Bronx, N.Y., August 27, 2002 — It was the fourth or fifth, a good two innings before they picked up on it on CBS television. If Sue and I have a running battle, it is TV volume. A little too much rock ‘n’ roll in my past I guess, but I don’t hear quite the way I used to. But the roar of the Red Sox crowd in the early innings during Fossum’s strike out attack was a little hard to take, and we were taking turns lowering the volume. But not for long.
I raised it first, then a little more, then even Sue hit the “V” button a couple of quick shots. Smiling over the irony in that act, I turned to Sue, and said,
“Shhh! They’re chasing wabbits. Huh-uh-uh-uh-uh!”
The clamor emanating from venerable Fenway was slowly approaching the noise level one finds in the environs of a Trappist Monastery, and that was before the people began filing out in droves. The two-out fourth inning Yankee rally that just missed started it, and when Rondell delivered the first run in the fifth, the decibel level plummeted. Alfonso, Derek and Jason hammered in the nails and Fanus Redsoxious was laid to rest.
I was going to depict David Wells, he of all the second-half back trouble; he of the horrendous career record in Fenway; the 39-year-old lefty who had amassed a 10-plus era in the three starts before his last one in the Bronx; as “tremendous,” “awesome,” “lights out,” “superb,” “magnificent” tonight, but upon further reflection, it’s simpler than all that. The Yankee fan experience of the game was all that and more, but I think the most descriptive word for David’s performance is simple, quiet and dignified (sounds like the Boomer, right?): He was professional.
A true professional, at least in this game, works as a member of a team. And although his Yankee teammates were going down dramatically and inexorably to Casey Fossum’s sharp curve, they would contribute some impressive defense, Coomer’s bad throws notwithstanding. Key kudos go first to Brian Cashman, who amid discussions about a long list of potential right fielders during this season finally picked up the only one of them that would have prevented a 1-0 deficit on Hillenbrand’s second-inning base hit, hard-throwing Raul Mondesi. But just as with Boomer’s victory over Anaheim last Wednesday, it was David himself who got the defense rolling (once Raul’s presence did its magic). Tied for one more at bat at least, David corralled Baerga’s high chop and nailed Manny at the plate, and then pitched out of trouble. I think it would be hard to overestimate how big a role denying the Sox that score played in the victory.
Then the Yanks put up that ugly number in the fifth, utilizing the two-out magic they discovered Monday to turn a 1-0 squeaker into a 4-0 bulge, and the team returned to job no. 1, keeping the Sox off the board. It is Baseball Bible that surrendering any score after taking a lead is letting the opponent right back in, and Varitek’s one-out double threatened to do just that. David got Daubach looking at a gorgeous slow curve, but wily vet Rey Sanchez came to the plate with base hit on his mind (two-out, run-scoring base hit no less), and the hard hopper in the shortstop hole looked to do the job. But Derek made the stab, and Rey was done. Jason chipped in (again) with a couple of fine scoops, and Derek pulled off another beaut after David left in the ninth.
But let’s define “professional” and how it describes Boomer’s performance. It is clear that he walked no one, and only the most nervous Yankee fans even thought he might during the proceedings. But that doesn’t mean he shied away from throwing balls. He went to three-ball counts on seven batters, and threw thirteen different pitches while batters were within one pitched ball of striding down to first. Delivering with the nerve of a riverboat gambler, Boomer demonstrated again and again just how good a fastball on 2-2 is when to the last batter it was a big arcing curve. He finished with a fine 19-10 first-pitch strike-to-ball ratio, but that’s deceptive. When he struck Hillenbrand out looking to close the home fourth in a 0-0 game, his initial offerings had more often been balls (eight) than strikes (six). But then we came out and put up four. He immediately adjusted, proceeding to throw strikes on the first pitch to 13 of the last 15 guys. A pitcher who alters his approach in response to different facts is a professional pitcher.
It is Yankee lore that George Steinbrenner signed David after meeting him for lunch in Pete & Shorty’s in Clearwater, Fla. It’s a charming place, and there is another one located right in Tampa on Dale Mabry just down the street from Legends Field. Featuring cold beer and little White-Castle-sized burgers, both locations reserve the parking spot outside closest to the building for this night’s starting pitcher. Sue and I, with eyes bigger than our stomachs, purchased the popular Pete’s-a-Box To-Go (24 little burgers for $20) for the 40-mile trip to see the Yanks lose to the Tigers in Lakeland on a frigid March night just six months ago.
Some moments of historical baseball importance in Yankee land have taken place on August 27. Jack Chesbro pitched four years for the Pirates 100 years ago before joining our team (known as the Highlanders back then), and he had six good years in New York. Coming to the end of the line during his seventh year, he actually came to be a member of the Red Sox and pitched one game for them (he lost, of course) before retiring on August 27, 1909. In 1938, Yankee hurler Monte Pearson no-hit the Indians 13-0, with Joe DiMaggio leading the offense with three triples. (I wonder if any of them rattled around the Monuments.) Even though 1977 ended happily in the Bronx, you couldn’t tell it by August 27, the day that Texas Rangers Toby Harrah and Bump Wills hit back-to-back inside-the-park home runs off Ken Clay in an 8-2 Rangers win.
But I became aware of two other August 27 events before 7 pm in Fenway, and I wondered if either would seem applicable once the game was over. It was the day Ricky eclipsed Lou Brock with steal no. 119 in 1982. But Rickey went 0 for 4 with two k’s tonight, and never had a chance on the base paths. On the other hand, we threw a wily old vet tonight, one who has had a good year, but has struggled lately, with a sore back slowing him down. In a spotless August of performances more critical to a pennant chase than David’s year has been, 32-year-old Catfish Hunter, the main engine that pushed the Ron Guidry-led Yankees past the Red Sox in 1978, won 6-2 on August 27 to go 6-0 for the month. Catfish, David (I’m sure) and I salute you. Rest in peace.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!