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4/12/2007
Billy-Ball Daily
Bill Chuck (Billy-Ball his own self)
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The only spin here is on my screwball
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Top of the 1st
ON BEING SPECIFIC
So a guy walks into a bar. He’s got one arm significantly shorter than the other. As he enters the bar he notices a leprechaun. "Oh leprechaun could you make my arm like the other one?"
And the next thing you know – two short arms.
It reminds me of last night at Fenway. Last night, Billy-Ball and 36, 629 of his closest friends were at the ballpark (that doesn’t count the members of the press that would equal in number a good weeknight crowd at a Pirates game) to see the Sawx face the Mariners. As you approached the gate there was so much swag being given out your arms were laden by the time you approached the gate. English-to-Japanese baseball terms, samurai headbands, “K” signs in Japanese, newsletters, I didn’t notice if the “Jesus Saves” guy was handing out tracts in Japanese.
All this Hub hubbub because of the Fenway debut of Dice-K. The atmosphere was electric. My view was from the lush EMC Box compliments of Friend of Billy-Ball, Alex Bok and his parents who graciously adopted me for the evening (thank you, dōmo arigatō.). It was a magnificent venue to view the action, to both watch and experience the excitement. And it was indeed exciting.
The first pitch was delayed slightly from its usual precise 7:05 starting time, presumably while waiting for ESPN coverage, but from 7:00 until that first pitch around 7:11 the fans were on their feet as if in anticipation of the 9th inning of Game 7. In great synchronicity, Alex and I turned to one another as we waited for the Sox to take the field and said, “The tension is almost palpable.”
Then the Townies took the field and Dice-K prepared to face Ichiro. As, Matsuzaka squatted several times behind the mound, Ichiro stretched as he prepared to enter the box.
"That was a moment that probably only Daisuke and I could have created," Suzuki said through a translator. "To be in that moment, I'm happy."
He took the first pitch for a strike. "It wasn't easy to throw with the flashbulbs going off," Matsuzaka said, "but I'm glad I got a strike."
"I didn't want Ichiro to hit me the ball because you couldn't even see the ball there were so many flashbulbs going off," third baseman Mike Lowell said. "I was thinking, I hope he hits me a ground ball because if he hits a line drive right at me, I'm seeing stars. But it was pretty cool. We had two of the best players in Japan facing off against each other. That's not something you see every day."
But as Lowell would soon learn, this was not Japan, Toto, in the big leagues there are two pitchers in each game and the best may not be from Japan. As I was heading to the game last night I was talking with FOB-B, Brien Reich (the humping for his new book has officially started). Brien had the misfortune of attending Opening Day and watched his Mariners get creamed. Our conversation alternated between what a stiff Jeff Weaver is and what a treat it will be for me to see Felix Hernandez pitch. Oh yeah, everybody seems to have forgotten that the Mariners decided to contest the game last night and actually throw a pitcher against Dice-K, the Red Sox, and their doting fans. FOB-B, Bob of the women’s boutique “Float” who loves his Sox and knows his baseball seemed wary of Hernandez as well as we talked amidst the swarms in front of Fenway.
Why shouldn’t the cognoscenti be concerned? After all, when the M’s opened against the A’s, Felix, then 20 years and 359 days old, struck out 12, the first Opening Day starter to fan that many without allowing a run since Bob Gibson did it for the Cardinals in 1967. As Bob and I noted, Hernandez is the real deal.
The 1st inning progressed with Jose Vidro grounding a single through the hole off of Dice-K, one of four 1st inning grounders and 17 pitches. In the 2nd after the fifth straight grounder, Jose Guillen slammed a single off the Monster that most likely would have been a homer in any other ballpark and he quickly scored when Johjima doubled him to third (Kenji was 32 for 118, .271 against Matsuzaka in Japan), and scored on Yuniesky Betancourt's short sacrifice fly to left, just beating a strong throw from Manny Ramírez (short left field is now Manny’s range). Just like the Mariners stopped swinging on top of the ball, Dice-K seemed to make an adjustment as well and he retired nine of the next 10 batters, with Jose Guillen getting payback for his Brian Donnelly conflict from the day before by receiving a fastball on his left elbow.
Meanwhile back in the bottom of the innings, Hernandez retired the first eight batters before walking the major league-challenged Dustin Pedroia. By the end of three innings, the M’s led 1-0, Dice-K had thrown 43 pitches and Felix had thrown 40.
