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10/25/2007
Billy-Ball Daily
Bill Chuck (Billy-Ball his own self)
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Thursday, October 25, 2007
Top of the 1st
GET TO KNOW YOUR ROCKIES
It’s highlight of the week time and our Senior National Correspondent does not disappoint. In fact, Jerry Malitz is simply getting better in his offerings each week. This edition of (A)Musings From the Cheap Seats tracks some history of the Colorado Rockies that I believe most of the baseball establishment would prefer that fans ignore. But that will not be the case – remember where you read it – here’s Jerry Malitz and here’s your chance to…
GET TO KNOW YOUR ROCKIES
Finally, we are now in the full-blown media throes of the 2007 World Series. In reality, the world might truly be watching – unlike the U.S. east coast where games will average ending after midnight - as players representing eight different nationalities will be populating the green manicured diamonds in Boston and Denver. As might be expected, behind the 33 U.S. players the five from the Dominican Republic will comprise the largest contingent. Speaking of the D.R. did you know that the first player signed by the Rockies franchise was then 18 year-old amateur free agent Neifi Perez? The very same Neifi who still found himself employed, minus an 80-game suspension for a third positive test for a banned stimulant, as a major leaguer in 2007 by the Detroit Tigers. Just think, if Colorado never signed him and gave him his first chance we might not have the infamous Neifi Index that measures a player's ability to contribute to his team's success by not playing.
So much is already known about the Boston Red Sox that one feels empathy for the Colorado Rockies. Of course they should not be confused with the NHL team from 1976-1982 of the same exact name who moved and are now called the New Jersey Devils. That’s an ironic twist of fate with names. The current conglomeration of Colorado Rockies has been linked to a fierce devotion to Christianity (not that there’s anything wrong with that). As Rockies chairman and CEO Charlie Monfort said in June of 2006 in an expressive and multi-textured quote, "We had to go to hell and back to know where the Holy Grail is. We went through a tough time and took a lot of arrows." (With all due apologies to Monty Python and Saint Sebastian.) I don’t know about you, but who cares what their organizational religious philosophy is? I’ve always been a huge admirer of the House of David’s baseball team who barnstormed the country from the 1920’s through the early 50’s. In fact, in the late 60’s I played on a baseball team with college friends and we all looked very much like those HOD stars from the past. When the HOD’s ran out of true devotees who could play at the level that was expected they went out and hired free agents and just asked them to keep their hair long and to grow beards. Not too different from today’s team building philosophy.
If background information is your thing then you might have some fun learning about the ownership of the Colorado Rockies. The CEO who gave us the Holy Grail quote is the chairman of the Rockies but he is far from the sole owner of this extraordinary team. Phil Coors, great grandson of Adolph Coors, chairman of Coors Brewing Company, and defeated 2004 Republican candidate for the Senate from Colorado is another part owner. The sports world would be at a loss without the Coors Brewing company. Worldwide they sponsor soccer teams, rugby teams, racing teams, NFL drafts, hockey leagues, and they will supplant Budweiser and become the official beer of NASCAR (ka-ching!) in 2008. Another part Rockies owner is media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications. They own 1,200 radio stations, 30 television stations, several satellite stations but I like to remember them as the company that banned the playing of upwards of 160 songs on their stations following 9/11. If you feel like scratching your head in wonderment try these banned songs on for size: Get Together by The Youngbloods, What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong and Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da by The Beatles. I wonder if they can now be played at Coors Field?
The Red Sox have a history that is 92 years older than the Rockies and many of their past stars and experiences are legendary in baseball lore. The Rockies are trying to make up for lost time though. They are already on their fourth logo in their short 15-year history. They sport the only humidor used for baseballs (don’t tell me that there aren’t some fine cigars in there as well) in MLB. They also play at the highest altitude in the majors far surpassing Phoenix who is number two - hmm, based on the success of the Rockies and the Diamondbacks this year teams will probably be building stadiums on higher ground in the future.
As far as players go the Rockies were fortunate to sign or select in the 1993 expansion draft a couple of future stalwarts who performed superbly for them and kept them competitive. Andres Big Cat Gallaraga averaged over 34 home runs and 120 RBI’s a season in a five-year period, and Vinny Castilla had over 32 home runs for 5 straight seasons. A few other notables were selected in that expansion draft by the Rockies. The two catchers they drafted were Joe Girardi, former Marlins manager and current Yankees broadcaster who is now interviewing for the vacant Yankees job, and Brad Ausmus, still catching after all these years for the Astros. On a personal note their selection of Yankees 3b Charlie Hayes royally messed up my A.L. only fantasy baseball team as I was planning on keeping Hayes and his $1 salary for the 1993 season. I could have used those 25 home runs and 98 RBI’s he produced for Colorado that year. And in the ultimate slap in the face the Rockies selected second sacker Jody Reed from the Red Sox only to trade him that same day to the Dodgers for Rudy Seanez (who was back with the Dodgers this season) who they then released a few months later. So a four-year starter for the Red Sox was not worth a thing to the Rockies. The Sox have been looking to get even with the Rockies since then. They now have their chance.
