The Baseball Report Volume
IV Issue 14 - Playoff Edition!
October 10, 2000
From The Editor,
Before you read the issue, I'd just like to remind you all to forward TBR to
anyone who you think may be interested, as the more people that read, the
better.
The issue covers the playoffs, so if you are here to read about the Montreal
Expos or the Texas Rangers, you will have to wait until next issue.
As always, the staff of The Baseball Report encourages and welcomes feedback,
so if you have an opinion or a comment on the issue, drop me a line. Similarly,
if you'd like to advertise in TBR or on the website, email
baseballreport@aol.com.
Now, onto the issue...
Michael Frankel
Editor-in-Chief
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The National League Beat by Eric D. Larson
The Cardinals and Mets will meet in St. Louis on Wednesday to begin National
League Championship Series play. While both teams are coming off a three-game
post-season winning streak, their methods of getting there were drastically
different. In their first two wins against the San Francisco Giants in division
series play, New York relied on extra-inning theatrics. In contrast, the St.
Louis Cardinals quickly and decidedly swept the Braves, averaging 8 runs per
game.
Perhaps it was the complacency of Atlanta fans or merely the disappointment in
their team's late-summer performance, but it seemed that the Braves' home field
did not provide the electricity of previous years. In fact, it appeared they
were most excited when St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire stepped up to the plate
in Saturday's game. McGwire and the Cardinals gave Braves fans little
opportunity to cheer all week, dominating in all three match-ups. Atlanta
pitching was ineffective, especially against Jim Edmonds, who homered twice,
drove in 7 runs and batted over .500 in the series. McGwire's bat, while seldom
used, was a looming presence against Atlanta defense, and his three appearances
served merely as entertainment, for St. Louis and Atlanta fans alike.
Kevin Millwood reacted to Saturday's blowout: "We ran into a hot ball club
that played better baseball than we did." Now the question remains if
their momentum can up-end a highly motivated New York Mets team, fresh off a
division series win against the team with the best record in baseball.
This year, the Mets are missing a few key players, mainly John Olerud and
Rickey Henderson. Both propelled New York in 1999, leaving a significant void
this time around. New York manager Bobby Valentine has aptly filled these holes
in the roster with players like Jay Payton and Timo Perez, but the doubts were
still evident. During Sunday's match-up, on the anniversary of Don Larsen's perfect
game, with Tug McGraw throwing out the first pitch, New Yorkers had faith. Mets
pitching did not disappoint. Bobby J. Jones' complete game performance was only
slightly short of perfect.
"If he needed vindication, I'm glad he got it," said Valentine after
the game. In fact, it was Valentine's leadership that may have proved the
difference throughout the whole series. His motivation provided a Mets rebirth
after an opening game loss against San Francisco. His roster-control during the
following two consecutive marathon meetings allowed his team a chance to put
the impressive Giants away for good. With a questionable starter in Game 4,
Valentine and the Mets did just that.
Bobby Jones dismissed the notion of another extra-inning affair in Sunday's game
and pitched a one-hit masterpiece. Edgardo Alfonzo and the previously slumping
Robin Ventura provided the offensive punch needed to shut the door on San
Francisco's dream season. Barry Bonds had the honors of flying out for the
final out of the decisive Game 4. He was only one of a handful of Giants
hitters even allowed a chance for four at-bats in the game.
Cardinals pitching had a strong outing as well in their first series. Overall,
St. Louis allowed only ten runs in three games. Cardinal relievers carried an
astounding 1.32 ERA against Atlanta. But, it was their offensive prowess that
made headlines.
The Mets-Cardinals series opens on Wednesday. New York holds the regular season
advantage, beating St. Louis 6 times in 9 attempts. Benny Agbayani and Mike
Piazza both hold .300+ averages against Cardinal pitching for the year. St.
Louis will open with Darryl Kile on the mound. With a 20-9 record, he looks the
favorite against Mike Hampton, who lost the series opener with San Francisco.
If the Mets have any hopes for a World Series appearance, they will need
another unsung hero to quietly shoulder the load against a seemingly unbeatable
St. Louis squad. Perhaps Bobby Valentine can find that hero again…or maybe he's
been acting the part all along.
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The American League Side by Emily Liner
The first round of the playoffs are over. The wild card Seattle Mariners and
the third-seeded New York Yankees made it out alive. They will meet in the AL
Championship Series. The winner of the best-of-seven series will represent the
AL in the World Series.
The Mariners swept the Chicago White Sox, who had the AL's best record. The
White Sox won seven of the twelve games they played against the Mariners in the
regular season. Nonetheless, the Mariners easily won their series against an
older team. The Mariners had eight more players with previous postseason
experience than the Sox.
