ANDY PETTITTE

 

THE ALL STARS &
PEDRO'S HISTORIC YEAR
 1999 ALCS, GAME #4
The Red Sox fumble and
throw the game away

October 17, 1999 ... The defending world champions were a poised portrait in pinstripes behind left-handed pitcher Andy Pettitte while taking a commanding three-games-to-one lead in the American League Championship Series with a 9-2 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, came close to exhausting their supply of tomorrows by self-destructing with four errors before a sellout gathering of 33,586 shocked into silence by a six-run Yankee ninth that climaxed with Ricky Ledee's grand slam off Rod Beck, the fifth Sox pitcher.

The silence didn't last long, as the night turned ugly and dangerous in the bottom of the ninth when Red Sox manager Jimy Williams, already agitated by an admittedly blown call by second base umpire Tim Tschida in the Sox' half of the eighth, was ejected by first base umpire Dale Scott, who thumbed Williams when he hurled his cap high into the air.

Plate umpire Al Clark, who approached Williams as he was retrieving his cap, waved the Yankees off the field after he nearly was hit by what appeared to be a plastic bottle, one of numerous projectiles thrown onto the field from the stands. While police officers and league and team security officials flooded the field and Fenway Park public address announcer Ed Brickley warned the crowd that further disorder could result in a forfeit, the players were kept in the dugout until play resumed after an eight-minute delay.

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who had retired John Valentin on a controversial double play to end the eighth, gave up a couple of hits after play resumed, but he struck out Jason Varitek to end the game and keep intact his streak of being unscored upon in his last 33 appearances, dating to July 21.

With Offerman aboard on an infield hit off Knoblauch's glove, Valentin hit a checked-swing roller to second. Knoblauch, charging the ball, made a pass at Offerman, who eluded the tag, then made an awkward lob to first to retire Valentin. Offerman, first- base coach Dave Jauss, and Williams disputed the call, to no avail. Instead of capitalizing on the lift reliever Rich Garces gave them by pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, the Sox still trailed by a run and took the field still stewing about the blown call.

Garces retired Joe Girardi on a fly ball to start the ninth, but Knoblauch singled off Garces's glove and Derek Jeter singled to left, Knoblauch stopping at second. Paul O'Neill followed with a smash that Offerman fielded going to his left, then spun and threw low to Nomar covering second. Nomar, who earlier in the game had been charged with his fourth error of the series, attempted to backhand the bag-high throw, but it went off his glove and he fumbled the ball as he tried to pick it up with his bare hand.

Knoblauch scored the Yankees' fourth run on the play, Bernie Williams followed with a single to make it 5-2, and he advanced to second when right fielder Darren Lewis's throw ticked off Nomar's glove. In came Beck, who threw one pitch to Bernie Williams in Game 1 that ended up as a winning home run. He threw two pitches to Ledee, the second landing in the center-field seats.

Sox starter Bret Saberhagen allowed the Yankees just five hits in six innings, but one of those hits was a home run by DH Darryl Strawberry that gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the second. Saberhagen also was charged with an error when he failed to handle Mike Stanley's low flip while covering first base in the fourth, when the Yankees also capitalized on Nomar's throwing error to score two unearned runs.

The Sox had tied the score at 1 in the bottom of the second on Butch Huskey's double and Troy O'Leary's broken-bat single.

The Sox took the lead in a third inning certain to be subject to further review across Red Sox Nation this morning and beyond. With runners on first and third after singles by Damon Buford (who stole second) and Offerman, Valentin doubled off the wall. Buford scored, but Offerman, waved home by third-base coach Wendell Kim, was gunned down easily at the plate by a strong relay from shortstop Jeter.

Kim had opted to be aggressive, not unusual so early in the game. The on-deck hitter, however, was Nomar, who entered the game batting .480 in the postseason. With Valentin was on second with two out, Pettitte pitched around Nomar and walked him, and Stanley went down swinging.