And if you needed proof that Colorado is in the less populated Mountain Time Zone, as a final act of misdirected disrespect to the Rockies long-time supposed die-hard Yankees fan Rudy Giuliani (Red Coat Giuliani or Mass.-Kisser as the New York Post headlines screamed out) put his own inimitable stamp on the World Series when he announced at a Boston news conference on Tuesday that he is rooting for the Red Sox to win. He said that as a Yankees fan he always roots for the A.L. team if the Yankees aren’t in the World Series. Right, and as a lifelong Giants fan I’ll root for the Dodgers in a World Series when hell freezes over. But then again I don’t have a January 22 primary in New Hampshire (by a remarkable coincidence Colorado’s primary isn’t until March 7) to worry about.
Baseball, politics and Rocky Mountain High, oh my.
Check out Jerry’s ardhive - http://www.billy-ball.com/AMusings.htm
Top of the 2nd
THE WORLD SERIES SCHEDULE
Boston Red Sox vs. Colorado Rockies
Gm Date Site Time ET (TV)
1 Wed., Oct. 24 @BOS BOS 13, COL 1
W: J. Beckett (4-0) L: J. Francis (2-1)
2 Thurs., Oct. 25 @BOS 8 p.m. (FOX)
COL: U. Jimenez (0-0) BOS: C. Schilling (2-0)
3 Sat., Oct. 27 @COL 8 p.m. (FOX)
BOS: D. Matsuzaka (1-1) COL: J. Fogg (2-0)
4 Sun., Oct. 28 @COL 8 p.m. (FOX)
BOS: J. Lester (0-0) COL: A. Cook (0-0)
* 5 Mon., Oct. 29 @COL FOX
* 6 Wed., Oct. 31 @BOS FOX
* 7 Thurs., Nov. 1 @BOS FOX
* if necessary
Top of the 3rd
MY FIRST WORLD SERIES
I’m becoming a strong believer in life goals, perhaps my list of the things I want to achieve in my life are more mundane than yours, but that is because I have so many important people around me who bring me so much satisfaction that I don’t need to reach far. Last night was another example. I have had opportunities before last night to attend a World Series, but for so many reasons those opportunities were out of reach or filed under the category of “slim and none.” Last night I achieved a life goal.
I have written in this space before about Alexander Bok. This is man who as an attorney has been on the right side of many things and continues to fight for things that make this world a little more palatable. After all is said and done, you will all know of him for his efforts to bring minor league baseball to Boston. His motivation for this has been inspired by his love of the Red Sox and his love of the game. They are so intertwined they are one.
He wants to bring affordable entertainment to this fair town because he understands the joy of family, and for good reason. I have now met Alex’s enthusiastic brother, lovely wife, charming parents, and last night I met two wonderful offspring, Kenzie and Oliver that make me feel very good about the future of the world. Each time I meet Bok buddies, I end up feeling that I am have entered a very special and select world and I am better for that as well.
I have wanted to tell you more about this person because I know him, as I have known so many of you, in person or virtually, solely as a result of Billy-Ball. The people who ask me, “So how do you make money on this?” simply don’t get it. I just respond to them, “It’s free to subscribe, and $25 to end your subscription.”
Knowing my desire to go to World Series game, and so bummed that I had to turn him down last year, I got the call from Alex around 6 last night, “There was a ticket for me, meet me at the ballpark at 7:30.”
As I approached Fenway, about 90 minutes before game time, there was a different feeling in the air from any regular season game. Yes, it was chillier and a few drops were falling, but the energy was rising from the ground up. The phrase “anxious anticipation” describes the atmosphere very well. But there was confidence all around. Under no circumstances would these fans envision the Sox as underdogs or equals. This was Hillary and the opponent was Dennis Kucinich.
After the ticket exchange, Alex and I went our separate ways. Alex to his seats, me to the seats Alex finagled for four of us through his magnificent network. I was to sit in area known as Conig’s Corner. Conig, is short for Tony Conigliaro who was a budding superstar for the Red Sox whose career, and life, was dramatically altered after a Jack Hamilton fastball hit him in the face in 1967.
I had no idea where the seats were, but I have learned over time, at any ballpark I have ever attended, when in doubt head towards right field. The crowds were thick. I overheard one person say as they attempted to cross in front of me, “Uh-oh, we’re going against the tide.” The person she was with warned of the “undertow.”
