By David Gibb
Since baseball is absolutely bar-none my favorite sport, I felt it important that any potential last game of the 2008 World Series should be covered by the Chronicle. However, as Game Five (and consequently the series) could end dangerously close to our printing deadline, I faced a dilemma.
My decision: to cover the game as it happens (well, with a seven second delay in case Tim McCarver puts his foot in his mouth) in the “running diary” style (made popular by live bloggers everywhere), and then prettying up the results into a cohesive and insightful column. Ready to go along for the ride? I smell a Pulitzer!
8:35 PM: The Rays are about to take the field and Chris Meyers is discussing the impact the cold weather could have on the game. It’s funny that now they express concern about how the pitchers will grip the ball only a game removed from the Joe Blanton hat blotch incident. Rays manager Joe Maddon acknowledged that he didn’t necessarily believe Blanton to be throwing spitballs, but mentioned that a foreign substance is often used for (survey says) the purpose of gripping the ball. I just thought it was worth mentioning.
8:39 PM: Grant Balfour is on the mound to start the bottom of the sixth inning, but young lefty phenom David Price is already tossing in the bullpen. Who would effectively “start” the resumed game was one of the big storylines during the nearly 48-hour layover, and it seems that Maddon has decided to let Balfour pitch, even to the left-handed veteran pinch hitter Geoff Jenkins.
8:42 PM: God bless the way baseball lends itself to second-guessing. Jenkins nearly crushes a Balfour offering into the right-centerfield bleachers, but settles for a double when it bounces against the wall. It’s hard not to root for Jenkins after his years of loyalty to the Milwaukee Brewers organization. This single hit could have as much to do with his legacy at the end of his career as all those years of waiting, though.
8:46 PM: Things certainly got off to a bang in this game, as Jenkins was bunted to third by Rollins and scored on a shallow pop fly by Jayson Werth which slipped through the arms of Akinori Iwamura as he attempted a Willie Mays “The Catch”-style catch with his back to the infield in shallow center. Balfour is already walking back to the dugout with his head down, and Howell, the situational lefty, is coming in to face Utley and Howard. They show Balfour throwing his glove in the dugout, and with good reason: if this figure stands, the blame will fall squarely on the shoulders of Balfour and Maddon in equal measure. Maddon proves that the “maverick” label is the ultimate mixed blessing because you’re branded as an “outside the box thinker” when you win and a “foaming-at-the-mouth lunatic” when you lose. The night is still young, however, and as much as I should, I still don’t trust Brad Lidge.
8:54 PM: J.P. Howell just finished a spectacular bit of situational pitching, striking out Chase Utley on three pitches and getting Ryan Howard to pop out harmlessly on the infield. Howell had to work around a bizarre play which saw Werth get picked off first, but reach second safely as Tampa Bay first baseman Carlos Pena’s throw to second was inaccurate. I think Howell is one of the true “coming out” stories of this postseason. He has a devastating curveball and looks fully capable of consistently getting out the league’s best left-handed hitters. As well as Howell pitched, however, the Rays need to turn nine outs into at least one run.
9:00 PM: Well, that was quick. Rocco Baldelli just launched a one-out solo home run off a fastball high and inside from Ryan Madson. Much like Jenkins, Baldelli is a great story because of his long tenure on the long-suffering Rays and his truly bizarre and unfortunate medical history. Despite the low television ratings, this World Series (and the postseason in general) has produced a number of these great moments. Perhaps the greatest was Matt Stairs’ NLCS Game Four home run against the Dodgers’ Jonathan Broxton. Sentimentality aside, one of the really fantastic things about the postseason is that it creates career-defining moments for all sorts of players. It’s not all about the Josh Beckett-esque stud pitchers or the Bondsian sluggers in the postseason; it’s just as often about the fine situation players playing their game.
9:07 PM: The top of the seventh ended as excitingly as it began, but not nearly as productively – at least not for the Rays. Following Baldelli’s big fly, Jason Bartlett chased Madson with a single. After Howell sacrificed, Iwamura singled up the middle on a soft grounder, but Bartlett was caught perhaps trying to be too aggressive, attempting to score on the back end of the play. Utley threw him out at home, ending the threat and keeping the game tied.
9:11 PM: I was about to say I was a bit surprised that J.P. Howell was still in the game for the Rays and not David Price, but before I could finish typing that, Pat Burrell murdered a ball to center for the second near-homer-turned-double of the night for the Phillies. Howell is lifted for submarining former Met Chad Bradford, but it definitely seems one batter too late. Joe Maddon’s bullpen management has not necessarily been bad thus far, but it has certainly not been successful. He defied traditional baseball logic in leaving in Howell to pitch to the right-handed power hitter Burrell. He’ll take a lot of flak for this kind of decision making if they lose, but it’s an admitted occupational hazard for Maddon, and he’s a big boy. That being said, I think that he absolutely deserves the AL Manager of the Year Award.
