct. 27, 10:45 p.m.
Scott Rolen just popped to center field to make the second out in St. Louis' seventh inning. If things don't change in a hurry for St. Louis, that will be Rolen's final at-bat ... and he's 0-for-14 in this World Series. That's one very large reason why St. Louis is on the verge of getting swept.
Jim Edmonds is another. He's 1-for-14 in the Series. And Reggie Sanders, benched tonight, is 0-for-9. St. Louis led the NL in runs scored this season but Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe have made them look sick at the plate. The Red Sox are up 3-0 after seven innings, and the countdown is on in Boston ...
Oct. 27, 9:52 p.m.
Here's a World Series hint: When the games are this lopsided, you've got plenty of time on your hands.
And here are the latest numbers: From the third inning in Game 3 through the end of the fourth today in Game 4, 32 of the past 34 St. Louis hitters have gone down.
Oct. 27, 9:43 p.m.
No word on how Boston general manager Theo Epstein is making out tonight down in the stands -- he sits in the scouts' section -- but he was pretty entertaining before tonight's game talking about the St. Louis fans.
In describing them, he invoked the name of popular Boston third baseman Bill Mueller, a St. Louis native.
"It's a city full of Bill Muellers," Epstein said. "They're real nice people. I even tried to get their goat a little but I can't. They're too nice -- except for one obnoxious fan who was sitting behind me last night and said he wanted to see Pedro (Martinez) get hit in the head. I turned around and told him to shut up."
Oct. 27, 9:24 p.m.
Check that last comment on the next item, that St. Louis manager Tony La Russa is doing everything he can. He's doing most things he can, but Jason Marquis has been left alone an extraordinary amount of time. He has been in trouble in each of the first three innings, he has obtained just nine outs in 72 pitches, yet it wasn't until Marquis' 70th pitch, in the third inning, that the Cardinals' bullpen stirred. Not including Mark Bellhorn's intentional walk with two out in the third, Marquis has gone ball one in the count to 10 of the past 12 Boston hitters.
Meanwhile, don't look now, but the Cardinals' bullpen is quiet again and Marquis is coming to the plate to hit for himself in the third with the Cards down 2-0.
Boston starter Derek Lowe, meanwhile, has needed only 29 pitches to get through the first three innings.
Oct. 27, 8:58 p.m.
For the fourth consecutive game in this series, the early indicators favor Boston. And not just because Johnny Damon slammed the fourth pitch of the game over the right-field fence to deliver a 1-0 lead to the Red Sox. Rather, St. Louis starter Jason Marquis has been in trouble in each of the first two innings, allowing five baserunners (if you count Damon as a baserunner, as he circled the bases without stopping anywhere). Worse, Marquis went ball one to every one of Boston's five hitters in the second inning. He got out of it without allowing a run, but Boston is going to be into St. Louis' bullpen early at this rate.
Meanwhile, trailing in the first inning for the fourth game in a row, Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa has decided early to play small ball. When Tony Womack stroked a one-out single, Larry Walker followed with a sacrifice bunt. Unusual? Heck, yeah. It was Walker's first sacrifice bunt since May 4, 1991.
And even though it was successful, it didn't amount to anything. Womack moved over to third on Albert Pujols' ground ball to second base, but Scott Rolen bounced harmlessly down the first-base line to end the inning.
La Russa is doing everything he can early. Not only did Walker bunt, but the Cardinals have made two lineup changes tonight: John Mabry is playing left field and batting seventh, replacing the slumping Reggie Sanders (0-for-9 in the World Series) and Yadier Molina is catching and batting eighth, replacing Mike Matheny (2-for-8 with two RBI).
Oct. 27, 8:21 p.m.
Can Boston actually break the Curse of the Bambino? For real? Even ahead three games to none?
Here are the numbers, and they're looking good for the Sox: There have been 21 previous times in baseball history that a team has taken a 3-0 lead in the World Series, and that team has won every single time. On 17 of those occasions, the Series has ended in a sweep -- including five in a row (1976, 1989, 1990, 1998 and 1999). On three occasions it has gone five games, and no team facing a three-game deficit has ever forced Game 6 in World Series play.
Oct. 27, 8:14 p.m.
National anthem rating: I'll take Martina McBride, last night's singer, over Gretchen Wilson, who did the honors tonight before Game 4.
Oct. 27, 8:10 p.m.
Boooo! That's the sound of Barry Bonds being introduced pregame as the NL winner of the Hank Aaron Award.
Oct. 27, 6:55 p.m.
St. Louis pitcher Woody Williams on the Red Sox: "What's impressed me most is they play the game. They play a lot like we do. You can't tell for the first three games, but it just seems that they never go away. You can see what they did to New York. Down 3-0 and to be in that atmosphere and that kind of competition to come back, it says a lot for the ballclub's character. And I believe that. It's hard to say down 3-0, but we are definitely the same type of ballclub."
Oct. 27, 6:25 p.m.
You knew it would be dramatic if the Red Sox ever were on the verge of clinching a World Series title, and here we are. John Henry, one of the principal owners, is in the dugout answering questions during batting practice and someone asks what people in Boston have been telling him regarding how big it will be if the Red Sox ever do win.
"Some people have told me it will be the biggest (win) since the Revolutionary War," Henry said.
But not bigger than the Revolutionary War.
"We wouldn't be here if not for the Revolutionary War," Boston GM Theo Epstein said. "I can state without equivocation that if the Red Sox win the World Series, it will not be bigger than the Revolutionary War."
Oct. 27, 4 p.m.
I think Jim Leyland is the most attractive candidate to hit the prospective managers' list in a long while, and the Philadelphia Phillies would be smart to snap him up quickly. They've already interviewed Charlie Manuel, Don Baylor, Grady Little, Jim Fregosi and Buddy Bell, among others, and now comes word that they will speak with Leyland next week.
Phillies' GM Ed Wade received permission from St. Louis GM Walt Jocketty to speak with him -- Leyland has been working as a scout for the Cardinals for the past few seasons - and Leyland says he is interested. It would be a perfect fit -- he still lives in Pennsylvania, and if the spark is back, few men are better managers than Leyland. He got burned out after stints in Florida, where he guided the Marlins to a World Series title in 1997, and an ill-fated stop in Colorado.
Several other clubs have checked with Leyland over the past few seasons, but this seems to be the right place at the right time. Leyland should immediately become the favorite to get the job.
Oct. 27, 3:43 p.m.
So the one open general manager's job looks like it's about to be filled -- sources say Bob Watson, baseball's discipline czar, is close to being named as the new GM for the Washington franchise. He will replace Omar Minaya, who left the Montreal Expos to take charge of the New York Mets. Watson was the Yankees' GM in his other life, and many forget he had at least a small hand in building the Yankees' dynasty in the mid-to-late 1990s. Watson left the club after the 1996 season -- and after a few too many George Steinbrenner tongue lashings.
Oct. 27, 2:21 p.m.
What you have to do if you come to St. Louis for a baseball game is have a late lunch or early dinner at Charlie Gitto's downtown first. It's an Italian joint just three blocks or so from the ballpark, they've got framed pictures of just about every athlete who ever played anything (that's the way it seems, at least) and, best of all, the food is outstanding. I can personally attest to the chicken parmigiana, and Tommy Lasorda can personally attest to the eggplant parmagiana. That's what he was telling us yesterday when he stopped by our table after he finished lunch -- best eggplant parmagiana he's had. Oh, yeah, Gitto's is a great people watching spot, too. Lasorda has been coming in here for 30 years, and several other baseball executives have been in here in the past couple of days, including Anaheim general manager Bill Stoneman and San Francisco assistant GM Ned Colletti.
Oct. 27, 1:02 p.m.
Want to know the mood in St. Louis today? Let's just say this: I went out for a run today around Jefferson Memorial Park (where the Arch is), then looped around Busch Stadium ... and the number of folks walking around wearing Boston caps and Boston T-shirts and Red Sox jerseys was incredible. If you didn't hear those late inning chants of "Let's go Red Sox" in Game 3 here Tuesday night, you weren't paying attention. Today, even if you weren't paying attention, you could not miss all of the Red Sox fans downtown.
Ongoing thoughts from World Series Game 3
Oct. 26, 10:41 p.m.