As I continued my battle toward right field, I was sweating, regretting the second layer I had put on. I asked a couple of employees if I was heading in the right direction and neither had ever heard of where I was seated. This did not bode well. Finally, I found someone who told me just keep going, “eventually you will find a winding staircase on your right.” I expected her to also tell me to follow the white light.
As I trudged along, the crowd started to thin out. I sensed I was in an area few had traversed. I had still not found this “stairway to heaven” but fortunately I spotted a Sherpa who pointed me towards my final destination and I started climbing and climbing.
Forestation began thinning the higher I went and I expected to see bodies along the way, but no one, nothing, had previously survived these stairs. As I reached the top, I still could not figure out where I was going. But I had seen a Fox camera at one point and presumed this was a new reality show.
As you watch the game, high atop the right field stands there is a huge Budweiser sign, I asked an officer where CC was and I didn’t mind that he pointed to the left of the sign, it only disturbed me that he pointed upward.
Conig’s Corner is the ultimate in the Sox efforts to squeeze more seats into this magnificent jewel. There they were, high atop the stands, totally unprotected from the elements, fenced in by chicken wire, separate from the ballpark. You had to go down and up a stair case to get to the seats. No, my error, these are not seats. They are rows of metal benches with no backs and as the elements of the evening descended I found that they were even less appealing when cold and wet.
Go to the highest point of any structure, that has no top and no sides, you will find that number one it is 10 to 15 degrees cooler, no colder, than on sea level. You will also find that a steady drizzle doesn’t make it feel any warmer. Oh yes, and the seats vibrate. Not from the sway of the stadium, but when stomped upon by the offspring of first cousins who would whoop at the top of their lungs at each major occurrence, which I found would include not just a moment of Sox success (which were frequent) but the cleaning of the field, the changing of information on the scoreboard, and the deafening roar of the music which is constant between innings.
As the first pitch approached, as is customary, the fans were standing. As I sat down after that initial strike, I found I was staring at someone’s butt. It seems that the foursome in front of me had no interest in sitting down for the second pitch or through Josh Beckett’s first two strikeouts. I looked at Pete and Terry, two more members of Alex.net, and as we all shrugged, I finally asked the people in front of me to sit down. They did…for one pitch. You see the way the fencing is positioned up there sightlines are sketchy when you sit. They suggested that I move to one of the vacant areas on one of the benches below.
I did and found myself sitting without cohorts, but surrounded by members of John Williams’ band and one woman who intermittingly let out a loud piercing whoop as if suffering from Tourette’s. It was cold. It was wet. It was far from the action, but it did not stop the vociferous members of our section from vehemently protesting umpire’s calls, this, in spite of the fact, that from our vantage point, the batter looked very small, and the ball was almost indistinguishable. They saw red, I saw green. I saw the outfield grass. Nicely mowed, I might add. Oh, I had wanted to attend a World Series game in the worst way and my dream had come true.
Around the 4th inning or so Kenzie arrived. Pete and Terry had already abandoned ship and went inside to the bar area to watch the TV in the warmth. They are nobody’s fools. Kenzie and I went back up our original seating area, leaving the trumpet players and watched the 5th inning, the one in which the Sox scored multiple times and the Rockies began playing as if they wanted everyone to attribute their performance on rust as opposed to sheer ineptitude. Speaking of rust, it was still raining.
I have been dieting. I have been watching everything that I eat, but I was really cold and I gave in and bought a hot chocolate from a passing vendor. I needn’t have worried, it was neither. It was tepid and bore no resemblance to chocolate. Initially I feared that it would reignite my sugar addiction, but the first sips of this brown warm water quickly allayed those fears. Maybe it was me, so asked Kenzie to taste it; it wasn’t me.
At the end of the 5th, Kenzie and I headed downtown to meet Alex and Oliver so that we could perform a prisoner exchange wherein Alex and I would sit in his seats and the brother and sister act would be reunited in Guantanamo or Camp Conigliaro. It took us a full half inning to reach our destination.
From Alex’s seats, you can barely see where I had been sitting and fortunately, you can’t hear the screamers. The first thing I did when I arrived was lean back, something I had not been able to do for the first two thirds of the game and then I relaxed, watched baseball and reflected on how lucky I was to be at Game 1 of the 2007 World Series. What a thrill!
In the immortal words of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, “Oh, what a lucky man I am.”
Thank you, Alex.
Top of the 4th
WHO IS ON YOUR ULTIMATE WORLD SERIES TEAM?
Check out my picks - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21430582/?pg=2#spt_WorldSeries_ultimate_team
Top of the 5th
BOSTON OPENS SERIES WITH 13-1 ROUT
• Boston set a record for runs and victory margin in an opener and finished with 17 hits.
