Yanks' mound meetings slow Series, give MLB pause
PHILADELPHIA --- All those meetings on the mound called by catcher Jorge Posada and the New York Yankees are giving Major League Baseball pause, too.
Posada and pals visited pitcher CC Sabathia eight times -- in a single inning -- on Sunday night, grinding Game 4 of the World Series to a standstill. Agitated Phillies fans booed each trip.
MLB vice president of umpiring Mike Port said frequent mound meetings by all teams likely would be discussed by baseball officials this offseason.
"It would fall under the province of pace of game," Port said before the Yankees beat Philadelphia 7-4 to take a 3-1 Series lead.
Baseball has tried speed-up rules and guidelines in recent years, with varying results. Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon was fined a few times this season and even had a ball called on him for taking too long to pitch. Hitters are encouraged to stay in the batter's box.
One trip to the mound is allowed per inning -- by a manager or coach -- before a pitcher must be pulled. There is no limit, however, on players-only meetings.
The Yankees held six in the first inning of Game 4. Then came eight more -- four alone with Jayson Werth hitting -- in the fifth. Damaso Marte relieved Sabathia in the seventh. After two pitches, Posada made the 60-foot, 6-inch trudge yet again.
Sabathia wound up striking out Werth with two runners on. Perhaps the Phillies could have used a meeting to figure out who covers third base if Johnny Damon steals second against an overshifted infield.
"It's just part of the game," Posada said. "We want to talk with each other so we know what we're doing."
Plate umpire Brian Gorman clapped his hands while Posada and Andy Pettitte met in Game 3, trying to hurry them along. The PA system at Citizens Bank Park played "Fly Like an Eagle" by the Steve Miller Band -- the song starts out "Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future" -- when Posada and Sabathia talked.
The World Series opener lasted 3 hours, 27 minutes. The next three games all took exactly 3:25.
Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett and personal catcher Jose Molina visited seven times during an inning in the AL championship series. New York pitching coach Dave Eiland made no apology.
"Every pitch is a big pitch this time of year. Seriously. You want to make sure everything's covered," Eiland said Sunday night.
As for making a rule limiting catchers' trips to the mound, Eiland scoffed.
"No, don't take three minutes between innings. You know how many times a pitcher is standing on the mound waiting for the umpire's call to throw the first pitch?" he said.
"You can't take away the beauty of the game," Eiland said. "I know fans get upset and I know Major League Baseball may get upset with that. But that's part of the game. There's no rules against it, and I don't see any rules changing for that. That would be ridiculous."
Sabathia had no problem with the confabs, either.
"We were just trying to make sure we were on the right page, getting the pitches right, whatever it takes. There's really no time limit on the game," he said.
The Yankees' mound visits throughout the postseason can serve another purpose. In a sport that's not supposed to have timeouts, it can help slow opposing hitters.
"Sometimes it's a momentum-breaker," Eiland said. "If we feel like they have the momentum we kind of want to take a little momentum timeout and stop it and regroup, and I want to make sure the pitcher's mind is right. So a lot of things go into it."
Added Yankees manager Joe Girardi: "There's a lot of situations."
"Sometimes it's easier to go talk about what you want to do as opposed to putting down signs and then keep shaking," he said before Game 5 Monday night.
Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino dismissed speculation that the Yankees held so many meetings because Philadelphia was swiping their signals.
"Obviously," he said, "if we're stealing signs we would be doing better than what we're doing right now."
Actor Robert Wuhl found it all amusing.
Wuhl portrayed coach Larry Hockett in the movie "Bull Durham" and made a much-quoted trip to the mound when the guys got stuck on what to get a teammate and his bride for their wedding. "Candlesticks always make a nice gift, and maybe you could find out where she's registered ... maybe a place setting, or a silverware pattern. OK? Let's get two," Hockett said.
Wuhl was behind the backstop watching the Yankees take batting practice before Game 5. He'd also noticed New York's many meetings.
"Here's what I don't get in baseball," Wuhl said. "You have a Korean pitcher, a Dominican catcher, a first baseman from French Canada and a third baseman from Mississippi, and they can't understand each other already. Then they cover their mouths with their gloves. Then the catcher puts down one finger for fastball. What was that all about?"
(c) 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Yankees must find a way to beat slugger Howard
NEW YORK - The Brewers tried. The Dodgers tried. The Rays tried. The Rockies tried. The Dodgers tried again.