In the 5th, Matsuzaka unraveled a little more giving up two singles and a double and a pair of runs and looked somewhat ordinary to me. Another double in the 6th, a lead-off single and a walk put runners on first and second in the top of the 7th, but a gift double play ended the inning and Dice-K’s night. Seven innings, 103 pitches, three runs on eight hits, a HBP, a walk and four Dice-K’s.
That performance was solid, good, but not great.
Felix Hernandez’ performance was great, bordering on the historic. Leading off the 8th, Newbie Drew ground a single underneath Felix’s glove and just beyond the reach of Jose Lopez (who played a spectacular second base) and into centerfield. It was the Sox first of the night. The crowd cheered for the first time that night, I slumped back in my comfy seat in disappointment. Unlike the fun-loving fan who through the first six innings kept pointing out that the Sox were being no-hit in the hope that saying it would break the streak, I wanted to see the no-no.
The crowd’s enthusiasm was quickly squelched as a simple fly to center and a pair of groundouts ended the inning and a 1-2-3 9th ended the game. Hernandez (2-0) allowed just the one hit. He struck out six and walked two in his third career complete game in 45 starts. He threw 111 pitches, 69 for strikes. He hasn't given up a run in 17 innings this season. As Bob Ryan of the Globe reminds us in the last 15 years, only two pitchers under the age of 21 have thrown a complete-game shutout. The first was Kerry Wood. The second was Hernandez, who shut out the Angels on five hits last Aug. 28 in a 1 hour 51 minutes, the shortest game in Safeco Field history. Last night’s game was a sweet 2:22. He’s thrown 17 innings and given up four hits in 53 at-bats, an opponents batting average of .075.
"You can see the big difference between those two guys," Jose Guillen said. "To me, there's no comparison right there. If you know baseball, and saw what was there today, you don't even need to ask that question. That was a great lineup they had on the other side." (not as good as they appear, Jose)
So, 37,000 fans walk into Fenway; they’ve got Dice-K stuff all over the place. As they enter the ballpark they say to the baseball gods, "Oh baseball gods could you show me the next great pitcher in baseball?"
And the next thing you know – Felix Hernandez.
Top of the 2nd
JONESING FOR HOMERS
Granted they were playing the Nationals, but the Braves did win again last night by a score of 8-3. At 7-1, the Braves are off to their best start since 1995, when they won their only World Series title in Atlanta. Washington fell to 1-8, the franchise's worst start since the Montreal Expos had the same record through nine games in 1998. The Nationals have been outscored 61-21 and have yet to score in the first three innings of a game. In every game, they have fallen behind by at least 3-0.
Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones each hit home runs for the Braves sday, the 56th time that they have hit dingers in the same game. That ties them for the second-highest total in Braves history; Eddie Mathews and Joe Adcock also went deep in the same game 56 times. The Braves, and major league, record is 75 times hitting a home run in the same game, by Mathews and Hank Aaron.
Top of the 3rd
THE SUMMER OF GLOVE
Willie Mays leads all vote-getters in balloting to determine a 50th anniversary Gold Glove team. One week into the season, more than 500,000 votes had been cast for what sponsor Rawlings is calling a "summer of glove." Voting to determine the top 50 defensive players in the last 50 years ends June 19. The team will be announced in mid-July.
Mays, a member of the original Gold Glove team in 1957, had 34,995 votes to also lead outfielders. Third baseman Brooks Robinson was second at 30,962 and outfielder Roberto Clemente third at 30,511. At catcher, Johnny Bench (29,454) had more than twice the votes of Detroit's Pudge Rodriguez. Fans can vote online at RawlingsGoldGlove.com.
Yuck. I’ll pass.
Top of the 4th
MILLER TIME
Giant’s and ESPN play-by-play voice, Jon Miller, was asked which broadcasters had the greatest influence on him, “At the top of my list would be Ernie Harwell of the Detroit Tigers. Vin Scully and Lon Simmons are on that list also. In fact, I think Vin made the greatest call in all of sports broadcasting when he called Hank Aaron's 715th home run. It's not the call attached to the video today but if you hear Scully's complete call, it's fantastic. Unfortunately, most people have not heard the whole thing. I get emotional just talking about it.”
Top of the 5th
IS IT THE CARDS OR THE BUCS?
The Cardinals swept their three-game series from the Pirates, winning by scores of 3-0 on Monday, 3-2 on Tuesday and 3-2 again yesterday. I love when Tony La Russa plays a hunch and it did so last night. So Taguchi had gone 3-for-3 with two doubles and had reached base four times. So in the 9th, La Russa pinch hit for him!
