Baseball Journal

 9-15-12

It wasn't until the seventh inning that I finally noticed that the White Sox pitcher, Francisco Liriano, had a no-hitter going against the Twins. Hawk and Stone, definitely old school broadcasters, never mentioned it while it was going on. Hawk was pointedly mentioning the number of consecutive outs at the end of innings and that eventually clued me in. Liriano eventually gave up a hit that inning, a two-run homer, but that was the only one he gave up. Something of a good thing. I was about to bust being torn between wanting to say something to dad, who I was watching the game with, and not wanting to jinx it.


The White Sox beat the Twins, 5 - 3, though the ninth inning did feature the Twins loading the bases with nobody out. It was a nice, crisp game in about 2 1/2 hours. This is probably the last time I'll get to see the Sox this season, maybe the post season too. Who knows?  I'd like to think I won't have to watch another Twins game this year, but I should be so lucky. Given the way things have gone, I've seen them so often, they're like a home team.


My unanswered question about the Sox has got to be the mustaches. I didn't even recognize Youkilis. Then I noticed Dunn and Konerko sporting lip rugs.  Thankfully, Gordon Beckham and Pierzynski haven't joined the club. Are they planning on dressing up as 70's porn stars or as New York beat cops for
Halloween?


Meanwhile, I've finally figured out the Yankees. The players aren't paid by the game, they're paid by the minute! Yes, all batting-glove adjusting, face wiping on the mound, foul balls, chit chat, calling time, it's all just part of their contracts. And they get paid double time if the game goes over three hours!


 9-16-12

"The sixth batter of the inning is the first out," says Len Kasper. It was that kind of sixth inning, about an hour's worth. It was a four-hour marathon altogether between the Cubs and Pirates in the end, but all worth it.


Where to begin? When the score was 6 - 1 Pirates early, it looked bad. Pedro Alvarez hit an opposite field, out of the park home run. Darwin Barney's consecutive errorless streak probably should have come to end in the first, but generous scoring kept it intact. But the Cubs came back on an Anthony Rizzo home run to make it 6 - 5. (And some truly bad sportsmanship on behalf of a greedy fan grabbing the ball out of the basket, out of another fan's hand.)


Then there was yet another opposite field, stadium-clearing home run by Alvarez. Score now 9 - 5. Then in the bottom of an already lengthy sixth inning, Rizzo came to the plate with the bases loaded. A no-doubter slammed directly into the bleachers. The Cubs would take the lead 10 - 9.


A digression must be made here. It's a throw-away promotion every game that suddenly caused a Chicago area Mazda dealer to scream out, "Nooo!" You see, the promotion is, if a Cubs player hits a grand slam in sixth, somebody wins a car. Rizzo later said he wanted to drive the car to the winner. Bob Brenly, in the Cubs' tv booth with Len, actually had a topper. When he was broadcasting with the Diamondbacks, their promotion was guessing the player and the inning for a grand slam for a million dollars. Not quite lottery odds, but just about. Bob still remembered the name of the woman who'd picked Jay Bell as her unlikely grand slam benefactor (what an unlikely choice, by the way). When she came into the broadcast booth, Bob introduced her as "the future Mrs. Brenly," much to her husband's chagrin.


(Another digression, the light-hitting infielder, Jay Bell, also scored the World Series winning run in 2001. As he crossed home plate into the arms of his exuberant teammates, he looked liked he'd just won the lottery too.)


Back to the game, in the seventh, Chapman came in for the Cubs and immediately gave up a triple to Starling Marte. Next follows a strikeout. Then a hot shot up the middle that should have tied the game is snagged in mid-air by Barney. He's totally redeemed himself. Then a walk. Runners on first and third. Then the obligatory, fake to third, throw to first move by the pitcher that never. . . Oh my God! It worked. Marte got hung up and tagged out along the third base line.


The Cubs would tack on a couple more runs to make the score 13 - 9, which would be the final. Rizzo would strikeout in the eighth and receive an ovation from the home crowd as he walked back to the dugout. He said he hated that, but definitely earned it.