Odd Thoughts

The Curse & The Collapse

I guess I'll start with the collapse. Sheesh. The Cards just rolled over and died. On September 27th, I wrote a post about the Cardinals in which I detailed how they had been the most dominant team in almost every category this year. The rolled over the Dodgers and then they shut down the Astros when it really counted, but they sure fell apart in the end. Very few aspects of the St. Louis team did well, although the Cardinal faithful should give some credit to Jason Marquis - he did his job last night. The Cardinals averaged 5.28 runs per game during the season; Marquis holding Boston to 3 should have been enough. The mighty St. Louis offense hit .185 in the series. It's a good thing they got Larry Walker at the end of the year too - not only did he hit their only home runs of the series, but if you take him away the team average is .164.

You might have heard the commentators point out that the Cardinals never had a lead in any game of the series. You also might be wondering if that has ever happened before, and lucky for you, I have the answer, which I will reveal along with several other World Series facts.

The 2004 World Series, by the way, was the 100th in the history of the game. Last year's was the 100th anniversary, but since the 1904 series was skipped because of a feud between the NL and the AL, and the player's strike kept the '94 series from happening, this was the 100th. This was the 18th sweep in WS history. I counted 1907 and 1922 as sweeps even though there were five games played. The winning teams in those series (The Cubs and the New York Giants) both won 4 and tied 1. For four of the World Series there were 9 games possible, thus making a sweep require five wins - it never happened. In fact no series ever even went the whole 9 games, though three series did go eight. The rest of the count is 21 five-game series, 22 six-game series, and 36 seven-game series. Anyway, of the 18 sweeps, the loosing never held the lead in three other World Series. The Yankees never led the Dodgers in 1963, The Dodgers never led the Orioles in 1966, and the Giants never led the A's in the earthquake series of 1989.

And now The Curse of the Bambino is over. Some will say there never was a curse, and for the record, I do not believe that supernatural forces governed and/or worked against the Red Sox. However, some fishy things have happened to them between 1918 and 2004. Most of us know about Aaron Boone, Bill Buckner, and Bucky Dent. But not as many know about some of the other Boston collapses.

The Red Sox were in the World Series against the Big Red Machine in 1975. The Sox trailed in the series 3-2 heading back to Fenway. I got this recap of games 6 & 7 from mlb.com:

Then, Game 6. Fred Lynn's three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning gave Boston a 3-0 lead, but Cincinnati took a 6-3 lead with three runs in the fifth, two in the seventh and one more in the eighth. Bernie Carbo erased that deficit with a three-run homer of his own in the bottom of the seventh, and after 11 ½ innings it was still 6-6. Carlton Fisk led off the bottom of the 12th and, in a moment immortalized by TV cameras, he hit a long drive down the left-field line. With Fisk apparently "willing" the ball fair, it carried the Green Monster for a game-winning home run, sending the Fenway faithful home happy.

In Game 7, the Sox took a 3-0 lead in the third on Carl Yastrzemski's RBI single and a pair of bases-loaded walks, but they would score no more. Meanwhile, Tony Perez hit a two-run homer in the sixth, and Pete Rose tied the game in the seventh with a run-scoring single. In the top of the ninth with two outs, Joe Morgan came through with his second game-deciding hit of the Series, this one a single that scored Ken Griffey to give the Reds a 4-3 edge. Will McEnaney came on to retire the Red Sox in order in the bottom of the ninth, and Cincinnati had its first World Series since 1940.

The Sox missed an AL East title in 1972 by half a game. The were in the World Series against St. Louis in 1967. Again the Sox returned to Fenway for games 6 & 7 trailing 3-2. Here's the mlb.com recap:

Fenway Park hosted Game 6, and the Red Sox stayed alive with an 8-4 triumph. The score was tied at four until the bottom of the seventh, when Boston sent 10 men to the plate and scored four times to break the game open.

