MAY 26, 2004
Yahoo Sports
This Day In Baseball
1996 — The Chicago White Sox became the 16th team in AL history to hit four homers in one inning in their 12-1 win over Milwaukee. Frank Thomas, Harold Baines and Robin Ventura hit consecutive homers and Chad Kreuter added another in Chicago's seven-run eighth.
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MAY 23, 2004
Giambi Is Placed on the D.L.
By TYLER KEPNER
ARLINGTON, Tex., May 22 — Jason Giambi came to the ballpark Saturday confident he could avoid his first trip to the disabled list. "I made huge strides," Giambi said. "I walked out of here with crutches, and I walked in here this morning."
Though Giambi — who sprained his right ankle rounding first base on Friday — had shed his crutches, he could not persuade Manager Joe Torre that he was fit to play. Torre did not ask Giambi if he belonged on the disabled list — he told him when he saw him Saturday. Torre said he hoped that recuperation would help Giambi overcome his hip and back problems, too. "This may give us an opportunity to get everything feeling better," Torre said. "When you're in his situation, in the middle of the lineup, if you ask him about playing, he's going to play. I saw him this morning. He said, `Oh, yeah, Skip, it's great.' I looked at it. It isn't great. But that's the responsibility he has. More or less, you protect him from himself."
Giambi did not appreciate the gesture. The Yankees have an off day on Monday, and Giambi expected the team to wait until then to decide.
"I played hurt all last year," Giambi said. "I wish we could have given it a couple of days to see how it is. I understand, but definitely, I like to play. The tough thing is if I'm ready in seven days, we'll be sitting around for eight."
While Giambi sits, Tony Clark will start. The Yankees called up outfielder Bubba Crosby to take Giambi's roster spot, but they have no real backup at first. Torre called Miguel Cairo his best option, but Cairo does not even own a first baseman's glove.
"I've done it before; I have no errors," said Cairo, who played eight games at first for the St. Louis Cardinals. "I will be ready for anything."
Catcher Jorge Posada has played 16 career games at first, but Torre said he did not want to use him there. Crosby's call-up could be temporary if General Manager Brian Cashman finds another first baseman soon. The former Yankee Robin Ventura, a bench player for the Los Angeles Dodgers with experience at first, could be available.
"I'm not saying we're going to stay this way," Torre said. "Brian is looking around. But for an overnight move, this seemed like the most sensible."
Giambi was batting .270 with 9 homers and 24 runs batted in. He injured himself in the ninth inning Friday after driving in a run on a hit into the right-field corner. Giambi has not played first base since last Saturday, but he said he had resolved his hip and back problems.
"Actually, I'm feeling pretty good," said Giambi, who had knee surgery last winter. "Last night I had my swing right where I wanted. I felt like I was making strides. My hip's fine, my knee's good, my back's starting to come around. I'm not getting treatment for any of those things anymore."
But the Yankees need Giambi to play first base regularly, and Torre saw no downside to giving him 15 days off. In the end, Torre's opinion was the only one that mattered.
"We made the safer decision," Torre said. "We're in May. To me, there was no hesitation."
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MAY 23, 2004
askmen.com
Randy Johnson fires perfect game
The Big Unit has made baseball history again. Johnson became the oldest pitcher to throw a perfect game, shutting down all 27 hitters in a victory over the Atlanta Braves on May 18, 2004. The 40-year-old Arizona Diamondback struck out 13, on his way to replacing Cy Young in Major League Baseball's record book. Young threw a perfect game as a 37-year-old in 1904.
It was the second no-hitter for Johnson. He threw a no-no against the Detroit Tigers on June 2, 1990. Johnson walked six Tigers in that contest.
My Take: In May 1991, 44-year-old Texas Ranger Nolan Ryan threw the seventh no-hitter of his career in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Johnson's feat -- a perfect game -- almost goes one better than Ryan. And that's great. I've hated Ryan ever since a disturbing episode during the 1993 season. Pissed off after giving up a home run, Ryan beaned Chicago White Sox player Robin Ventura, who then charged the mound. Acting as if he was the one who got beaned, Ryan pummeled Ventura with several shots to the head. What a scumbag! Ryan apologists, you can save your hate mail for someone else.
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MAY 22, 2004
Los Angeles Ends Losing Streak Beating Braves 7-4
Determined Dodgers Get Losing Monkey Off Their Back
by Tim Evearitt
How does a Major League team react to an eight-game losing streak?
The LA Dodgers faced Atlanta Saturday afternoon in first place in the NL West but obviously in a skid they wanted desperately to end.