9:20 PM: Nobody will be able to say that this game isn’t exciting. The Phillies just regained the lead as former San Francisco Giant Pedro Feliz, – known better for his glove than his bat and a notorious strikeout candidate- singled up the middle to score utilityman Eric Bruntlett, who ran for Burrell. The play was set up excellently by Shane Victorino’s groundball in the previous at bat to the right side, which had moved Bruntlett to third. This game is as advertized: a thrilling conclusion to the postseason.
9:23 PM: Disaster is averted by the Rays as Aki Iwamura makes a spectacular play to turn a single into the middle into a force at second and reliever J.C. Romero grounds out. Iwamura is another guy who has used this postseason to show the world what a thrilling player he can be. His defense at second is slick, which is amazing considering that he was a Gold Glove winner at third base in Japan. Some more interesting managing in this contest as Charlie Manuel leaves in Romero with a potential insurance run on base in the most important game of the season. Carl Crawford is coming up for the Rays, and apparently Manuel greatly prefers his matchup with Romero than with situational left-hander Scott Eyre.
9:29 PM: The managers are striking out every time tonight. Romero falls behind Crawford 3-1 and the at bat ends with a scalded line drive up the middle. As I finish typing that sentence, however, it becomes irrelevant as B.J. (short for “Bossman Junior” – I think everybody should know that) Upton grounds into a routine 6-4-3 double play. Apparently Romero isn’t a bum and Charlie Manuel isn’t an idiot. Shows what I know.
9:32 PM: “The Phillies are three defensive outs away from a championship,” says Joe Buck. I love his MadLib style of postseason commentary, making broad, general baseball-y comments and simply inserting the names of the teams and players currently playing. This next commercial break, however, gives me time to truly ponder the implications of a Philadelphia championship. Obviously there hasn’t been a World Series win in Philadelphia since 1980 or any kind of major sport championship since 1983. A Phillies win would have deeper implications in baseball, however, as it would surely cement Pat Gillick’s reputation as one of the finest GMs of an era and re-establish the National League as a competitive force in the postseason (not forgetting, of course, the 2006 Cardinals who rolled over the over-rested Detroit Tigers). As I alluded to earlier, however, I still don’t trust Brad Lidge.
9:39 PM: Well, it’s good to know I think like the good people at Fox. Following the commercial break they cut to Chris Meyers inexplicably in the dugout explaining the “Curse of Billy Penn.” I swear I knew it was the logical place in the game to explain that! Somebody give me a job!
9:45 PM: The aforementioned Mr. Lidge is about to enter the game, as David Price just fanned Ryan Howard, possibly the last Philadelphia batter of the year. Brad Lidge didn’t blow a single save this year, and has always been one of the finest closers in the league, but ever since the monster shot he game up to Albert Pujols in the 2005 playoffs and the severely crushed soul he suffered for the next year and a half as a result, it has just been a waiting game for me. I’m just waiting for him to do it again. Call me a pessimist. Call me a sadist. Call me a baseball fan.
9:50 PM: I suppose I discounted the impact of a Philly championship earlier. The fans are all on their feet, waving rally towels or simply cheering. I hate to stereotype, but it’s so shocking to see a crowd in Philadelphia looking ready to explode with joy. They look ready to spray alcohol on each other in celebration rather than dumping stale beer on the players.
9:52 PM: Don’t Speak Too Soon Jinx Alert: Dioner Navarro, another good story, has gotten a single, representing the possible tying run. I think this is the fascinating thing about this Series: for the first time in a long time, the nation isn’t collectively rooting for either team; it sees either as a great story. Well, those who are watching, that is. It will be interesting to see what the ratings look like for tonight. The Series has been extremely disappointing ratings wise, but it doesn’t get much better than this in terms of competition.
9:55 PM: Fernando Perez, running for Navarro, steals second. Pinch hitter Ben Zobrist hits a sinking line drive to right that hangs up just long enough for Jayson Werth to catch. Genuine tension isn’t created in sports as often as we writers like to pretend it does, but this is one of those minutes. The Rays are down to their last out, pinch hitter Eric Hinske, and have the tying run on second. This is what you pay for, folks!
9:59 PM: Eric Hinske goes down swinging as Brad Lidge proves me wrong and seals the first championship in Philadelphia in 25 years.
Well, there you go, sports fans. We just belatedly walked hand-in-hand through one of the most bizarre, exciting, and satisfying conclusions to any World Series that I have seen.
I hope it was good for you. Perhaps this recap of the conclusion to the final game of the 2008 World Series will exist as a time capsule for future generations when they study the opening of the great Philadelphia sports dynasty of the early 21st century.