In this postseason and last, none of them could find a way to beat Ryan Howard and the Phillies.
Clint Hurdle was the last manager to figure it out -- with the Rockies in 2007 -- and he was fired earlier this year. Howard batted .250 in that series. His only extra-base hit was a solo home run. Colorado swept.
But the scouting report has changed since then. Howard has fewer weaknesses. His average is up. His strikeouts are down. Now, there is only so much a manager -- or a pitcher -- can do.
"More complete and more mature," Hurdle said Tuesday in a telephone interview. "That's a tough combination. And he's earned it through fire. There's a lot he expects from himself, and he's shown up and produced.
"There are a handful of guys in both leagues who can carry clubs in October. And he's one of them."
At last, the same description applies to the other cleanup hitter in this World Series: Alex Rodriguez, who has gone through his own maturation this year at the age of 34.
A-Rod said Tuesday that the Phillies and Yankees "mirror each other," but the same words apply to the comparisons between Howard and himself.
The left-handed slugger and the right-handed slugger. The former National League MVP and the former American League MVP.
The man who reached 200 home runs faster than any other player, and the man who was the youngest to reach 500.
The big bat in the offense that scored the most runs in the National League, and the big bat in the offense that scored the most runs in the American League.
The guy who tied Lou Gehrig's record earlier this month by recording an RBI in eight straight postseason games, and the other guy who tied Lou Gehrig's record earlier this month by recording an RBI in eight straight postseason games.
Then there is the major difference between the two: Howard won a world championship last year, at the end of his third full season in the majors. But Rodriguez, with more than 15 years of service, will make his World Series debut in Game 1 on Wednesday night.
The storyline is both very obvious and very important. The team that sprays champagne after the final game may well be the one whose cleanup hitter had the better series.
Hurdle believes Rodriguez will outperform Howard over the next nine days, chiefly because Howard must face tough left-handed starters CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte. I agree. Howard doesn't have a good career average (.167) against right-hander A.J. Burnett, either.
But there is danger in relying too much on past numbers as a predictor of performance. More than anyone else involved in this postseason, Rodriguez knows all about that.
Entering this year, Rodriguez had a .148 batting average and only three RBIs in his last 17 postseason games. Now, he's the toast of New York. He's hitting .438. He's slugging .969. He had more home runs (five) and RBIs (12) than any other player in the AL playoffs.
After hitting "rock bottom" (his words) in spring training -- with the steroid admission and hip surgery -- Rodriguez said he has found "another way."
"I've definitely rediscovered the joy of playing baseball again," Rodriguez said.
So much so, in fact, that only one player has driven in more runs than Rodriguez this postseason. Howard, of course. He has 14.
That's not surprising. Howard won the National League RBI title in three of the past four seasons -- including this year, with 141. And he's shown that he can perform in October, with a .319 batting average and 22 RBIs in his last four postseason series.
Howard can cover both sides of the plate better than most sluggers -- a major reason why he batted .279 this season, up from .251 last year. When asked how he's able to hit pitches across such a wide area, Howard replied, "Maybe having long arms?" Whatever the reason, the holes in his swing are small and scarce.
Rodriguez has noticed.
"His improvement the last three years has been phenomenal," A-Rod said. "I don't remember seeing one player improve so much over time.
"I see him in very limited action because he's in the National League, but I think he's no longer the slugger Ryan Howard. Now, he's the great hitter with the great power, which is pretty scary for all of us."
The two superstars haven't yet developed a friendship, largely because they play in different leagues. But Howard expressed gratitude when told of Rodriguez's remarks, saying he has studied A-Rod in the past.
"Our approaches this postseason, as opposed previous postseasons, are a lot better," Howard said, when asked what he shares in common with Rodriguez. "Both of us are more patient, more relaxed. I'm out there having fun. It looks like that's what he's doing, as well."
I suppose it's easy to relax when you hit in the American League's best lineup -- or a lineup that many believe belongs in the American League. But their common success has more to do with sheer talent.
Even when a pitch is on the outside corner, even when a pitch is low in the strike zone, Rodriguez and Howard have the power and precision to send it over a faraway wall.
Think about Rodriguez's biggest home runs in this postseason -- the game-tying shots off Joe Nathan, Carl Pavano and Brian Fuentes. All of them went to right or right-center.
Howard did something similar with an outside pitch in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, smacking a loud, opposite-field home run at Dodger Stadium.
Why is Howard having such success now, two years after the Rockies kept him from becoming much of a factor in the postseason?
