Rivera's biggest out yet

[andyfox]

He's 33 now and has pitched in a lot of big games. He's got an ERA of 2.01, but he's struggled of late.

The last out of the 8th inning today against the Red Sox may have been the biggest out of his career. OK, probably an exaggeration but it may have saved the Yankees's year.

Leading 8-4, the Yankees get into trouble. In comes Mariano Rivera. Double. 8-6. He walks a guy. He walks another guy, forcing in a run. 8-7. If the next guy gets a hit, the Red Sox take the lead and probably win the game.

Instead he strikes him out. The Yankees get some insurance runs in the 9th and win the game. Instead of a 2-1/2 game lead and a devastating loss having lead by four runs in the 8th inning, they have a big win after falling behind by three runs to Pedro Martinez in the first inning. And a 4-1/2 game lead.

They've given up 46 runs in the last five games and have a 41-year old starting tomorrow. I still think they're in for trouble down the stretch, but this one was a big one.

[John Cole]

Andy,

What an excruciating game to watch. Pedro has nothing, the Sox bullpen stinks again, Muellar fans on a pitch over his head, and McCarver and Stockton add to the misery with some of the worst commentary I have ever heard during a baseball game.

I was sort of glad that the Yankees scored three in the eight because Torre could then turn to the bullpen, which, in reality, gave the Sox a chance.

I knew, though, at least one person enjoyed the game.

[Zeno]

I watched the replays and saw that rising fastball that ran up level with Mueller’s eyeballs, if he has the sense to stand pat the Sox have a great chance to win the game. You don't necessarily need to swing the bat to be the hero. John Olerud would have calmly watch that pitch go by - it was headed right for the plate umpires' head.

[ QUOTE ]
McCarver and Stockton add to the misery with some of the worst commentary I have ever heard during a baseball game.


[/ QUOTE ]

I almost always have the mute on when watching baseball games. The world is inane enough without having to listen to the gibberish spewed out by moronic commentators. I posted, a number of moons ago, the proper way to watch sports on TV. You must have missed the post; it was one of the few pieces of sound advice I have every given.

Your Sox are behind 5-2 right now. The long slow slide to oblivion is starting up again. And the A's keep winning; it looks bad for both are teams.

-Zeno

[andyfox]

Just watched the Fenway crowd give Clemens a standing O when he left the game.

Now there was some class; those people deserve a World Series winner. As a Yankee fan it would hurt, but I'd still have a little smile, like I did for the Angels last year.

Good luck the rest of the way.

[John Cole]

Andy,

If the Red Sox win, then I have nothing to look forward to.

[andyfox]

"looks bad for both are teams."

Well, one of them (at least) is going to make it.

On another note, I see where Barry Bonds has had shortness of breath and a rapid heartbeat. I had the same symptoms when my health was in the shits. But my heart beat was 100-120, I see where his was 150-160. Yikes. A major panic attack. I'll be interested to hear him talk of his feelings about his father's death after a few months. No matter what anyone thinks of Bonds, one's heart must always go out to someone when they've lost a parent or other loved one.

[andyfox]

Since he's joined the Red Sox he's 97-28, a .776 winning percentage. Against teams others than the Yankees, his record is 90-20. Ninety and twenty. I had to see it written out to believe it. An .818 winning percentage. He's only 7-8 against the Yankees, despite an ERA below 3.

Throw in the 300 strike-out Cy Young year with Montreal and you'd have to say the Dodgers didn't get good value for him when they gave him up for Delino DeShields.

[andyfox]

Here's his aggregate record on the road 2000-2002:

W-L: 26-5
ERA: 1.86
Games: 42
Games started: 42
Complete games: 8
Innings Pitched: 290.2
Hits: 192
Walks: 52
Strikeouts: 359
Opponents' batting average: .184

[Sooga]

[ QUOTE ]
Since he's joined the Red Sox he's 97-28, a .776 winning percentage. Against teams others than the Yankees, his record is 90-20. Ninety and twenty. I had to see it written out to believe it. An .818 winning percentage. He's only 7-8 against the Yankees, despite an ERA /images/graemlins/confused.gifbelow 3.

Throw in the 300 strike-out Cy Young year with Montreal and you'd have to say the Dodgers didn't get good value for him when they gave him up for Delino DeShields.

[/ QUOTE ]

Obviously when you look at the trade now, it's one of the most lopsided in recent history. But back when the trade was being made, I don't remember any Dodger fans complaining. In his only full season, Pedro was 10-5 with a 2.61 ERA and over a 1KK/IP ratio. Obviously great numbers. But he was also just a 5'11" stick of a pitcher. DeShields, on the other hand, had just turned in back to back .290 seasons, had great OBP, and stole 40+ for 4 straight seasons. All this from a 23-year old second baseman. I personally thought DeShields was going to start putting up Robbie Alomar numbers very soon, and back then I thought it was a pretty even trade.

DeShields then went on to have some truly horrific numbers in L.A., while Pedro turned into, well, Pedro. Also keep in mind that Pedro didn't actually turn superhuman until 1997. Up until then he had career numbers very comparable to probably Javier Vasquez. That is, good strikeout numbers, middlish 3 ERA, and about 15 wins. I remember watching Pedro back when he was with the Dodgers, and he had great stuff, but I don't think ANYONE could have envisioned what was in store, especially given his small frame.

[andyfox]

Good points. Deshields seemed a better player though, than a close analysis of his number might indicate. He did walk 95 times one year, but he hit .238. He upped his average to the .290s the following year, but walked only 54 times. So "great" OBP is not quite accurate. He stole a lot, but got caught a lot. Never much power, he was down to 2 home runs his last year with Montreal. The Dodgers acquistion of Grundalaniek (or however the hell it's spelled) shows they sometimes look at the glossy print without paying much attention to the fine print.

But your points are well taken. Hard to believe anyone could see that Pedro was going to go bonkers from that point in his career.

BTW, I see Manny Ramirez is in a bit of trouble for apparently going to a bar, while he missed the biggest series of the year with a sore throat, with a member of the Yankees. I wonder what the bigger infraction was: going to the bar or being seen with a Yankee?

[Sooga]

Well, it's not that DeShields's numbers were all that terrific, but it is when you put it in context. A 30 year old second baseman that hits .290 with a .390 OBP and is 43/53 on his steal attemps is a pretty valuable guy, might start for most teams. But when you see these numbers come out of a 24 year old, you got some reason to get excited. When you add in the fact that his numbers had been getting better ('91 he went through the common sophomore slump), there was no reason to believe this guy wasn't going to turn into a superstar. Oh well.

And you're exactly right about the Dodgers not really looking at the fine print. Like you said, Grudzielanek was a big mistake. They looked at this guy and said, "Wow, he had 200 hits and hit .300 with 30 stolen bases his 2nd year. He's gonna be good!" He was already 26 by then, and he had very little plate discipline and good doubles power, but no homer power. Darren Dreifort, though, has gotta be the most blatant example. They were so mesmerized with this 'stuff', that they failed to notice that he really wasn't improving at all. He'd never won over 13 games, never struck out over 170, never pitched over 200 innings, never had an ERA below 4.00 (this while pitching half his games in a great pitcher's park), and yet they still threw a gazillion bazillion dollars at him. A lot of the Dodger faithful were scratching their heads over this one.