View Full Version : What a game (A's/Sox)
Flashfire
10-02-03, 04:40 AM
That was the best freakin' game I've <b>ever</b> been to!
Durazo was clutch!
Foulke was great!
Chavy saved it in the 12th!
Ramon with the bunt!
I kid you not - I was still in the luxury suite with a few of the people who were still there (I was invited by a couple people at work to join them), and when Hernandez was up there I saw how far back the infielders were playing, and I said "Watch if he doesn't bunt. They're playing back - none of them would get to it in time." Sure enough, there it was. No play! A's win! A's win!
There was a pretty funny bit in the 7th inning - the entire place booed a Jeter commercial on the video board. I guess that was a shared moment between both A's and Sox fans.
I was just on pins and needles with every pitch from about the 9th inning on. Truly unbelievable. An instant classic.
rightfielder21
10-02-03, 05:27 AM
What time did the game end our time?
LilChief
10-02-03, 05:56 AM
Originally posted by rightfielder21
What time did the game end our time?
The gaem ran4 hrs 37 minutes, I think, it started at 10pm so around 2:37am? I went to bed at 3am myself! Well worth watching!
junkman73
10-02-03, 06:13 AM
The A's were going to have to steal a game from Pedro at some point...nice to see they didn't waste any time. The blown DP by Walker that forced Pedro to throw another 25 pitches was HUGE.
There is nothing like playoff baseball...throw everything you think should happen out the window. None of it matters. Great win by the A's.....
Well, it went off around 3 AM here and I'm now back up at 7:30 AM. Despite the fact that I'm so tired I can hardly breathe, that was a great game.
PippyPinstripes
10-02-03, 07:31 AM
Flashfire, if you called that bunt, I think you were the only one. That was honestly the last thing in the universe I expected to happen.
A green elephant storming the field would have been a more predictable game-ender than that bunt, IMO.
Bozidar
10-02-03, 07:52 AM
It was a tremendous game :)
Originally posted by PippyPinstripes
Flashfire, if you called that bunt, I think you were the only one. That was honestly the last thing in the universe I expected to happen.
A green elephant storming the field would have been a more predictable game-ender than that bunt, IMO. Remember, the Sox have found the strangest ways to lose post season games over the past 85 years. Maybe not an elephant, but perhaps a gorilla will find it's way on the field in Boston and somehow cause the team to lose.
Carissa
10-02-03, 08:39 AM
Hey Flash, did you take any of your usual great pictures? :)
jnewmark
10-02-03, 08:47 AM
This is a little off subject,but I watched all three playoff games yesterday,and I have never seen the bases loaded so many times in the playoffs. Unbelievable.But the Red Sox failure was definitely the gem of the day,well worth the 4 hour wait.:)
NYYfan24
10-02-03, 08:49 AM
What a great game....especially that the A's beat the Sox!! I stayed up and watched also.
Talk about lack of hitting with RISP.....the Sox had ample opportunities and weren't clutch!!
Now I have to figure out how to work with 3 hours sleep and no early to bed tonight! The Yankees play at 8:00! :)
Flashfire
10-02-03, 08:55 AM
Originally posted by PippyPinstripes
Flashfire, if you called that bunt, I think you were the only one. That was honestly the last thing in the universe I expected to happen.
A green elephant storming the field would have been a more predictable game-ender than that bunt, IMO.
Swear to God I did. Granted, there have probably been half a dozen other cases here and there where I've said "Lay it down" in similar situations and they didn't, so maybe it was just the law of averages but I was really thinking that in this one, it might just happen. What made it work so well was the simple fact that the A's just don't <b>do</b> that, but if there was anyone in that lineup who would've done it, it would've been Hernandez or Ellis. Hernandez just had to get it down such that neither Varitek or Lowe could get to it in time, because Mueller sure wasn't going to...what do you know - he did. I don't know that I really <b>expected</b> him to do it, but I was hoping to see it.
