Jack Curry had a good article on the Yankees’ Captain Clutch, Derek Jeter yesterday in The Times. Jeter may not be as great as Nomar Garciaparra or Alex Rodriguez, but he is one of the best big game performers of his generation:

“Jeter is the most relaxed person that I’ve seen in the postseason,” Reggie Jackson, the Hall of Famer, said in a telephone interview. “I would relate him to the way Ron Guidry approached it or Catfish Hunter or Mariano Rivera. There’s a relaxed way to go about playing. At the same time, there’s tension. You have to be mentally and physically alert. Jeter is always ready.”

Curry continues:

When the calendar turns to October, Jeter embraces the enhanced atmosphere and the brighter spotlight. Jeter’s 107 postseason hits are a major league record. Jackson, who has advised Jeter about the power of believing – that you are supposed to succeed in pressure situations because you have done it before – said Jeter thrives because he has the talent and because he has the mental makeup to remain placid in precarious spots.

“The postseason is not just another game so you’re not going to play it the same way,” Jackson said. “You’re going to be nervous. There are going to be butterflies. But Jeter understands how to control the butterflies by getting them in the right formation. He does that very well.”

Once again, I am reminded of a bit that Tom Boswell once wrote:

Baseball has a name for the player who, in the eyes of his peers, is well attuned to the demands of his discipline; he is called “a gamer.” The gamer does not drool, or pant, before the cry of “Play ball.” Quite the opposite. He is the player, like George Brett or Pete Rose, who is neither too intense, nor too lax, neither lulled into carelessness in a dull August doubleheader nor wired too tight in an October play-off game. The gamer may scream and curse when his mates show the first hints of laziness, but he makes jokes and laugs naturally in the seventh game of the Series.

Above all, this Ideal which exists only in abstraction seems to have an internal tuning fork which gives him perfect emotional pitch. Strike that fork before each game, and the player vibrates with just the proper energy and spark, just the right relaxation and steadiness, which the game has always required. In other words, baseball’s highest value–at least during those hours on the field–is the ability to achieve a blend of intensity and underlying serenity which, in daily life, we might call mental health.

My brother has always said that the reason Jeter is a great player has more to do with good parenting than anything else. He may not be the best talent, but he is mentally well-adjusted. Jeter’s personality is perfected tuned to what he’s doing; he’s confident without being brash, secure without being flashy. He is a true leader.

“When you look across the room and you see No. 2 on your team, you know he’s going to be ready,” Jackson said. “You know he’s going to be calm. Everyone sees that and it makes them calm, too. The leader of all of this is Jeter. I put him on a high level as a postseason player.”

I was thumbing through one of Tom Boswell’s collections last night (“Why Time Begins on Opening Day”) after the Sox-A’s game, and came across a piece about that featured some telling thoughts on George Steinbrenner. The article, “Trader Jack, Whitey the Rat,” was written 20 years ago, but much of what Boswell wrote, still applies today:

As resident dissident Graig Nettles, who wore a “Fido” T-shirt because he was always in the owner’s doghouse, once said, “Some teams are under the gun. We’re under the thumb.”

Thus Steinbrenner has proved himself to be the perfect Yankee owner. The man and his team have become, over the years, a standing ethical question about means and ends, even about American values and capitalist morality. The point that’s often missed is that the Yankees have been at the heart of debates since our grandfathers’ times. It’s a baseball fan’s birthright to maintain a lifelong ambivalence toward the Yankees, respecting their great players while condemning an ownership that pays cash for its Ruths and Jacksons, brazenly buys players for every stretch drive and regularly cashiers lovable old managers like Stengel and Lemon [and Joe Torre].

Contrary to the highbrow consensus, the Yankees’ corporate bad manners and their poised athletic talent, their repetitious controversies and their ostentatious victories and, above all, their bickering, slapstick collapses, aren’t “bad for baseball” but in fact may be the most compelling public theater the game offers.

…Also, Steinbrenner is the most transparent sort of paper villain. Everybody sees through him, so nobody really fears or truly hates him…In one sense, Steinbrenner’s place in baseball history is clear. His purpose was to devalue victory, prove its essential emptiness as an end in itself.

