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10/22/2007
Billy-Ball Daily
Bill Chuck (Billy-Ball his own self)
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The only spin here is on my screwball
Monday, October 22, 2007
Top of the 1st
BOSTON ROCKS
I very rarely have the opportunity to say this, but “I told you so.”
As the line at Boston’s Zakim Bridge gathered when Curt Schilling lost Game 2, and grew as Dice-K was Dice-K in Game 3, and then blocked traffic with its length when the Sox fell behind in games, 3-1, I tried to tell the masses, “Do not jump, just bring it back to Boston.” Fortunately the Billy-Ball-Community listened.
This year, this post-season, Beckett was to be unbeatable. Once he stopped the hemorrhaging in Game 5, I knew Curt would come up big Saturday night. Minutes before 8, I put the Super Fusion super sushi down in front of the television and I told the increasingly edgy Mrs. Ball that there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Sox would lose. There was no a scintilla of concern. I know Curt Schilling. On a stage this big, when he is pitching not only to a national audience, not only would he be pitching to impress his 2008 employer, but he was making a pitch to Hall of Fame voters and saying his post-season wins should be worth 10 regular season wins apiece and that is why Curt belongs in Cooperstown; with all this going on, I knew without a doubt that there would be Sunday night baseball.
And there was.
I had been saying all along that in spite of Dice-K, the Sox had the edge on Sunday night. I had two reasons, one I knew the word for; the other I didn’t know the word until this morning.
The first word was “history.”
As the redoubtable Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post helps explain, since 1975, the visiting team in Game 6 has led the series in 24 League Championship Series and World Series. On 13 occasions, the visiting team won Game 6. But, 11 times, the home team has won both Games 6 and 7. Here’s the key point - only once, in last season's NLCS, has the home team won Game 6 then failed to win Game 7(the Mets, of course, lost 3-1 to the Cardinals).
This broke a pattern that included the World Series of '78, '81, '82, '85, '86, '87, '91, '92, '01, '02 and '03. One more thing that history shows us - visiting teams that lose Game 6 have often been blown out in Game 7. Go look it up for yourself.
The word that I learned today came to me via email in A Word. A Day and that was:
famulus (FAM-yuh-luhs) noun
An assistant, especially to a magician or a scholar.
You see Red Sox Nation, and in particular, the 37,165 in attendance who create a wall of sound every bit as dramatic and lethal as Phil Spector’s, are the famulus to the Red Sox team.
It is the famulus that gives Dustin Pedroia the power to drive home the big runs. It is the famulus that accelerates Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury to snare a hurtling ball before it is scuffed green from the grass it wants to land on. It is the famulus that supports Kevin Youkilis to wait and wait and wait until he gets the pitch he wants to slam. It is the famulus that empowers Terry Francona to make a Grady Little-like decision and stick with Matsuzaka. It is the famulus that affected Carmona and Sabathia who were a combined 0-3 with a 12.68 ERA (23 runs in 16 1/3 innings) and shut down Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore.
Now as the red of Boston prepares to take on the purple of Colorado, the Red Sox and their fans should stop and thank the Indians catcher Victor Martinez. It was Martinez's two-run homer in the 8th inning of the All-Star game on July 10 that proved to be the winning margin in the AL's 5-4 victory over the National League. That victory determined home field advantage for the World Series and we saw how important that was during the ALCS and it should be no less important in the Series.
This should be one of the best World Series in years because even though I am a bit color blind, I know red and purple clash. But before we get into that, this morning let stop and admire the Red Sox who were fabulous, and the fans who were famulus.
