Bronx, N.Y., June 22, 2002 — And frankly, it wasn’t particularly loud when the eastern team came up to the plate either. The bleary-eyed Yanks had escaped the unearthly din in Colorado and wanted nothing more, I’m sure, than to return to what former President Herbert Hoover called “normalcy.” And they got it, in a sense, Friday night, as scoring a lone run was certainly a more familiar experience than the 41 they had posted in three days in the mountains.
Unfortunately, the defense and the bullpen were still operating on Mountain Time last night, as the ugly 9-1 loss clearly showed. And so it was that a reeling Yankee team would put their faith, and a lot of pressure, on young Tel Lilly, to break us out of the doldrums, and get us a win. Things started well, with Alfonso making one more convincing case for his spot as leadoff man. His uncanny ability to hit the first pitch thrown by a pitcher hard got us a man as far as second base for the first of only three times on the day (if you discount that Jason reached second on his first-inning, run-scoring (praise be!) double, because he was out at third by the time the middle-infield dust had settled after he passed through).
There is obviously still plenty to be concerned about with this team, as we only managed three hits off Peavy the day after we got six off Perez. But three hits is all Ted gave the Pods, and ours were loud and banged off walls, while theirs were quiet and of the “excuse me” variety. We struck the left and right field walls in the first, and managed the only run of the game. And Bernie probably hit the hardest ball of the day leading off the sixth for his double to almost dead center, even if the eventual outcome of that inning had more to say about what is not working on our offense than what is. Robin fouled off three tough pitches before failing to move Bernie; but Rondell appeared to come to the plate with an 0-2 count, his pinch-hitting attempt was so ineffective.
But that is all so off the point when discussing this game. Ted was masterful today, 12 years to the day since the “Big Ball Orchard in the South Bronx” hosted a 1990 concert by Billy Joel, who recently had himself admitted to a Connecticut hospital specializing in substance abuse. Billy must be feeling some “pressure” in his life, as I’m sure Ted did today, though he rarely showed it. Ted actually looked in control all game, and I wasn’t even terribly nervous in the fifth when a ground ball hit and bloop single had men on first and second with one out. An uncharacteristic four consecutive balls that put Kotsay on first and had him behind 3-0 to Deivi Cruz in the third had me frantic though. But he had K’d two to start the inning, and would whiff Deivi too.
Ted was only mildly successful throwing first pitch strikes early, going 10-8 the first two times he faced the Padres order. But it became painfully obvious once the overachieving 21-year-old Peavy was lifted in the seventh that we would not score again today, and my panic stirred. Former Indian Alan Embree was painfully effective, but that was when Ted really kicked it into gear. He threw eight first pitch strikes his third time through the order, and notched fully seven of his 11 strike outs retiring the side in order in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eight, except for the embarrassing Peavy bloop to short center that landed both because Bernie misjudged it and Derek never appeared to pick it up.
So as I agonized on the couch switching from radio to TV (hearing all the tragic reports on poor Mr. Kile, his family, his teammates, and the city of St. Louis) and back to radio again, I suffered with these third verse Billy Joel lyrics in my head:
- But here you are in the ninth
Two men out and three men on
Nowhere to look but inside
Where we all respond to
PRESSURE!
Ted apparently was listening to a different drummer (and verse) altogether, “you have to learn to pace yourself,” as he appeared to barely break a sweat in the sun and heat before the crowd in Qualcomm. He threw 17 and 19 pitches in the second and third innings, respectively. But in the six innings that followed, he threw 12, 14, 12, 7, 11 and 12. His domination over the Padres was overwhleming, and they actually went down to defeat meekly. Today the famous anti-war novelist and ex-soldier Erich Maria Remarque would have been 104. I hope he’ll forgive me for using his title to characterize today’s contest.
All quiet, indeed.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!