But Boswell also appreciated Steinbrenner’s significance as the first owner to embrace free agency:

Steinbrenner alone recognized that the moment in baseball history had come when an unregenerate Social Darwinist might flourish—that is, if his team played in New York, if his team won, if he got huge local TY contracts and big crowds, and if he cashed in on the bonanza of postseason play. Steinbrenner used all of his club’s financial power to take advantage of a marketplace biased as never before toward wealthy franchises.

Steinbrenner saw the chance, at least in theory, to build an almost defeat-proof organization–a leakproof ship with a double hull. The Yanks not only amassed frontline stars, but collected more second-line stars than they could ever use. This compulsive duplication of talent was a system. George III understood that players got hurt, got old, got lazy or went sour. The solution was to have so many that only a catastrophe could keep you from winning, or at least being so close to the top that you remained where the stay-ahead cash was. That’s the insurance policy nobody ever thought of—or was willing to pay the premiums on. While other clubs built one team, then trusted to luck, the Yanks assembled a team-and-a-half and thus bought their luck.

George’s luck ran out in the ’80s, especially toward the end of the decade, and of course it hit rock bottom in the early ’90s when he was kicked out of the game for the second time in his career. But much of what Boswell wrote in 1983 still holds true, dont’ you think?

He doesn’t mention what a sore winner, and a lousy loser George is. But if the Sox take a couple of games from the Yanks, we’ll see and hear ol’ George in fine form. And if the Yanks manage to get past Boston, George is likely to respond as if he had just watched the last act of “Camillie.”

The Oakland A’s trailed the Red Sox by one run in the bottom of the ninth last night. The first two batters reached base on walks, and then the A’s sacrificed—?!?!—the runners over. Jermaine Dye was then pinch-hit for—?!?!?!—and the last three hitters were unable to put the ball in play, drawing a walk and two strike outs. The Red Sox bullpen, which has been much maligned all season, came through when they needed to.

The never-say-die Red Sox completed a dramatic comeback to advance to the ALCS, and will face the Yankees tomorrow night in the Bronx. Pedro Martinez got the win, and Derek Lowe saved the day, recording the last two outs in the ninth. Barry Zito surrendered a three-run blast to Manny Ramirez–who would have made Alfonso Soriano proud hot dogging it around the bases–and that proved to be the difference.

One thing for sure: It’s going to be a long, cold winter in the Bay. (Red Sox fans can relate.)

The ninth inning surely took years off the lives of Red Sox fans. The Fox network kept cutting back to a live feed at a Boston bar, and by the middle of the inning, the place was suddenly still, waiting for something to go wrong. Fox also showed Red Sox fans in the crowd in Oakland, and cross-cut between shots of the Sox and A’s benches. Seeing virtually everyone in the park reduced to a nervous wreck was a memorable sight, for sure. Oh, the tension.

But this year’s Red Sox have nine lives, and plenty of chutzpah to go with it. The A’s opened the door for them, and they slipped through it, and got what they’ve wanted all year: a shot at the Yankees to get to the World Serious.

This may be as good as it gets for baseball, and for one of its great rivalries—at least as far as the Sox are concerned—but it’s not going to do wonders for my mental health. And shit, I’m a relatively well-adjusted guy; think what it’s going to do for the rest of the fanatics in Boston and New York.

Starting today, the fireworks will start. The Yankees’ paper lion owner, G.M. Puff’n’stuff, has already issued his battle hymm, and I’m sure the higher ups in the Boston organization will start to tweak him, and the ever-sensitive Yankee fans shortly. When Johnny Damon wakes up from the terrible collision he suffered last night, I’m sure he’ll start running his mouth too. Todd Walker, Pedro Martinez and Kevin Millar: we’re ready for your close ups.

It is likely that Tim Wakefield will get the ball in Game One for Boston. He’ll face Mike Mussina. I would expect that Derek Lowe would go in Game Two against Andy Pettitte. Then, Pedro vs. Rocket in Boston on Saturday, followed by Boomer vs. Burkett or Suppan on Sunday.

