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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE ALL STARS
& October 13, 1999 ... One minute before midnight and two pitches into the bottom of the 10th, Bernie Williams dropped the curtain on the first postseason meeting between the Red Sox and Yankees with a walkoff home run. It came off Rod Beck, the closer suddenly without portfolio, and gave the Yankees a 4-3 win in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series before a frenzied gathering of 57,181 at Yankee Stadium. Williams hit an 0-and-1 pitch thrown by Beck, the fourth Boston pitcher, over the center-field fence, sending the Sox to their ninth straight defeat in ALCS play. In both 1988 and '90, they were swept in four straight games by the Oakland A's. The Sox, who held a 3-0 lead after two innings, managed just four hits in the final eight innings, though in their last at-bat they were done in by a blown call by second-base umpire Rick Reed. Jose Offerman was aboard first after his third single of the game when John Valentin skidded a ground ball to third baseman Scott Brosius. Brosius threw to second for an easy force, but the ball bounced off second baseman Chuck Knoblauch's glove. Umpire Reed, however, ruled that Knoblauch had possession long enough to register the out and lost it only as he was switching it to his throwing hand. Beck, who began the 10th after Rheal Cormier retired Paul O'Neill on a comebacker with Derek Jeter aboard in the ninth, took the bullet for the Sox defeat, which came after three stirring wins to overtake the Cleveland Indians in their Division Series. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera pitched the last two innings for the win and is now unscored upon in his last 17 2/3 innings of postseason play. He also hasn't allowed a run since July 21. After Scott Brosius's two-run home run off Sox starter Kent Mercker cut the Sox lead to 3-2, the Yankees tied it in the seventh against reliever Derek Lowe despite the throw of a lifetime by Sox rookie right fielder Trot Nixon. With Brosius aboard second after a single, his third hit of the night, and a sacrifice bunt, Jeter lined a single to right that Nixon fielded on the short hop, then uncorked a throw to the plate that left him lying face-first on the outfield grass. But catcher Jason Varitek, who has become in a very short time one of the best in the game at blocking the plate, was unable to catch the ball on the bounce. Nomar Garciaparra saved two runs with a backhanded leaping catch of Chili Davis's liner with two on and two out in the first inning, then went upstairs again to save at least one more when he took a hit away from Tino Martinez with Yankees on the corners in the third. Nomar's Yankee counterpart, Jeter, made a similar grab to rob Darren Lewis, though for degree of difficulty, the East German judges scored it much lower than Nomar's plays. Jeter, who made just 14 errors during the regular season, committed a rare mistake in the first inning, when he went deep in the hole to glove John Valentin's ground ball, whirled, and made a leaping throw to second, a play he has made dozens of times. This time, however, the throw scooted into right field, allowing Offerman, who had opened with a single, to score all the way from first. Valentin wound up on third and scored on Brian Daubach's line single to right. Offerman was a constant presence on the basepaths against the Indians, collecting seven hits and drawing seven walks in five games, and he wasted no time announcing his presence here, lining a single to center off Yankees starter Orlando Hernandez. Offerman dribbled an infield single just past the mound to make it 3-0 in the second, which began with Lewis drawing a full-count walk, stealing second, and advancing to third on Nixon's base hit. Yankee starter Orlando Hernandez had settled down nicely and lasted eight innings before yielding to Mariano Rivera. Red Sox starter Kent Mercker yielded to Rich Garces, who gave way to Derek Lowe, who handed the ball to Virtual Rheal Cormier. Rod Beck came on in the 10th. For two pitches. And one loss. |
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