Into the seventh inning and, still, the only inning in which Boston failed to get at least one baserunner was the second. Boston's lineup is too good, and a 4-0 lead looks even more insurmountable for St. Louis because, as predicted several innings ago, Pedro Martinez has only gotten stronger.
Manager Terry Francona and statistical evidence say that Martinez is most vulnerable in the first inning and, sure enough, that's what tonight looks like. Since Jeff Suppan's fatal baserunning mistake in the third, Martinez has retired 11 consecutive Cardinals heading into the bottom of the seventh.
The Redbirds have become more and more meek at the hands of Pedro. The only ball to even reach the outfield since the third was Jim Edmonds' fly to center in the fourth. Martinez has whiffed three of the 11 batters he's set down, and his pitch count is only at 84.
At this pace, Martinez should be able to easily pitch into the eighth. This is set up perfectly for eight innings from Pedro, with closer Keith Foulke pitching the ninth.
It's also set up for Boston to come to the park Wednesday with a chance to finish off the sweep.
Oct. 26, 10:14 p.m.
What is becoming crystal clear in this series, with Boston leading 4-0 and St. Louis making a pitching change (Al Reyes for Jeff Suppan) in the fifth, is that the Cardinals do not have any starting pitchers who can finish off any of Boston's hitters.
So far, through 21 innings (Boston did not bat in the bottom of the ninth in either of the first two games), Boston hitters have swung and missed at only 22 pitches (not including foul balls). Nearly every strike Cardinals pitchers throw, the Red Sox are getting a piece of -- either to redirect the pitch into fair territory or to foul it off.
Boston swung and missed at only 18 pitches total in the first two games -- nine times in Game 1, nine times in Game 2.
Tonight, through five innings, the Red Sox have swung and missed at only four of Suppan's pitches. And one of those was by pitcher Pedro Martinez.
Aside from Suppan's 1-2-3 second, Boston has had baserunners in every inning. That's four innings out of five.
The Red Sox continue to dominate this series, and it is looking more and more bleak for the Redbirds.
Oct. 26, 9:39 p.m.
Here comes Pedro, and you have to seriously wonder about St. Louis.
Third inning, runners on second and third, and the Cardinals commit another baserunning gaffe. Larry Walker bounced to second, and after David Ortiz received the throw, he saw pitcher Jeff Suppan in no-man's land between third and home. Suppan didn't break hard for the plate, and now he was hung up. But as he scrambled back to third, Edgar Renteria had nearly made it there from second. Renteria scrambled back to second but Suppan was doubled off of third.
It was a terrible baserunning mistake. Boston's defense wasn't even playing in for a play at the plate -- the Red Sox were back. And Suppan still was nailed.
How bad was it? The almost-always-friendly Busch Stadium crowd booed loudly after Albert Pujols grounded to third to end the inning.
Martinez, meanwhile, amped up his fastball to 93, 94 in the third.
Things don't change soon, the Cardinals are going to look back to missed opportunities in both the first and third innings as the times they should have gotten to Martinez before he heated up for good.
Oct. 26, 9:02 p.m.
Let's see how this plays out, but Pedro Martinez is either off tonight or simply off to a slow start. His radar gun readings are down noticeably. It took him 26 pitches to get through the first inning as the Cardinals pieced together what looked like a rally -- until Manny Ramirez's perfect throw home nailed Larry Walker on Jim Edmonds' fly ball.
The Cardinals had loaded the bases with one out, and what was most noticeable during the inning was Martinez mostly was clocked at 88, 89 mph. His fastball hit 92 on the radar gun a couple of times and he reached back and hiked it up to 93 on strike two to Edmonds.
Either Martinez is still warming up, or the Boston bullpen is going to be employed early tonight.
Oct. 26, 7:32 p.m.
That tarp is off the field. The groundskeepers are adding drying agents to the infield, they're raking the dirt ... this is the best things have looked all day.
Oct. 26, 7:27 p.m.
Sadly, there was no update on Mary Ellen Rogers from Francona.
Oct. 26, 7:25 p.m.
... And Jerry Mathers as the Beaver:
The test period for Boston manager Terry Francona is finished -- he's won a permanent place in our hearts now. I mean, have you ever heard another manager not only refer to Leave It To Beaver, but invoke the name of one of the characters, Larry Mondello?
The background: Boston motormouth Kevin Millar is giving way to David Ortiz at first base tonight, which gives Boston added depth on the bench -- but also keeps Millar's non-stop chatter in the dugout all evening.
"He's such a smart aleck," Francona said.
How will Millar pass the time?
"He'll have a bag of snacks," Francona said. "I mean, the couple of games in interleague this summer when he didn't play in Atlanta, he looked like, remember Leave It To Beaver? He looked like Larry Mondello. I thought about putting him in, but he had a stomach ache.
"When he doesn't play, he said things that made me laugh when I didn't want to laugh. You'll hear that voice down at the end of the dugout and it's hard not to laugh. He's a character. He's good for the ballclub."
Oct. 26, 7:19 p.m.
First loud cheer of the evening: Predictably, for the St. Louis grounds crew as it emerges from behind the right-field fence and trots toward the infield to remove the tarp. Excellent sight.
Oct. 26, 7:13 p.m.
Free taco alert:
Normally, we avoid helping sponsors sell their wares. But since YOU could directly benefit from this -- and I mean YOU, the person actually reading this right now -- it is my sworn duty to notify you of this.
If a player from either the Red Sox or Cardinals hits a temporary Taco Bell sign they've posted in the Homer's Landing section far behind the bullpens in left field, everyone in the United States is eligible for a free crunchy beef taco. Seriously. All you do is go to Taco Bell. Of course, while you're there, you'll probably want to buy a drink, several other tacos and a few burritos ... hey, I bet that's the point!
Anyway, if you exercise self control, you can get one free taco and blow on out of there, feeling like you've gotten something for nothing.
Of course, as I sit here writing, my estimate is that the Free Taco Here sign with the Taco Bell logo is probably 450 feet from the plate. It's going to take a monstrous poke to hit it.
Oct. 26, 7:10 p.m.
From the looks of it, St. Louis, down two games to none, is in trouble.
Here are the numbers: Of the previous teams that have taken a 2-0 World Series lead, 37 have gone on to win the title. That also is exactly what happened in each of the past four times that a team has taken a 2-0 lead -- the New York Yankees in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and Arizona in 2001 -- and in 10 of the last 11 times.
The last time a team lost the first two games on the road (as St. Louis has) and come back to win the Series: 1981, when Los Angeles came back to beat the Yankees.
Oct. 26, 7:01 p.m.
Assuming this game starts tonight on what is a very soggy field (though the surface at Busch Stadium drains real well), Tony La Russa has come full circle as St. Louis manager. Pedro Martinez is Boston's scheduled starter, and it was Martinez who pitched for Montreal in the first home game La Russa managed as Cardinals skipper in 1996.
"So I saw him those years before he left the league," La Russa said this afternoon. "I saw him when we played last year. I saw him in spring training last year. I haven't really seen him much. ... Depending on how many fastballs you say he has, he has four outstanding ways to get hitters out. He's a Hall of Famer."
Oct. 26, 6:59 p.m.
The lineup cards are in and, as expected Boston's David Ortiz remains batting fourth in the Red Sox lineup, at, ugh, first base.
No real surprises for either team. For Boston, it's Johnny Damon, Orlando Cabrera, Manny Ramirez, Ortiz, Jason Varitek, Bill Mueller, Trot Nixon, Mark Bellhorn and Pedro Martinez.
For St. Louis, it is Edgar Renteria, Larry Walker, Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, Reggie Sanders, Tony Womack, Mike Matheny and Jeff Suppan.
Oct. 26, 6:14 p.m.
Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo on the enigma that is Pedro Martinez: "Some days you come to the park and you don't even know Pedro is here. Other days he's sitting around naked, yelling and screaming."
Oct. 26, 6:10 p.m.
There is one rumor making the rounds that Game 3 will not start until at least 9 p.m. CT.
If so, baseball officials are not letting on. Rich Levin, vice-president for public relations, remains confident that St. Louis' Jeff Suppan will take the mound if not right at the scheduled start time, then shortly thereafter.
