Saturday, August 14, 2004
OLERUD AWAKENING
The Yankees have not lost a series at Safeco Field since the 2000 season. According to Conan O'Brien, the year 2000 was when men landed on Mars and were edged out for the cover of Time Magazine that week by Jewel. With today's 6-4 win, the Yankees increased their leading-after-eight-innings record to a mere 880-26 (.971) since the 1994 season. That's mostly the Mariano Rivera tenure as closer, but there was some John Wetteland action as closer in that span also.
Jamie Moyer got two quick outs in the first before Gary Sheffield mashed one a few rows above the manual scoreboard in leftfield on the first pitch (NYY 1-0). The Mariner bullpen would later find a creative way to keep Sheffield from hitting homers. Four pitches later, it was Bernie's turn, as he managed to reach the bleacher seats in left, just inside the foul pole (NYY 2-0).
Ichiro led off with a walk in the bottom of the 1st. Randy Winn was caught looking, Ichiro was frozen between first and second, and John Flaherty gunned the ball to Derek Jeter at second. Jeter pump faked Ichiro enough times, then beat him to the first base bag. I don't like Jeter much, but that's probably a play that you'd want to teach your little middle infielder. Of course, you'd have to be coaching a team or raising a kid who plays middle infield.
How would the Mariners fare against Yankee midseason acquisition and toast of NYC Esteban Loaiza? They almost got to him early. In the 2nd, Raul Ibanez singled with one out and reached second on a 2-2 wild pitch to Bucky Jacobsen. Bucky put a ball on the ground, but right to the shortstop; Raul had to hold at second. Dan Wilson would whiff to leave Raul at second.
In the 3rd, Derek Jeter did some more infuriating things. He battled back from 0-2 to double on a 3-2 pitch. He stole third base on the first pitch to Sheffield. Sheffield grounded out to Boone, and Jeter scored (NYY 3-0).
The Mariner offense finally put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the 3rd. Jose Lopez hit a one-out double to left (I think this was the play where Hideki Matsui called off Derek Jeter and backed off at the last second) and went to third on a hacktastic first-pitch Ichiro groundout to John Olerud at first. Randy Winn walked, and Edgar Martinez singled up the middle to score Lopez (NYY 3-1).
In the 5th, the Mariners would put together a more sustained rally against Loaiza after Lopez led off with a homer to the base of that staircase leading from the concourse over the bullpen (staircase had no net shielding it in 2000, NYY 3-2). Ichiro singled. Randy Winn fouled off six pitches in his at-bat en route to a single of his own, moving Ichiro to third. Edgar walked to load the bases with nobody out. Bret Boone didn't quite get all of it (he's not the only one) and hit a fly ball deep enough to center to score Ichiro and move Winn to third (score 3-3). Raul Ibanez then hit another fly ball to score Winn and give the Mariners the lead (SEA 4-3). Bucky got aboard on an Enrique Wilson misplayed grounder, but would be forced out at second on a Dan Wilson ground ball to end the inning. Loaiza gave up a leadoff walk in the 6th to Justin Leone and got a fielder's choice out of Lopez before getting pulled for CJ Nitkowski. An Ichiro lineout and a Winn fielder's choice followed.
Moyer gave up a one-out double to Enrique Wilson in the 7th, the first hit Moyer had surrendered since Derek Jeter's leadoff double in the third. That's a span of 14 batters, for anyone wondering. Unfortunately, John Flaherty doubled to tie the game at 4-4. Jamie Moyer would not come out for the 8th, and would not figure in the decision (most importantly, he wouldn't win). His line: 7 innings, 4 runs, 7 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 116 (there's that forsaken number again) pitches (70 strikes).