The pitching match-ups clearly favor New York. If the Yankees starters do their jobs, the Bombers should advance. But Boston’s offense is a powder keg waiting to be lit. It is unlikely that they will go out like the impatient Twins, and therefore, one of the Yankees’ major weakness’—their middle relief—will have to perform. The Sox pen performed admirably against Oakland, while the Yankees’ pen rested. Who will play a significant role: Jeff Nelson, or Jose Contreras?

On the other hand, the Yankees offense is starting to catch fire too, and they will put more pressure on Boston’s bullpen. Both teams have shakey defense, and both teams know each other inside and out. I expect for us to be in for a week and a half of gut-wrenching games, sleepless nights, and emergency trips to the shrink.

Tim Hudson had to leave yesterday’s game after one inning of work. The reason? Hudson strained his left oblique muscle. According to the
San Francisco Gate, Hudson may have injured himself in a brawl the night before at a Boston bar:

According to a security guard and a member of the bar staff, Hudson got into a skirmish with a Red Sox fan and threw several punches, including one that clipped a bartender.

“It was a big melee. He was throwing haymakers,” said the security guard,

who spoke on the condition his name not be used.

“Honest to God, he’s 160 pounds and it took eight big guys to hold him back,” the staff member said of Hudson. “It was five minutes of mayhem.”

Believe it or not…

I wonder how many fortunate breaks the Red Sox have enjoyed in their storied history? We sure know about the ones that have gone against them. But if Pedro Martinez can lead the Sox to victory tonight, the shoddy umpiring in Game 3 will stand as one of the best presents Sox fans have ever had. (Aside: if there was campus rioting in Boston after just one victory, will the town go down in flames if they ever win it all?) Mike C has written an extensive piece on the obstruction rule, and it’s his opinion that the A’s were robbed, regardless of their own stupidity. Mike’s analysis is thorough and in depth, as it always is.

Take a peek, don’t sleep.

Check out the following blogs for the latest playoff news:

Futility Infielder
Universal Baseball Blog, Inc.
Aaron Gleeman
Seth Speaks
Twins Geek
The Cub Reporter
Will Carroll’s Weblog
Bambino’s Curse
Elephants in Oakland
Replacement Level Yankees Blog
Clifford’s Big Red Blog
Baseball Musings

Yankees 8, Twins 1

David Wells didn’t want yesterday to be his last start as a Yankee, and his offense made it easy for him. The Yankees busted out in the fourth inning at the Metrodome, scoring six runs, chasing Johan Santana from the game, and effectively ending the Twins season. Nick Johnson ended an 0-27 slump with a clutch, two-out double; Giambi, Bernie—who had a nice offensive series–and Matsui also had doubles, and Alfonso Soriano added a 2 run single.

That was all Boomer would need, and he pitched into the eighth, allowing just one run. Derek Jeter, who was robbed of a home run by Shannon Stewart in the sixth inning, put the cherry on top of the victory, with a solo homer off of Easy Eddie G in the ninth.

This was far and away, the least dramatic and exciting game of the weekend, and that was just fine as far as I’m concerned. (I was able to digest and fall asleep peacefully last night.) The Yankees wash the sour taste of last year’s playoff defeat out of their mouths, and come home, a confident bunch, to play for the pennant.

Yipee.

In the late game, Kerry Wood dominated the Braves once again, and the Cubbies won their first playoff serious in 95 years. Chicago will play the Marlins for the pennant. Now, who would have guessed? Fantastic. Congrats to Sam Plummer, Will Carroll, Ruz, and all the Cub fans out there. Enjoy it.

The A’s blew another golden opportunity to polish off the Red Sox yesterday, but Boston’s bats did the job against Oakland’s bullpen, scoring two runs in the eighth inning and forcing a Game 5 tonight in the Bay Area. It was the eighth time in four years that Oakland has failed to clinch a playoff series.