Game 7 matched Gibson and Lonborg. Gibson was brilliant once again, allowing only three hits, but Lonborg was working on just two days rest and clearly didn't have his best stuff. The Cardinals scored two runs in the third, two in the fifth, and three more in the sixth off Lonborg to put the game away. Gibson struck out George Scott to end the 7-2 contest, and the Cards were World Series champions once again.

In 1949, the Red Sox had a 1 game lead over the Yankees with 2 games left to play in the season. The Yankees came to town, and you can probably guess what happened. Yanks take two from Boston to win the pennant, and then take 4 of 5 from Brooklyn to win the World Series. They missed another pennant to the Indians by 1 game the year before (these were Ted Williams teams, by the way).

In 1946, the Red Sox returned to Fenway with a 3-2 series lead over the Cardinals. The flat out lost game six. Here's the recap of game seven:

Game 7 was, fittingly, a tight, dramatic affair. Trailing 3-1 in the eighth, the Red Sox tied the contest on Dom DiMaggio's two-out, two-run double. But with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, the Cardinals took a 4-3 lead when Harry Walker singled to center field, Enos Slaughter scoring all the way from first base after Boston shortstop Johnny Pesky hesitated for a split second before throwing home. Harry Brecheen, who picked up his third win of the Series with two innings of scoreless relief, escaped a two-on, nobody-out jam in the top of the ninth to clinch the World Series for St. Louis.

They've had 12 other second place finishes and 5 other postseason appearances that are not even chronicled here. Before the curse they won 5 of the first 15 World Series and were in the series one other time. It's been a long and painful 86 years.

Fittingly, the Red Sox will unfurl their new World Series flag and receive their rings in the first series of the 2005 season. Their opponent? The New York Yankees.

More Post Season Thoughts

The Astros
When the post season began, I planned to root for the Astros, but only in a distanced sort of indifferent way. I failed. I cheered madly when the succeeded and muttered under my breath when the failed. I was sad when the game was over. The 2004 Cardinals are a great team; they deserve to be the NL Champions.

The Cardinals and Red Sox
How I will root in the World Series is still a game time decision, but at this point, I think I prefer for the Cardinals to win. The Cards are a classy team; my only hang-up is LaRussa and those stupid transition-lenses. Come on, man, why you gotta wear those? Anyway, I don't have feelings of love or hate for Boston, but I do believe it would be fitting for them to loose the series after such a dramatic ALCS victory. A radio commentator said it would be like running a kick-off return for 93 yards and throwing a touchdown-producing interception on the next play.

There has been a lot of talk about whether or not the curse is dead. If you still have questions, let me answer them for you: The Curse is very much alive. The ALCS will mean nothing without a World Series title. The 2004 Red Sox will be nothing more than the answer to the question of, "Who is the only team to come back from a 3-0 deficit?" and that's it. Yeah, it was sweeter because it was the Yankees, but if the Red Sox fail, the first chant they'll hear in New York next spring will be "19-18, clap-clap clap-clap-clap, 19-18." The curse has nothing to do with the Yankees as such, although they are often the chief obstacle. This is not the first time the Red Sox beat the Yankees. (It is in a postseason series, but the opportunity for such a series has only existed for 10 years.) The Red Sox beat the Yankees in 1986, by three games in the AL East. I'm sure it was exciting. But what happened? Find a Boston fan and ask them about game 6. I'm not trying to be hard on Boston fans, I'm just saying that the curse only ends if they win the World Series.

Yankee Fan
One of the best parts of the ALCS was the inevitable fall-out on sports talk radio. I heard lots of whining and lots of excuses from Yankee fan yesterday. Even some saying the Red Sox nation would be whining had things gone differently, and that's definitely true. But this takes the cake. My jaw hit the florr when I heard this. A Yankee fan actually called a national talk radio show and espoused the theory, a theory the caller himself believed, that Joe Torre had been paid to throw the series. Come on Yankee fan, you're better than that.

Who's Your Daddy?

