***Home Plate***

[Dan Gould]

He was pretty good in Game 1, but yet, its time for a Gould Household Tradition:

TOTAL MEDIA BLACKOUT

(except of course for Nelson's and Garcia's trial, conviction, and imprisonment )

Edited October 22, 2003 by Dan Gould

[JSngry]

The drag about all this is that I really, REALLY like Joe Torre as both a manager and, from what I read/hear, a person. But I can't pull for the Yankees. I could a few years ago when they were on the rebound, but enough is enough.

[Brad]

It's over dudes, stick the proverbial fork in them because it looks like the Yanks have caught some marlins. Let's get it over asap and get the f***ing parade finished so I don't have to think about these guys or deal with Yankee fans until March.

And now for my next predictions: Ebay will never succeed as a good idea and Enron stock will take off

[pryan]

Was it just me or did that umpire have an extremely limited and inconsistent strike zone last night? The low strike was never getting called, seemingly perfect pitches albeit around the knees, while the pitch on the outside corner was sometimes called a strike, other times a ball. What gives?

Tonight's game is huge for the Marlins, as they can get all the momentum (with a 'W') going back to N.Y. Go Florida!

[PHILLYQ]

Not to beat a dead horse, but her's an interesting piece from this week's Village Voice:

BOSTON'S TEASE PARTY

Talk about throwing out the book when it's crunch time. Just so we're all clear on how absolutely mind-boggling Grady Little's decision was to stick with Pedro Martinez during the Yankees' fateful eighth-inning rally in the ALCS's Game Seven, here are a few facts informing his pitcher's 7.1 IP, 123-pitch performance. During the 2003 regular season, Martinez threw 2,838 pitches, an average of 15.2 per inning. He threw more than 105 pitches in only ten of his 29 starts, and he pitched more than seven innings in only five of them. He limited the opposition to a .201 batting average in innings one through six and a .207 BA on his first 105 pitches. However, opponents hit .364 against him after his 105th pitch. Want to know what "secret" source we uncovered these stats from? The team's very own Post-Season Media Guide! Guess "Goober" Grady didn't need no stinking numbers to get in the way of his managerial fiddling while Martinez got burned.

One can only imagine what must have been going through the minds of Mike Timlin, Alan Embree, and Scott Williamson as they watched helplessly from the bullpen during the Martinez Massacre on River Avenue. Coming together as a relief corps only after Byung-Hyun Kim was scratched with a supposedly sore arm (from giving the Fenway faithful the finger after one too many blown saves, no doubt), this unheralded troika nonetheless co-authored quite a guidebook of its own against the Yankees: 13 innings, five hits, one run, two walks (one intentional), and 13 strikeouts. In most everyone's mind—except Little's, obviously—they would have gotten the Sox those five needed outs and a berth in the World Series, but by the time Embree and Timlin got into the game, the tide had irrevocably turned. In the Sox's somber locker room after Aaron Boone's pennant-winning homer off Tim Wakefield, Timlin was asked if the Yankees' winning so many championships while the Red Sox curse continued seemed unfair.

The 37-year-old veteran, who in the first two rounds of the playoffs outpitched all other relievers (a Karim Garcia single was the lone hit he surrendered in nine-plus innings of pressurized work), just shook his head in response. "Fair?" he replied. "The best hitters in this game make outs seven out of ten times. Baseball's never been fair." You can make book on that one. —Billy Altman

[ghost of miles]

Oh yeah, ghost...sure your scared! What, the Yankees have lost the opening game in 9 postseason series, and won 8 of them??? You mention that they haven't lost a World series game at home since 96 against the braves when they lost 2...remind me again who won that series??????? WHOOOOO???? You like shooting fish in a barrel as well, don't ya????

Yeah, right, Berigan, wrap it up and put a nice bow on it, etc.... C'mon, man, you've surely been a baseball fan as long as I have, and as that eminent sage Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over till it's over." Now it's 2-2 and the Marlins have to have a huge boost from winning in such dramatic fashion last night, after nearly throwing the game away. I'm hoping David Wells comes up with the big one tonight, 'cause the Yanks surely need it.

[Dan Gould]

Speaking of Little, he still doesn't get it, and while I don't exactly expect him to be offered the position anyway, he's making noise about not really wanting it anyway:

Little unsure he wants job

Sox manager put off by team's hesitation

By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff, 10/23/2003

MIAMI -- Faced with the increasing likelihood that he will be fired as Red Sox manager, Grady Little said yesterday that he's not sure he wants to manage the Red Sox next season.

"I'm prepared for the likelihood . . . I'm not sure that I want to manage that team," Little said by phone from his home in North Carolina. "That's how I felt when I drove out of town.

"If they don't want me, fine, they don't want me. If they want me to come back, then we'll talk and see if I want to come back up there. That's the way I feel about it."

Little said he hasn't heard a word from Sox brass since returning home. "All I know is when I left there, there was some hesitation. That's all I need to know," he said. "If Grady Little is not there, he'll be somewhere.

