|
2004
ALCS Roundtable – Game 6
October
20, 2004
GROUP
DISCUSSION
 Stephan
Finch: Jeezem crow. We witnessed history tonight.
First, I gotta say congratulations to Mike Webb. Mike
was actually at the game. Man, I know he woulda
much preferred to see it go the other way, but what an
amazing experience. His grandkids will see this one on
ESPN classic and he'll be able to tell 'em he was there.
Now, who the hell said the Sox have no soul?
I'm not going to waste
our time with a pitch-by-pitch breakdown of the game.
Instead I will point out, with some pride, that Terry
Francona's chaw was a lot smaller than it was the last
two games. There's clearly some validity to my hypothesis
of an inverse relationship between the Francona chaw and
the Red Sox players' confidence. And as we all know in
baseball, confidence is what wins games. Thus, if my theory
holds, a lot will be riding on the chaw tomorrow. If the
Sox go into the ninth with the game in reach and the Francona
chaw is larger than, say, a golf ball, I wouldn't count
on them going to the World Series. But if the chaw is
relatively small... get ready to spill some bubbly.
Mike Webb: Just got back
from the game and Stephan is right – it was a GREAT
game. The best part was how much fun I had simply watching
the game, debating situations with Yankee fans, calling
Mike Walls and Greg Joseph for clarification about the
"homerun" and A-rod slap/out at first base,
and the few moments of good will I shared with a few Sox
fans.
These games have been agonizing and I really don't know
if I'll be able to watch the entire game later tonight.
But I think we've all gotten more than we bargained for
and hopefully the loser will be able to graciously acknowledge
the hell given to them by the other team.
But before I say uncle, a couple of things:
I don't think Schilling is as hurt as he was made out
to be. If I remember correctly, over the weekend the announcers
were talking about what a great bullpen session Schilling
had. And his performance in game 1 was probably affected
by the shot he got that left him unable to feel his ankle
and probably threw off his feel. I'm not saying he's not
hurt, but the brave player who unselfishly soldiers on
is always a good story.
I was visualizing Sierra and Clark hitting a homerun in
the 9th. Unfortunately, no matter how hard you dream it,
it doesn't necessarily come true. But I think the bad
news for the Sox is that Foulke has got to be worn out.
He didn't really pitch that well last night, and if it
comes down to him again in game 7, I'll be visualizing
a smile on my face when he takes the mound.
The fans were horrendous after the A-rod call last night.
That kind of behavior is inexcusable. There were lots
of people screaming at the idiots who were throwing things
(me included), so you can't blame everyone for the behavior
of a few. However the good fan/bad fan debate that has
come up here is a non-issue to me. I think the best qualities
in a fan are people who support their team win or lose
and who follow the game closely enough to know what's
happening and why it might be happening. I'm not perfect
and I've been an asshole fan and I've been a dedicated
fan. But I'm fairly certain Red Sox fans are no better
than Yanks fans and vice versa.
The run coming off the board on the A-rod play was a killer.
Talk about taking the wind out of your sails. That deflated
the crowd and certainly doomed this game.
Schilling did manage to shut the Yankee fans up for a
while there between the 4th and 7th innings. It reminded
me of last year's game 7 where the fans were totally out
of it, but eventually latched onto a kernel of hope that
popped them out of their mid-game slumber. Can fans really
will their team to victory? And if so, why doesn't the
home team always win?
On the way home I have to admit I got a kick out of the
Sux fans moment of glory. Some were gloating and some
were just giddy. And it made me realize it won't be the
worst thing the in world if the unthinkable happened.
(Am I totally softening and sucking up? What the hell
is wrong with me?)
But lastly – Pedro doesn't pitch well on short rest.
The Yanks seem to have Derek Lowe's number. And Arroyo
isn't that good is he? Unfortunately, the middle relievers
should be ready to give the Yanks more hell, but the temptation
to play the match up game and using starters instead of
regular relievers will be too much for poor Francona to
resist. Yanks in seven.
Michael Spinney: Just
a couple things since I'm wiped out after three late nights
in a row. First, these ain't the Yankees I grew up hating. Joe
Torre, once again, proved himself to be all class. In
spite of the reversed calls, the guy gave credit where
credit was due and didn't use those events as an excuse. First
of all, he couldn't since it was clear to everyone that
the umps - finally - made the right calls. But
right or wrong aside, too many managers would have looked
for something to blame, would have tried to dump responsibility
elsewhere. Torre continues to demonstrate why,
win or lose, he is one of the game's best.
Second, was I the only one thinking that, if this crew
had been on the field in 1999, this whole "curse"
nonsense might be a long forgotten thing? In
'99, any Sox fan will remember the blown calls, not reversed,
that changed the momentum of that series. Perhaps
because of the gravity of those errors of judgment we
now have officiating crews that are encouraged to confer
and get it right, but it was a painful thing to have endured
at the time.
Hopefully I'll have enough gas in the tank tonight to
watch the finale.
Brendon McCullin: Inconceivable!
That's what I kept coming up with. I mean, "never
in the history of baseball"? How often do you
get to hear that tossed around? You don't have to
worry about grandkids... these games will be on ESPN Classic
as soon as Fox allows it.
Who would've thought after Game 3 that this series would
end up rivaling last year's for intensity and excitement?