"I think it looks pretty good," Levin said. "Last I heard, the heavy rain is supposed to stop around 6:30 (local time) and then a light drizzle until about 8. I think there's a good chance we'll start on time."
Oct. 26, 4 p.m.
Too bad Game 3 wasn't played yesterday -- Monday -- in St. Louis. Upon arrival from Boston, it could not have been more pleasant. It's a good 20 degrees warmer in St. Louis than in Boston, and Monday was a classic fall day, gorgeous, lots of sun, trees tinted with orange and yellow. Today, though, it has rained. It has rained soft and it has rained hard. Lots of folks asking for weather reports.
Oct. 26, 1:31 p.m.
Meet me in St. Louis? How about rainy St. Louis? Six guys walk into my elevator in a hotel across the street from Busch Stadium. Between them, they're carrying five cases of beer and wearing various pieces of Cardinals garb.
A guy who looks like a businessman eyes them and asks, "They gonna get the game in?"
"They'd better," one of the guys answers. "We drove all this way for one game. They'd better play it."
Where did they drive all this way from?
West Virginia, one of them says.
"You guys gonna tailgate?" asks the businessman.
"No, we're gonna room-gate," one of the guys answers.
Revisiting Sanders' snafu
Oct. 25, 3:03 a.m.
Yeah, yeah, it's getting late. Yeah, yeah, we're getting tired.
But we simply cannot sleep until we figure this one out: How in the world did St. Louis outfielder Reggie Sanders miss second base on that crazy play in the second inning of Game 2 of the World Series?
You may recall: One out, Sanders on first, Boston leading 2-0, Tony Womack smacks a single to right.
Sanders, running on the pitch, chugs around second and takes several steps toward third before U-turning -- and frantically waving Womack back to first. Womack was halfway to second and probably could have had a double.
"It was a hit-and-run, and when I looked to see where the ball was going, I didn't realize the base was as close as it was," Sanders said. "So I ended up not touching second and I ended up having to go back because I was afraid if I got to third, they probably would have called me out.
"Better safe than sorry."
So that left Sanders on second and Womack on first, but a potential rally was killed when Mike Matheny lined to third baseman Bill Mueller a couple of pitches later and Mueller doubled Sanders off of second.
Again, the Cardinals were trying to make things happen and it didn't quite go their way.
"Double steal, and when he hit a line drive to third, I was dead as a duck," Sanders said.
Or, dead as the Cardinals have been in these first two games.
Ongoing thoughts from World Series Game 2
Oct. 24, 11:01 p.m.
While Boston's pitching staff is fresh, St. Louis' no doubt can use Monday's day off. After manager Tony La Russa burned through six pitchers in Game 1, Jason Marquis becomes the fourth Cardinals' hurler tonight -- he's starting the seventh inning.
What's newsworthy about that: Marquis is St. Louis' scheduled Game 4 starter for Wednesday. Depends how long he goes tonight, but St. Louis may have to scrap that plan and go to Plan B ... or C.
"We've got Jason Marquis listed and I think he'll pitch Game 4," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said before the game. "The only thing is that we also have Marquis listed in our right-handed relief side today because we used up Danny (Haren) and Matt (Morris) is going on three days' rest. If we need some innings, Marquis can pitch. But I think Marquis can pitch a little bit today and still start Game 4."
Oct. 24, 10:58 p.m.
Former disco diva Donna Summer, also a Boston native, just sang God Bless America during the seventh-inning break.
It would have been much more entertaining had she used some of those moans that made her famous in her hit Love to Love You Baby.
Oct. 24, 10:46 p.m.
The pulse of Fenway Park right about now? Here's a conversation overheard between a couple of Boston fans in one of the stadium restrooms (the lengths we go to to give you full-scale reporting):
"How about Schilling?"
"He's hot."
"He's a trooper. He's one of us."
Pitch with a dislocated tendon in your ankle, four stitches holding it down, countless pain killers, win a key playoff game against the New York Yankees, put your team in terrific position to win Game 2 of the World Series ... and you, too, can become an instant folk hero.
Oct. 24, 10:39 p.m.
That's it for Curt Schilling. As predicted several dispatches ago, Schilling wasn't going to go much more than six innings tonight -- thanks in no small part to the 24-pitch first inning. Still, wow: Six innings, no earned runs, and Boston is within nine outs of victory.
Schilling threw 94 pitches, 61 strikes. St. Louis saw more than enough of him. His cutter was phenomenal and the ankle did not seem to bother him -- not outwardly, at least.
Alan Embree works the seventh and fans all three Cards he faces. Best thing about tonight from Boston's perspective so far: It looks like the Red Sox will not have to overextend any of their relief pitchers -- as they did so often in the Yankees' series -- and, with a day of travel Monday, Boston's pitching staff should be fresh for Game 3 on Tuesday.
Oct. 24, 10:12 p.m.
The mist is back and the wind is getting colder. Conditions cleared up nicely just after the game started and, though the field was somewhat wet, at least the air was dry.
No more. Albert Pujols just launched a fly ball to right field that the stiff breeze appeared to slow just as it reached the peak of its arc. The mist falls, Curt Schilling is dealing -- his cutter is biting hard tonight, continually diving under Cardinals' bats -- and Boston has gotten every break since Game 4 of the ALCS. The Sox are on pace to win their sixth consecutive postseason game.
Oct. 24, 10:03 p.m.
Boston leads 4-1 in the sixth, and it could be a whole lot worse for St. Louis. David Ortiz just ripped a Cal Eldred pitch deep into the night with Orlando Cabrera on first, just to the wrong side of Pesky's Pole in right field. Ortiz is waving that the ball passed the pole in fair territory, but after the umpires huddle and discuss it, they rule that the original call stands.
And television replays show that it was the correct call, despite the boos.
Oct. 24, 9:59 p.m.
Far too many pitches out of the strike zone for Matt Morris, and Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan finally see enough with one out and one on in the fifth.
Lots of people try to make baseball far more complicated than it is, and this game so far has come down in no small part to this: Morris walked four batters and hit another in 4 1/3 innings. Of those, three scored.
Boston's lineup is dangerous enough without giving the Red Sox extra baserunners.
Oct. 24, 9:11 p.m.
You often hear about pitchers who are good at "finishing batters off" -- that is, putting them away when they get to a two-strike count. St. Louis starter Matt Morris is having difficulty with that tonight. He walked both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz on full counts in the first inning, and it cost him when Jason Varitek ripped a two-run triple.
Boston hitters, as they did in Game 1, are fouling an awful lot of pitches off. One big question that is popping up early is this: Everybody knows that St. Louis does not have an ace on its staff, but do the Cardinals have the starting pitching to slow the only offense in the majors that scored more than 900 runs? Against six different St. Louis pitchers in Game 1, Boston hitters swung and missed a grand total of only nine times. Other than those nine swings, Red Sox hitters made contact every time they swung -- by either re-directing the pitch toward the Cardinal defense or by fouling it off.
When your defense is as good as the Cardinals' is, that sometimes isn't all bad. But when it is Boston's big, burly lineup swinging, and the drives bounce off of the Green Monster or rattle off of the outfield walls, it sometimes is all bad.
Oct. 24, 8:33 p.m.
Curt Schilling wasn't even past the first batter of the night before he had to work hard -- harder than in the first few innings against the Yankees in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. Edgar Renteria worked Schilling over for a 12-pitch at-bat. It ended harmlessly enough, with a ground ball to shortstop, but Renteria still did exactly what a leadoff hitter is supposed to do -- he ran Schilling's pitch count up.
By the end of the first, Schilling has thrown 24 pitches. So far, so good on his bad ankle. His fastball is crackling at 94, 95 m.ph. and, aside from Albert Pujols' double, he has no problems in the first inning.
But even after getting through the second inning at a reasonable 16 pitches, thanks to that one at-bat, Schilling already is at 40 pitches. Even after Jason Varitek's two-run triple gives the Red Sox an early 2-0 lead, Schilling isn't out of trouble. Chances are good that St. Louis is going to be into Boston's bullpen by the sixth inning at this current rate, seventh at the latest, and that's where Boston's 7-2 Game 1 lead melted down to 7-7 ... and where the Red Sox's 9-7 lead melted to 9-9.
You'd better believe Mike Timlin, Alan Embree, Keith Foulke and Co. are on call.