If you said Champagne-drenched Pedro, you are correct.

Yankees v. Red Sox

One of the things that has made this ALCS so great is the number of non-baseball fans who have followed this series like it was the last episode of The Bachelor. Amy watches the games with me. She yells at the umpires, scorns the smug looks on the faces of A-Rod and Derek Jeter, and utters cries of despair when Johnny Damon cumes up with runners on base. Christin is watching. Micah Lewis is watching. Soccer apologist James Marsalis called me last night to tell me that he's hooked. It's really a lot of fun.

Some Assistance for Yankee Fan
Last night's game was especially interesting and precedent-setting in the behavior and decisions of umpires. Two times an umpire made a call and then confered with the rest of the crew, who then overturned the call. The very idea of overturning a call is significant in itself. Furthermore, the umpiring crew in both cases made the correct call. I have a friend that is an actual Yankee fan. Obviously he was upset with the overrulings - especially in the A-Rod case. Fortunately for you, Yankee Fan, I've done some research to help you feel a little better. I know you're used to having things go your way regardless of the rules, but here it is, in black and white:

MLB Rule 7.08b
Any runner is out when . . . He intentionally interferes with a thrown ball; or hinders a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball; A runner who is adjudged to have hindered a fielder who is attempting to make a play on a batted ball is out whether it was intentional or not. If, however, the runner has contact with a legally occupied base when he hinders the fielder, he shall not be called out unless, in the umpire's judgment, such hindrance, whether it occurs on fair or foul territory, is intentional. If the umpire declares the hindrance intentional, the following penalty shall apply: With less than two out, the umpire shall declare both the runner and batter out. With two out, the umpire shall declare the batter out. If, in a run down between third base and home plate, the succeeding runner has advanced and is standing on third base when the runner in a run down is called out for offensive interference, the umpire shall send the runner standing on third base back to second base. This same principle applies if there is a run down between second and third base and succeeding runner has reached second (the reasoning is that no runner shall advance on an interference play and a runner is considered to occupy a base until he legally has reached the next succeeding base).

MLB Rule 7.09 final sentence:
PENALTY FOR INTERFERENCE: The runner is out and the ball is dead.

As for Game 7
Obviously the comentators and experts have told us 1000 times that no team has ever come back to win a series from a 3-0 deficit. Taking it one step further, no team has ever even forced a game 7. It seems to me that it would be most fitting for the Red Sox to beat the Yankees tonight, doing something that has never been done, only to loose the World Series to the Cardinals or Astros. Despite their tremendous triumph over the Yankees, the curse of the would Babe remain fully intact.

Tonight I will watch this game in 100% support of Boston. However, I just believe that the Yankees will win. This is not some kind of false ploy. This is what I really believe. The Yankees will win tonight, much to the chagrin of most of the people I know, and once again, the Red Sox nation will end their baseball season with a broken heart.

Significant Retirees

At this point, five major leaguers that had significant careers have announced their retirement. Over the course of the off season, I plan to highlight their careers and discuss their significance to the game (or lack thereof). As it currently stands, the players are John Franco, Edgar Martinez, Mark McLemore, Robin Ventura, and Todd Zeile. I expect John Olerud will join this list after the post season.

Farewell John Franco

John Franco, baseball’s #2 man on the saves list (#1 for lefties) has hung it up and a 20 season career. Franco was a four-time all-star and twice won the reliever of the year award. He led the league in saves three times and closed out 25+ in eleven seasons. One interesting thing about his career is that he spent it with only two teams, which is quite rare for any player with a 20 year career, but even more so for a left-handed reliever.

Franco’s best season came in 1988 when he saved 39 games and had a 1.57 ERA in 86.0 innings. Franco was his team’s primary closer form the middle of 1985, when he took over for Ted Power, until the middle of 1999, when he gave way to Armando Benitez. He played in two postseasons, making 15 appearances and posting a 1.88 ERA.