Top of the 2nd
THE POST-SEASON
THE WORLD SERIES SCHEDULE
Boston Red Sox vs. Colorado Rockies
Gm Date Site Time ET (TV)
1 Wed., Oct. 24 @BOS 8 p.m. (FOX)
COL: J. Francis (2-0) BOS: J. Beckett (3-0)
2 Thurs., Oct. 25 @BOS 8 p.m. (FOX)
COL: U. Jimenez (0-0)
3 Sat., Oct. 27 @COL 8 p.m. (FOX)
4 Sun., Oct. 28 @COL 8 p.m. (FOX)
* 5 Mon., Oct. 29 @COL FOX
* 6 Wed., Oct. 31 @BOS FOX
* 7 Thurs., Nov. 1 @BOS FOX
AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Cleveland Indians vs. Boston Red Sox
Gm Date Site Time ET (TV)
1 Fri., Oct. 12 @BOS BOS 10, CLE 3
W: J. Beckett (2-0) L: C. Sabathia (1-1)
2 Sat., Oct. 13 @BOS CLE 13, BOS 6
W: T. Mastny (1-0) L: E. Gagne (0-1)
3 Mon., Oct. 15 @CLE CLE 4, BOS 2
W: J. Westbrook (1-1) L: D. Matsuzaka (0-1)
4 Tues., Oct. 16 @CLE CLE 7, BOS 3
W: P. Byrd (2-0) L: T. Wakefield (0-1)
5 Thurs., Oct. 18 @CLE BOS 7, CLE 1
W: J. Beckett (3-0) L: C. Sabathia (1-2)
6 Sat., Oct. 20 @BOS BOS 12, CLE 2
W: C. Schilling (2-0) L: F. Carmona (0-1)
7 Sun., Oct. 21 @BOS BOS 11, CLE 2
W: D. Matsuzaka (1-1) L: J. Westbrook (1-2)
Red Sox win series 4-3
NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Colorado Rockies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Gm Date Site Time ET (TV)
1 Thurs., Oct. 11 @ARI COL 5, ARI 1
W: J. Francis (2-0) L: B. Webb (1-1)
2 Fri., Oct. 12 @ARI COL 3, ARI 2
W: M. Corpas (1-0) L: J. Valverde (0-1)
3 Sun., Oct. 14 @COL COL 4, ARI 1
W: J. Fogg (2-0) L: L. Hernandez (1-1) S: M. Corpas (4)
4 Mon,. Oct. 15 @COL COL 6, ARI 4
W: M. Herges (1-0) L: M. Owings (0-1) S: M. Corpas (5)
Rockies win series 4-0
Top of the 3rd
THE ROCKTOBER REPORT
Ten of the 25 players on the Rockies' NLCS roster came from other organizations
Player Previous team How acquired
LHP Brian Fuentes Mariners Trade, Dec. 15, 2001
C Yorvit Torrealba Mariners Trade, Dec. 7, 2005
RHP Josh Fogg Pirates Free agent, Feb. 9, 2006
IF Jamey Carroll Nationals For cash, Feb. 11, 2006
2B Kaz Matsui Mets Trade, June 9, 2006
LHP Jeremy Affeldt Royals Trade, July 31, 2006
RHP LaTroy Hawkins Orioles Free agent, Dec. 5, 2006
RHP Taylor Buchholz Astros Trade, Dec. 12, 2006
CF Willy Taveras Astros Trade, Dec. 12, 2006
RHP Matt Herges Marlins Minor league contract, Feb. 12, 2007
EMERGENCY ROCKIES TICKETS
Computers usually activated and staffed during emergencies such as tornadoes, floods, paralyzing snowstorms and fires were to be staffed today so state employees could buy Colorado Rockies World Series tickets — that is until word of the plan got out Friday.
KUSA-TV obtained a copy of an e-mail sent by David Holm, recently the acting director of the state Division of Emergency Management, asking for volunteers to staff the super-fast computers in the Emergency Operations Center.
“I need volunteers to help push buttons in attempting access. You will need to use break time, lunch time or leave time to do this and the only real perk I can offer right now is that if someone does not pay their tickets within 3 days, you will get first crack at them,” the e-mail read.
Susan Kirkpatrick, director of the Department of Local Affairs who initially approved the plan, told the station she did so to prevent her employees from leaving work to try to buy tickets. She said in retrospect, it probably wasn’t the best idea to use the computers. The group Colorado Ethics Watch says the computers should not be used for personal gain.