The A’s had the bases loaded in both the first and second innings against John Burkett and came away with one run. They eventually caught up to him and held a 4-2 lead in the middle innings. But the Sox fought back. Todd Walker hit another homer, and David Ortiz came through with the game winning hit–his first of the series. Manny Ramirez, who spent more time predicting home runs than hitting them, scored the go-ahead run.

It was a gorgeous day in Boston. The clouds were out early, but the sun was brilliant late in the game, creating an array of memorable pictures. At one point, every shot of the field looked like it was composed by Orson Welles. When the Sox were still behind in the eighth, I noticed smiling faces in the first couple of rows behind the plate. Later, during Manny or Ortiz’s at bat—I can’t remember which—half of the fans behind home plate were standing, cheering, while the other half remained seated.

It illustrated the split in Red Sox Nation: the cautious, suspertitious half, and the wild, cowboy-up half. Many Sox fans must have been waiting for the bottom to drop out, but it never happened. Oakland was too busy living out its own version of The Curse. Regardless of what happens now, Fenway Park enjoyed a great day.

I won’t lie. The A’s performance made me sick. There is nothing I enjoy more than watching the Sox lose in Boston, yet at the same time, I’m not surprised by what transpired. Not so much from Oakland’s pernt of view, but from Boston’s. This Sox team has refused to be buried all season. The bigger the hole they’ve been in, the stronger they come back. Make no mistake, Oakland’s ineptitude has allowed Boston back into the serious, but Boston took advantage of the opportunity, and here they are, on the verge of moving on. It doesn’t matter if they are winning ugly; like Al Davis said, “Just win, baby.”

Tonight gives Game 5 in Oakland. Pedro Martinez, the man Sox fans want most in a one-game-take-all scenerio, will face last year’s Cy Young winner, Barry Zito. Zito will pitch on three days rest for the first time in his career; Martinez goes on four days rest. The Sox have the momentum, they are rolling, and I fully expect them to win tonight, and then roll back east to face the Bombers on Wednesday.

Having said that, I’ll be pulling for Zito and the A’s.

For more on Saturday’s wild game, check out Joe Sheehan’s free column over at Baseball Prospectus. Sheehan is one of the best baseball commentators going, so check it out.

It’s just about 11:30 on Saturday night, and I’ve been watching baseball since 1:00 this afternoon. I can’t remember a better day for the game in recent memory. It started yesterday evening when I returned home to catch the second half of the Marlins-Giants game. Pudge Rodriguez had one of those kind of superstar performances that will stay with him—and us—for a long time. He was virtually everywhere, making things happen, all day long: hitting an early home run, throwing a runner out a third, crashing into the second baseman to break up a double play, and eventually smacking the game-winning hit into right field.

Florida upset the Giants, and Jose Cruz Jr. opened the door for heartbreak. Later on, Mark Prior and Greg Maddux lived up to advanced billing. Prior was masterful, pitching a complete game two-hitter, and Maddux was very good, allowing 2 runs, but only for six innings. The Cubs won, 3-1.

The Marlins and Giants played another spirted game today, while the Yankess took on the Twins. I missed most of the National League affair, but saw the crucial highlights, and then the finale. And what a dramatic ending it was! Pudge Rodriguez was involved again, as he held onto a throw from Jeff Conine to tag JT Snow out to end the game. The Giants season ended with a plate at the plate: believe it. Snow, the tying run, crashed into Rodriguez, but it was in vain. Earlier, Rodriguez had scored a run by knocking the ball out of the San Francisco catcher’s glove, and now with the game on the line, Pudge held onto the ball, and was immediately tackled by his own pitcher Ugie Urbina as the Marlins upset San Francisco.

It is a dark day for the Giants and their fans. After losing the World Serious last year, this one now has to smart all the more.

Meanwhile, Roger Clemens made what could be the final start of his career in America’s heartland this afternoon and he made the most of it, allowing one run over seven innings. (And no matter what happens to the Yankees in the coming days, Boss George assures us that Joe Torre will return in 2004. Heard that one before?…) Hideki Matsui hit a two-run dinger early in the game, and Bernie Williams added an RBI single later on.