So with the game tied, who does Bob Melvin call in from the bullpen to keep the game close? Why, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, of course!! Who else? Shig's first pitch to Sheffield nailed him right in the thigh. His fourth pitch to Bernie was mashed off the face of the wall in centerfield. Shig was pulled after five pitches in favor of George Sherrill. Sherrill would get Matsui to bounce out to first and hold the runners. Ruben Sierra was walked to put the inning-ending double play in order. John Olerud hit a rolling single to rightfield to score Sheffield and Bernie (NYY 6-4). How fitting. Months in a Mariner uniform and he can't hit, then he goes to New York and Don Mattingly apparently finds something in his swing, and now it's off to the races. Totally rumor-based here, and I was in the sticks of Oregon when Olerud was released: Olerud blocked a trade to the Giants, from what I've heard. Somewhere in there he said he wanted what was best for his family. Is east coast over west coast (i.e., where he lives) really better for his family? I'm just sayin'... That said, the warm welcome of the crowd was well-deserved, as was Moyer and Wilson deciding to have a "conversation" when Olerud came to the plate.
Clint Nageotte nearly lost his mind again in the 9th. He walked John Flaherty to lead off. Miguel Cairo laid down a bunt to move Flaherty over. Jeter bounced out to Leone. Sheffield was beaned once again, this time on an 0-1 pitch. For the record, Gary Sheffield saw eight total pitches in the game over a span of five plate appearances. He was beaned by two of the last three pitches he saw. Nageotte would gain a little composure, even fooling Bernie with his breaking ball before getting a whiff.
The Mariners faced Paul Quantrill, Tom Gordon, and Mariano Rivera in the 7th, 8th, and 9th, respectively. All three pitches allowed baserunners. Quantrill had two on with two out, but he got out of it, thanks to Derek Jeter's diving stab on a ball up the middle. It helped that the ball was hit by Dan Wilson also. Gordon allowed a leadoff single to Leone, but that didn't get anywhere. Rivera allowed a single to Edgar (what's new?) and mowed down the next three hitters (again, what's new?).
Gameball: Jose Lopez. 2-for-4 with a double and a homer out of the 9-slot in the order. Why the hell was Dan Wilson batting seventh? Wilson stranded five runners today, and somehow is not getting the goat. Anyway, it's good to see Lopez get some hits, and seeing him hit for power is even better. In a horribly obvious way to look at Lopez' output today, he had six total bases. It would probably take Ichiro at least two games to come up with that same number. Yes, I want more doubles out of Ichiro.
Goat: Shigetoshi Hasegawa. Well, I've self-imposed my own rule to have only players in these gameball/goat decisions. If I relaxed the rule, I'd put Bob Melvin as the goat. In any event, Shigster threw five pitches and two runners ended up in scoring position. In a flashback moment, I remember giving a lot of these to Shig, Mike Myers, and Kevin Jarvis for exactly the same thing that happened today.
Now to somewhat of a departure from the post. Every few days, I find a local unoccupied field or one with the sprinklers not running. My bat bag from high school is still in the trunk of my car. I take out said bag and head to the field. I stand near home plate, toss baseballs to myself, and hit them with an old Louisville Slugger Omaha bat (33" 28oz, now illegal in high school) that's about five years old. The whole occasion is somewhat of a solo blast-off, just what the doctor ordered for socially reclusive baseball lovers like myself. So, if anyone here is close to Kitsap County and has a lot of time on his/her hands, I have a challenge for you. Go to the Pendergast fields on the far western edge of Bremerton, up the hill from the Maaco, Parr Ford (visible from SR-3), and the Washington State Patrol building. Assuming no one is using the field with the scoreboard on it (pretty sure it's field 2), go to it, and stand at or near the plate with your baseballs at the ready (I use six because I haven't bothered to buy more). Since there is a "you need permission to use these fields" sign, it's probably best to wear sneakers instead of wearing spikes and tearing the place up since, in their opinion, you're not supposed to be on the fields anyway. Finally, toss baseballs up to yourself and hit them, aiming for the gap in leftcenter, to the right of the scoreboard. The challenge? If you can bounce one up onto the path behind the trees, consider yourself my equal. If you blast one further than that, then you're more powerful than me, but you also probably lost the baseball in the process in a dense area of stickerbushes. I don't know how far the fence is at that point, it's probably just 290 or 300 feet or so, probably just a flyout to Randy Winn. Anyway, I hope someone takes the challenge. Also, even though the fence is definitely not of Major League proportions, a ball over the fence can give you a quick ego boost anyway.
Basically the summary of that last paragraph: everyone I knew from high school that could throw me some live-arm has gotten the hell out of Bremerton.