"We threw strike one a lot, and the left-handers we had really challenged him, hand-high and in," Hurdle explained. "We tried to put him away high and tight. But he's a very good hitter, and if you make a mistake, he can hit it."
One National League scout suggested that Howard and Rodriguez need to be jammed with inside pitches more often than they were in the first two rounds. A-Rod looks too comfortable at the plate, the scout said, and Howard has seen a number of pitches in his wheelhouse: up and out, where he can drive them to the middle of the field.
It all sounds so perfect, doesn't it? Pound them in, off the plate. But when it comes time to execute, the ball will be cold, the crowd will be on its feet and the tying run will be on second base.
There is a simple solution to all of this, and Phillies lefty J.A. Happ identified it on Tuesday afternoon. I asked what he would do in a hypothetical confrontation with Howard, his teammate, if the tying run was on base with the game on the line.
He smiled.
"Walk him," he said.
(c) 2009 Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kenji Johjima gives Mariners an early Christmas present
Good to be back in town after four days covering the Arizona Fall League. Thanks to Larry Stone for filling in yesterday when the news broke about Kenji Johjima and third base coach Bruce Hines.
A couple of quick things I wanted to address about both, since a couple of stories I'd written suggested things would transpire differently than how they did.
When I spoke to Alan Nero, Johjima's agent, back in September 2008, he confirmed to me that the "opt out" clause existed and would only take effect after the 2009 season. But Nero also went out of his way on several occasions during our conversation (he'd phoned me back from Japan at the time) to suggest the language in the contract stated that the opt-out clause could only be implemented in the event of something catastrophic happening to a member of Johjima's immediate family that would necessitate a move back to Japan. In other words, he added, Johjima could not use the opt-out clause to leave simply if he was unhappy here.
Obviously, that's not the case. Johjima has left and, last we checked, his family is doing well.
Nero yesterday suggested that the spirit of the opt-out clause may have been exactly that -- only in an emergency -- but that if a player wanted out, he'd eventually be allowed out.
I'll buy that. It would have been a better story a year ago if Nero had just come out and told me straight that the clause would allow Johjima to leave if he wanted.
But then again, do you honestly think Jack Zduriencik, or Howard Lincoln, or Chuck Armstrong was going to pick up the phone and say: "Sorry, Alan, the wording of the contract means your client has to stay here and let us pay him $16 million to be a backup catcher.''
I don't think so, either.
Now, it would be a different story had Johjima turned into Joe Mauer overnight and then tried to leave. The M's might have tried to fight that one.
But in this case, Johjima's departure amounts to an early Christmas gift handed the Mariners. Johjima saw the writing on the wall and did what he felt was the honorable thing. Not that he left $16 million on the table. He'll be paid nicely by whatever Japanese team he plays for and let's not rule out the possibility of some under-the-table golden handshake by M's owner Hiroshi Yamauchi. I have no proof of one, but then again, is anyone going to provide a straight answer if we ask?
Safe to say, Johjima has left some seven-figure amount on the table. So, this marks a favorable end for the Mariners to what represents an unfortunate chapter in their history. I'm not talking about Johjima himself. He blazed a pioneer trail for Japanese catchers in circumstances that were difficult from the start. No, the unfortunate part didn't happen until April 2008 when he was awarded the ridiculous contract extension that did little but fuel resentment of him in the clubhouse. An extension that apparently bypassed Bill Bavasi entirely and was handled at the upper levels of the club. It was a mistake that could have hamstrung the club for years but now, thanks to Johjima's decision, can mercifully be put to rest.
The team is now saying it will have to go out and get another catcher, but this is hardly a chore. Go check out the pricetag for a catcher with Johjima's numbers and defensive skillset and you'll find a ton of candidates earning far less than he would have been. There were few tears shed in the front office over this move, that much I can guarantee. In fact, from a baseball perspective, I doubt there were any.
On a personal side, I always found Johjima to have sense of humor and -- before everything went sour last year -- to be open, friendly and generally happy. I don't think he's been very happy since, which explains his decision to leave. After all, he says he's still at the peak of his career, which, if true, makes his reasons for leaving a little strange. Rob Johnson is coming off surgery. You'd think a guy at the peak of his career would want to stay and fight for that No. 1 job. A guy who was truly happy here would probably want to do just that. Anyhow, I'm not going to press it. He clearly has his reasons. Best of luck to Johjima in finishing off his career overseas. He played as hard as he could, battled back from injuries with a tough resolve and was ultimately not responsible for the team's owner throwing a boatload of money at him. Can't hold it against him for accepting. Any of us would have,
As for third base coach Hines, we wrote on the season's final weekend that all of the team's coaches would be rehired. I wrote that after speaking one-on-one with Don Wakamatsu, who told me it was his intention to re-hire everyone and make the announcement within a day or two of the season being over.