A little before Durazo's first hit off Pedro, I also said something to the effect of "A gapper here sure would be nice." I'm not making it up. :-)
Actually, I was going through the game thread in here before bed last night and saw a couple other examples of people calling for a certain thing, like Damon's double play ball, so it happens.
Flashfire
10-02-03, 08:56 AM
Originally posted by Carissa
Hey Flash, did you take any of your usual great pictures? :)
Not this time, no - the luxury box was out in center field and at night it would've made pictures difficult to get. I also kind of just wanted to watch a whole game without looking through the camera for once.
I did get a bunch when I went up to see the A's and Mariners in Seattle over the weekend, but I'm pretty behind in general when it comes to getting some pages made.
Jersey Yankee
10-02-03, 09:31 AM
From nytimes.com:
http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2003/10/02/sports/02oakland468.jpg
Associated Press
Oakland's Ramon Hernandez laid down the bunt that scored the winning run.
From the Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2003/10/02/squeezed_out/
Squeezed out -- Bullpen fails to close out win
By Bob Hohler, Globe Staff, 10/2/2003
OAKLAND - Because there are no such things as ghosts - or curses, or predestined rites of October tragedy - someone has some explaining to do.
The easy answer, of course, is that even the greatest athletes sometimes fail in the clutch. The more cosmic answer may be simply that the Red Sox are, well, the Red Sox.
But whatever the reason, the Sox relief corps - yes, them again - opened the barn door one out shy of an exhilarating 4-3 victory early this morning and ultimately let the A's gallop over them in a crushing 5-4 heartbreaker in 12 innings before 50,606 at Network Associates Coliseum in the pivotal opener of the best-of-five American League Division Series.
After Byung Hyun Kim and Alan Embree combined to blow the lead in the ninth, the A's scored the winning run off Game 3's scheduled starter, Derek Lowe, when Eric Chavez dashed home on Ramon Hernandez's bases-loaded suicide squeeze toward third base with two outs in the bottom of the 12th.
"In that situation with an 0-1 count, you're just not thinking bunt," Lowe said. "In the postseason, sometimes you take chances. If it doesn't work, people ask, `What the heck were they doing?' But if it does, you win."
Lowe, who was summoned to start the 11th inning in his first relief appearance since Sept. 9, 2001 (a span of 68 starts), created the final mess by walking three batters (one intentionally) before Hernandez's stunning bunt. Third baseman Bill Mueller charged and barehanded the ball but had no play as Chavez scored uncontested.
"We would certainly have rather had an out," Sox manager Grady Little said, "but we didn't have an out, and the game was over."
Hernandez said he was not surprised to see the bunt sign since Mueller was playing so deep.
"I think it was one of the biggest hits I ever had in my career," he said. "The Red Sox have a great team, and sometimes you have to try whatever you can to beat teams like that."
Nor did Little indicate he was surprised by the bunt.
"Hernandez does have a history of bunting periodically in situations like that," he said. "And he got one down right there."
The 4-hour, 37-minute disaster, which ended at 2:47 a.m., extended Boston's postseason winless streak against the A's to nine games dating to the 1988 AL Championship Series. More important, it left them playing catchup without a reasonable chance of using Pedro Martinez again until a possible Game 5. The Sox ace fired a season-high 130 pitches in delivering the Sox to the threshold of victory before the latest bullpen catastrophe.
Little did not rule out going to Martinez in Game 4 if he deemed it necessary. Nor was Lowe's start Saturday in Game 3 affected, the manager said.
"It's been a while since he's been on the mound," Little said. "That was good for him."
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.
Little said he went to Embree based "solely on the percentage of lefthanders" Kim had gotten out in the inning.
"We had done that earlier in the season and the inning was over," Little said of Embree's previous success. "It didn't happen there."
After Scott Williamson pitched a scoreless 10th, Little summoned Lowe, who survived the 11th inning before his lack of command killed him - and the Sox - in the 12th.
The Sox, who went hitless after the eighth inning, had one last chance in the 12th when Rich Harden walked Manny Ramirez and Bill Mueller before Gabe Kapler scorched a two-out grounder down the third base line. But Chavez made a fantastic play to backhand the ball and dived to the base to beat Ramirez and end the inning.