The Bill James Hall of Fame Monitor rates him as a likely Hall of Famer, though the Hall still seems to be unsure about electing closers. Either way, his career numbers are quite impressive: 1,088 games (2nd all-time), 90-86, 424 saves (2nd all-time), a 2.84 ERA and 959 strikeouts in 1230.2 innings.

Baseball Miscellany

Pitching on 3 Days Rest
In the future I'd like to do a lengthy study and article on this matter, but for now, I just want to say that Ron Gardenhire and Phil Garner both totally wasted their aces by throwing them only five innings. They might as well have just told us they were going to let the bullpen handle this one.

What a Difference a Year Makes, or, Goldenboy
Since 1998, Sammy Sosa has been baseball's goldenboy. He's just that kind-of dumb Latino guy with the tear-jerker life story that made it big in American sports through hard work and a winning smile. The whole baseball world looked the other way when he handled the steriod issue badly and then we just laughed when that silly cork popped out of his bat. But I think he's finally lost it with the most recent incident, in which he left the Cubs finale early, then lied about it, then complained about Dusty Baker blaming him for everything. I don't like Baker at all, but I never heard him say a word about Sammy.

Meanwhile, at this time last year, Manny Ramirez was just a dog. A show-boating weirdo that annoys his opponents and costs his team games with his no-hustle defense. Then the Red Sox are willing to send him packing for nothing in return but there were no takers for Manny and his hefty contract. So what does he do? He puts up an MVP caliber season, in which he's been a strong leader and positive influence, and most critics have said he played the best left field of his career.

Funny how things change.

Red Sox v. Yankees
I don't have a specific love for the Sox, but I do have a specific hate for the Yanks. I could sit here and make a compelling argument for why the Red Sox are a much better team, and why they'll be headed to the World Series for the first time since 1986. But I just believe that the baseball gods are against them, and on top of that, they're in favor of the Yankees. So much so that if the Yankees were only allowed 2 outs on offense, and then played the defensive end without the luxury of gloves, the Yanks still win in seven. I hate it, but thems the breaks.

2004 MLB Awards

Here are my picks for this year's baseball awards. These are not predictions, mind you. These are the actual awards given by me to this years best. The players don't know about them, and the press doesn't know about them. The only people that know are me and the one other dude that might read this post.

Emerging Superstar of the Year (AL)
Michael Young, TEX: Lost in the shuffle of Ichiro's record breaking year is the fact that Young finished with a beyond respectable 216 hits on the year. In addition, he hit 22 home runs and 99 RBI's, most of them out the lead-of spot. He made a flawless transition from second base to short stop and was the primary reason the Rangers stayed in the hunt all year long.

Emerging Superstar of the Year (NL)
Mark Loretta, SDP: Like Young, Loretta also topped 200 hits (208). He hit .335 (2nd in NL), with 16 homers, 76 RBI's and more walks than strikeouts. And like Young, he was the primary reason for his team staying in the postseason hunt. He was the #1 offensive producers among second basemen in 2004.

Comback Player of the Year (AL)
Mark Kotsay, OAK: At the end of the 2002 season, Kotsay had emerged as a very respectable all-round centerfielder - kind of a poor man's Steve Finley. Then for no apparent reason in 2003 his numbers dipped to .266/7/38. He rebounded nicely this year to finish with career high .314 average to go with 15 homers and 63 RBI's (also a career high).

Comback Player of the Year (NL)
Jimmy Rollins, PHI: When Rollins emerged in 2001, he looked like the likely torch bearer as the NL's best shortstop for the next ten years. The next two years, he wasn't bad, but he just wasn't anything special. This year he set of tied career highs in every hitting category, and added 30 stolen bases as well. The most significant change for Rollins in 2004 was going from a player that always struckout twice as much as he walked (his best year before this he had 54 BB to 103K), while this year he walked 57 times to only 73 strikeouts.