Oct. 24, 8:03 p.m.
Another musical strike: New England's James Taylor sings the national anthem, with only that classic voice and an acoustic guitar. I'm not a big J.T. fan, but this is pretty good.
Oct. 24, 7:51 p.m.
Another rock and roll reunion, courtesy of the Red Sox: The Standells take a makeshift stage on the warning track in center field to perform their hit Dirty Water ("I love that dirty water ... oh, Boston, you're my home").
Oct. 24, 7:48 p.m.
The second loud roar of the evening from a packed Fenway Park as Curt Schilling comes out of the bullpen onto the right-field grass to begin stretching.
Oct. 24, 7:37 p.m.
The first loud roar of the evening from a packed Fenway Park as Red Sox starter Curt Schilling emerges from the Boston dugout for the short walk to the bullpen behind the right-field fence to begin warming up. Flashbulbs pop, and the ovation rises several more decibels when Schilling touches the bill of his cap and nods as he nears the pen.
Oct. 24, 6:20 p.m.
Bad news for St. Louis: The team winning Game 1 has gone on to win six of the past seven World Series. The only exception was in 2002 when San Francisco defeated Anaheim in Game 1.
Womack doesn't need grounds for apology
Oct. 24, 5:49 p.m.
About that apology Tony Womack received from one of the Boston groundskeepers after David Ortiz's wicked grounder nearly separated his left collarbone from his shoulder?
"Well, could they erase that score that gave up that run, too?" Womack asked. "That happens. That's baseball. We had the plate, if he doesn't hit the ball hard we have to try to kill the guy at the plate. If not, we can turn two. Just unfortunately, it took a bad hop. That's how the ball bounces, off my collarbone and everything."
Though Womack is in the lineup tonight, it isn't like he had an easy day. How did he feel this morning?
"I felt like I had been hit by a truck twice over this morning," Womack said. "I was really stiff.
"I'm playing. I've got all of next week to rest. After it's all said and done, I've got all winter to heal. There's not many chances you get to play in the World Series, so I'm not going to let this slow me down. I'm going to be ready tonight."
Oh, and one other thing: Womack said he is not blaming the Fenway Park grounds crew.
"Like I said, that's how the ball bounces," Womack said. "When you get a bad hop, first thing you do, you can blame the grounds crew and all that, but that's baseball. Could have been the topspin off the ball or the backspin.
"I don't blame anybody. It happened. I was just more disappointed that they scored a run off of it than anything else. That's baseball. I don't take too many things personally."
Ongoing thoughts from World Series Game 2
Oct. 24, 5:35 p.m.
Second baseman Tony Womack is in the St. Louis lineup tonight, batting seventh and playing second base. Womack took a hard David Ortiz ground ball off of his left collarbone and was forced to leave Game 1 early, and manager Tony La Russa didn't figure he was a given for Game 2 until he got to the ballpark.
"It was close enough that I got a call from Barry (Weinberg, St. Louis trainer) in the morning that Tony felt ready to go, but I didn't want to have t make the lineup and have to change it," La Russa said. "So I kept it open until I saw Tony and talked to him. He said he can go, so he goes. If he had not, then (Marlon) Anderson was going to play second and we would have chosen somebody else.
"Anderson, he's played behind Schilling, he's had 10 at-bats, and I think he's got the kind of legs and handle of the bat that maybe he can do something special if we want to try to manufacture."
La Russa also said that one of the Boston groundskeepers apologized to Womack for the ball taking a bad hop on the field.
Oct. 24, 5:02 p.m.
Mist, mist go away....
No outdoor batting practice for either team today. The batting cage was set up a couple of hours ago, but the steady mist caused the groundskeepers to eventually take the cage away and place the tarp on the field to keep it dry.
Oct. 24, 4:27 p.m.
For probably the 3,067th time in the past 10 days, Boston manager Terry Francona is asked about his team's hair.
"If this was Cub Scout Troop 1410 I'd ask these guys to cut their hair," Francona said. "It's not ... the fact that they came together is what's important."
Oct. 24, 4:24 p.m.
Before Game 1, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa spoke about how he roomed with Boston skipper Terry Francona's father during his days in the minors and said that in his early days as a skipper, he lobbied once or twice to acquire Terry Francona.
Francona says he's unaware of any of that.
"If he tried to acquire me he's not nearly as good a manager as I thought he was," Francona said, chuckling. "He's gone down, in my estimation."
Oct. 24, 4:19 p.m.
Boston manager Terry Francona on the Red Sox's four errors last night: "We hate giving extra outs. We don't want to run into outs. We gave up a lot of extra outs last night. We were fortunate to win the game, but we also are fortunate that when things like that happen, we continue to play. You can feel sorry for yourself, but Foulkie (Keith Foulke) got (Jim) Edmonds (on a strikeout to end the eighth with the bases loaded and the score 9-9."
Oct. 24, 3:39 p.m.
Tonight's game may depend on which team has the better mudders. It's cold and breezy again at Fenway Park, but the gusting winds of Saturday night have been exchanged for thick, gray clouds and a steady, fine mist. It is damp and it is chilly. Temperatures again should be in the 40s.
Not that it's dampening spirits here in Boston. Oh, no. At breakfast in the hotel today in the heart of Boston, a middle-aged woman was sitting with her elderly mother at the table next to me. As I read through the morning papers, I couldn't help but overhear snippets of their conversation, which took a hard turn at the point where the woman asked her mother what time she finally turned out the lights last night.
"Midnight or so," the mother said.
"Mama, what?!" the woman said.
"Well I wanted to know what was going to happen in the game," the mother said. "I couldn't go to sleep without knowing."
Within five minutes after they left, a couple of more women were seated at the same table. And before one had even sat down, apparently spying my newspapers, she looked over and said, "Who won the game last night?"
Told her the Red Sox had, the woman smiled, nodded her head and sat down to an omelet.
Ongoing thoughts from World Series Game 1
Oct. 23, 10:33 p.m.
Check that, what you're going to read in the next item. While Bronson Arroyo's curve is solid, it isn't perfect. Back-to-back doubles in the sixth by Edgar Renteria and Larry Walker tie the game at 7-7. With these two potent offenses, those five-hour ALCS games could be in jeopardy.
Oct. 23, 10:29 p.m.
Bronson Arroyo has retired six consecutive Cardinals to bail out Tim Wakefield and slow St. Louis. The kid may have wilted under the pressure of his Game 3 start against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, but his curve is sharp tonight.
Oct. 23, 9:59 p.m.
One problem with the ol' knuckleball is that you never know where it's going to go. And so it went for Tim Wakefield with Boston leading 7-2. Wakefield walked the first three batters in the fourth inning to cause immediate trouble. Seven batters later Bronson Arroyo came in to save the day, but not before the Cardinals scored three times to pull to within 7-5.
You've got to anticipate that with Wakefield. It's the nature of a knuckleball. It can change from good to flat in a matter of minutes. Plus, it's cold outside and Wakefield sat in the Red Sox dugout for long periods in the first, second and third innings. That's why, with Derek Lowe starting Game 4, Boston manager Terry Francona has Arroyo on call tonight.
Oct. 23, 9:11 p.m.
If the Boston fans get any more clever, we just might have to hand over our laptops and let them write a few of our stories.
Out by the auxiliary press box in right field, a large group of fans one section over begin chanting "Media sucks!" followed by "Give us our seats back!"
I'm just thinking, and this is while the Red Sox are winning -- what happens if they're losing?
Oct. 23, 8:50 p.m.
Tim Wakefield's knuckler isn't dancing like it did during his relief appearance against the New York Yankees, but he's got a large margin for error. The Red Sox score seven runs in the first three innings. As for Wakefield, he dazzled the Cardinals in the first enough for Jim Edmonds to lead off the second by bunting toward third base. It works, he gets on with a single, and winds up scoring on Mike Matheny's sacrifice fly, but Wakefield is able to avoid major damage with his knuckler and holds St. Louis to one run.
Oct. 23, 8:40 p.m.
Anybody wondering whether Boston would have an emotional letdown after walloping the Yankees, the answer is a resounding ... nope. St. Louis' Woody Williams threw ball one to three of the first four hitters and paid dearly for it. David Ortiz, the third recipient of ball one, blasted the next pitch for a three-run homer. Fenway Park went nuts. The Red Sox got another run before the inning ended and it's as if the Yankees' series never ended.