That was all the Yankees would need. Mariano Rivera came on in the eighth inning for the second straight game, and for the second straight game he retired all six batters that he faced, bringing Yankee fans back to the glory years of the late 1990s. Mariano has faced twelve Twin batters in two games and retired them all in order. Mmmm.

Final: Yankees 3, Twins 1.

The Twins got good pitching from their bullpen again, and the Yankee bats were unable to get rolling, but this game was all about Rocket and Rivera, who overpowered the Twins offense. The Bombers will send Boomer Wells to the mound tomorrow afternoon against Johan Santana.

Next up, the Cubs and Braves faced off again in Chicago. It was a brilliant, sunny day, and Chipper Jones blasted two homers for the Braves, who held on for a 6-4 win. Not for nothing, but I called Chipper’s second homer. And as nuts as this sounds, I was rooting for the Braves to win. It’s not that I dislike the Cubs. If they win, I’d be more than pleased, but there is something in me that is pulling for Atlanta. No matter how good they are in the regular season, people tend to dismiss them. More to to point, if Atlanta forced a Game 5, the Yankees would play on Sunday at 4 pm and not 7:30. I wanted to watch the Bombers at 4, so I got my wish.

John Smoltz, who looked hurt in the ninth inning, gutted out the save, getting Sammy Sosa to fly out deep to center to end the game. It was a classic match up of star power. If Sammy had hit the ball six feet further, the game would have been tied. When it left the bat, I got goosebumps for a flash. Just like I did when Mike Piazza made the last out of the 2000 World Serious. It looked good off the bat. The crowd surged and then exhauled.

What did they really expect? They are Cubs fans, after all. Did they think their boys were going to make it easy on them?
Lastly, the Oakland A’s pissed away a golden opportunity to put away the Red Sox for good. The game was another tense contest, but it was also a fundamentally sloppy affair, with both teams making errors and collecting few hits. In the sixth, the A’s blew two runs by a lack of focus and poise. If they lose the serious, this inning will go down in Boston and Oakland lore.

Eric Bryne was thrown out at home on an infield hit after colliding with Boston’s catcher, Jason Varitek. Bryne never touched the plate. The ball got away from Varitek, but Bryne shoved the catcher when he started after the ball, and then Bryne started to hobble off the field, unware that he hadn’t touched home. Varitek retrieved the ball, and tagged the unsuspecting Bryne for the out. Eric Chavez was the on deck hitter, and he should have been coaching Bryne to go back and touch the base, but he fell asleep at the wheel. It was an inexcusable error on Chavez’s part.

This huge error was outdone moments later when Miguel Tejada rounded third and headed for home on a Nomar Garciaparra error. The tying run had already scored when Tejada ran into the third baseman. (Jason Varitek had been awarded home earlier in the game, scoring Boston’s only run, on an obstruction call on Chavez, and Tejada.) The ump at third signaled interference by raising his hand, and Tejada slowed down. The throw from left field was ten feet up the line, but since Miggy had stopped running, the Sox tagged him and he was called out.

There will be much debate about whether the umps made the right call–there was a lengthy meeting with the entire crew following the play—but the bottom line is, Tejada was not awarded home plate and the A’s had squandered their second run of the innning. One could argue that Tejada had to sell the call, and that is why he stopped. You could also say that he assumed he would get to go home because that’s what had happened to Varitek earlier in the game. However, he chose to give up on the play. If he continued to run hard and finish the play, he would have scored, and the arguement would have effectively been moot.

All I could think about was when Jason Giambi scolded Tejada in Game 5 of the 2001 playoffs. (Derek Jeter would never make a mistake this this.) Both bullpens then did fantastitic relief jobs until Rich Harden gave up a two-out, pinch hit, walk off bomb to Trot Nixon in the bottom of the 11th.

It was fitting that Nixon got the game winner. He’s Mr. Red Sox as far as I’m concerned, and I’m glad he got to be the hero. But Boston did everything they could to not win the game. Their monstrous offense was impotent tonight against Ted Lily, who pitched a stellar game. Several members of the Sox actually taped Lily’s names on the back of their jackets, and stood at the top step of the Boston dugout, promting the fans to heckle Oakland’s young southpaw.