In the first game, the Mariners won 7-4 in ten innings thanks to Edgar Martinez
and John Olerud's home runs off of Chicago reliever Keith Foulke, the losing
pitcher. Seattle reliever Jose Mesa got the win and rookie closer Kazuhiro
Sasaki got the save. Chicago's Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordoñez, and Carlos Lee
collected only two hits in thirteen at-bats.
Seattle won 5-3 in the second game, and Paul Abbott got his first postseason
win in a fifteen-year career. Mariner Jay Buhner hit a home run. The White Sox
had more trouble. Thomas, Ordoñez, and Lee did not get a single hit, and
erratic shortstop Jose Valentin overthrew a ball in the second inning. Mike
Sirotka got the loss, and Sasaki earned another save.
The Mariners secured a place in the ALCS for the first time in five years with
their 2-1 win in the third game in front of a crowd of 48,010, the largest ever
through Safeco Field's brief history. Reliever Jose Paniagua got the win.
Foulke got his second loss. Carlos Guillen made a controversial game-winning
pinch-hit RBI bunt single in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Chicago's offense limped through the series, collecting only seventeen hits and
seven runs. MVP candidate Frank Thomas went 0-9 with four walks. Seattle's
bullpen was stellar, allowing only three hits and striking out 14 in 11.2
scoreless innings.
"This goes to show you that we're not the same old Mariners team,"
Buhner said.
It took five games for the Yankees, the defending World Champions, to defeat
the Oakland Athletics, who had not been in the playoffs since 1992. The last
time the two teams met in the postseason was 1981. In the regular season, New
York won six of the nine games they played against the A's.
George Steinbrenner, the owner of the Yankees, said about his slumping team
before the first game, "Tired? Yeah, maybe. Struggling? Yeah, maybe. But
scared? That word ain't even in our vocabulary."
The A's won the opener 5-3. It was Art Howe's first postseason victory as a
manager. Gil Heredia got his first postseason win in his nine-year career, and
Jason Isringhausen got his first postseason save. Roger Clemens used 111
pitches to get the loss. Oakland's Ramon Hernandez had two RBIs, and Ben Grieve
hit into two double plays.
Andy Pettitte's terrific pitching and an altered lineup helped the Yankees win
the second game 4-0. Closer Mariano Rivera got the save. Kevin Appier took the
loss in his first postseason start in a twelve-year career. New York's second
baseman, Luis Sojo, made an embarrassing error when he tripped over his own
feet trying to field a routine ground ball.
The Yankees won the third game 4-2. Orlando Hernandez got his sixth straight
postseason win. Rivera got another save. Tim Hudson was the losing pitcher.
Oakland's rookie Terrence Long hit the first home run of the series. The A's
2-7 hitters went 0-19.
The A's routed the Yankees 11-1 in game four. Barry Zito, only twenty-two years
old, earned the win. The veteran Clemens got his second loss of the series. He
gave up a three-run home run to Olmedo Seanz, who had only nine in the regular
season. Eric Chavez and Grieve each had two RBIs.
New York finalized their ticket to the ALCS with a 7-5 win in the fifth game.
The Yankees scored six runs in the first inning. Reliever Mike Stanton got the
win. Rivera got his sixteenth career postseason save, breaking former Athletic
Dennis Eckersley's record. David Justice hit the Yankees' first home run in
eight games.
The ALCS will be very exciting. Seattle was 6-4 against New York in the regular
season, but the loss of lefty starter Jamie Moyer will surely hurt them. Moyer
will have to sit out for the rest of the playoffs with a fracture in his left
kneecap. Rob Ramsay was added to the Mariners' playoff roster, and he will be
in the bullpen.
Seattle will have Freddy Garcia start the first game, probably followed by John
Halama, Aaron Sele, and Abbott. New York has Denny Neagle starting the first
game, with Pettitte, Hernandez, and Clemens likely following.
NBC will televise the ALCS. New York will host the first two and last two
games. The third, fourth, and fifth games will be at Seattle. Game one will be
on Tuesday, October 10 at 8:15 pm. Wednesday's game will be at 4:15 pm. The
third game will be on Friday at 8:15 pm. Game four will be on Saturday at 8:15
pm. The remaining three games will be played only if necessary. Game five, on
Sunday, will be at 4:15 pm. The sixth game will be on Tuesday at 8:15 pm. Game
seven will be on Wednesday at 8:15 pm. All times are Eastern.
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The Managerial Shuffle by Hollis T. Russell
The yearly dance of mating manager to roster has begun. On the first day after
the completion of the 2000 Major League Baseball season, three managers were
shown the door. While this is not an unusual practice, managers are fired after
every season. But as a general rule, there are firings taking place during the
course of the 162 game schedule. This year, for the first time since 1942, no
managerial changes took place during the course of the regular season.