Oh yeah, the Yankees and Mariners...yup, Alex won't be playing. Also, it seems damn humid at my house right now, probably on account of the clouds that rolled in. One more game against the Yankees tomorrow, and it's a trifecta of Royals, and Tigers, and Rays, oh my!!
Brown. Meche. Tomorrow.
Jamie Moyer got two quick outs in the first before Gary Sheffield mashed one a few rows above the manual scoreboard in leftfield on the first pitch (NYY 1-0). The Mariner bullpen would later find a creative way to keep Sheffield from hitting homers. Four pitches later, it was Bernie's turn, as he managed to reach the bleacher seats in left, just inside the foul pole (NYY 2-0).
Ichiro led off with a walk in the bottom of the 1st. Randy Winn was caught looking, Ichiro was frozen between first and second, and John Flaherty gunned the ball to Derek Jeter at second. Jeter pump faked Ichiro enough times, then beat him to the first base bag. I don't like Jeter much, but that's probably a play that you'd want to teach your little middle infielder. Of course, you'd have to be coaching a team or raising a kid who plays middle infield.
How would the Mariners fare against Yankee midseason acquisition and toast of NYC Esteban Loaiza? They almost got to him early. In the 2nd, Raul Ibanez singled with one out and reached second on a 2-2 wild pitch to Bucky Jacobsen. Bucky put a ball on the ground, but right to the shortstop; Raul had to hold at second. Dan Wilson would whiff to leave Raul at second.
In the 3rd, Derek Jeter did some more infuriating things. He battled back from 0-2 to double on a 3-2 pitch. He stole third base on the first pitch to Sheffield. Sheffield grounded out to Boone, and Jeter scored (NYY 3-0).
The Mariner offense finally put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the 3rd. Jose Lopez hit a one-out double to left (I think this was the play where Hideki Matsui called off Derek Jeter and backed off at the last second) and went to third on a hacktastic first-pitch Ichiro groundout to John Olerud at first. Randy Winn walked, and Edgar Martinez singled up the middle to score Lopez (NYY 3-1).
In the 5th, the Mariners would put together a more sustained rally against Loaiza after Lopez led off with a homer to the base of that staircase leading from the concourse over the bullpen (staircase had no net shielding it in 2000, NYY 3-2). Ichiro singled. Randy Winn fouled off six pitches in his at-bat en route to a single of his own, moving Ichiro to third. Edgar walked to load the bases with nobody out. Bret Boone didn't quite get all of it (he's not the only one) and hit a fly ball deep enough to center to score Ichiro and move Winn to third (score 3-3). Raul Ibanez then hit another fly ball to score Winn and give the Mariners the lead (SEA 4-3). Bucky got aboard on an Enrique Wilson misplayed grounder, but would be forced out at second on a Dan Wilson ground ball to end the inning. Loaiza gave up a leadoff walk in the 6th to Justin Leone and got a fielder's choice out of Lopez before getting pulled for CJ Nitkowski. An Ichiro lineout and a Winn fielder's choice followed.
Moyer gave up a one-out double to Enrique Wilson in the 7th, the first hit Moyer had surrendered since Derek Jeter's leadoff double in the third. That's a span of 14 batters, for anyone wondering. Unfortunately, John Flaherty doubled to tie the game at 4-4. Jamie Moyer would not come out for the 8th, and would not figure in the decision (most importantly, he wouldn't win). His line: 7 innings, 4 runs, 7 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 116 (there's that forsaken number again) pitches (70 strikes).
So with the game tied, who does Bob Melvin call in from the bullpen to keep the game close? Why, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, of course!! Who else? Shig's first pitch to Sheffield nailed him right in the thigh. His fourth pitch to Bernie was mashed off the face of the wall in centerfield. Shig was pulled after five pitches in favor of George Sherrill. Sherrill would get Matsui to bounce out to first and hold the runners. Ruben Sierra was walked to put the inning-ending double play in order. John Olerud hit a rolling single to rightfield to score Sheffield and Bernie (NYY 6-4). How fitting. Months in a Mariner uniform and he can't hit, then he goes to New York and Don Mattingly apparently finds something in his swing, and now it's off to the races. Totally rumor-based here, and I was in the sticks of Oregon when Olerud was released: Olerud blocked a trade to the Giants, from what I've heard. Somewhere in there he said he wanted what was best for his family. Is east coast over west coast (i.e., where he lives) really better for his family? I'm just sayin'... That said, the warm welcome of the crowd was well-deserved, as was Moyer and Wilson deciding to have a "conversation" when Olerud came to the plate.
