Need A Baseball Fix?

Do you need an off-season baseball fix? I have a recommendation.

I have to admit that I didn't stay awake for the end of Game 6 in last year's World Series. There was a lot of talk afterward about what an awesome game it was, because of the multiple comebacks and exciting moments, and how close the Rangers came to winning their first World Series, only to ultimately fail.

All of this reminded me of the best game I ever saw, in 1986. No, it wasn't Game 6 of the World Series. It was Game 5 of the ALCS between the California Angels and the Boston Red Sox. The night before, in Game 4, a 24-year-old Roger Clemens, on his way to his first Cy Young award and the MVP, would take a 3-0 lead into the 9th inning, before handing the ball to closer Calvin Schiraldi. Schiraldi promptly blew the save and the Angels won on an 11th inning base hit by former Oriole Bobby Grich, to take a 3-1 series lead. Luckily for Boston, in 1985 the ALCS had gone from best-of-5 to best-of-7.

I really didn't know who I was rooting for when Game 5 began. On the one hand, the Angels had ex-Orioles Grich and Doug DeCinces in the starting lineup. Grich had announced that this was his last season. Boston also had an ex-Oriole, Don Baylor, along with one of my favorite players, Dwight Evans. I know he wasn't an Oriole, but I always thought he should have been. I didn't hate the Red Sox. I'd been to a few games at Fenway Park, and had some good times there. Besides, they were rivals of the Yankees, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Right?

The announcing team featured another Oriole connection with Jim Palmer as the color man along with Al Michaels. When they showed Willie Stargell in the crowd, Michaels tried to tease Palmer by saying that he must remember Stargell from the '79 World Series. Palmer's response was "Well, I had good luck against him, but I remember that home run he hit off Scotty McGregor in Game 7". Some things never change.

For some reason, even though I watched the game live, I also taped it. I still have the tape today, with the box score taped to the outside of the box. Unfortunately, the tape is a BetaMax.

I watched the game last night, by buying a subscription to mlb.tv's "Baseball's Best". Even though it locked up a half-dozen times, and inexplicably jumped from the top of the 11th to the bottom of the 11th without showing the winning run scoring, it was still worth watching. Don't just look for the highlights, watch the whole game. I'm sure there are other ways to view or download it, but I can't tell you what they are. I don't recommend the BetaMax approach, however.

What a difference 25 years makes! The baseball playoffs dare to schedule a Sunday afternoon game, opposite the NFL. The audacity! In the top of the 1st, Al Michaels explains to us an advanced statistic called "On Base Percentage". Whatever it means, it turns out that Wade Boggs has a good one. The mlb.tv telecast does not include any of the ABC graphics, so it's very minimalistic. You need to pay attention to the score, the count and who's at bat all on your own. The game moves right along too. Batters stay in the box between pitches, pitchers don't shake off the catcher or wander around the mound. Once when they show a quick replay, we miss the first pitch to the next batter. No radar guns, no strike zone graphics, no electronic commercial advertising superimposed on the wall behind the batter, no rally monkeys. Fans have signs in the stands based on the ABC acronym, like "Another Boston Collapse" and "Almost Been Clenched"(sic) and they do the Wave without feeling foolish.

I originally meant to write about the game itself, but I can't possibly do it justice. It needs to be seen to be appreciated. The big story is Dave Henderson, a late-season pickup from Seattle who enters the game in the 5th inning, replacing Tony Armas. Why? Is he a defensive replacement? We're not sure. There are no reporters in the dugout, interviewing the managers between innings, so Al and Jim are left to speculate that Armas might be injured. In the 6th, Grich hits a fly ball to center that Henderson catches at the wall. Then it pops out of his glove and over the wall for a 2-run homer, and the Angels take the lead. Grich is ecstatic and takes a curtain call. In the 9th, Henderson redeems himself with a 2-run homer off Donnie Moore after the Red Sox are down to their last strike, and his around-the-bases celebration is special too. Later, he hits a sacrifice fly in the 11th off Moore to win it. Calvin Schiraldi redeems himself with the save. Boston now trails 3 games to 2, but for all intents and purposes, the series is over. They win the next 2 games easily at home.

For Donnie Moore, there is no redemption. Angels fans never forgive him, even though he was pitching with a shoulder injury, and the Angels had plenty of opportunities to win the game. Fans boo him whenever he takes the mound for the next 2 years. By 1989, he's out of baseball and takes his own life.

Fate has decided that Boston will get to see both sides of the coin. After their extraordinary comeback, they experience an equally historic collapse to the Mets in the World Series.

Watching this game was an interesting experience. Even though I know how the game ended, I kept expecting the Angels to pull it out. Is that weird? I realize how much the pace of the game has slowed down in the past 25 years, and I don't like it. It doesn't have to be this way. I like some of the newer technology to enhance the viewing experience, but I wonder if we've gone too far sometimes. It bothers me to see coaches and players interviewed during a game, although I can't articulate why. I miss daytime ballgames, especially during the playoffs.

Maybe I'm just getting old.