Whether it is the cold weather or just one of those days, Williams is having difficulty hitting his spots. The Red Sox collect four hits in the first inning and the Cardinals already have their feathers up against the Green Monster.
Oct. 23, 8:15 p.m.
Let's just say that as a national anthem singer, Steven Tyler, lead dog in the rock band Aerosmith, is a terrific performer on (Dude) Looks Like a Lady and Walk This Way.
Oct. 23, 8:01 p.m.
The loudest applause in pregame introductions?
You guessed it -- for David Ortiz.
Oct. 23, 6:12 p.m.
Because of the Head of the Charles, the largest collegiate Rowing event in the country, hotels are extremely scarce downtown this weekend. The Cardinals are staying in Quincy, Mass., about 20 or 30 minutes outside of Boston (depending on traffic, of course).
Not that they're bitter about it.
Someone asked Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds the difference between St. Louis and Boston as baseball cities.
"The Red Sox put us so far out of town I wouldn't know," Edmonds quipped.
Oct. 23, 5:50 p.m.
The two warmest places in Fenway Park are the two dugouts. Both are heated, and right now, Boston Whiz Kid GM Theo Epstein is surrounded by a large group of writers. It could be because they want to know lots of things about how he put together this highly talented Red Sox team. Or it could be because everybody just wants to go where the heaters are.
Epstein said the first day this spring that Johnny Damon showed up with the long hair and beard, he did a doubletake.
"I could see by the look in his eyes that he wanted to ask if he could keep it," Epstein said. "I said that he could keep it if it doesn't get in your eyes and get in the way of the game."
There are, almost literally, no rules on this Boston team. Guys come and go, grow their hair long, don't shave, leave games early (see: Pedro Martinez on opening day in Baltimore this season) and still, it usually doesn't matter as long as they show up to play by gametime.
"I don't think we'll have this approach forever, but for this group of guys, it works for us," Epstein said.
Oct. 23, 5:20 p.m.
No major roster surprises for either team, but it did pain the Cardinals to leave lefty reliever Steve Kline off of their World Series roster.
"Since your attitude has no negative vibes, I feel worse for Steve than I do for us because we are going to make the adjustments to compensate and still find a way to win," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "But just like Chris Carpenter, these two guys have been so important to us getting this opportunity, into this position, it's really a tough break. And he would be helpful but we'll do without him."
Oct. 23, 5:01 p.m.
It's cold, the wind is blowing and the predicted temperature tonight is somewhere in the low-to-mid 40s. It's enough to remind a guy of....
Calgary.
That's what the conditions were making Boston first baseman Kevin Millar think of: Minor league stops he's made in Calgary, Portland (Maine), Kane County (Illinois), St. Paul (Minnesota).
"I love the cold," said Millar in an odd-sounding thing to hear from somebody who was born in Southern California, played for the Florida Marlins and lives in Houston. "As an offensive player, cold is good. Pitchers don't usually have the feel for their breaking stuff, but they'll throw a good game. Defense is where it hurts you. As a hitter, you're in the dugout, you have pine tar...."
The coldest conditions Millar remembers?
"Oh, Calgary," he said. "We played in snow and sleet. That place is probably the coldest place on earth."
Oct. 23, 4:32 p.m.
Boston doctors stitched up Schilling's right ankle again earlier this afternoon in preparation for his Game 2 start Sunday night. Same as earlier this week: Four stitches lacing the dislocated tendon down through his skin (following a painkiller shot, of course).
"As far as the pain goes, I'm not feeling anything right now," he said. "Today we were not as rushed as the first time we did it. So he allowed the painkiller to actually work this time."
Oct. 23, 4:30 p.m.
The Yankees may have gone soft on Curt Schilling in Game 6 of the ALCS, but the big right-hander doesn't expect Tony La Russa's St. Louis club to give him and his sore ankle any breaks. He fully expects them to try bunting on him in Game 2.
"Oh, they will," Schilling said. "Absolutely. I expect them to bunt. I expect them to try to get me to move off the mound, which we've gotten ready for. I would love to see (Albert) Pujols come down and try to lay down a bunt, or (Jim) Edmonds or (Scott) Rolen.
"But I certainly expect themn to try to push the envelope and run and make things happen, like he's always done in the past."
Oct. 23, 3:30 p.m.
World Series fever? The throng of fans surrounding the Fenway Park gate where the Red Sox pull into the players' parking lot is about triple the size of any crowd that awaited during the American League Championship Series against the Yankees.
Predictably, a windows-rattling cheer goes up when David Ortiz emerges from a black SUV.
Gametime is still more than four hours away.
Hargrove might not be right fit for M's
Oct. 21, 11:02 p.m.
After all that, the Seattle Mariners hire Mike Hargrove as manager?
What we know about Hargrove is that when he has talented players, he wins (see: Cleveland, 1990s). When he does not have talented players, he loses (see: Baltimore, 2000s).
Granted, that's just like a whole lot of other managers. But this Seattle franchise is developing a history of making bad decisions (see: never making a move in July when it had a chance, declining to even interview Dusty Baker for the managerial job that eventually went to Bob Melvin) and this is another in a developing line of uninspired moves. Even while winning in Cleveland, Hargrove never was considered a master tactician or a master motivator. Simply, he had a killer lineup of talented players. And the Indians still went 0-for-2 in the World Series against Atlanta (1995) and Florida (1997).
Seattle's roster is aging and suspect. And despite the Mariners' insistence that they're going to spend money this winter, their failure to demonstrate they'll do what it takes to win has been noted by players around the league. Consequently, I think they're going to have difficulty convincing top free agents to sign with them.
The Mariners said Grady Little, Jerry Manuel and Terry Collins were the other finalists. They also interviewed Jim Riggleman, the former Chicago Cubs and San Diego manager, and Joe Maddon, Anaheim bench coach. The Mariners' stated goal was to hire someone with major-league managing experience, which does make sense. I think Maddon deserves a chance because he's been very good very quietly for many years in Anaheim, but the Mariners already tried the bench coach-with-no-major-league-managing-experience route with Bob Melvin.
As far as experienced managers go, I think you could do a whole lot worse than Little, his Game 7 ALCS brain cramp last season notwithstanding. Little remains on Philadelphia's list, as does Charlie Manuel and Jim Fregosi. But none of them is the perfect candidate, either. After a few seasons of badly underachieving, the Phillies find flaws with each of those men. Little for the obvious Boston failure reasons, Manuel because he never won in Cleveland and Fregosi because been there, done that.
See? Sometimes this recycling managers business is harder than it looks.
Continuing thoughts from Game 7 in N.Y.
Oct. 20, 8:01 p.m.
New York Post moment of the day: The front page of the tabloid today features a large mug shot of Babe Ruth with the headline, "Put Me In." The subhead reads "Yanks need Babe's curse in Game 7."
Back page headline: "Chokers or Champs?"
Oct. 20, 7:56 p.m.
Loud ovation from the right-field stands as New York starting pitcher Kevin Brown emerges from the Yankees dugout for the walk across the field to begin his preparations. Typical tough-guy Brown: It's in the high 40s, and no sleeves under his uniform jersey and no warm-up jacket.
Oct. 20, 7:52 p.m.
First "Who's Your Daddy!" chant from the Yankee Stadium bleachers.
Oct. 20, 7:45 p.m.
The word has come down from on high: The start time of this game has been pushed back to 8:30 p.m. from 8:20 p.m. because the St. Louis-Houston NLCS game is in extra innings.
Oct. 20, 6:45 p.m.
So Curt Schilling's ankle was messed up in Game 6, what with the dislocated tendon, the stitches causing him to bleed during the game and goodness-knows-what-else.
Wouldn't a logical plan of attack by the New York Yankees have been to bunt on him? Early and often? Make Schilling make plays?
Manager Joe Torre said the team did not discuss that as a strategy and that it was an "individual choice" as to what the players wanted to do.