"We had our chances tonight," Todd Walker said. "But in the end, the biggest difference was Durazo's ball could have been at somebody and it wasn't. And the ball Gabe hit down the line, even though Chavez made a great play, it was withing his reach. It certainly could have been over his head or down the line, so those are the differences right there."
The wrong turn by Kim and Embree unfolded after splendid performances by Martinez and Walker. As Martinez lived up to his legacy of postseason brilliance, Walker lived up to his bravado just days after he commandeered a microphone on the mound at Fenway Park in the heady aftermath of the wild-card clincher and declared, "We're going to roll into Oakland and whip some [butt] and go from there."
The Sox rode Walker's sudden power surge (two home runs and three RBIs) and Martinez's act of grit and guile to the 4-3 lead before the unraveling. Walker's second shot, off lefthander Ricardo Rincon in the eighth inning, erased a 3-2 deficit and helped propel Martinez toward a possible victory. The Sox ace left after the seventh inning with the lead intact.
Jason Varitek made a major difference by socking a solo homer and helping to guide Martinez through a maze of potential mayhem. With Varitek catching, Martinez spotted the A's only the three runs by scattering six hits and four walks.
The A's ended Martinez's 19-inning postseason scoreless streak dating to his sensational run in the `99 playoffs when they struck for three runs in the third inning. But even amid Oakland's dogged attempt to knock him out by driving up his pitch count, Martinez persevered. His crucial moment came after he lost an 11-pitch battle and walked Erubiel Durazo to load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. With the lead in peril, Martinez needed only one pitch to induce Oakland's home run leader, Eric Chavez, to pop out to end the threat.
The Sox pen took it from there, as Mike Timlin mowed down the A's in the eighth before Kim and Embree faltered.
Martinez outdueled his Oakland nemesis, Tim Hudson, who beat him Aug. 11 by twirling a complete-game two-hitter against the Sox, the finest performance of the season by an opposing starter. Before Martinez and Hudson faced each other last night, the aces had pitched nearly to a standoff in three previous showdowns since 1999, with Hudson winning two of three while posting a 3.00 ERA over 18 innings and Martinez logging a 3.32 ERA over 19 innings.
Hudson went 6 innings, throwing 106 pitches before he was forced out with a finger cramp.
No sooner did the game end than both teams prepared to return for Game 2 at 4 p.m. And the loss left the Sox little wiggle room, though they are no strangers to adversity.
"This team has picked itself up off the canvas plenty of times before," general manager Theo Epstein said. "We'll do it again."
Jersey Yankee
10-02-03, 09:35 AM
Originally posted by LilChief
The gaem ran4 hrs 37 minutes, I think, it started at 10pm so around 2:37am? I went to bed at 3am myself! Well worth watching! It was scheduled for a 10:05pm ET start, and must've started about 5-10 minutes late. The big squeeze worked around 2:45 or thereabouts, since when I looked at my PC's clock, it read "2:48am".
Either case, I could deal w/something else like that.
Edit: this thread (http://forums.nyyfans.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49681&perpage=25&pagenumber=15) followed the game, and it shows 2:45a ET that Boston lost it.
Funny, my calendar says 10/02/03. Wouldn't that be the 25th anniversary of ... :eek:
Jersey Yankee
10-02-03, 09:37 AM
Originally posted by Bub
Remember, the Sox have found the strangest ways to lose post season games over the past 85 years. Maybe not an elephant, but perhaps a gorilla will find it's way on the field in Boston and somehow cause the team to lose. In Game 6 of the '86 WS, a skydiver fell out of the sky bearing some "Let's Go Mets" multi-hued banner. This sparked up the team, and the guy's pilot was never found, as the skydiver refused to divulge details.
The rest, of course, is history!!!
Carissa
10-02-03, 09:45 AM
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031002/capt.oas11810020301.red_sox_athletics_oas118.jpg
Oakland Athletics' Ramon Hernandez bunts in the 12th inning to drive in Eric Chavez with the winning run against the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the opening-round AL playoff series Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2003, in Oakland, Calif. The Athletics won 5-4.
