Mets 6, Dodgers 5 (Mets lead the series , 1-0)
I believe it was the wonderful Swedish duo Roxette that sang that pretty song about how they could do things “nice and easy” or “nice and rough.”
Country Time doesn’t strike me as being a Roxette kinda guy, but he was nice and rough in the 9th inning, allowing a run, two doubles, yet stranding the tying run on 2nd while blowing away Nomar Garciaparra (above). And not for the first time, the on-deck Lt. Dangle is left holding his night stick in front of a braying mob.
Willie Randolph was asked if he’d ever seen anything like Dangle and Drew being thrown out at home on the same play. Randolph correctly ID’d his Yankee teammates Bobby Meachum and Dale Berra being tagged out by Carlton Fisk in 1985, though denied having been involved in a similar play during his ’92 tenure as a Mets infielder. Elias Koteas Sports Bureau, please save us!
That’s cool that Willie remembered Meacham and Berra as the two guys getting thrown out at home plate. But it would also have been cool if he remembered that there’s no precedent for having a middle reliever — even one who was once a light-hitting Minor League infielder a decade ago — hit for himself with the bases loaded in a postseason game, as he did with Mota in the sixth. I still can’t believe how little note that got. I know Steve Phillips is a terrible announcer (and now, after a little more national exposure, so does everyone else), but he really didn’t notice how odd it was for a manager to decide that a two-run lead (in the postseason) was enough and that he needed another three outs out of his third-best reliever more than he needed to have a pinch hitter try to put the game out of reach? Maybe he was too busy preparing his questions for Tim Robbins’ scintilating booth visit.
Two other things: 1) that was a really long sentence, and 2) I feel like a Yankee fan complaining after a postseason win. Spoiled, I guess.
Horrific decision by Randolph to bat Mota there. I’ve been trying to figure out some way to rationalize it and the only thing I can come up with is that Mota must caught Randolph’s eye in batting practice. Seriously, though, why wouldn’t they bat Woodward or Franco there and pitch Roberto Hernandez in the 7th?
I also thought Randolph should have let Maine work his way out of trouble in the fifth, but I’ve complained all year that Willie tends to leave guys in one batter to late, so I guess I can’t bitch about it. Also: It sure did work well.
I wonder how much the movie studio paid ESPN for Robbins’s appearance?
I want to punish ESPN by organizing a public boycott of the movie, but I doubt anyone is planning on seeing it anyway.
re : Mota hitting for himself when the Mets had a chance to break the game wide open. Willie took note of kindly Frank Robinson letting Chad Cordero hit for himself on Sunday and imagined what a wonderful gesture it might be to give Guillermo Mota a taste of post-season action with a bat in his hands. What’s winning and losing versus seeing the joy in Mota’s eyes?
Ryan, if you’re suggesting that Roberto Hernandez isn’t every bit as capable of blowing a three run lead as Guillermo Mota, I think you’re underestimating the man.
While I’d prefer to see celeb visits to the sporting sphere limited (Seinfeld’s odd cameos on Steve Somers’ show excepted), I kinda doubt Focus Features is paying ESPN a dime to have Tim Robbins promote a movie about apartheid during the MLB playoffs.
Not only am I planning on seeing the film, Ryan, but due to the serious subject matter, I will refrain from my standard practice of videotaping it and selling DVD’s on canal street the following afternoon.
Yes, but even if Roberto Hernandez blew the three run lead, they still would have been up four runs — pinch-hitter Julio Franco surely would have become the oldest man ever to hit a Grand Slam in the playoffs.
Perhaps I’m too jaded about advertising, but Gary Thorne’s insistence on plugging the movie reeked of a PR placement to me. Crucial moment in the game, men on base, two outs in the seventh inning and Thorne’s like, “So, tell me about that movie, Tim.” If Robbins was just chewing the fat without an agenda, he’d have been like, “Shut the fuck up, Gary, I’m watching the game.”
Ryan,
I don’t disagree the movie plugging is disconcerting and ill-advised. On the bright side, at least Robert Wuhl didn’t show up.