Obviously, that didn't happen. The Mariners waited two weeks and then fired Hines.
Today, Wakamatsu offered me an explanation for the discrepancy.
Wakamatsu told me that, when we spoke on the Thursday before the season ended, his intention at the time was to bring all of the coaches back. He'd had some doubts about Hines, but figured all of his reservations could be worked out by keeping the entire staff together and maybe changing some responsibilities around.
Once the season ended, though, Wakamatsu had more time to think. This often happens in baseball and -- freed from his daily responsibilities to the club -- Wakamatsu came to the difficult decision that he'd be best off letting Hines go. The decision was not easy or quick. Wakamatsu had already told Zduriencik in the season's final week that he planned on bringing all the coaches back and was getting pressed by the GM on that once the season ended and days began to tick by without an announcement.
So, that's it. Wakamatsu says this was purely a baseball decision. There is no dark skeleton lurking out there. No mysterious "other" reason Hines was let go. Wakamatsu simply planned to -- somewhat reluctantly -- do one thing in the season's final week, then changed his mind later on when given more time to think about it.
Hope that clears things up.
We try to get you accurate information as quickly as possible. And we rely heavily on what the principles tell us. When things do not go the way we tell you they will, we try to provide an explanation. Hope this does the trick.
(c) 2009 The Seattle Times Company.
Rocky slide into offseason for Colorado
DENVER --- While Troy Tulowitzki(notes) stared balefully at his bat barrel, and the crowd here worked up its lungs for the umpires' exit, and Jim Tracy dropped his head just slightly, Brad Lidge(notes) and Carlos Ruiz(notes) met in front of the mound for among the most awkward man hugs ever.
They'd pumped four sliders at Tulowitzki, just sliders, with two runners on base and two out and, wouldn't you know, another one-run lead for the Phillies.
The National League Championship Series and the Dodgers and real baseball weather waited out beyond the next pitch. Ruiz, whom everyone calls ''Chooch,'' had stood and gone to the mound after those four sliders, when the count was 2-and-2.
The man at second base, Rockies' imp Carlos Gonzalez(notes), had those four chances to decipher and relay Ruiz's sign for a slider. So Ruiz went to Lidge, the Phillies' wonky closer, to deliver more instructions.
''Throw me the best slider you got, right now,'' Chooch half-whispered.
Lidge, about to conclude his best 24 hours since going to his knees on the Citizens Bank Park infield last October, nodded.
Tulowitzki couldn't hold his swing. Coors Field went silent, except for the light groans from the stands and the whoops from all around Lidge and Chooch as they mangled their celebratory embrace. Some things you can't plan for. At least neither was injured.
The division series was done in four games, in the Phillies' 5-4 win here Monday night, in a two-out, three-run rally against Rockies closer Huston Street(notes) that would mirror Jonathan Papelbon's(notes) nightmare. The Phillies were an out away from returning to Philadelphia for Game 5, from rousting Cole Hamels(notes) from fatherhood for a few hours, from a return fight against Aaron Cook(notes), who’d beaten them in Game 2.
''Whatcha gonna do?'' Todd Helton(notes) said later.
The Rockies had scored three in the eighth inning, semi-heroically, breaking through against Cliff Lee(notes) and Ryan Madson(notes), getting destiny-seeking, regular-season authenticating hits from Jason Giambi(notes) and Yorvit Torrealba(notes). They'd gotten the ball to their closer with a two-run lead and a big crowd behind him and what could possibly go wrong there? They'd won those games since the moment Jim Tracy took the top step. Pack the bat bags, boys, we're goin' to Philly.
Except, they wouldn't. Except Jimmy Rollins(notes) reached first on an infield single. And, with two out and the count full, Chase Utley(notes) walked on a changeup that wasn't close. And Ryan Howard(notes) hit the right-field fence on a bounce to tie the score, and Jayson Werth(notes) hit this little flare into right-center field that started to remind everyone how long winter can be in these parts.
''Obviously,'' Street said, ''we had something special. We still have something special. I think that's what makes it hurt so much.''