What a class bunch of guys. Kevin Millar, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the heart of the Red Sox offense, failed to cowboy up for the Home Nine, but fortunately for them, Oakland had other things than winning on their minds. If the A’s go on to lose this series, it’s going to get even colder than it already feels by the Bay.

They come back and play the early game tomorrow. Pedro will pitch in Game Five Monday, if it gets that far. Old man Burkett goes against Tim Hudson, who will pitch on three days rest, at 1:00 Sunday.

If tomorrow is anything like today, we’re in for a treat.

Tonight’s pitching match up pits Greg Maddux against Mark Prior, and it has been receiving heaps of hype. And why not? Maddux is a Hall of Famer, and Prior is just about the best young pitcher since Tom Seaver. I’ve been asking heads around the office today who they think will be stronger, and to a man, they’ve all said Prior. Maddux’s reputation as a seven inning pitcher figures heavily in this line of thinking, but dag, can’t the man get any respect at all?

I agree that it’s easier to put your stock in a power pitcher than a soft-tosser when it comes to the post season. Still, I would love to see Maddux pitch a great game, win or lose. I also hope it does turn out to be a classic duel, but quite frankly, all the hype makes my skeptical.

Either way, all eyes will be on Wrigley Field tonight. For all the latest—at least from the Cubbies pernt of view, be sure and check in on Ruz’s Cub Reporter blog.

The Yanks play tomorrow afternoon at one. I’ll most likely be back with a post late tomorrow or sometime on Sunday.

Enjoy the Serious’.

There was a report in Newsday yesterday that Andy Pettitte is leaning towards leaving the Bronx at the end of the season, when he becomes a free agent:

Since last offseason, and continuing through this 2003 campaign, Andy Pettitte has told friends that he will leave the Yankees when he becomes a free agent this winter. In these conversations, he has expressed a desire to escape the Yankees’ increasingly chaotic atmosphere; he has lamented the departures of teammates such as Paul O’Neill and Scott Brosius, whom he considered good friends; and he has longed to be closer to his Deer Park, Texas, home, where his family resides.

Clemens, his best friend on the current team, intends to retire. Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, with whom Pettitte has developed a father-son relationship during the past eight years, could retire, or he could be fired. Torre also could be let go, if the Yankees fail to meet chaos-starter George Steinbrenner’s expectations this postseason.

Funny, but Pettitte had a lot of pressure to prove himself this year, and he did just that by winning 20 games and having a great second half. He pitched a great game last night. If there are a handful of teams fighting for his services in the off season what are the chances that the Yankees will over pay to keep in him pinstripes?

Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus wrote a touching—and fitting—tribute to Edgar Martinez a few days ago. If you missed it, I suggest that you give it a look, as it illustrates what a terrific player Edgar has been—even if you are prone to frown on the DH:

There are hints that Edgar might not retire: he wanted to hit .300, and he missed it by three hits. He wanted to retire to spend more time with his family, but his son told him he’d rather see his dad play. Edgar’s said he’ll talk to his wife, and it’ll be a while before he makes any decisions. He probably won’t even hold a press conference.

Some time this winter, one of the thousands of people who stood and applauded and would not sit down Sunday will walk by Safeco Field some cold, drizzly afternoon and hear a crack every couple of seconds, and curious, they’ll walk around the stadium for a glimpse inside to see Edgar, bundled up, pitching machine set on the mound with a huge bucket of baseballs, practicing his swing, roping balls down the left field line, double, double, double. And the fan’s going to watch for a minute, take out his cell phone, and start calling everyone in the city. And if it doesn’t happen, we’re still going to walk by and listen for it, and if there’s nothing, well, maybe he’ll be there the next day.

And if he doesn’t come back, at least we told him we loved him.

Every organization should be so lucky to have a trooper, and a champ like Edgar star on its team for the better part of 20 years.

