Well, the Red Sox were kind enough to give Dan Shaughnessy another chapter for his next “Curse of the
Bambino” book. The A’s had the Sox exactly where they wanted them – ahead with two outs in the bottom
of the ninth inning. The only surprising thing was that the A’s tied the game with two outs and one
strike, not two. In the bottom of the 12th, the Athletics won the game on a two-out, bunt single by the catcher.
Only the Red Sox.
Here are a few more observations:
- It says a lot about the Sox bullpen that Grady Little felt the need to use his Game 3
starter in the 11th inning of Game 1 despite having one reliever already in the game and four
others still available.
- It says even more that Grady felt compelled to remove his “closer” with two outs in the ninth
when he hadn’t given up a run. Alan Embree gave up the game-tying hit, but the fault lies with “Korean Calvin
Schiraldi” who walked the #8 batter then hit the #9 batter.
- Manny Ramirez is now 0-for-9 with one walk and no sacrifice flies this season with the bases
loaded. No wonder Manny had only 104 RBI’s despite batting cleanup on a team that set the major
league record for slugging percentage.
- The home plate umpire was very consistent in Game 1. He consistently screwed the Red Sox
in the first nine innings, then consistently screwed the A’s throughout extra innings.
- The “Third Knuckleheaded Ex-Jock in the Booth” Award goes to David Justice for suggesting
that the Red Sox should pinch-hit for Todd Walker who was already 3-for-3 with a homer. Walker
promptly blasted a two-run homer to right field.
- Some members of the media actually think Grady is obligated to start Pedro in Game 4 if the
Sox are trailing in the series. This came up in 1998 as well. Their argument is that you
cannot get to a Game 5 if you don’t win Game 4. This is very dumb logic. In either case,
you need to win two games. Pedro is going to pitch one of them. He has a much better chance
to win on four days rest than three and your odds of winning Game 5 with Tim Wakefield cannot
be that much better than your odds with John Burkett in Game 4. The A’s are smart to start
Tim Hudson in Game 4, not because it matters whether your best guy pitches in Game 4 or Game
5, but because they would rather have Zito pitch twice than use Zito once and Harden once.
It is your #2 and #4 starters that impact this decision, not your #1 guy.
- The Sox not only lost Game 1, but the manner in which they lost hindered their chances of
winning in Game 2, 3 and 4 as well. Game 2 becomes a problem because the jet-lagged Sox will
have to play just 13 hours after a devastating loss that ended at 3am East Coast time. Game
3 is jeopardized because Derek Lowe had to pitch in extra innings and will clearly not be as
rested for his start on Saturday. In Game 4 (or 5), Pedro Martinez will probably not be at
his best after throwing a season-high 130 pitches in Game 1. I think Grady needs to allow John
Burkett to start Game 3 which will allow Derek Lowe to pitch Game 4 with an extra day of rest
then Pedro can pitch Game 5 on a full four days rest.
- Both the Red Sox fans in Oakland and the Cubs fans in Atlanta made their presence felt.
I guess it helps when the home team can’t even sellout their ballpark for playoff games.
- The Sox loss to the A's in Game 1 makes them 0-10 in one-run playoff games since the sixth game of
the 1986 World Series. In Boston’s five playoff wins since 1998, they have won by an average of
9.2 runs. The Red Sox have outscored their opponents by 14 runs in their last 15 playoff
games. They are 5-10 over that time.
More Random Notes
Let me see if I have this straight: In college football, Washington State walloped Oregon, Oregon
easily took care of Michigan and Michigan pounded Notre Dame. Yet Notre Dame beat Washington State.
You've got to love the unpredictability of college football.
The 2003 Patriots were starting to remind me of the 1989 Patriots. That season, the Pats lost
three key defensive starters – Andre Tippett, Ronnie Lippett and Garin Veris – to season-ending
injuries in the final game of the preseason. The Pats nearly reached the playoffs in 1988, but
fell to 5-11 in 1989.
During the off-season, Theo Epstein not only needs to sign Nomar Garciaparra to a long-term
contract, but he should also sign Nomar and Mia Hamm’s first born son. Their kids have a chance
to be freakishly athletic.
Speaking of Mia Hamm, I have a few comments about the return of Women’s World Cup Soccer:
- I noticed that a woman is now coaching Team USA. What happened to Freddie Mercury?
- Some argue that women’s sports are not on par with men’s sports. Where soccer is concerned,
I totally disagree. Women’s soccer is every bit as dull as the men’s game.
- I was so disappointed to hear that golden girl Brandi Chastain is injured and may not play in the
World Cup. I imagine that this will significantly reduce the number of male viewers who were
anxiously awaiting a second installment of Girls Gone Wild: Soccer Style.
The Raiders need to trade for the Cowboys Darren Woodson. That would give them a secondary that
includes Rod Woodson, Charles Woodson and Darren Woodson.
There is one mistake that college and pro football coaches make repeatedly. If your team is
down by 15 points early in the fourth quarter, you know that you need two touchdowns and one
two-point conversion to tie the game. The problem is that nearly all coaches will kick the
extra point to cut the lead to eight points after their first touchdown instead of going for
two after the first TD. In either case, if you score two touchdowns and make one two-point conversion you tie the game.
But what if your two-point conversion fails? If the two-point conversion failure happens after
the second TD, it is probably too late to get another score (unless the desperate onside kick is
successful). If the failure happens after the first TD, you will know that you need two scores
and will have time to plan accordingly. I’m not sure why coaches don’t employ this strategy.
If you had Rush Limbaugh and five weeks … YOU LOST.
