“The Ball” Goes to the Mets
Actually it looks like Minky is giving it back, but I started writing this yesterday and I HAD to keep that title. The funny thing is, over the last few weeks, I’ve softened a little on my stance.
I realized that there was a chance that no one could have had “The Ball”. Minky could have tossed it into the stands, lost it in the celebration, or any number of things could have happened to it. Instead, he held onto it, and for the longest time no one, including myself, even gave a thought to it.
Because of this, I’m thinking that maybe he does have the right to keep it. Regardless, I’m glad he’s giving it back to us, and I hope that he doesn’t end up being remembered just for this (although, unfortunately he probably will).
Anyway, thanks for the World Championship Minky, and good luck with the Mets (you’re going to need it).
I said before that I would be happy with whichever first baseman we ended up keeping, and I meant it. I think now though, I’m actually glad it’s Millar. Millar, as he has said himself, brings a lot of intangibles to this team. He’s a great clubhouse guy, and certainly a lot of fun to have around. He can hit, and he’s a decent fielder at first.
Plus, he really, really wanted to stay here. Maybe he should raise up a shot of JD to his old buddy Minky for taking the hit for him.
Last night NESN showed “Game 6” and I watched it. If you’re a Sox fan, you know what game I’m talking about, there’s only one “Game 6”. If you’re not a Sox fan, you’re not likely to be reading this so it doesn’t matter.
Like everyone else, I’ve seen the “lowlights” on replays a million times. But this is the first time I’ve actually watched the game since it was originally played. It’s been shown on ESPN Classic and other places, but I’ve never wanted to see it again. I didn’t particularly want to see it again last night either, but I figured now that we’ve won it all, it would be easier to take and I could handle it.
I was right, but not as right as I thought I would be. It was still tough to watch, and it still hurt a little. There is no doubt that for me this was the most disappointing time and the worst loss I’ve suffered as a Sox fan. The “03” ALCS was bad, and a very close second, but this was worse and here’s why.
First of all, it was the World Series, not the ALCS. Second, we were one out away. We had 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning with no one on and a 2 run lead.
There are valid arguments for both sides, for instance, the ALCS was a game 7, but the World Series was only a game 6 and we still had another chance (we were actually winning game 7, 3-0 after 5 ½ before the Mets went on to tie it in the 6th and take the lead for good in the 7th). But as far as I’m concerned, we had 2 outs in the 10th inning, a 2 run lead, no one on base, all we needed to do was get one more out before giving up 2 runs and we’re World Champions. Instead we give up 3 consecutive hits and a wild pitch to tie the game, and then the winning run scores from second base on a slow roller to first. It doesn’t get any worse than that for me.
I’m glad I watched it though. It was interesting to see some things I had forgotten about, some the result of time, some I had intentionally wiped from my mind.
We all remember it was Ray Knight that scored the winning run. I had forgotten that it was also Ray Knight’s throwing error a few innings earlier that lead to us scoring our 3rd run and giving us a 3-2 lead. The Mets really did do their best to hand this series over to us. One thing I haven’t forgotten was Tim Teuffel’s error in Game 1 that resulted in the only run of the game being scored and giving us the 1-0 win.
Mookie really put on a hell of an at-bat against Steamer. He fouled off a bunch of pitches before drubbing that fateful roller to first.
Although Steamer was tagged with a wild pitch during that at-bat, which ended up scoring the tying run, it wasn’t that terrible of a pitch. It was inside and Mookie had to jack-knife out of the way to avoid being hit, but all Gedman did was stab at it with his glove, he didn’t move his body at all. There’s no way Tek lets that ball get by him.
Not that it matters much, because Mitchell would have just scored ahead of Knight 2 pitches later anyway.
With 2 outs in the 10th and no one on, Marty Barrett was named player of the game with 3 hits and 2 walks. I don't remember if that got changed or not afterward. I'm guessing probably not, but it might have been different if they actually waited until the game was officially over. I also don't remember seeing the player of the game being named before the game actually ends, since that time and I'm guessing this is the reason why.
Even though I knew what was going to happen, I still couldn’t believe it was happening. The entire series of events and the way it unfolded is just so surreal. I’ve never believed in “The Curse” but watching that series of events (as well as the ones that occurred in the “03” ALCS) just has me believing that there was some sort of malevolent force working against us.