He sighed and lifted his head.
''This is just massive disappointment,'' he said.
An hour later, Werth inhaled on one end of a short, thick cigar while Joe Blanton(notes) held a lighter to the other end. The humidity high in a clubhouse where bubbly dripped from the ceiling and sloshed to their ankles, Werth kept pulling, studying the dying ember, pulling again.
He was asked about winning another, going back-to-back, surviving this and getting after that.
''That's old stuff,'' he said. ''That's from last year. I'm not trying to repeat. I'm trying to win. And, light my cigar. All at the same time.''
He burst into laughter and, sure enough, from somewhere near dead that cigar went orange and spit a great gray plume. Life, again.
Maybe he's not lashing last season to this one, but it seems everyone else is trying to do it again, to do another almost for the sake of the first. Not to validate it, of course, but to give it just a touch more depth.
Standing in a puddle, Rollins was asked if he knew that the last NL team to repeat was in ...
''Nineteen-seventy-six?'' he interrupted. ''Since the Big Red Machine?''
Right.
''I hope you call us the Little Red Machine,'' he said.
They would be weeks from that. There is the return engagement with the Dodgers, beginning Thursday in Los Angeles, then whatever comes from that.
What they've already shown in a 93-win regular season and against a very game Rockies team -- Ubaldo Jimenez(notes) threw 30 pitches in the first inning Monday, and finished the seventh with 126 -- is that one title might not be enough for them. After running a parade down Broad Street, sating years of wailing in a city that doesn't suffer for losers, the Phillies returned with perhaps an even greater spirit. They'd won in spite of funky years out of Rollins and Lidge and Hamels. They'd come here and swept two games in the din and cold. They read about the Yankees and the Red Sox and the resurgent Dodgers and what the Angels just did and all that pitching in St. Louis and the momentum of the Rockies, and yet they just reached the semifinals again.
''Well, that's good,'' Rollins said. ''That's fine. We don't care about that. Going to the World Series last year, everybody counted on Tampa running through us.''
The rest still out there? The Dodgers ahead?
''We're not afraid of them,'' he said. ''We're not afraid of anybody. We're looking forward to that challenge. It's going to be another one of those epic series, I guarantee you.''
Meantime, they'll be practicing their hugs.
(c) 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Yankees cannot afford to lose to Twins
NEW YORK -- The mighty Yankees, who've won more games than any team in baseball this year, with their $202 million payroll, all their swagger and the best lineup money can buy, are in a precarious situation. They cannot afford to lose to the gasping Minnesota Twins.
The Twins, after finally winning the American League Central Division on Tuesday with their stunning 12-inning AL tiebreaker victory over Detroit, will be riding on fumes when they arrive at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night for their AL Division Series opener.
The Twins, who tore from behind to overtake the Tigers, had to play 163 games to nab a trip to the playoffs and you have to wonder what they have left. Especially against the well-rested, confident Yankees.
On the other hand, they could be riding the crest of momentum and aren't even aware they've spent so much emotional energy.
A loss to the Twins in the first round, or even to say Boston in the AL Championship Series, would be a major pinstriped disaster.
I'm not saying the Yankees have to win their first World Series since 2000, but they certainly have to get there for 2009 to be a success.
Wouldn't a World Series against Joe Torre and his Los Angeles Dodgers be spectacular? After all, the two teams have played in the Series 11 times. And it was Torre, of course, who left the Yankees on a sour note after the 2007 season, who last took them to the World Series.
All those dreams would become just that -- dreams -- if the Yankees stumble in either the first or second round.
Losing to Boston in the ALCS would be tragic to Yankees fans. Yet it was the Red Sox who won the first eight games this season, then the Yankees won nine of the last 10, with four shutouts and two lopsided scores in the mix.
Should they face the Los Angeles Angels in the ALCS, I'd cut the Yankees some slack. The Angels are on an emotional high inspired by the memory of pitcher Nick Adenhart, who was killed in a spring auto accident.
Don't forget, the Yankees didn't even get to the postseason last October and in each of the three seasons before that, they didn't make it past the Division Series. In fact, in 2007 and 2006, while losing to Cleveland and Detroit, they won just one game in each of the best-of-five series.
It's been a glorious, victory-filled season in the $1.5 billion House that George Built. The stadium was never more beautiful than on Tuesday as the Yankees went through a workout under a bright sun.