"Right now I'm disappointed that evidently some people are judging me on the results of one decision I made -- not the decision, but the results of the decision. Less than 24 hours before, those same people were hugging and kissing me. If that's the way they operate, I'm not sure I want to be part of it."

If Little is fired, that may not play well in a clubhouse in which numerous players expressed their support for the embattled manager after last Thursday's devastating Game 7 loss to the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

"That's not my problem," he said. "Just add one more ghost to the list if I'm not there, because there are ghosts. That's certainly evident when you're a player in that uniform."

Little was on the last year of a two-year deal he signed in March 2002. The Sox won 93 games in his first season, 95 this past season, when they also won the American League wild card, their first playoff appearance since 1999. The team holds one-year options on him for both the 2004 and 2005 seasons, but last March told Little they wanted to wait until the end of this season before deciding whether to exercise those options. Little, unwilling to go through another season of being a lame duck, almost certainly would not be amenable to just having the club exercise his option, which the Sox have until Oct. 31 to do. He wants the security of a multiyear deal. "The reason anyone wants to make changes is they feel that the team should have done better than it did," he said.

Winning the wild card and advancing to the seventh game of what Yankee manager Joe Torre said was the greatest series in which he took part wasn't enough?

"I'm not sure," Little said. "You've got to win the World Series in Boston before it's considered winning."

Little again said if he had to do it over again, he would have left Pedro Martinez in to pitch the eighth inning of Game 7, when the Yankees rallied from a 5-2 deficit to tie the score off Martinez.

"I know that wherever I go, I'll do the best I can," Little said. "I know what we did there. I'm sorry the results of one decision caused so much pain, and it sure helped sell a lot of papers. I feel bad for it. But gol'dang, I can't turn back the clock and make another decision, not knowing whether the results of that decision are good or not."

Speculation has been rampant at the World Series about who the Sox might pursue if Little is let go, as expected. Dodger coach Glenn Hoffman, the former Red Sox shortstop who declined an invitation to interview before Little was hired, is a name that has surfaced here. Hoffman had briefly managed the Dodgers when Tom Lasorda was interim general manager there, and told associates that with the Sox GM situation unsettled at the time, he didn't want to go through that experience again.

"Only time will tell," Little said, when asked how he thought the club would perform under a new man. "But if they think it's going to get better, they'd better watch out. I know how it was when I got there, and I know how it is when I'm leaving."

Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek last weekend said there were a "billion things" that could have caused the Sox clubhouse to fall apart last season, and it was because of Little that it did not do so.

"Most things people don't even know about," Little said. "Everyone knows the final results. We didn't win the World Series, so we lost. I'm only thankful that they're pointing the finger at me, and not at a player, because I can take it. I'm telling you that right now."

Little was asked if Martinez spoke with him after the Game 7 loss. "He came and gave me a big hug and thanked me for the opportunity, just like a lot of other players did," Little said.

Little said, "To tell you the truth, this ain't bothering me like it's bothering a lot of other people. I'll tell you right now, I did the best I could do, and I still think [his handling of Martinez] was right. Baseball people think that -- maybe not Red Sox fans -- but baseball people tell me over and over.

"But in Boston, it's not just this one decision, or just one game. It's like this in May. People are talking about devastating losses, and it's the end of April or first of May. That's serious stuff. You don't play 162 games. You play 162 seasons a year. Every game is a season. That's why this doesn't affect me like it does a lot of people."

Because Major League Baseball doesn't want the World Series upstaged, any announcement regarding Little's status probably won't come until after the Series.

"If Grady Little is not back with the Red Sox, he'll be somewhere," Little said. "I'll be another ghost, fully capable of haunting."

[Bright Moments]

GO MARLINS!!!!!!!!!

[Soulstation1]

my prediction

marlins win the next two games

why didn't they acquire mike piazza to pitch vs clemens in his last abat.

mike could of given him a going away present.

go tribe 2004 world series champs!

ss1

[doubleM]

My prediction, Yanks in 7. Marlins will go belly up tonight, Wells will tear em' up. Splitsville in NY, game 7, Yankees.

[Bright Moments]

Marlins will go belly up tonight, Wells will tear em' up.

R.I.P. yankees! Marlins WIN game 5!

[doubleM]

Well, my prediction went belly up. I didn't intuit that Wells would get hurt. But I wouldn't and won't rule out the Yankees. All these Marlins fanatics should keep their erections in check, 3-2 is still a series. Back to NY.

[Soulstation1]

wells probably had a hangover...

[BERIGAN]

Well, my prediction went belly up. I didn't intuit that Wells would get hurt. But I wouldn't and won't rule out the Yankees. All these Marlins fanatics should keep their erections in check, 3-2 is still a series. Back to NY.

Yankees just know how to build the suspense up, and to truly crush fans of other teams....though it was nice to know the boss will be upset for a few days till they sweep 2 games.....