Before the game, Mr. Dodger himself, Tommy Lasorda, could be seen in the dugout and on the field. Was Tommy supposed to be a lucky charm?
Manager Jim Tracy shook up his lineup sitting slumping Shawn Green, playing regular catcher Paul LaDuca at first base and sending David Ross to catch. That move paid off when Ross delivered two hits and an RBI.
Compared to Friday’s tough 2-0 loss, I couldn’t help but notice that this team was very emotional. Clearly they were sick and tired of losing (and reading about it in the LA papers). I was reminded of the song that said, “We're not gonna take it, we're not gonna take it . . . we ain’t gonna take it, anymore!”
Veteran Robin Ventura, a non-starter in the twilight of his great career, acted like a cheerleader at times clapping his hands and shouting encouragement to his teammates. (Incidentally, Ventura remembered playing in the 1989 Southern League All-Star game in Chattanooga as a member of the Birmingham Barons.)
Starting pitcher Jaret Wright seemed doing fine - - - until it began to rain in the third inning. After providing two less-than impressive scoreless innings, Wright fell apart. It seemed that as the rain reached its heaviest point, the worse he pitched. The key hit was reserve Jason Grabowski’s two-run homer that barely cleared the left-field wall. Grabowski is playing only because Dave Roberts is hurt.
I’m not sure who said it but as Grabowski’s homer cleared the wall, I heard one of the Dodger players shout, “Yeah. We’re Dodgers!” The pride of the Dodgers had reasserted itself and the passion showed.
Wright lasted until the fifth inning when he was removed after surrendering back-to-back sharp singles to Grabowski and Ross.
Meanwhile Dodger hurler Jeff Weaver threw seven strong innings. (He was a sight to behold in between innings in the dugout.) Naturally he welcomed the run support he received and he showed it. He gave manager Jim Tracy a solid outing until he hit the wall in the eighth, tagged for a three-run pinch-homer by Dewayne Wise that ended his day. He struck out a season-high nine without a walk. What more could a team ask?
So the Braves three-game winning streak is over but former Lookout manager (1989-91) Jim Tracy will sleep much better tonight. The two teams meet in the rubber game Sunday afternoon at Turner Field.
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May 19, 2004
Chicago Sun Times
Reporter learns the base-ics of Sox Park
BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter
A few years back, when the man begged groundskeeper Roger Bossard to be on his White Sox park crew for a day, how could Bossard refuse?
After all, the man was John Ventura, the father of then-Sox third baseman Robin Ventura.
''Robin looked up and there was his dad dragging the infield,'' laughed Bossard. ''Robin's father said he always wanted to do it.''
Now, those itching to get on-field don't have to be a player's pop to be part of Bossard's squad -- just deep-pocketed.
This year, the Sox are offering an array of pricey onfield activities, including raking the infield between innings ($1,500 to $2,000), delivering the lineup card to the ump ($1,500 to $2,000) and swapping the bases midgame ($1,000 to $1,500).
Ten percent of the ''White Sox Experience,'' which also includes game tickets for friends and family, food and souvenirs, goes to charity. Bossard is happy to accommodate.
''A lot of people just want to step on the grass, and why not? It is special,'' says Bossard, a third-generation groundskeeper who, as a kid, hauled hoses around ballparks with his father, Gene.
On this day, an apprehensive Chicago Sun-Times reporter will serve as the base swapper -- second base, the far one, the one way, way out in the middle.
''Don't be star-struck. Don't ask for autographs,'' instructs Bossard. ''Hustle out there.''
Oh, and one other thing: ''If [the base] pops out the next inning, I'm coming after you with a shovel.''
About 70 percent of teams change the bases during the middle of games, he estimates. Weighing about 13 pounds and the size of a steering wheel, the bases are rubber with steel-pipe tails that fit into a sleeve pounded into the infield soil. Schutt Manufacturing makes them in Downstate Litchfield.
Second base gets some early game wear: Baltimore Oriole Brian Roberts slides into it on a steal; Chicago infielder Willie Harris skims it on a force out; stranded Sox runner Ross Gload pogos.
As the fifth inning winds down, under the stands near the first-base photographers box, the faux fieldhand is handed a base. The bottom says the installer "is responsible for advising the end user of the possibility of injury.''
The installer remembers Bossard said don't bother the players.
Jose Diaz, the guy who usually changes second, offers one last counsel as the rookie crewman runs onto the field: ''Don't forget to bring the old one back!''
It's 90 feet from first to second; it feels like 900. The announced crowd at U.S. Cellular is 18,325; from the field, it seems like 183,000.
The base slides out; the new one slides in. A shove and a twist for good measure. The 90 feet back seems like nine. Mission accomplished.