Manager of the Year (AL)
Buck Showalter, TEX: The Rangers weren't even supposed to finish over .500, let alone contend into the final week of the season. This is a no brainer. Honorable Mention: Ron Gardenhire (MIN).

Manager of the Year (NL)
Bobby Cox, ATL: Tony LaRussa led the best team in baseball this year, but the Braves were supposed to be done and their division rivals (Florida and Philadelphia) were supposed to be stiff competition. At this point I just have to pick the Braves every year until they're unseated. Honorable Mention: Tony LaRussa (STL).

Rookie of the Year (AL)
Bobby Crosby, OAK: This really a default selection. His numbers are okay, but there just isn't another compelling candidate. Combine Crosby's .246 with 21 homers and the fact that he played a crucial position on a contending team and it's enough to put him ahead of his nearest rival, pitcher Daniel Cabrera (BAL).

Rookie of the Year (NL)
Jason Bay, PIT: A lot of prognosticators are picking Khalil Greene of the Padres, making essentially the same "crucial position on a contending team" argument that I made for Crosby. The difference for Greene is that he does have legitimate competition. Bay hit .282 with 26 home runs and 82 RBI's despite not getting the call-up until mid-May.

Most Impressive Season (AL)
Ichiro Suzuki, SEA: .372 average, most hits in a season ever (262), and he led the AL with 19 intentional walks, which says a lot for how the league respects what he does. No other player in the AL is even close.

Most Impressive Season (NL)
Barry Bonds, SFG: Batting title with .362, 45 home runs, 101 RBI's, 129 runs scored, and of course there's the .609 OBP, .812 SLG, and a a new record with 232 walks (120 intentional). Again, no other player is close.

Cy Young Award (AL)
Johan Santana, MIN: 20-6, league leading 2.61 ERA, league leading 265 strikeouts. 13-0 with 1.21 ERA after the break. Second: Curt Schilling (BOS), Third: Mariano Rivera (NYY).

Cy Young Award (NL)
Roger Clemens, HOU: 7th award overall, 4th since Red Sox GM Dan Duquette said he was washed up. Clemens was really the only NL pitcher to be consistent from start to finish - 18-4, 2.98, 218. Second: Roy Oswalt (HOU), Third: Jason Schmidt (SFG).

The Barry Bonds Award (AL)
Vladimir Guerrero, ANA: Until the last two weeks of the season, there was not a clear-cut choice for MVP in the AL. The Guerrero stepped up, put his team on his shoulders, and put the Angels in the playoffs. .337 average, 39 homers, 126 RBI, 15 stolen bases. Second: Manny Ramirez (BOS), Third: Miguel Tejada )BAL).

The Barry Bonds Award (NL)
Adrian Beltre, LAD: Major league leading 48 home runs, .334 average, 121 RBI's, excellent defense (although he's no Rolen), and the only real threat in a largely anemic Dodger offense. There's no way the Dodgers win the division without him. Second: Albert Pujols (STL0, Third: Scott Rolen (STL).

As for the Cubs

Last year I was somewhat interested in seeing the Cubs succeed in the postseason. I cringed when Bartman caught the foul ball, and watched in disbelief as the Cubs coughed up the game and the series to the Marlins. But this year, I find myself just outright hating them. They've become headhunters and crybabies. It really seems to be a persona that affects the attitude of most of the players on the team, and these are mostly players I used to like. Guys that in my mind were class acts. Maybe Moises Alou missed his hands and peed in the gatorade? I really think the problem came to town with Dusty Baker, and after a two seasons of the tooth pick man, the bad attitude finally rubbed off on everybody.

An e-mailer on the Dan Patrick radio show said it best when he compared the Cubs to the Wizard of Oz: "Alou is the Scarecrow becuase he has no brain. Nomar is the Tin Man because he has no heart, and Sosa is the Cowardly Lion because he has no courage. The rest of the team is like Dorothy, because they just want to go home."

I think they'll get their wish by the end of the weekend.