Rich Lederer has been writing pointed and convincing player analysis’ for the better part of the summer, and he’s back with two more: one on the AL MVP, and the other, on Mr. Cub, Slammin’ Sammy Sosa.

Both pieces are winning as always.

Christian Ruzich, The Cub Reporter, who runs all.baseball.com has added Mike C of Mike’s Baseball Rants to the roster. Mike offers great baseball analysis and biting send-ups of the baseball media. He’s a top notch blogger, for sure. Welcome aboard, brother.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire attributes his cherce to pull Brad Radke out of last night’s game on the lengthy 7th inning “God Bless America” stretch at the Stadium:

“It’s ridiculous that my starting pitcher has to wait six, seven minutes before he pitches in the seventh, and their guy gets the normal break,” Gardenhire said. “What happens? He’s throwing great, and he goes out there and the first hitter . . . he plunks him right in the rear end.

“That’s the second time it’s happened to us here. We had a pitcher going great, and then he comes out after the extra-long break and he’s not the same.”

Gardenhire has a point, but it also makes me wonder if Joe Torre will find something to bitch about in the Dome? Not that it is any kind of advantage for the home nine or anything.

Oh, yeah…

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the Yankees-Sox one-game playoff game. It is famously known as the “Bucky Dent” game, but it was much more than that, at least as far as the Yankees are concerned. Lou Pinella made two plays that were just as important to the Bomber’s victory, and oh, by the way, Reggie Jackson’s 8th inning solo bomb to straight-away center turned out to be the difference.

Blaming Dent is like blaming Buckner. It sounds great but doesn’t tell the whole story.

The Red Sox fell to the A’s (5-1) for the second time in 24 hours yesterday afternoon in Oakland and now face an uphill battle to make it past the first round. Barry Zito, last year’s Cy Young award winner, pitched seven effective innings, with a devastating curve ball that vexed Red Sox batters all day. Oakland scored all of its runs early off Tim Wakefield, aided by poor fielding from Manny Ramirez and Todd Walker.

But as bad as things may look for Sox Nation, the A’s have been in this position—up 2-0—before. Oakland hasn’t won anything yet, and the Red Sox have played well at home all year:

“They may be jumping off bridges,” Garciaparra said [of Sox Nation], “but I guarantee they’ll get out of the water and they’ll be out there supporting us on Saturday.”

Still, the Sox are going to have to ‘Cowboy Up’ with the quickness in order to get back in this serious. Just ask the rifleman, Kevin Millar:

“What’s left is we’re going back to Fenway Park, where we kill the baseball,” said Kevin Millar, the verbal leader of Papa Jack’s Band of hitters. “What’s left is we’re ready for our fans to be behind us. Sox Nation. We’re going back to our place, and I think it’s going to be a different atmosphere.”

Trot Nixon isn’t ready to pack it in just yet either:

“This loss today shows you how important the first game was,” added Nixon. “Now our backs are against the wall, but it seems like in the past when the Red Sox’ backs were against the wall, there’s been times they saddled up the horses and rode into battle.”

The Fens will be rocking tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if they go home to the all-too familiar silence of a New England winter, or if they send their team back to Oakland in wild style. Stranger things have happened.

About a month before September 11th, 2001, a new spanish restaurant opened on Broadway between 231rst and 232nd streets. It is one of at least a dozen joints in the city called Malecon, which I believe is a beach town in the Dominican. This particular Malecon was a cleaner and smarter version of the rice and beans place directly across the street—naturally the food wasn’t as good.

But no matter, it became my new stop for chicken, plantains and rice. Run by two brothers who love the Yankees—or J’ankees as it were—we spent a lot of time during that emotional 2001 post season talking baseball. But the day after the Diamondbacks tripped up the Bombers in Game 7, Javier, the good looking brother–well dressed, and heavily cologned—was devastated.

Of course, I had been up half the night myself, but come the next day, I tried to put a positive spin on it all. And I put all my hopes in one basket: the Yanks needed to go out and sign Jason Giambi. I pleaded with Javier to relax because the Bombers were going to get this slugger and we would be OK.