"We were not necessarily of a mind to believe that there was a lot wrong with him," Torre said. "It's not that we're saying that he wasn't telling the truth, but we have to deal with him, the pitcher we know, instead of seeing that there's something drastically wrong with him physically to want to do that. We don't want to take away from ourselves. I hate to think, A-Rod, here, drop one down so you don't hit one out of the ballpark. I'd rather take my chances at having him swing the bat."
Oct. 20, 6:01 p.m.
Turns out amid the chaos of Game 6, a very well known pitcher wasn't even in Boston's clubhouse: Pedro Martinez.
Manager Terry Francona said that the club elected to leave Martinez back in Boston an extra day to get worked on by physical therapists so he will be able to pitch in relief in Game 7.
"This is an abnormality," Francona said of Martinez. "Usually what we do is, you pitch, you take a day off, you throw your side if you need it. Sometimes at this part of the year they don't, so this is a little extra special trying to get ready."
Oct. 20, 4:01 p.m.
The biggest challenge of covering the postseason isn't staying up writing until 3 or 4 a.m.
It's logistics -- getting from city to city, arranging for hotels and transportation, that sort of thing.
I checked into a bad hotel out by New York's LaGuardia Airport yesterday in kind of a holding pattern because, given the way this Boston-New York American League Championship Series is going, it's difficult to tell whether I'll be in New York for two nights and then back to Boston, or whether I'll be in New York through the opening of the World Series this weekend.
Anyway, there were printed fliers on the desk warning that, because of a construction project on one of the bridges crossing the road outside the airport, it could get kind of loud at times. Being the seasoned traveler I am, I quickly asked for a room on the other side of the hotel, away from the jackhammers.
I was in my room for 30 minutes, literally, before heading back out to Yankee Stadium for Game 6 Tuesday and heard a sound much like a marching band crossing a campus on its way to a college football game. The rat-a-tat-tat of the drum was sharp.
Thankfully, it was quiet when I returned to the room at 4:15 a.m. this morning after the wild Game 6 in Yankee Stadium. But the drumming sound woke me up again at 10:30 a.m. today.
Meanwhile, I called the front desk to check on a washing machine to get some laundry done ... and there are no washing machines. So I went to the small hotel across the street and down to see if they had a washing machine.
They did -- and they also had a picket line marching out front. That's where the drumming was coming from that keeps rattling my room.
Great.
Phillies still looking for new skipper
Oct. 19, 3:34 p.m.
The Philadelphia Phillies' managerial search continues, and Grady Little, Charlie Manuel and Jim Fregosi are the leading candidates to replace Larry Bowa.
Randolph gets Torre's endorsement
Oct. 19, 7:09 p.m.
As usual, the playoffs are delaying some clubs from completing their managerial interviews as early as they'd like. The New York Mets were supposed to interview Yankees bench coach Willie Randolph on Monday, but because last Friday's rainout pushed the ALCS games in Boston back and Game 5 was played Monday, that's been rescheduled for later in the week.
"I certainly hope the interview is for the purpose of interviewing him for the job, as opposed to having to interview a minority," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
Randolph has interviewed with several clubs over the past few seasons, coming the closest to getting a skipper's job in Cincinnati before the Reds low-balled him by offering $300,000.
"I think he has done just about everything other than manage in the minor leagues, which not everybody has done to be successful in the big leagues," Torre said. "I certainly would like to see him get the opportunity. I don't think we ever really know how someone is going to do until they are actually doing it, but I think credential-wise, especially the fact that he's done it here in New York, certainly qualifies him as a viable candidate in my mind."
Taking it one game at a time
Oct. 19, 6:59 p.m.
The mood after both teams combined to throw 887 pitches in Games 4 and 5 and play 35 innings over 15 hours and 11 minutes in three games?
"I'm sure we're arm weary," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "But everybody is available that you've been seeing out there. Let's put it that way."
Don't ask Torre whether Mike Mussina or Orlando Hernandez would be available in relief if this series extends to Game 7 Wednesday.
"We're not talking about Game 7," Torre said.
Wakefield gets Game 7 nod
Oct. 19, 6:45 p.m.
In the press room, Boston manager Terry Francona says that Tim Wakefield has been told to prepare for a potential Game 7 start. Given the way this series has gone, Francona also says that Wakefield may have to pitch in relief tonight in Game 6.
"Again, we get into 16 innings, you don't know what's going to happen," Francona said. "But that's kind of our outlook is to have him prepare as if he's not going to pitch tonight so he can get ready for tomorrow. And then we'd just go as long as we could."
Weather isn't brutal ... yet
Oct. 19, 6:05 p.m.
Back in New York, and how miserable is it tonight?
Right now, the Yankees dugout is dominated by the sound of a hair dryer.
Seriously. And it's got nothing to do with Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and GQ magazine, either.
Rather, the lens on the small camera placed on the side of the Yankees dugout is fogged over, and one of the television technicians is attempting it to de-fog it.
Once he gets it clear, the guy tells me, it should stay clear for the rest of the night. That's because once the camera is up and going, the back of the camera heats up and eventually the lens is heated as well. But until it gets to that point, the lens will fog.
Tough job, because it's a triple lens, so the hair dryer must penetrate through three layers.
"I may have to swap out the lens here pretty soon," the guy says.
I wish him luck ... and head back inside. A steady drizzle is falling, the wind is blowing and it's going to be in the 40s at game time. The rain isn't falling enough to postpone the game -- not yet, anyway, but it's enough to make playing conditions miserable.
Deja oops: Red Sox wait too long on Pedro
Oct. 18, 7:17 p.m.
Pedro Martinez is getting in trouble.
Nobody is warming up in the bullpen.
Martinez is getting into deeper trouble.
Still nobody.
What is Terry Francona doing? I know the Red Sox bullpen is gassed, but is it white-flag time or what? Pedro wears out at 100 pitches and he's approaching it. An infield single. Ruben Sierra singles. He hits Miguel Cairo with a pitch.
Here comes pitch No. 100 ... and Derek Jeter goes the other way for a three-run double.
And still nobody warming up in the bullpen.
This is borderline negligence. Pedro hit Alex Rodriguez with a pitch and, finally, relievers are stirring.
Question is, is it too late?
For the second year in a row.
As Johnny Mathis would say: Chants are ...
Oct. 18, 7:26 p.m.
Fenway fans have an answer for all of those "Who's your daddy!" chants taunting Pedro Martinez in Yankee Stadium.
They're serenading Gary Sheffield with chants of "Who's your dealer!" with each at-bat, in obvious reference to Sheffield's name being linked to BALCO.
They're also serenading David Ortiz lovingly with chants of "Who's your papi!" Ortiz's nickname in the Red Sox clubhouse is Papi.
Sox need to get the party started
Oct. 18, 7:04 p.m.
Boston is leading 2-1 but the Red Sox are sitting around and waiting for things to happen -- and I don't think that's going to benefit them in the end.
Fifth inning, one out, Orlando Cabrera on first base and Manny Ramirez foul tips a ball off of the hand of New York Yankees' catcher Jorge Posada.
Why not run Cabrera?
It's a cold night and Posada's throwing hand can't be feeling good. Make the Yankees make a play, put Cabrera in scoring position with Ramirez up and David Ortiz to follow.
But nope. Cabrera never made a move. And the inning ended with the Red Sox failing to extend their 2-1 lead.
Jeter falters, Mussina delivers
Oct. 18, 6:33 p.m.
The unpredictability of the American League Championship Series continues. One out, runner on first, in the bottom of the third, Derek Jeter boots a ground ball for his second error of the series.
What happened next is what October teams are made of. Mike Mussina struck out Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek on six pitches to end the inning.
It's been a rough series for Jeter, and Boston took a 2-1 lead into the fourth.
ALCS turning into bullpen battle of attrition
Oct. 18, 2:24 p.m. ET
OK, so what happens when the ninth inning rolls around in a few hours if New York has a slim lead?
Closer Mariano Rivera worked two innings Sunday night and blew the save.
And his availability tonight is?
"My guess is we have him for an inning, maybe an inning and a piece today," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
No question, Game 5 later today will be a battle of attrition. Is New York's bullpen fatigued?
"I think you can ask Terry (Francona, Boston's manager) the same question," Torre said. "That's one of those things in postseason where sometimes you go on fumes."
As soon as Friday night's game was postponed by rain, Torre figured the relievers would get backed up toward the end of the three-game run here, and that's exactly what has happened.