Chris Duncan, steps up and homered off Pittsburgh closer Salomon Torres to give St. Louis the victory. That’s a sweet sweep.
It's only the third time in Pirates history that they were swept in a series of at least three games despite not allowing more than three runs in any game. The Reds swept the Pirates in May 1914 and the Phillies did it to them in July 1888.
Top of the 6th
PADRES ARE FULL OF BULL
Greg Maddux picked up his first victory as San Diego beat the Giants, 4-0. Pitching three days before his 41st birthday, Maddux (1-1) earned his 334th career victory by holding the Giants to six hits in six innings while striking out six and walking none. The Padres' bullpen pitched three scoreless innings to extend its season-long shutout streak to 28 1/3 innings, a modern major league record to begin a season (that is, since 1900). The previous mark for consecutive scoreless relief innings to start a season was 22 by the White Sox in 1955. The NL record was 21 2/3 by the Cardinals in 1925.
Top of the 7th
PROBABLE PITCHERS
I’ll watch the Moyer/Glavine matchup.
Away Home Time (ET) Away Probable Home Probable
Angels Indians 1:05 p.m. Moseley (1-0) Sowers (0-0)
Mariners Red Sox 4:05 p.m. Washburn (0-0) Wakefield (0-1)
Royals Orioles 7:05 p.m. Meche (1-1) Trachsel (0-0)
Tigers Blue Jays 7:07 p.m. Maroth (1-0) Ohka (0-0)
Phillies Mets 7:10 p.m. Moyer (1-0) Glavine (1-1)
Nationals Braves 7:35 p.m. Bergmann (0-1) Smoltz (1-0)
Devil Rays Twins 8:10 p.m. Fossum (0-1) Silva (0-1)
Top of the 8th
DID YOU KNOW?
Brad Penny allowed two hits over 6 1/3 innings, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-0 victory over the Rockies. Since the start of the 2005 season, Penny is 8-1 against Colorado. That ties him for the most wins by any pitcher against any team over that time: Johan Santana is 8-1 against the White Sox.
Top of the 9th
CARDS I HAVE NO INTEREST IN
Later this week, Upper Deck is launching its latest sports trading card set, Spectrum Baseball 2007. In those packs along with cards featuring Major League Baseball stars: autographed inserts of celebrities from the 1970s and '80s, actors and musicians who we no longer care about.
Among those involved: Barry Williams ("The Brady Bunch"), Todd Bridges ("Diff are nt Strokes"), and reality television star, Corey Feldman ("Goonies").
"Each of these actors and musicians represent an exciting piece of Americana and pop culture," said Gregg Kohn, Upper Deck's baseball product manager. "Many of my fondest childhood memories were of watching them on television and in movies or hearing them on the radio. Each actor and singer helped in their little way to bring smiles to faces and define an era for many of today's adults."
Who are you kidding Gregg?
Lou Gossett, Jr. has written "May-o-naise!" next to some of his signatures, the nickname his hard-nosed drill-sergeant character in "An Officer and a Gentleman" gave basic-training recruit Richard Gere. And satellite radio host Barry Williams signed 'Johnny Bravo' and 'Greg Brady'.
There’s also disco-era singer and teen heartthrob Leif Garret, Kristy McNichol ("Family"), Lori Petty ("A League of Their Own"), Jeff Conaway ("Taxi," "Grease"), Catherine Bach ("The Dukes of Hazard"), Ed O'Neill "Al Bundy" (Married With Children), Ernie Hudson ("Ghostbusters," "The Crow"), Michael Anthony Hall ("Sixteen Candles" and Dead Zone), Tony Burton ("Rocky") and Mia St. John (boxer). And current mediocre actor Josh Duhamel ("Las Vegas," "Transformers") as well as Black Eyed Peas frontwoman, "Grindhouse" actress -- and former '80s child star ("Kids Incorporated") -- Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson.
Kohn continued. "People love to see a comeback story; and we hope these cards are the vehicle to help them to make it back to the top." Please no!
Yuck and double yuck!
Bottom of the 9th
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Information provided in Billy-Ball has been gathered from A.P. reports, espn.com, sportsline.com, mlb.com and numerous other e-sources. Opinions expressed in Billy-Ball are obviously solely the opinions of the author of Billy-Ball and do not reflect those of source material no matter how off the wall they may be.
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