[Brad]

I frankly don't see how the Yankees lose Game 6. I just don't see it. You know the fans will be pumped and although the team shouldn't need any extra motivation, that will help. I also think the Marlins are making a big mistake by going with Beckett on 3 days rest. Why not save him for Game 7, with full rest. Someone mentioned today on WFAN here in New York today that in '73, Seaver talked Yogi into letting him pitch on 3 days rest, which meant that if they lost, then they'd have to go to Koosman on 3 days rest. Well, guess what, the As did just that and instead of having a rested Seaver, they had to go to Koosman and the rest is history. McKeon should look at Game 6 as a throwaway and have his best going in Game 7. Instead, if he loses he'll have to go with Pavano. I don't think he'll be able to do it.

[Soulstation1]

i sticking with my pick.

if the marlins lose game 6, i don't think they can win game 7 in n.y.

they must win game 6.

ss1

[Dan Gould]

I agree with you, Brad, though Pavano isn't the worst choice, he pitched a beauty in Game four. Who'd imagine that Pavano and Penny would account for the first three wins-or at least pitch in the first three wins.

But I agree, I'd prefer to face Mussina with a rested Beckett in Game Seven, not to throw in the towel on game six, the team ought to be sky high trying to close it out, and they just might get to Pettite. Pettite didn't exactly kill the Sox in Game six last time, and there's a wee bit more pressure on him this time.

I do know this, if the Yankees come back they'll truly be insufferable bastards.

Whoever said that rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for General Motors, they said a mouthful of truth there.

[doubleM]

"Routing for General Motors"? Let's see...who routes for automobile manufacturers? I sure as hell don't know anyone who does. Go Toyota! You don't exactly have stadiums of people comparing autos off of the production line. Baseball is a game, folks. Routing for Yankees = routing for G.M.?, now that's a mouthful of scat!!!

[Dan Gould]

Obviously you do not know your baseball history, not even of your own team.

While I cannot at the moment identify the speaker, that line was uttered in the 1950s when the Yankees were winning Series after Series. And by the way, it was uttered at least ten years before I was born.

Its making a serious point about rooting for a team that seems destined to win over and over and over again, just like, at the time, G.M. was the dominant car manufacturer, a behemoth that overwhelmed everyone else.

If you don't understand the analogy, given its time frame, well ...

[Brad]

Actually, they're insufferable already. I don't know about GM but there was a book that was in print about twenty years ago by Peter Golenbock that was a history of the Yankees from 1949-1964 and the subtitle was "When rooting for the Yankees was like rooting for U.S. Steel." Maybe that's the origin.

[doubleM]

It's all a matter of opinion. I know that as a Yankee fan, I'm less objective--and a Yankee hating person might also not be too objective. I've just never bought into that analogy, that's all. I know that argument has been made for decades, and I can understand it clearly enough in it's historical and current context--and it's still (in my opinion) not airtight, or certainly not without fallacy and sour grapes reasoning. And to argue against routing for a team that "seems destined to win", well... that doesn't exactly have a foundation in logic. We're talking about this year's teams and this year's World Series. (Go Yankees!!!) Not "fate". That is where, to me-- this whole debate gets tiresome. Curses, ghosts, fate, and other biblical and/or homunculoid precepts. You should accept that some people aren't going to sit back and say, "well, I guess someone said or wrote that at some point in history, so they must have been (and still be) spot on!". There is a business side to sports, and it's another way in which the Yankees have succeeded, are succeeding, will succeed. If you can't accept the free enterprise side of organized team sports, then maybe you should watch tennis, or golf. Besides, it's late October... isn't it all about wins and losses at this point? Enjoy the game.

[Dan Gould]

HALLEH-FUCKIN-LUJAH!!!!

DING DONG THE FUCKING WITCH IS DEAD!!!!!

IF STEINBRENNER GOES APE SHIT ON THIS TEAM, THEN ITS ALL WORTH IT!!!

Edited October 26, 2003 by Dan Gould

[Matthew]

HALLEH-FUCKIN-LUJAH!!!!

DING DONG THE FUCKING WITCH IS DEAD!!!!!

IF STEINBRENNER GOES APE SHIT ON THIS TEAM, THEN ITS ALL WORTH IT!!!

Gee, Dan, I'd hate to see what you wrote before you edited it.

But, you're right. Hope the Yankee choke on it over the winter. And George, please get rid of the gerbil that keeps hanging around Torre.

[Dan Gould]

(GoM, sorry guy, but after watching the LCS, and 26 Championships and all the rest, this is just too sweet. If only it had been the Sox or the Cubs doing the whooping ...)

[BERIGAN]

Hey, don't count the Yankees out, just cuz the series is 4 to 2...

I missed the whole game at a car show, just figured it would still be on , and the Yanks would be up 5 to 1. Thought for sure there would be a game 7, but Beckett is the man it appears.....