(AP Photo/Ben Margot)
nybabygurl2
10-02-03, 10:08 AM
Originally posted by Carissa
Oakland Athletics' Ramon Hernandez bunts in the 12th inning to drive in Eric Chavez with the winning run against the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the opening-round AL playoff series Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2003, in Oakland, Calif. The Athletics won 5-4.
Yeah Ramon! GO A'S! :D
Originally posted by PippyPinstripes
Flashfire, if you called that bunt, I think you were the only one. That was honestly the last thing in the universe I expected to happen.
A green elephant storming the field would have been a more predictable game-ender than that bunt, IMO.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Gehrig'sGhost
10-02-03, 10:30 AM
Originally posted by PippyPinstripes
Flashfire, if you called that bunt, I think you were the only one. That was honestly the last thing in the universe I expected to happen.
A green elephant storming the field would have been a more predictable game-ender than that bunt, IMO.
Went to the game with my 15yo son, Eric. He is pretty astute and was making comments about what he'd like to see the A's do during the game and an older guy beside us kept saying how the A's should make him manager. When Hernandez came up Eric said if he laid down a bunt the game was over because Mueller was playing so deep. The old guy said he'd now have to fire Eric as manager. :) Next thing, the bunt was down, the game was over, and the old guy is saying "I still think you're wrong, but I love it! HA! :)
Great game, great result, I AM DRAINED.
Gehrig'sGhost
10-02-03, 10:33 AM
Gotta say, though, that Durazo was the key to that game. Two huge hits, the first being a 2-run double that proved to the team that Peedro could be cuffed. Without his second hit, it was ball game, Boston.
The A's had better hope it isn't tight one today with Foulke having gone three innings.
caroline331
10-02-03, 11:53 AM
That was a great game. Well worth staying up till 3 AM east coast time to watch :)
However I question Macha's use of Foluke for 3 innings. I wonder if he is available for today's game should they need him. VEry gutsy pitching performances by both Hudson and Pedro (as much as I despise the guy, i Have to give him credit here), and great night at the plate for Durazo.
Good game, A's just need 2 more. GO A'S
Caroline
Hitman23
10-02-03, 12:09 PM
I tried to stay up. I lasted until the bottom of the 9th, A's down 4-3 with men on 1st and 2nd. Couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Wish I could have seen it.
So nice to see the Sox beaten. I love it!! :D
Gehrig'sGhost
10-02-03, 01:25 PM
We were wondering how many fans back East stayed for the duration. That scheduling is brutal. Almost made me feel sorry for Sux fans. ;)
Yankchic22
10-02-03, 01:28 PM
Originally posted by Gehrig'sGhost
We were wondering how many fans back East stayed for the duration. That scheduling is brutal. Almost made me feel sorry for Sux fans. ;)
I stayed up for the whole thing, alternating between the game thread here, and the TV in the other room :)
No way I'm staying up that late to watch a non-Yankees game. However, last night I was explaining to my wife (who knows nothing about baseball) the "Curse of the Bambino" and what it was all about. As we watched highlights of the game this morning, I said to her, "there's another small chapter...they get tied in the 9th, get robbed by a great play in the 12th, and then lose by a 2-out bunt from the slowest guy on the team."
Bozidar
10-02-03, 02:16 PM
Originally posted by Bub
"there's another small chapter" LMAO!! :lol:
I went to bed thinking the Sox had it sewn up... I was tired and the A's trailed 4-3. When I saw what happened during the game on SportsCenter I wish I'd stayed up... I believe, that the HR is not the most exciting walk off win... it is the play at the plate. A steal of home, a squeeze play, etc... what an exciting game.
Both pens are probably a little fried and they have another game this afternoon! :eek:
deranged2005
10-02-03, 04:40 PM
Excellent game.
jojos_2
10-02-03, 06:03 PM
Listened to just about the entire thing. Great game. :cool:
Powered by vBulletin™ Version 4.0.7 Copyright © 2013 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
0