Manager Joe Girardi says this is a lot different Yankees team than the one which was ousted in three consecutive Division Series.
That said, he believes there's enormous determination to make amends and shrugs off the added pressure angle.
"I sense there was a determination after last year, when we didn't make the playoffs," said Girardi, whose first season at the helm was 2008. "You don't play this game and put all that hard work in just to make the playoffs.
"There's a goal that was set when we went to work last winter. So, I think our guys are very determined. We have some guys who've been here for a lot of championships and some guys who have playoff experience. Everyone wants another championship."
The Yankees won all seven games against the Twins, including a three-game sweep July 7-9 at the Metrodome, the last time the two teams met. Ten days later, the Yankees began an eight-game winning streak to take over first place in the East Division for good.
Derek Jeter, the Yankees captain and shortstop, says in the early years when they were winning four out of five World Series (1996-2000) under Torre, "you don't ever take those things for granted. I know -- everyone knows -- how difficult it was. We made it look easy."
The pressure?
"I don't really know how you can put more pressure on a team that is expected to win every year," he said. "We're supposed to win. I don't know if you're supposed to win more because you're playing good at the end of the year."
Reliever Mariano Rivera, who saved 44 games with a 1.76 ERA, says making amends for the years the Yankees failed to make it past the first round is not on his mind.
"I don't play like that," he said. "What happened, happened. We just have to go about our business. We have to do our jobs. We're expected to win; we always are. This is a brand new game starting tomorrow."
He's most interested in how the younger players -- those who haven't been in the playoff wars -- prepare.
"I don't want to try and fix something that isn't broke, but I like to watch how they do their work," he said. "We need to get back to the World Series and it would wonderful to play Joe [Torre]."
Mark Teixeira's take is different: "It doesn't really matter to us what happened last year, 10 years ago or a hundred years ago because we have to take care of our own business.
"You put pressure on yourself all year long. You want to succeed. You don't want to go out there and play poorly. I think over 162 games, we showed that we can handle any kind of pressure. In the playoffs, if you try harder, you're not going to play better. This isn't football or some Olympic sport where you have to try your hardest to reach the end line. Baseball, you have to play calm and under control -- and play your game. That's what we're going to do."
After falling short last year, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman did a superb job of improving the team even though the additions of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Teixiera cost more than $400 million.
When you're the Yankees, knee deep in money, obtaining the best players is much easier.
That brings us to their current predicament that unfolds beginning Wednesday night.
Maybe it's not a predicament, but it's a position no matter how you assess it. The Yankees, who won 103 games, cannot afford to lose.
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Sox are in, but what a confusing bunch
BOSTON --- The 2009 Boston Red Sox have confounded me repeatedly during the past six months, and they confounded me again Tuesday night.
Sure, if you're going to get into the postseason on baseball's version of an emergency parachute, style points aren't exactly all that important. After all, all they needed was a Texas loss -- one they got on Tuesday night, courtesy of the soon-to-be-hated Anaheim Angels.
Good thing someone wanted to help, because the Sox certainly aren't showing much sense of urgency these days. Maybe they're surprised to be here.
Following their 0-6 death march through Tampa and the Bronx in early August, I wasn't the only person to begin penning their death certificate.
Yet from that point to Friday's return to the Bronx, they were the best team in baseball. The magic number to clinch the wild card was three that morning. It took a Texas loss on Sunday to drop it to two, and another on Monday to give Clay Buchholz a shot at the finishing blow.
I made the drive north on Tuesday afternoon thinking it was a fitting end, and not simply because Buchholz has arguably been Boston's best pitcher since August started. (The Sox had won in Buchholz's last eight starts, and the two before that were games C.C. Sabathia and Justin Verlander barely outdueled him.) Tuesday would be a mile marker for Buchholz, not unlike Jon Lester winning the championship clincher in Colorado two years ago. That Lester threw 5.2 shutout innings that night wasn't really the point. He was back, and he hasn't much looked back.
Seeing Buchholz tear through the last seven weeks, the feeling was similar. At least it was until 7:11 p.m., when his game-opening fastball three-hopped a Dumpster behind the Lansdowne Street parking garage.
Again, the specifics aren't really the point, though I'd be denying who I am to not mention that Toronto's five homers in five innings were one more than the four Buchholz had surrendered in the 10 starts (and 64 2/3 innings) before Tuesday.
The point was that he disappeared.
These Red Sox seem to have a bit of a knack for doing that.
