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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE ALL STARS
& October 11, 1999 ... At Jacobs Field, with Troy O'Leary's three-run home run completing one of the most improbable comebacks in postseason history, the Boston Red Sox made an unforgettable case for short memories and living for the moment. The Sons of Jimy Williams have an American League Championship Series date with the New York Yankees after beating the Cleveland Indians, 12-8, for the third straight time, overcoming a two-game deficit and winning their best-of-five Division Series, 3- 2. Pedro Martinez, already well on his way to most-favored-son status in New England, staked his claim on Sox immortality last night by shuffling out of the bullpen despite a strained muscle in his back and pitching six innings of no-hit, no-run relief, striking out eight. The Sox may not be the best team in the last 100 years, but as a new millennium approaches, they're apparently bent on having the last word. In the last three games, they outscored the Indians, 44-18. Troy O'Leary hit a grand slam off Indians starter Charles Nagy in the third inning and followed it with a three-run homer off Paul Shuey that broke an 8-8 tie in the seventh. Like the grand slam -- the first by a Sox player in postseason history -- O'Leary's game-winner came after the Indians issued an intentional walk to Nomar Garciaparra, who hit a two-run home run in the first inning. Like the slam, the three-run shot also came on the first pitch, and forever erased the stigma of O'Leary's 1-for-16 performance in the '98 playoffs. Until this series, only two players had driven in seven runs in a postseason game -- Edgar Martinez of the Mariners in 1995 and Boston's Mo Vaughn last season against the Indians. In the span of 24 hours, two Sox players duplicated the feat: Valentin in Sunday's record-setting 23-7 win, and O'Leary. Pedro, who pronounced himself ready to go after a five-minute game of catch three hours before the game, entered in the fourth inning after the Indians had shredded both starter Bret Saberhagen and reliever Derek Lowe. Martinez permitted the Indians to hit just one fair ball out of the infield. Pedro ended the game by striking out Omar Vizquel on three pitches. The only Indians batter who hit the ball out of the infield against Pedro was Travis Fryman, who flied to center. Early in the game, the teams were like a couple of heavyweights, whaling away at each other and landing one crushing body blow after another, neither side willing to concede they were finished. With a date with the defending belt-holders, the Yankees, on deck, the Red Sox and Indians showed no fear in going toe-to-toe. The Indians, the team of a thousand runs, and the Red Sox, the team that put up more runs (23) Pedro made his dramatic reentry into the playoff picture. By then, the score was tied, 8-8. Indians strongman Jim Thome had answered the early Sox show of power with 908 feet worth of long balls, a 477-foot, two-run bomb in the first inning, and a 431-foot, two-run shot in the third. Thome's home runs, which gave him four in the series, were sandwiched around a two-run homer by Fryman in the second. Saberhagen was gone two batters into the second inning, Lowe by the end of the third. Indians starter Charles Nagy was done one batter into the fourth inning. Punching bags, all. The Indians also lost center fielder Kenny Lofton when he dislocated his left shoulder sliding into first base on a failed attempt to beat out a grounder to first baseman Mike Stanley. But while Pedro worked a 1-2-3 fourth, the sellout crowd at Jacobs Field fervently hoped that the Sox ace with the cranky back would fall to the same affliction that was claiming everyone else who pitched for a living in this series. It never happened. |
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