Thursday, October 23, 2003
Now That's Better
Good game last night. The Series is tied 2-2.
I had a couple of decent prognostications. One was my statement to my Yankee-fan bartender and long-time friend Andy that the Yankees would win the game if McKeon pulled Carl Pavano, which he did. The Marlins did lose the lead on an inexplicable ninth-inning, two-out, two-strike, two-run triple by Ruben Sierra--forget the Kentucky Derby; that was the most exciting two minutes in sports right there. Okay, so I was half-right; the Yankees tied it anyway. Then when Jeff Weaver was brought out of the mothballs to pitch, I said, well, that's it, Florida is now the winner of this game. Which they were, on a walk-off home run in World Series history, this one by Alex Gonzalez. We were watching the game at the bar, and someone had changed the channel to ESPN during the commercial, and I had to grab the remote to get us back to the game. We missed the first pitch of Gonzalez's at-bat, and I proclaimed, "Hey, guys, we almost missed a home run."
The game also featured Roger Clemens' allegedly-last ballgame, and as he pumped his fist after striking out the last batter he faced, he was showered with appreciative applause from a standing Miami crowd.
Whenever an opponent gets a respectful ovation from the fans, that's always a top moment in sports. Makes me kind of wish baseball followed hockey's lead, where after every series the teams gather in the middle of the ice to shake the others' hands.
Good analysis: With Karim Garcia batting in the second with the bases loaded and no outs, Carl Pavano began Garcia with two pitches inside for a 2-0 count. Fox's Tim McCarver said that made no sense at all; in order to get a ground ball--in this double play situation in particular--you have to throw outside. An inside pitch won't get you a ground ball nearly as easily.