Later in the game, Sox runner Timo Perez rounds second, hitting it hard as he speeds for third. The base doesn't budge.
And somewhere in the park, Bossard lays his shovel down.
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MAY 18, 2004
**Robin played in his 2000th game on Tuesday May 18th and the FOX Sports guys had some nice things to say:
Here's a veteran, 2000 games, second nature to him- he said pinch hitting is wearing him out. He works himself into a nervous frenzy..........He's an amazing hitter, delightful guy. You talk about a big addition to the ballclub, a solid induvidual- player's standpoint and as a person.
Robin was talking about pinch hitting and he said 'Now I have an appreciation for guys that have done that most of their careers. You start to analize the pitcher and by the time you just begin to figure him out, oops- there goes the bullpen. There's a fresh horse.'
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MAY 12, 2004
allhiphop.com
'Soundwalk' CD Series Focuses On Hip-Hop By Nolan Strong
Various Hip-Hop legends have contributed to The Bronx Soundwalk, an upcoming triple CD that takes listeners back to the birth place of Hip-Hop using music and interviews with legends of the Hip-Hop culture.
Jazzy Jay, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool DJ Red Alert and others are featured on the conceptual CD, which focuses on three significant areas in the Bronx: Yankee Stadium, Hunts Point and Soundview.
The innovative series has highlighted such areas as Chinatown, the Lower East Side, Times Square and other areas in New York.
The CD is produced in 360-degree surround sound and listeners will hear about the history of the Bronx, from the early days of the Grand Concourse and Art Deco, to the birth of the New York Yankees, to Robert Moses’ vision for a city of freeways and high rises, to the blight of 1970s arson, and the creative spark that grew into Hip-Hop culture today.
With the CD’s labeled as trains, the first CD, “The 4 Train” focuses on Yankee stadium and includes interviews with Roger Clemens, Robin Ventura, Joe Torre.
“The 5 Train” features Hunters Point graffiti culture and emphasizes the work of the TATS CRU, CRASH, CHAIN3. The narrator for “The 5 Train” is BG 183, founding member of the TATS CRU.
“The 6 Train” centers around the home of Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation.
Interviews with Kool DJ Red Alert, Busy Bee, GrandMaster Caz and GrandWizzard Theodore are all included, while Jazzy Jay, who is also the co-producer of the seminal song “Planet Rock” narrates.
The CD’s also focus on the current scene from each neighborhood, spanning sport, art, culture, and politics.
The Bronx Soundwalk is in stores now. ________________________
MAY 9, 2004
NY TIMES
A Head-to-Head Meeting of Top Closers
By JACK CURRY
MIAMI, May 5 Armando Benitez lumbered across the mostly empty Florida Marlins clubhouse devouring a jumbo hot dog. He stopped near his locker and took a bite but then vanished into another room to finish his supersize snack. When Benitez reappeared several minutes later, he still moved slowly. He pulled his jersey over his head, he corrected someone who had inadvertently shorted him by one save, and, after an interview request, Benitez was suddenly in a hurry. He declined to speak until after the game, until after he had possibly chased those elusive three outs.
Eric Gagne of the Los Angeles Dodgers was about 100 feet away down the hall at Pro Player Stadium. Well, Gagne was in the clubhouse somewhere, but he was more of a ghost than Benitez. He spent about 30 seconds by his locker during pit stops between the trainer's room, the shower room and the food room.
Gagne might have sneaked in a workout, too, because he was sweating as he stomped around. He sat through one scene of an adolescent movie on a big-screen television and seemed busy. Like Benitez, Gagne was several hours away from knowing if he would be pursuing those three outs.
They are both closers, pitchers who are typically responsible for getting three outs, the final three outs and often the toughest three outs. There is no second chance for a closer. There is only tomorrow, that is, if the closer he gets to keep his pressure-packed position. Gagne, 28, has been a better closer than anyone else in baseball with 71 straight saves through Tuesday, a record streak that dates to August 2002.
Benitez has been good, not great. His resume has been smudged by a tendency to disintegrate in crucial games.
This is a peek at how they went about their jobs on Tuesday, a peek at how two men chased three outs.
"Every time I step on the mound, you have to be a good liar and an idiot," Gagne said, sitting in the third-base dugout before the game. "You got to be able to lie to yourself and be an idiot to believe your lies. You got to go out there and know you're going to be the best. Just think it."
So was Gagne admitting he was a liar and an idiot? Of course, Gagne said. The mental aspect of closing is paramount to Gagne, who visualizes those three outs long before getting them.