Damn those “86” Mets. I hate them.
I realized that there was a chance that no one could have had “The Ball”. Minky could have tossed it into the stands, lost it in the celebration, or any number of things could have happened to it. Instead, he held onto it, and for the longest time no one, including myself, even gave a thought to it.
Because of this, I’m thinking that maybe he does have the right to keep it. Regardless, I’m glad he’s giving it back to us, and I hope that he doesn’t end up being remembered just for this (although, unfortunately he probably will).
Anyway, thanks for the World Championship Minky, and good luck with the Mets (you’re going to need it).
I said before that I would be happy with whichever first baseman we ended up keeping, and I meant it. I think now though, I’m actually glad it’s Millar. Millar, as he has said himself, brings a lot of intangibles to this team. He’s a great clubhouse guy, and certainly a lot of fun to have around. He can hit, and he’s a decent fielder at first.
Plus, he really, really wanted to stay here. Maybe he should raise up a shot of JD to his old buddy Minky for taking the hit for him.
Last night NESN showed “Game 6” and I watched it. If you’re a Sox fan, you know what game I’m talking about, there’s only one “Game 6”. If you’re not a Sox fan, you’re not likely to be reading this so it doesn’t matter.
Like everyone else, I’ve seen the “lowlights” on replays a million times. But this is the first time I’ve actually watched the game since it was originally played. It’s been shown on ESPN Classic and other places, but I’ve never wanted to see it again. I didn’t particularly want to see it again last night either, but I figured now that we’ve won it all, it would be easier to take and I could handle it.
I was right, but not as right as I thought I would be. It was still tough to watch, and it still hurt a little. There is no doubt that for me this was the most disappointing time and the worst loss I’ve suffered as a Sox fan. The “03” ALCS was bad, and a very close second, but this was worse and here’s why.
First of all, it was the World Series, not the ALCS. Second, we were one out away. We had 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning with no one on and a 2 run lead.
There are valid arguments for both sides, for instance, the ALCS was a game 7, but the World Series was only a game 6 and we still had another chance (we were actually winning game 7, 3-0 after 5 ½ before the Mets went on to tie it in the 6th and take the lead for good in the 7th). But as far as I’m concerned, we had 2 outs in the 10th inning, a 2 run lead, no one on base, all we needed to do was get one more out before giving up 2 runs and we’re World Champions. Instead we give up 3 consecutive hits and a wild pitch to tie the game, and then the winning run scores from second base on a slow roller to first. It doesn’t get any worse than that for me.
I’m glad I watched it though. It was interesting to see some things I had forgotten about, some the result of time, some I had intentionally wiped from my mind.
We all remember it was Ray Knight that scored the winning run. I had forgotten that it was also Ray Knight’s throwing error a few innings earlier that lead to us scoring our 3rd run and giving us a 3-2 lead. The Mets really did do their best to hand this series over to us. One thing I haven’t forgotten was Tim Teuffel’s error in Game 1 that resulted in the only run of the game being scored and giving us the 1-0 win.
Mookie really put on a hell of an at-bat against Steamer. He fouled off a bunch of pitches before drubbing that fateful roller to first.
Although Steamer was tagged with a wild pitch during that at-bat, which ended up scoring the tying run, it wasn’t that terrible of a pitch. It was inside and Mookie had to jack-knife out of the way to avoid being hit, but all Gedman did was stab at it with his glove, he didn’t move his body at all. There’s no way Tek lets that ball get by him.
Not that it matters much, because Mitchell would have just scored ahead of Knight 2 pitches later anyway.
With 2 outs in the 10th and no one on, Marty Barrett was named player of the game with 3 hits and 2 walks. I don't remember if that got changed or not afterward. I'm guessing probably not, but it might have been different if they actually waited until the game was officially over. I also don't remember seeing the player of the game being named before the game actually ends, since that time and I'm guessing this is the reason why.
Even though I knew what was going to happen, I still couldn’t believe it was happening. The entire series of events and the way it unfolded is just so surreal. I’ve never believed in “The Curse” but watching that series of events (as well as the ones that occurred in the “03” ALCS) just has me believing that there was some sort of malevolent force working against us.
Damn those “86” Mets. I hate them.
posted by Bob at 1/27/2005 09:30:00 AM
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