Taxpayers did not invest in an emergency response center so that state employees could use it for their own personal advantage and buy baseball tickets,” said the group.
The online-only sales will still begin today at 10 a.m. Denver time. Denver Public Library branches that usually open at 10 a.m. were to open 15 minutes early so fans without Internet access at home could buy tickets.
Prices range from $65 to $250 and are limited to four per person. Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary) are scheduled in Denver Oct. 27-29.
Top of the 4th
COMEBACKS, LORETTA
these teams came back from 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-seven series:
TEAM SERIES OPPONENT
2007 Red Sox ALCS Indians
2004 Red Sox ALCS Yankees
2003 Marlins NLCS Cubs
1996 Braves NLCS Cardinals
1986 Red Sox ALCS Angels
1985 Royals WS Cardinals
1985 Royals ALCS Blue Jays
1979 Pirates WS Orioles
1968 Tigers WS Cardinals
1958 Yankees WS Braves
1925 Pirates WS Senators
Top of the 5th
MAYBE THERE WEREN’T ENOUGH COOKIES
For the last 22 seasons, the Cleveland Indians' most dedicated and prayerful fans, the Sisters of the Holy Spirit from Garfield Heights, Ohio, have faithfully delivered boxes of chocolate chip cookies whenever they felt the Tribe needed a boost. The cookies accompanied the team to Boston for the American League Championship Series and were delivered to Jacobs Field for the home stand.
Now you too can get these cookies because they are about to go global according to Sister Mary Assumpta.
The name of their product? Nun Better cookies.
Top of the 6th
HAM AND HILLMAN
The Nippon Ham Fighters, managed by Trey Hillman, are going back to the Japan Series as former Montreal Expos player Fernando Seguignol hit a three-run homer to help the Fighters to a 6-2 victory against the Chiba Lotte Marines, managed by Bobby Valentine, to win the Pacific League championship series, three games to two.
Hillman, formerly a successful manager in the Yankees’ minor league system, will be officially introduced today as the new manager of the Kansas City Royals. The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters introduced Masataka Nashida as their next skipper, in Sapporo.
The Fighters will play the Chunichi Dragons for the Japanese championship beginning Saturday.
Top of the 7th
BECKETT ALCS MVP
Josh Beckett now has an AL Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award to go along with his 2003 World Series MVP and soon will the AL Cy Young Award. Beckett
had a 1.93 ERA in going 2-0 against the Indians, allowing three runs in 14 innings. He's 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA in three postseason starts -- after becoming baseball's first 20-game winner since 2005.
"He's the best pitcher I've ever seen," Boston pitching coach John Farrell said, turning Curt Schilling’s stomach. "He's a special, special pitcher."
Beckett had offered to pitch in relief on two days' rest -- he did that for the Marlins in Game 7 of the 2003 NL Championship Series -- but the Red Sox didn't need him which is just as well because he was uncomfortable in the bullpen.
"He was like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers," reliever Mike Timlin said. "He didn't know what to do, really. He didn't know when to throw, when to warm up. He was occupying himself. He threw a little bit on the side, played some catch with the outfielders."
Beckett is 5-2 with a 1.78 ERA in nine career postseason appearances, numbers that bring to mind pitchers such as Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax. "He's the best pitcher in the game right now," said Curt Schilling, the 2001 World Series co-MVP for Arizona who always has something to add, "and, if it's possible, he gets better in October, and that's saying something. He's a special, special kid with special stuff, and he's at the beginning of a long and storied career."
Top of the 8th
DID YOU KNOW?
Forty years ago, in the 1967 World Series, one game lasted 2:05 and the longest went 2:48.
Top of the 9th
ONE THING FOR SCHILLING, HE’S NEVER CURT
"You have to put that my first choice is to stay here, but if it doesn't work out, the Phillies are absolutely on the short list of places we'd want to go. There are probably still some people in Philadelphia who would rather not have me back. So we'll just have to see how it goes." Curt Schilling, Boston right-hander, on his pending free agency.
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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