• Dustin Pedroia sent Jeff Francis' second pitch over the Green Monster in left. The only other player to homer starting a Series was Baltimore's Don Buford against Tom Seaver and the 1969 Miracle Mets.
• They are the first club with eight doubles in a Series game since 1925.
• The 1925 Pirates set the all-time World Series record for extra-base hits in a game with nine. The Red Sox tied that record with two outs in the 5th inning.
• Eleven Sox runs came with two outs.
• The Red Sox scored 13 runs after only 14 outs.
• David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Julio Lugo had three hits apiece.
• Ortiz has a .549 post-season on-base percentage. Manny has a .600 on-base percentage in the post-season.
• Exceptions: Every Red Sox had at least one hit except Jacoby Ellsbury. Every Red Sox had an RBI, except for Mike Lowell.
• Boston had eight walks, including three in a row with the bases loaded.
• The 12 combined doubles were a Series record.
• The 1932 New York Yankees and 1996 Braves scored 12 runs each in their openers.
• The 1906 Chicago White Sox and 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates also had eight doubles.
• The Red Sox have scored in double figures in three straight postseason games.
• The Red Sox have a five game Series winning streak for the first time since 1915-16.
• The Red Sox have outscored opponents 43-6 in their last four games.
• In the first five innings against Colorado, the Red Sox were 11-for-15 (.733) when batting with two outs.
• Through six innings, Rockies pitcher threw 180 pitches.
• Entering this game, the Rockies had trailed in only three of their 65 postseason innings this year.
• LaTroy Hawkins retired the Red Sox in order in the 8th, it was the only time that a Rockies pitcher had a 1-2-3 inning.
• Jeff Francis tossed 103 pitches in four innings and allowed for six runs on 10 hits and he wasn’t the worst pitcher of the night.
• Franklin Morales got just two outs and was charged with seven runs for a 94.50 Series ERA. He was called for the first Series balk since David Weathers of the Yankees in 1996.
• Ryan Speier’s pitching line: 0.0 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks. He threw 16 pitches, four strikes.
• Rockies gave up eight runs to Arizona in the entire NLCS.
• On the Canadian front, North Delta, B.C., native Jeff Francis had a bad night but, Eric Gagne of Mascouche, Que., pitched an inning of scoreless relief for the Red Sox.
• Brad Hawpe struck out to end the game, and went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.
Top of the 6th
THE UNBEATABLE BECKETT
Josh Beckett allowed six hits in seven innings, struck out nine and walked one, improving to 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA in the postseason this year and has won five straight postseason starts. Beckett dominated the Rockies with 95-97 mph fastballs the first time through the order, then started mixing in a 77 mph curve. Beckett struck out the first four batters he faced, and five of the first six. He got 10 more runs of support than he needed.
Beckett's pitched 30 innings in the 2007 postseason and allowed four runs, striking out 35 and walking two. He improved to 6-2 lifetime in October (with four wins this postseason) while lowering his postseason ERA to 1.71.
Top of the 7th
TONIGHT’S PROBABLE PITCHERS
Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez (0-0, 1.59) was 4-4 with a 4.28 ERA in 15 regular-season starts, but has given up only two runs and eight hits over 11 1-3 innings in two postseason outings.
Sox starter Curt Schilling (2-0, 3.38 ERA) won both Game 6 of the ALCS and Game 2 of the World Series in 2004, and he'll try to do the same in 2007, sans bloody sock. He is 10-2 with a 2.25 ERA in 18 career postseason starts. He is 11-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 26 outings -- 25 starts against Colorado. Todd Helton is 18-for-54 (.333) with five homers and six doubles against the Senator.
Top of the 8th
DID YOU KNOW?
The winner of the opener has gone on to win nine of the last 10 World Series and 62 of 102 overall. While the 1959 Chicago White Sox and 1996 Atlanta Braves both won their openers by 11 runs, they went on to lose the Series.
Top of the 9th
CONGRATS TO THE 1959 WHITE SOX AND 1960 NEW YORK YANKEES
Thank you, Brian Engelhardt.
As too many members of Red Sox Nation were counting their chickens last night, I reminded them of the 1960 World Series in which the Yankees won Game 2, 16-3; Game 3, 10-0; and Game 6, 12-0. Please note those are only three wins. The Pirates won four games, the finale on Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off homer.
Brian Engelhardt already has added that in the 1959 World Series, the White Sox defeated the Dodgers in Game 1, 11-0, but ultimately lost the Series four games to two.
The suggestion here is that despite the fact that Scrubs returns to your TV lineup tonight, it probably is worth checking in to see how the Rockies are doing. They shouldn’t be so rusty tonight.
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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