Boston gets its wakeup call
Oct. 18, 1:17 p.m. ET
Sleep? What's that?
Here we are, back at the ballpark nine hours after leaving it. Fenway Park is a lot sluggish this morning, no doubt partly because it's Monday and people are back to work and back to school, and partly because last night's game (this morning's game?) didn't end until 1:22 a.m. ET.
Boston manager Terry Francona, in the interview room right now, said he got "little" sleep -- no doubt, like most everyone else.
"Unfortunately, I had little kids who had to go back to school today, so it was an early wakeup call and a late good night, which is OK," Francona said. "I don't think anybody is going to be complaining today about lack of sleep."
And so here we go again, Game 5 less than four hours away.
Nobody knows how the rest of this day will transpire, but I can guarantee this: By first pitch this afternoon, the sluggishness will be gone, and this place will be wide awake.
Foulke fired up for Monday
Oct. 18, 3:41 a.m. ET
When last we visited in this space, Boston manager Terry Francona was yanking starter Derek Lowe after 5 2/3 innings and planning to ride Mike Timlin and Keith Foulke the distance.
Well, as you've probably heard by now, things went crazy, 12 innings worth of crazy, the game went way beyond Timlin and Foulke and Boston won 6-4 anyway.
Timlin went one inning and was hurt by three infield singles. Foulke went 2 2/3 innings -- 50 pitches -- in holding the fort until Alan Embree, Mike Myers and Curtis Leskanic finished New York off and saved Boston's season.
So now comes the question: Who the heck is left to pitch Game 5 late Monday afternoon, which comes up less than 17 hours after the conclusion of Game 4?
Well, Pedro Martinez will start. We know that much.
We also know this: Among the tired Boston relief corps, Foulke vows he can come back in Game 5 as well.
"Damn straight," he said in the wee hours of the morning. "If I don't pitch (Monday) and we lose, what am I going to do the rest of the winter?"
Good question.
"I'll be back ready to do something tomorrow," Foulke said.
Francona makes reverse Little move
Oct. 17, 10:47 p.m. ET
Boston just escaped major trouble in the sixth, when Mike Timlin allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score, but then got the Yankees to leave the bases loaded to end the inning.
Manager Terry Francona wasted no time in hooking Derek Lowe, pulling him after Hideki Matsui's one-out triple in the sixth. That might not turn out to be the wisest of moves, because that means Timlin and Keith Foulke are going to have to cover the final 3 2/3 innings. The way Boston tore through its bullpen in Saturday's 19-8 fiasco, that's an awful lot of weight to put on Timlin and Foulke. The Fenway Park crowd of 34,826 booed Francona when he came to the mound.
Timlin quickly turned a 3-2 Boston lead into a 4-3 deficit.
Let's see what happens down the stretch.
D-Loweful atmosphere at Fenway
Oct. 17, 9:02 p.m.
Modern gadgets are warping our minds.
Fenway Park is rocking tonight, and through two innings, with the Red Sox in the field, the Fenway faithful have been very diligent in supporting pitcher Derek Lowe with deafening chants of "D-Lowe! D-Lowe! D-Lowe!"
At least, I think that's what they're chanting.
But it could be "TiVo! TiVo! TiVo!"
Side work for Schilling
Oct. 17, 6:35 p.m. ET
Curt Schilling threw in the Boston bullpen before Game 4 and, if the Red Sox are able to extend this series, don't be surprised if he makes a Willis Reed-type comeback.
"He looked good, considering the circumstances," Boston general manager Theo Epstein said. "After the game tonight, when we win, Tito (Francona, Boston manager) will have some announcements concerning the rotation."
Yanks go to 1B backup's backup
Oct. 17, 5:30 p.m. ET
Tony Clark is playing first base for the Yankees tonight in place of John Olerud. The defensive specialist hit his left instep with a bat during Game 3, was forced to leave the game and it was extremely sore on Sunday.
"John is not very mobile," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He's sore. When I went to first base last night, he said, 'The bat hit me,' and I guess I had not seen the replay, but people who saw the replay said it looked like the bat hit his instep, the left foot. And it's sore.
"The X-rays were negative. I guess if it's not feeling better in the next day or so, they may do further testing. But he's not available for us today."
Hoping Sheff whips up himself
Oct. 17, 4:35 p.m. ET
Tough to hide the obvious, even when you've turned the page to the next day. Even in looking to win Game 4, Boston was still stung from the night before. But the Red Sox were attempting to disarm the morticians with humor.
Asked about pitching to Gary Sheffield, who was batting .692 (9-for-13) in this series, Boston manager Terry Francona cracked: "The best hope we had (Saturday) night with Sheffield was that he would swing so hard he'd hurt himself."
Awaiting bullpen call
Oct. 17, 4:31 p.m. ET
What we needed was a rainout after Game 3, not before it. Because following the Yankees' 19-8 Bronx Bombing of the Boston Red Sox, you pretty much needed a 24-hour period for the autopsy.
Nevertheless, here we are again, the Red Sox hanging by a thread, and here's manager Terry Francona in a pregame press conference when a reporter's cell phone rang: "Maybe it's a pitcher."
Everybody laughed. What else were you going to do in this bloodbath?
Seeing both the sights
Oct. 17, 4:01 p.m. ET
One thing was overlooked when analyzing this Boston-New York American League Championship Series matchup: If you like to get outside for your workouts, you won't find better places to run than New York's Central Park and along the Charles River in Boston.
I looped the six miles around the perimeter of Central Park before Game 1 in New York last week on a gorgeous, sunny fall afternoon. Streaks of yellow and orange colored the trees and it was just fabulous. New Yorkers tell me circling the outer perimeter is six miles, so that's what I'm going with. But if anybody wants to tell me it's, oh, eight or nine miles around, I'm perfectly willing to buy that, too.
In Boston, I got out for a long run along the Charles River before Game 3 on Saturday morning and, as usual, that was spectacular, too. Dozens of mothers and fathers were walking with their kids -- it looked like at least one of the area universities, and probably more, was having Parents' Weekend -- hundreds of people were walking in what looked like a fundraiser for children's diabetes, and the atmosphere was delightful.
They're two totally different runs, and they're both terrific. Say what you want about one or the other ballclubs, but these are two of the greatest cities in the country.
Mixed results
Oct. 16, 9:37 p.m. ET
Which team did Friday's rainout help more, Boston or New York?
The early returns say neither.
Both starting pitchers, the Yankees' Kevin Brown and Boston's Bronson Arroyo, were gone by the third inning in Game 3. Arroyo lasted just three batters into the third, and Yankees manager Joe Torre removed Brown after two innings.
Neither pitcher's location was good, and each issued two walks. And here's the scary part: Plate umpire John Hirschbeck is a pitcher's umpire, known for his liberal strike zone.
It's New York 6, Boston 4 as I write this in the bottom of the third inning -- nearly 1½ hours into the game. The bullpen gates have been opened for both teams, a drizzle was falling a little bit ago and more rain is forecast for later ... strap in, this could be a long, eventful night.
'Damn Royals'
Oct. 16, 8:11 p.m. ET
Well beat the drum and hold the phone, the sun came out today. The rains are gone, and now Boston returns to the difficult task at hand: Teams falling behind two games to none have lost 13 consecutive League Championship Series, dating back to 1985. Then, the Kansas City Royals came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Toronto Blue Jays.
"It's not a situation you want to start off in, but that's where we're at," Boston third baseman Bill Mueller said. "Let us be the second team since the '85 Royals to do it.
"Damn Royals."
Say what?
"I'm still pissed off at those guys," Mueller said. "I grew up in St. Louis. I was pulling for the Cardinals. Then the guy missed the call at first base."
Don Denkinger, wherever you are, feel free to reply.
A-Rod's gridiron heartache
Oct. 16, 7:32 p.m. ET
Alex Rodriguez saw Friday Night Lights in Boston during the off-day in this series on Thursday night, and though he said he enjoyed it, he didn't give it the full two-thumbs up endorsement maybe you would expect.
And with good reason: It brought back some heartache he hasn't felt since he was 17.
(Warning: If you have not read the book or seen the movie yet and you intend to do so, you might want to skip to the next item as key plot twists could be revealed.)
OK, still with us? Last chance to look away.