Clint Nageotte nearly lost his mind again in the 9th. He walked John Flaherty to lead off. Miguel Cairo laid down a bunt to move Flaherty over. Jeter bounced out to Leone. Sheffield was beaned once again, this time on an 0-1 pitch. For the record, Gary Sheffield saw eight total pitches in the game over a span of five plate appearances. He was beaned by two of the last three pitches he saw. Nageotte would gain a little composure, even fooling Bernie with his breaking ball before getting a whiff.
The Mariners faced Paul Quantrill, Tom Gordon, and Mariano Rivera in the 7th, 8th, and 9th, respectively. All three pitches allowed baserunners. Quantrill had two on with two out, but he got out of it, thanks to Derek Jeter's diving stab on a ball up the middle. It helped that the ball was hit by Dan Wilson also. Gordon allowed a leadoff single to Leone, but that didn't get anywhere. Rivera allowed a single to Edgar (what's new?) and mowed down the next three hitters (again, what's new?).
Gameball: Jose Lopez. 2-for-4 with a double and a homer out of the 9-slot in the order. Why the hell was Dan Wilson batting seventh? Wilson stranded five runners today, and somehow is not getting the goat. Anyway, it's good to see Lopez get some hits, and seeing him hit for power is even better. In a horribly obvious way to look at Lopez' output today, he had six total bases. It would probably take Ichiro at least two games to come up with that same number. Yes, I want more doubles out of Ichiro.
Goat: Shigetoshi Hasegawa. Well, I've self-imposed my own rule to have only players in these gameball/goat decisions. If I relaxed the rule, I'd put Bob Melvin as the goat. In any event, Shigster threw five pitches and two runners ended up in scoring position. In a flashback moment, I remember giving a lot of these to Shig, Mike Myers, and Kevin Jarvis for exactly the same thing that happened today.
Now to somewhat of a departure from the post. Every few days, I find a local unoccupied field or one with the sprinklers not running. My bat bag from high school is still in the trunk of my car. I take out said bag and head to the field. I stand near home plate, toss baseballs to myself, and hit them with an old Louisville Slugger Omaha bat (33" 28oz, now illegal in high school) that's about five years old. The whole occasion is somewhat of a solo blast-off, just what the doctor ordered for socially reclusive baseball lovers like myself. So, if anyone here is close to Kitsap County and has a lot of time on his/her hands, I have a challenge for you. Go to the Pendergast fields on the far western edge of Bremerton, up the hill from the Maaco, Parr Ford (visible from SR-3), and the Washington State Patrol building. Assuming no one is using the field with the scoreboard on it (pretty sure it's field 2), go to it, and stand at or near the plate with your baseballs at the ready (I use six because I haven't bothered to buy more). Since there is a "you need permission to use these fields" sign, it's probably best to wear sneakers instead of wearing spikes and tearing the place up since, in their opinion, you're not supposed to be on the fields anyway. Finally, toss baseballs up to yourself and hit them, aiming for the gap in leftcenter, to the right of the scoreboard. The challenge? If you can bounce one up onto the path behind the trees, consider yourself my equal. If you blast one further than that, then you're more powerful than me, but you also probably lost the baseball in the process in a dense area of stickerbushes. I don't know how far the fence is at that point, it's probably just 290 or 300 feet or so, probably just a flyout to Randy Winn. Anyway, I hope someone takes the challenge. Also, even though the fence is definitely not of Major League proportions, a ball over the fence can give you a quick ego boost anyway.
Basically the summary of that last paragraph: everyone I knew from high school that could throw me some live-arm has gotten the hell out of Bremerton.
Oh yeah, the Yankees and Mariners...yup, Alex won't be playing. Also, it seems damn humid at my house right now, probably on account of the clouds that rolled in. One more game against the Yankees tomorrow, and it's a trifecta of Royals, and Tigers, and Rays, oh my!!
Brown. Meche. Tomorrow.
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