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From The Dugout
[Editor's note: This feature
coordinated by Denny O'Brien]
Keith LeClair is mesmerized with one of Major
League Baseball's most compelling sequences of postseason storylines ever — but
not too mesmerized to cloud his razor-sharp insights into the ongoing World
Series or hinder his expert answers to your questions.
Coach is back this week with more in-depth
analysis. Got a question about the World Series? Feel free to aim your best
pitch right here:
coachleclair@bonesville.net
Or, if you just want to send Coach LeClair a personal note, do so at
this address:
komaha23@cox.net.
An October
for the Ages
By Keith LeClair
©2003 Bonesville.net
Has this not been
the greatest postseason in recent years? Did you know every series
except the Yankees-Twins has gone down to the last game? In a baseball
era with salaries skyrocketing and team payrolls over $100 million and
to still have a team like the Marlins on the verge of winning the World
Series is remarkable. Just think, the Yankees payroll is almost triple
of that of the Marlins.
How about this?
In May, the Marlins fired their manager — Jeff Torberg — and had to go
get Jack McKeon off a farm tractor at age 72 to manage their club. If
that’s not wild enough, the Marlins averaged about 16,000 a game in
attendance during the regular season, and I would say a third of those
tickets were probably giveaways. And now look — almost 70 thousand fans
a game.
It’s truly amazing
what has taken place during these playoffs. You have a fan in Chicago
trying to catch a foul ball that may have cost the Cubs a chance at the
World Series. The fans are so upset that the guy can’t go to work and
has even received death threats. Not to mention Gonzalez kicks a
double-play ball after that, which would have gotten the Cubs out of the
inning. The poor fan eventually may even have to move out of Chicago
for doing what 99 percent of us would have done if we were sitting in
his seat.
Then look over in
Beantown, where they are about to run Grady Little out of his job for
not taking their $100 million dollar man out of the game. All this
could only happen in Chicago and Boston, where the fans swear there is a
goat and a curse of the Bambino living. The people literally think that
is the case and I am not joking. I am telling you we may never see a
playoff in baseball quite like this again — unless Boston and Chicago
make it to the Series, and then only God knows what will happen in that
one.
Time to get back
on track with what’s taking place in the World Series between the
Marlins and Yankees. Right now the Marlins are out-hustling and playing
the Yankees. The Yanks are down 3-2 and have some serious issues on
offense. The biggest one being Soriano going into the tank. If you
have ever played the game, you can feel for what he is going through,
because at one time or another, we have all been in his shoes. The ball
when it leaves his hand looks like its the size of an aspirin. It’s
gotten so bad, Torre sat him and played Enrique Wilson at second.
Now you're
having to hit your hottest hitter, Jeter, in the leadoff hole with a
pitcher hitting in the nine hole, so your RBI opportunities become
limited. To make things worse, Giambi can’t play first because of a
sore knee and they are afraid Pierre and Castillo will take advantage of
his inability to move. If that’s not bad enough, David Wells goes down
with a bad back in the first after bragging on his non-conditioning
program. And if that’s not bad enough, they look like the Bad News
Bears trying to execute a rundown, costing them two runs.
Yes, the Yankees
are in trouble, but one saving grace is that they leave the National
League park and get their DH Giambi back, which really will help them.
They didn’t look comfortable playing without the DH, and like I said in
last week's
article, it’s a much tougher transition going to National
League rules compared to the American League.
The one key the
Yankees have going for them is a fresh Pettite and Mussina. They need a
big start out of Andy Pettite to give the Yankees' middle relief a break
and force a game seven. Game Five really taxed the Yanks’ pen,
especially after the extra innings loss in Game Four. The other big
question is what Jack McKeon will do with his rotation for Game Six and
Seven. Do you throw Beckett and Palvano on three days rest or start
Redman or Willis in Game Six and have Beckett on four days rest for game
Seven? That’s a tough call for any manager, although what Beckett did
to the Cubs with only two days rest may help make that decision.
Personally, I
think if you pitch Beckett in Game Six and lose, you’re probably not
going to win Game Seven. I would start Redman and get Willis up quick
if he runs into any problems early and keep both Beckett and Palvano for
Game Seven if needed. That way, even if you lose psychologically, you
know your ace is fresh and ready to go in Game Seven. As I have said
before, I am not a fan of throwing guys on three days rest.
The Yankees have
to start finding a way to get a lead and make Rivera a factor for the
final two games if they are to come back and win. The Marlins have
basically made Rivera a non-factor up to this point in the Series, which
is a credit to their ability to manufacture runs in the middle innings.
If you have noticed, the Marlins have had some big two-out hits in the
games they have won, and the games they lost they left a lot of men on
base.
I think Torre will
put Soriano back in the lineup and put him in the nine hole. The DH
will allow Johnson to move up to the two spot and give the Yankees a
more balanced attack at the top of their lineup. I look for the Yankees
to move runners early in the game and to try to score early and put some
pressure on the Marlins. The Yanks know — and so do the Marlins — that
Rivera needs to have the ball in the eighth and ninth with a lead for
the Yankees to win. The Marlins, on the other hand, need to keep this
from happening.
I still believe
the Yankees will win this Series, but only if they can start swinging
the bats. I look for two great games and a dramatic Game Seven, win
with Rivera getting two saves to bring another title to the Bronx. I
truly would like to see the Marlins win this thing and show smaller
market teams they can compete and win. I also would like to see Jack
McKeon win a title and make those tractor rides that much more
enjoyable.
02.23.07 10:27 AM
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