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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE ALL STARS
& PEDRO'S HISTORIC YEAR July 31, 1999 ... The long-anticipated return to Yawkey Way of Roger Clemens in all his pinstriped glory was trumped this afternoon by the unexpected resurfacing of Jose Offerman, the prodigal All-Star second baseman, in a 6-5 Red Sox win over the New York Yankees. The perspiring right hand of Roger Clemens never was able to seize the moment the way it did two years ago, when he first appeared here in something other than a Red Sox uniform and struck out 16 of his closest friends. This time, he lasted just one batter into the sixth inning and had as many wild pitches (2) as strikeouts. Meanwhile, the swift feet, patient eye, and missing bat of Offerman reappeared at the optimum moment for the Red Sox, who recovered from a 5-2 deficit to overtake the Yankees before a sellout crowd of 33,179 at a Fenway Park sweatbox. Offerman, restored to the top of the order after being benched for four games, led off the ninth inning with a triple into the center- field triangle and scored the winning run on John Valentin's fly ball single that plopped a foot fair down the left-field line, climaxing an afternoon in which the Bombers couldn't keep him off base. Offerman, who came into the game batting a team-low .167 for July, also had an RBI single, walked three times, stole a base, and scored three runs. But he didn't take to the idea that perhaps Sox manager Jimy Williams sat him in hopes he would respond in this fashion. Valentin, who twice had tied the score with a second-inning sacrifice fly and seventh-inning double, delivered Offerman for a third time with a line-hugging ball that Yankees left fielder Shane Spencer chose to let fall, hoping it would land foul. Offerman, the loneliest man in a Red Sox uniform after Williams sat him down because of his defense, crossed the plate and dived into a gauntlet of hugs from teammates, who ended what has been a tough month (11-15) on a winning note. The Red Sox overcame the shock of two more Yankee home runs in the first inning. Three batters into the game, Brian Rose already had allowed the Yankees more runs (2) than he had in his previous two starts against them combined (1 in 13 innings). Admitting he was more excited than usual at the prospect of pitching against the Yankees and Clemens, his boyhood hero, Rose needed just one more batter to accomplish what Mark Portugal did in two the night before. Rose gave up a leadoff home run to Chuck Knoblauch, then struck out Derek Jeter before Paul O'Neill hit his next pitch into the visitors' bullpen. Two batters into the fifth inning, when Rose was lifted, the Yankees had a dozen hits, the 12th time in 15 games since the All- Star break that Sox pitchers have allowed double digits in hits. But if Rose wilted, so, too, did Clemens. He walked the first batter he faced, Offerman, on four pitches. Before the second inning, he threw a warm-up pitch to the screen. In the third, after rookie Trot Nixon crushed a 430-foot home run to center field, he walked Offerman again, and after Offerman stole second, he threw a wild pitch over Valentin's head. That allowed Offerman to take third, from where he scored on Valentin's fly. In the fifth, on a full-count pitch to Nixon, he nearly threw the ball over the head of catcher Jorge Posada, then bounced a wild pitch to Offerman, allowing Nixon to take second, from where he scored on Offerman's ground single up the middle. Clemens was lifted when Nomar Garciaparra opened the sixth with a single. This time, there was no staring at the owner's box. Clemens walked off the mound, head down, before lifting his cap in recognition of those cheering behind the visitors' dugout. |
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