And thanks to last night this year even got it's own dose
of goofiness. It's become its own prime time soap
opera that you have to keep watching so that you don't
miss anything and you honestly don't know what's coming
next.
Schilling's performance wasn't heroic. I think we
all know better than to classify it that way especially
in a game played in New York . I wouldn't even say
it was gutsy. It's hard to apply that to a multimillionaire
with a team of trainers and doctors doing everything possible
to lessen the pain. What it was, however, was impressive.
He still wasn't the pitcher that everyone's accustomed
to seeing, but it's amazing what just a little extra velocity
can do for a veteran power pitcher. A few miles
per hour more on the heater and suddenly those other pitches
are set up better.
That umpiring crew deserves all sorts of credit –
and I'm saying that as a Phillies fan who considers last
night's home plate umpire "Cowboy" Joe West
an enemy – for not being stubborn and sticking with
the original call. And they did it to the detriment
of the home team in the Bronx . The one down note
of the night was watching the police in riot gear line
the field.
I don't know that Game 7 can possibly live up to the last
three games, let alone last year's game, but here's hoping
that it does.
David Brown: As a Yankee
fan, I’m too close to all this to appreciate the
historic significance of this series. It’s been
painful to watch these last 3 games unfold.
The Yankees have missed John Olerud these last three games.
Tony Clark is not nearly the hitter that Olerud is, and
the media has completely ignored this. The Sox bullpen
has been amazing. But tonight, I think the Yankees pull
it out. Lowe has been lousy outside of Fenway for the
last two years. Arroyo has pitched the last two nights.
Foulke must be exhausted. Wakefield won’t be effective.
Meanwhile, the Yanks have Vazquez well-rested for long
relief, El Duque is available, and Rivera and Gordon got
a much-needed night off. Tonight is the night that the
Yankee bats get going again.
I think Kevin Brown will pitch well. He always stinks
at Fenway. He’ll be fired up and ready to go tonight,
and I think he’ll get the job done. If they can
get five or six quality innings from him, the Yankees
will be in good shape.
But this Boston team is amazing. All year the Yankees
thought they had put this team away, and they keep coming
back. They just can’t kill them. Maybe this is the
year for the Sox. I don’t know how I would cope
with a Yankee loss tonight. I’m just happy that
after tonight, it will be over. It’s impossible
for me to do anything but think about these games. You
can’t escape them.
If the Yankees do win tonight, what will it do to Sox
fans? Last night on Sportscenter, Peter Gammons said that
if the Yankees won big tonight, Sox fans would be OK because
they could point to that amazing run to force a game 7
and be relatively happy. But he said if it’s another
Aaron Boone situation, it would be devastating. I just
hope the NY fans don’t act like a bunch of hooligans
if Boston wins.
Michael Walls: All I
can say is “wow”. And I’m not talking
about last night’s game or the series in general.
I’m talking about the complete 360-degree turnaround
in attitude and trash talk that this 2 Walls tread has
produced. Webb and Brown, although tentatively hopeful,
are prepping themselves for a letdown. I’m disappointed
that the king Yankee trash-talker Fishman has suddenly
remained silent since game 3. I won’t lower myself
by giving it right back to him. (Although, I probably
already did by calling him an “asshole”. Sorry
about that Fish.)
But the Yankee fans aren’t the only ones doing 360s.
Us Red Sox fans have also done a complete turnaround.
After game 3 I denounced this series as nothing but “hype
and nastiness” citing the NLCS as a real baseball
environment. I actually went to bed before the end of
game 4, conceding defeat, only to wake up to a Boston
victory. Even then I felt it was only a matter of hours
before it would end in game 5. Finch and I both talked
about being put out of our misery by a quick Yankee win,
only to be tortured more by that 14 inning Boston marathon.
Even self-proclaimed neutral territory Brendon “
Switzerland ” McCullin has shown that he really
does care about the outcome of this series. He hasn’t
said outright, but we can all tell he’s rooting
for the Sox.
And now last night’s game: I never believed. Even
up 4-1 in the 8 th I was waiting for the “screw-up”.
And when I saw Arroyo drop the ball as he tried to tag
ARod, I immediately wondered if Bill Buckner was watching
this game.
But something happened on that play. Something that I
feel may be a turning point in the Red Sox long line of
bad luck. Because, see, things like that happen to the
Red Sox. Weird, unexplainable things happen during these
critical, historic games. Things that can be shown over
and over and over again on highlight reels, to show the
unbelievers that a curse really does exist – like
blurry UFO photographs or crop circles or fuzzy ghosts
in the background of innocent family photos. And this
looked to be another in the long line of fuzzy ghosts
photos in the Boston Red Sox photo album.
But this time, somebody turned on the lights at the right
moment and we got to see the strings and the puppeteer.
It wasn’t a Red Sox screw-up. The umpires reversed
the call and got it right. And they rewound the movie
and Jeter went around the bases backwards and they took
a run off the board, and the Red Sox got a chance to do
it right. And they won.
I’m not going to make any predications about tonight’s
game. But I believe we, as a collective group of friends
and 2 Walls colleagues, have all matured as baseball fans
in an amazingly short amount of time, and regardless of
the outcome will be in agreement that this has been nothing
short of spectacular in the history of this rivalry.
|