But he didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to feel better. So I left him alone. During the following weeks, when I came through to get some grub, I kept up the Giambi talk. Pretty soon, everytime I walked through the door, Javier and the boys working the counter greeted me as Giambi.

Except it sounded more like, “G’om-Bee.” Then of course, Giambi signed with New York, and the nickname stuck. As time passed, the pronounciation became more exaggerated, more sing-songy. Each time I stepped foot into the Malecon, about eight guys greeted me with a chorus of “Gee-oh’mm-beee.” I felt like Norm from “Cheers.” I called each one of them “G’om-bee” in return to make all things equal. It reached the point where they didn’t remember what my real name is and vice versa. We were all “G’om-bee.”

I’ve pulled for Mr. Giambi hard, ever since he came to New York. In fact, I wrote him an eight-page, welcome-to-New York letter during his first spring training. It was the first fan letter I’ve ever written to a ballplayer. I can’t fully explain why I felt the need to connect with the big lug, but perhaps after losing key figures like O’Neill, Martinez and Brosius, I wanted to believe the Yanks would be in good hands.

I’m proud of the way Giambi has played through injuries this season, and hope that the whispers of his decline are premature. But as one AL scout told Ken Rosenthal this week:

“He’s starting to break down physically

The Yankees received a visit from Mr. October, Reggie Jackson at practice yesterday. The legendary pressure performer chatted with Jason Giambi and Nick Johnson.

Joe Torre spoke with the team briefly before practice, and the Yankees sound as if they are loose and confident; expect some line up changes in Game Two.Andy Pettitte takes the ball tonight and makes another huge start for New York.

I know this is a bit belated, but there are some great blog writers who are covering this serious: Jay Jaffe, John Bonnes, Larry Manhken, Aaron Gleeman and Irina Paley. Oh, and my man Cliff has a thing or three to say as well.

Game One between the Red Sox and the A’s lasted well over four hours, and when it was all over—at approximately a 2:45 am est—Red Sox fans were not going to fall asleep easily. Pedro Martinez threw 130 pitches and left with a one-run lead, and Boston was one out away of putting the game away in the ninth, but Eubiel Durazo smacked a game-tying single off of Alan Embree to force extra innings.

Derek Lowe, Boston’s Game Three starter, pitched two innings. In the bottom of the 12th, with the bases loaded and two out, Oakland catcher Ramon Hernandez pulled the rug out from everyone by laying down a bunt. The squeeze was on, and Eric Chavez—who may have saved the game in the top of the 12th when he robbed Gabe Kapler of a double—raced home from third with the winning run. Oakland takes Game One in dramatic fashion, 5-4.

It was a familiar theme for Boston: the bullpen failed. According to The Boston Globe:

Kim blew the save by striking again – literally. After walking Jermaine Dye with one out in the bottom of the ninth, he drilled Chris Singleton on the left arm with a pitch to push Eric Byrnes, running for Dye, into scoring position at second base. The Sox protested that Singleton was swinging and should have been charged with a strike, to no avail.

Kim retired the next batter, Mark Ellis, before Little summoned Alan Embree to face the lefthanded hitting Erubiel Durazo. No sooner did Kim, visibly upset either at creating the mess, being lifted or both, depart than Embree let Durazo rip a 94-mile-an-hour fastball to left-center to knock in Byrnes and force extra innings.

Martinez and Oakland starter Tim Hudson were far from brilliant, but they pitched admirably all the same. Todd Walker backed up his boasting in a rather royal way, slamming two home runs.

While this can be seen as another devastating loss for the Red Sox, Boston has rebounded from tough losses all season long. They won’t have to wait long to bounce back, as Game Two will be played later this afternoon. But after Martinez threw so many pitches, I wonder how effective he will be if he started Game Four on three days rest. Derek Lowe also pitched last night, but I don’t think that will effect his Game Three start terribly.

For complete coverage of this series be sure to check in on Bambino’s Curse, Elephants in Oakland and The Universal Baseball Blog, Inc.