"That's how our season ended," said Rodriguez, who was the quarterback for Westminster Christian in Miami in 1992 -- and who often threw to tight end Doug Mientkiewicz, now a first baseman in Boston.
Westminster Christian lost to Fort Lauderdale power Pinecrest in the state semifinals, preventing a David-slays-Goliath story and ruining Westminster Christian's run at the Florida state title.
"To be on the field with Doug and 12 of my teammates in tears because they were finished," said Rodriguez, who was a junior on that team while Mientkiewicz was a senior. "That's one of the biggest losses I've ever had."
When all else fails, blame the trainer
Oct. 16, 5:02 p.m. ET
In case you missed the small type the other day, the Chicago Cubs fired third-base coach Wendell Kim. They also dismissed their two trainers, head man Dave Groeschner and assistant Sandy Krum. Cubs manager Dusty Baker brought Groeschner over from San Francisco -- where he was an assistant trainer -- but Groeschner reportedly never meshed with Kerry Wood and Mark Prior (which means his expiration date was coming up sooner rather than later, anyway).
Oh, the New York Mets also fired their trainer, Scott Lawrenson (in addition to infield coach Matt Galante and first base and outfield coach Gary Pettis).
Let's also assume, after blaming the trainers, both the Mets and Cubs soon will move on to the next step of their winters: Acquiring some better players.
Schilling's status still unknown
Oct. 16, 4:20 p.m. ET
The Curt Schilling drama continues to hang over this American League Championship Series -- and apparently will continue to do so for the next few days.
Schilling seems to have come through his Friday bullpen session without any serious setbacks. The Red Sox could not be happier about that, given how pessimistic they were a few days ago.
"I think he's having the usual after-throwing soreness, nothing more but not much less," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "Probably what I said (Friday) still stands. We have not closed the door on his season, but thats about where we're at."
Francona tries to yuk it up
Oct. 15, 10:45 p.m. ET
For a manager who hasn't accomplished a whole lot yet, Terry Francona walks a fine line between smart aleck and comedian. At a press conference following the announcement Game 3 would be postponed because of rain Friday night, somebody asked Francona why Pedro Martinez wouldn't pitch Monday in Game 5 on normal rest instead of Game 6 Tuesday -- if it's necessary in New York -- when he originally was scheduled.
"Game 5? I don't want to," Francona replied.
Okee-dokee.
"I don't want to do that, whether you want me to or not," Francona continued.
Later in the session, when the possibility of Curt Schilling returning to the mound was being discussed, given the rainy night, Francona was asked if Schilling's ankle would be up to a wet field.
"We will ask them not to bunt if it's wet," Francona said. "I'm fairly confident that they would adhere to that."
The first exchange regarding Martinez was the borderline smart aleck part, the second exchange about Schilling was funny enough.
Still difficult to get a good read on the man. But I have a feeling we'll know a whole lot more about him by the time this series is finished.
Weather could put a damper on night
Oct. 15, 4:42 p.m. ET
Welcome to gloomy Fenway Park, and we're not just referring to the Red Sox's 0-2 predicament.
Torrential rains are forecast for this evening, leaving a sense of trepidation regarding whether Game 3 will even get off the ground tonight. The commissioner's office said a decision on the game's status will be made between 7:30-8 p.m. ET.
It has been gray and overcast all day in Boston and, right now, low-slung clouds are obscuring building-tops in downtown Boston when viewed from the ballpark. It's not too cold -- 60 degrees or so -- but it is expected to get chillier as the evening progresses.
As for the rain, varying reports have the heavy stuff arriving anywhere from early evening to 10 p.m. or so. Once it hits, weathermen are saying the rain will hang around for several hours.
If tonight's game is postponed, the three games here will be played Saturday, Sunday and Monday -- weather permitting. And if it is postponed, it will be the second consecutive season an ALCS game in Boston was postponed because of rain.
Last year, after the well-known Saturday afternoon affair in which Pedro Martinez dumped Don Zimmer during a bench-clearing incident and in which the brawl erupted in New York's right-field bullpen, the rains came and gave everybody a cooling-off day Sunday.
Water was everywhere that day, including in the press room, when Zimmer apologized and started bawling for his behavior from the day before.
No telling whether there will be that much drama tonight. Hopefully, predicting what time the rain cells will descend upon the Fens won't be the only drama of the evening.
Steaking out Boston
Oct. 15, 12:45 a.m. ET
The American League Championship Series has moved north, and while I can't definitively tell you who is going to win Game 3 on Friday night, I can tell you where to go to get a terrific steak in Boston: To the Capital Grille on Newbury Street. Ordered the Delmonico cut, medium, and it was the best steak I've had in a long time. Perfectly seared on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. The mashed potatoes and the spinach salad with warm bacon dressing were marvelous as well.
And if you don't trust me, I've got a few others who can vouch for the place: As Game 2 of the National League Championship Series was playing out on a television in the bar, New York Yankees manager Joe Torre arrived for dinner with a small group, as did pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre and Yankees publicity director Rick Cerrone and his wife.
So if the Yankees continue on their current path, you soon will be able to say the restaurant serves the meals of champions.
Furcal learns lesson the hard way
Oct. 15, 12:32 a.m. ET
Things don't look particularly good right now for either Boston or Houston in the League Championship Series, but say this for the Red Sox and Astros: To the best of our knowledge, none of them is going to meet the fate of Atlanta shortstop Rafael Furcal.
Getting eliminated from the playoffs is rough enough. But when you've got a 21-day jail term waiting for you as soon as the offseason arrives, ouch. Furcal, deservedly so, will spend some time behind bars after getting a second DUI.
Here's hoping the supremely talented infielder can spend his winter gaining control of his life outside the lines. Because at a time when Ken Caminiti lost his life to a drug overdose, we don't need to add to the roll call of those who are endangering themselves because of substance abuse problems.
Quantity over quality
Oct. 12, 10:38 p.m. ET
Alas, how quickly things disappear: Less than eight minutes after Mike Mussina lost his bid for a perfect game in the seventh, reliever Tanyon Sturtze was clobbered for a two-run home run by Boston's Jason Varitek, bringing the Red Sox to within 8-5.
And Mussina doesn't even get a quality start out of the evening.
Red Sox end 'Moose' hunt
Oct. 12, 10:29 p.m. ET
The Yankee Stadium crowd of 56,135 came for the kill Tuesday night for Game 1, and they nearly got more than they bargained for with Mike Mussina's near-perfect first seven innings.
Mussina retired the first 19 Red Sox in a row before Mark Bellhorn finally drove an 0-2, one-out fastball off the base of the right-field wall for a double. Sensing history, the raucous crowd was into Mussina's bid for a perfect game from the fifth inning on, and became particularly loud by the sixth. The atmosphere was intense, with the fans rising as one with each two-strike count, and roaring with applause with each out.
They gave Mussina an extended ovation, complete with drawn-out "Mooooose" calls, when Bellhorn's double finally snapped everybody back to reality.
Leading 6-0 at the time, Mussina lost it at light speed. Beginning two batters after Bellhorn's double. Mussina allowed a single, double, another single and three runs, allowing the Red Sox back into the game.
The "Moooose" calls came loud during a standing ovation when Joe Torre called for a reliever at that point, his bid at history failed.
'Hair'-y situation at Fenway
Oct. 12, 10:05 p.m. ET
Make way for the latest rock-and-roll reunion:
The Boston Red Sox not only have arranged to bring the Cowsills back together to sing the national anthem before Game 4 in Fenway Park on Saturday but, yep, you guessed it ... the plan is for them then to seque right into their hit Hair from the hit Broadway musical.
No word on whether Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, Bronson Arroyo and others will be out to dance to the music -- and model their strange, festive 'dos.
The Cowsills are from Rhode Island and were described by a Red Sox spokesman as thrilled with the request. Better yet, Sox vice-president Dr. Charles Steinberg said the club had them sing before signing them on. Remember, it was Tom Werner, a member of Boston's ownership group, whose fingerprints were all over the Roseanne Barr national anthem fiasco in San Diego in 1990.
The reunion tour isn't expected to go much beyond Fenway Park but, hey, you never know. Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline remains a Fenway Park staple. Maybe there's room for another niche group in the Fens.
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