The last time I went to a Red Sox game, it was vs. the Angels several years ago. Mo Vaughn hit a towering home run into right field for Anaheim, yet the Sox were behind and so my wife and I left in the 8th inning. When I got home and watched ESPN highlights, they had come back in the 9th and won the game in heroic style. It was special.
Not so on the 23rd. This was the day after Cardinal pitcher Darryl Kile had prematurely left our national pastime to transcend the pop cultural sanctity of sports, reach out and touch the face of God.
It was a beautiful day. But the air in Dodger Stadium was subdued. This was the rubber matchup of a three game series. An Interleague play first and the first time the two clubs had met since the 1916 World Series when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn and called the Robins.
BoSox batting practice didn't even have any rock soundtrack in the public address system. A sweet innocent child sung a stiring double billing rendition of God Bless American and The National Anthem. Flags at Dodger Stadium were at half-staff and then there was a moment of silence for Kile.
But the Sox were never in this game. They were somewhere else. Root for a ballclub was a historical rep based on heart, and you can't expect much out of a performance after such a stunning and unexpected loss. So the Dodgers were poised to complete the sweep.
In the second inning, left fielder Rickey Henderson muffed a line drive that scooted behind him and went for a triple. And it all went downhill from there. By the 4th inning, LA was up 9 to nothing and the game was virtually over. Appropriately enough, this game marks their fall out of first place
... and a potential mid season June Swoon. Though I hope I'm wrong.
Playing catchup, Boston lit up starter Andy Ashby in bright spots with HRs by lineup juggling fill-ins Carlos Baerga and Juan Diaz. But the firepower fell short when Guillermo Mota stepped in for relief. I left in the 8th inning to beat traffic. Only this time, there was no comeback to come home to. There was only a somber telecast of a lackluster Cardinals/Cubs game with tributes to the late Kile, a competitive throwback who excelled as a great human and a good teammate.
Just when you want to get mad at baseball for all that is wrong with it and needs fixing, human losses pile up, break your heart and remind you that it's just a game not worth all the fuss over. This can either spur on or knock the wind out of the Cards' sails. Coupled with the departed Jack Buck, it's a lot to get over when the season's still a month shy of the All Star break.
So what to do but to temper the shock and sorrow with predictions. The way the Dodgers are playing, they have a chance to derail the Diamondbacks if they can trade for a prime time money player or a straw to help stir their drink. Shawn Green can't carry the team alone.
As for my Red Sox, their fate lies with the lesser of two evils. Either have a good season, the momentum of which will be threatened by a strike. Or play it all for not with the mighty Yanks till the bittersweet fall. I'd rather see their penant hopes fall from grace along with a work stoppage than be cancelled with it altogether.
If anything, owners and players owe it to those we have lost to work out their differences this year. If the Fall Classic is played out as scheduled, fans will forgive and forget. In a game where so many are being taken away from us by the cruel winds of fate, we want the game itself to die of eternal old agelessness...and not the bottom line.
» Hank Festa is a fan who would like to ask God why he has to take so many gentlemen ballplayers so young. Darryl Kile. 1968-2002 R.I.P.
Also by Hank Festa
» Cramer's DiMaggio Hatchet Job: A Bio Worth Burning
» Looking for Growth ... In All The Right Places
» Get Your Red Sox Here: Weep All About It!
» The Strike Zone Or Your Life: The Bean Ball Debate Exposed
» Seasons In The Sun : Baseball In The 70s
» A Closet GM's Philosophy Of Winning: Stats & Role vs. Heart & Soul
» Gibby's '88 Series Limp Shot: Baseball's Last "Earned Home Run"
» Flamethrower's Epiphany: Confessions Of A Live Arm
» In The Event Of A Strike...: The Time Off Must Be Used to Fix the Game
» More submissions
Copyright © 2002 by Hank Festa. Posted June 24, 2002.
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