It must have something to do with the economy. 1942 was the year that the
United States actively swung into full production for World War ll. 2000 is the
year that this country reached the peak of an incredibly strong bull market on
Wall Street. In 1942, Victory Gardens were planted and in 2000, IRA's were
established. In both of these seasons, with the robust economy in full bloom,
Major League Baseball reaped the benefits with sold-out stadiums and tight
pennant races. This gives food for thought that the owners and general managers
felt it best not to rock the boat during the season by firing the
"skipper." So start the music and get ready to pencil in the changes
as the new hats worn by familiar faces has begun in earnest.
Buck Showalter is out in Arizona. After a disappointing season that saw the
Diamondbacks go from division champion to third place, Showalter, the only
manager in team history was fired. This was somewhat surprising as Buck led
this franchise to a .500 + finish in their first year. No other expansion team
has ever finished over .500 in their initial season. The Arizona franchise went
100-62 in winning the division in 1999 and 85-77 this season. The criteria for
success must be more than winning for owner Jerry Colangelo. Buck not only was
victorious on the field; he even picked out the flowers that adorned the
landscape outside of the stadium.
Jack McKeon is also looking for work as the Reds went 85-77 while featuring Ken
Griffey Jr. in center field. Many experts felt that Griffey was the missing
piece that would push Cincy over the top into a regime that would rival the
"Big Red Machine" of years past.
The Pirates fired Gene Lamont after a fifth place finish in the National League
Central. Lamont, who led the Pirates to a second-place finish in 1997, was
plagued by injuries to his starting rotation and rookies at third base and the
outfield. Although very popular with his players, upper management has a new
stadium to sell-out next year and felt Lamont should have done more with the talent
he was given.
These firings are only the tip of the iceberg. Davey Johnson is gone in Los
Angeles becoming the fourth Dodger manager to be fired since the middle of the
1996 season. Terry Francona, sent packing by the Phillies, is rumored to have
the inside track on the Arizona job. Toronto Blue Jays president and CEO, Paul
Godfrey, denies reports that he is cleaning house in the front office and
promoting Dave Stuart to General Manager. Should this occur, Jim Fregosi will
be packing his bags for the lower 48.
Lou Pinella wants out of Seattle, especially with the opening in Cincinnati. If
Seattle gives him his walking papers, he will be one of the leading candidates
for the Redleg job. Jimy Williams is unhappy with the way that Dan Duquette has
shuffled the Bosox personnel this season and would take the Atlanta job if
Bobby Cox steps down. Stay tuned, as Yogi says, "It's not over till it's
over."
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Playing The Short Hop by Michael Frankel
Some Quick Thoughts
So Dusty Baker feels like he is getting attacked for his game 4 decisions?
Welcome to the playoffs Dusty. It is not just San Francisco anymore.
How impressive was Bobby Jones' start? Just the sixth one hitter in Major
League postseason history. And the Mets consider him their number four starter…
I have come to believe that Edgardo Alfonzo is one of the most underrated
players in baseball.
Does anybody feel bad for the Braves? Will anybody after they go out and sign a
marquee player this winter?
Jim Edmonds for MVP.
Darryl Kile for comeback player of the year - No, I did not forget Andres
Galaragga.
Exactly why was Orlando Hernandez used in the 8th inning of Game 5 of the ALDS?
How far has David Cone fallen? Not only is he not used as a starter in the
Division Series; he was not even used when the starter got pulled after four
lackluster innings.
What a bad break for Jamie Moyer…no pun intended.
It sure was nice seeing Oakland in the playoffs. Did anyone notice, by the way,
how the coliseum sold out all home games near the end of the season? Can
someone write this down - winning brings fans.
Too bad the White Sox did not do anything in the playoffs. Still an impressive
year, but is anyone out there really going to pick them in 2001?
*Got some random thoughts or one-liners? Send them in to
baseballreport@aol.com.
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Questions
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Answers
Questions
& Answers will return next issue!
*To submit a question, email baseballreport@aol.com, subject question
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TRIVIA QUESTION
Last
Issue: Who are the only two people in the baseball Hall of Fame that were not
involved with the game of baseball?
Answer(s): (submitted by reader yankeebuzz@aol.com and paboco@aol.com)
The most common answer to this question is Bud Abbott &
Lou Costello... famous for their "Who's On First" routine. While they
are "in" the Hall of Fame as the question asked, they are not
members.
This Issue's Question: What reliever has allowed the most
post-season homeruns (career)?
To answer, email baseballreport@aol.com subject trivia answer.
To submit a question to be asked, email baseballreport@aol.com subject trivia
question.
Leaderboard:
choirboy75@aol.com - 2
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Email baseballreport@aol.com with any comments, suggestions, or opinions you
may have.
That's all for this issue.
Till next time,
Michael Frankel
Editor-in-Chief
Feel free to forward this to anyone and everyone.
copyright 2000 The Baseball Report