David Ortiz is on the cusp of a 30-homer season despite not hitting any in the first six weeks of the season. Jason Bay could take a 120-RBI season into this big-money winter despite hitting below .200 in July, when he knocked in just five.
Jon Lester had a 5.65 ERA on June 1, and has a 2.46 ERA since. Josh Beckett had a 7.22 ERA in April, a 2.17 ERA in his next 18 starts, and a 5.90 ERA since.
Jonathan Papelbon, after we'd accepted his new persona as a cardiac closer who got the job done with frightening consistency, flipped the switch back in mid-August. After Tuesday's ninth inning, he hasn't walked a hitter in 51 plate appearances, with a batting average against of barely .200.
And yet. as of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, they still hadn't finished the job.
It goes without saying that these exploits take a tremendous amount of skill. Another 90-win season, another year of October baseball, another shot at an Angels team well adept at shooting itself in the foot "» all things worth celebrating.
But these Red Sox shouldn't be anybody's favorite in the American League.
Heck, they might not be the favorite in the Division Series.
Never should Sox fans be so glad baseball's playoffs are designed to make that point largely irrelevant. Sure, there's something cheap about a Yankee team that's been head and shoulders better than anyone else since Alex Rodriguez returned being a week away from a failed year.
You don't care, and neither does baseball. Since the advent of the wild card, only twice has the team that finished with the best regular season record won the World Series -- the 1998 Yankees and the 2007 Red Sox. And that old chestnut about finishing the season hot?
In the past 25 years, there've been three world champions who had the best record in their league in September. Same number of world champions who were under .500 in their last month of the regular season.
Boston won't be either extreme, but they will be there to make the chase.
As the team taking Bud Selig's lifeline for a record seventh time, there'll be no cries in Boston to shape the system into one where the wild card is at a true disadvantage.
These are the rules. Who can fault these Red Sox for having no interest in doing much more than they require?
(c) 1995-2009 South Coast Media Group. All Rights Reserved.
Cardinals, Dodgers close in on clinchers
Division leaders can secure playoffs with help from others
Two teams have a chance to punch their tickets for the postseason on Wednesday, and both have big-game right-handers on the mound ready to do their jobs. But they'll need some help from other teams if they're going to be bathing in champagne tonight.
The St. Louis Cardinals are cruising in the National League Central, and their 11-2 rout of the Astros in Houston on Tuesday dropped their magic number to two. That means if the Cardinals beat Houston again on Wednesday and the Chicago Cubs lose in Milwaukee, St. Louis will seal its fourth division title in six years and eighth postseason appearance in 14 seasons under manager Tony La Russa.
"Hopefully it happens [on Wednesday]," Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina said. "But we can't think that way. We have to come out here with a lot of respect for the Astros and try to win the game. If it happens, we celebrate. If it doesn't happen, we'll get 'em Friday in Colorado."
The Cardinals will have veteran righty John Smoltz on the hill in a situation he's familiar with, having pitched in multiple Octobers throughout his illustrious career in the 1990s heyday of the Atlanta Braves. But St. Louis might play Wednesday without slugger Ryan Ludwick, who has been slumping and got the night off Tuesday.
"Give him a day to get away from it and do some work," La Russa said. "Plus you get the other thing: you don't have to choose between the two left-handers [Colby Rasmus and Rick Ankiel]. They both get to play. A lot of benefits."
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers need a win at Washington on Wednesday plus losses by the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves to clinch their third postseason appearance in the past four years.
They'll give the ball to Chad Billingsley, who's looking to rebound from a rough patch of his own and get the Dodgers on the right track for what they hope will be an October surge that will take them beyond the NL Championship Series, in which they fell last year to the eventual World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies.
"Every day I try to go out there and figure something out, keep battling," Billingsley said. "I'm trying to get my work in between starts, throwing bullpens, but you can do as much work as you want between starts, but when you're out there, that's what it all comes down to."
It could all come down to Wednesday for the Dodgers, and while they're not interested in celebrating early, they say they're ready to start preparing for the ultimate challenge.
"We can't expect anybody to do anything for us; we've got to go out there and do this ourselves," manager Joe Torre said. "There are a lot of managers in the Major Leagues that would love to control their own destiny -- it's a nice situation for us."
"Our goal is to win the division," starter Randy Wolf added. "If we keep on winning each series, it will take care of itself and we'll see ourselves in October. ... We want to get there but I think we have bigger goals in mind."
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