"Even if you might not feel great and might not have a positive attitude in your head, you got to get it somehow," Gagne said. "I try to do that every time I step on the field. I try to feel invincible."
Shortly before Gagne spoke, Benitez talked to the Dodgers' Robin Ventura, his former Mets and Yankees teammate, on the field. Benitez had famous implosions with the Mets and lasted about three weeks with the Yankees after they acquired him last year — not the topics Ventura planned to discuss. Still, Benitez supplied ground rules.
"He said, `I don't want to talk about New York,' " Ventura said. "He said that's why he liked it here so much. He's happy. He's relaxed."
Benitez, 31, is having a superb year for the Marlins, the defending World Series champions. Entering Tuesday, he was 10 for 10 in save chances, had struck out 17 and walked 5 in 16 innings, and had a 0.56 earned run average. Florida's Lenny Harris, who also played with Benitez on the Mets, said the calm environment is perfect for Benitez.
"You go anywhere in New York and they tell you you've got to beat the Yankees," Harris said. "You go in Miami and nobody really gives a hoot about anything with baseball."
Manager Jack McKeon punctuates Benitez's saves by hugging him, something that not even the protective Bobby Valentine did for Benitez when he managed the Mets. No one with the Yankees dreamed of hugging Benitez.
"He's a big teddy bear," McKeon said.
The big teddy bear likes the atmosphere, saying he relishes the fact that "I have the team behind me, the support."
Benitez did not want to talk about how he was treated with other teams. Told that his nonanswer could be construed as his feeling unsupported elsewhere, Benitez said, "If you see it, you keep it."
Josh Beckett helped guide the Marlins to a 3-2 lead on Tuesday, so the big teddy bear had the first chance for a save in the ninth. He started by uncorking a 92-mile-an-hour fastball to Shawn Green, followed by two balls. Harris said one of the big differences between Benitez and the Yankees' Mariano Rivera is that Rivera rarely lets a hitter escape once he is ahead in the count, so the pressure is always on the hitter.
As Green fouled off four straight pitches, the at-bat was loosely reminiscent of a much more important at-bat against another tall, left-handed power hitter: Paul O'Neill in Game 1 of the 2000 World Series. O'Neill worked the at-bat to 10 pitches before walking, then scored the tying run, tagging Benitez with a blown save. The Yankees won in extra innings.
Green's at-bat climaxed with a flyout on the ninth pitch. But did it still have an impact on Benitez? When Paul Lo Duca dribbled a ball to the right of the mound, Benitez moved carefully toward it, then whipped it wide of first for a two-base error.
It took Benitez one pitch to get the second out. Then Benitez put Adrian Beltre in an 0-2 hole and was one strike from keeping Gagne from pitching. The fans, all 12,000 of them, stood and howled for that elusive third out.
But for the first time as a Marlin, Benitez faltered. Beltre reached out and blooped the ball to right field, and it fell in front of a sliding Miguel Cabrera for a game-tying single. The big teddy bear was not jolly. He hoisted his arms above his shoulders and shouted.
"Like I said, I never lost my confidence," Benitez said when asked about his antics. "I always have my confidence."
This was not the postseason, in which he has blown four of his last seven save opportunities, and Benitez was victimized by his error and a bloop. But Harris said Benitez still has a reputation to shed.
"I think that's something he has to get over, the big games," Harris said. "Can he close out these big games? He can get these saves here and there and be competitive, but, to clear his name, I think that he has to do something special, and that's to win in the postseason."
There was little chance to quiz Benitez about Harris's comments or any other topic; he refused to discuss anything after he was asked about pitching in New York.
Benitez pitched a scoreless 10th, but the Dodgers scored a run off Justin Wayne in the 11th, and it was Gagne's turn. He had a 4-3 lead and the canvas all to himself. Now Gagne needed those three outs.
"I don't win the game," he said. "I just pitch one inning and close it."
Gagne watches the first five or six innings on television because he gets better angles on how hitters are reacting. When he leaves the clubhouse, Gagne discusses anything but the game, he said, because that is too mentally draining.
"I tell him stories," Ventura said. "That's my job here."
The story with Gagne is about perfection, utter and absolute perfection. Gagne throws four pitches- a fastball, a changeup, a curveball and a slider- so he is the rare closer who attacks hitters in a variety of ways.
In the bottom of the 11th, he unleashed four fastballs to Alex Gonzalez, all 97 or 98 m.p.h., and struck him swinging. One out. He fooled Hee Seop Choi with two nasty changeups, then pumped another 98-m.p.h. heater. Choi swung helplessly. Two outs.
Juan Pierre slapped a single to center, but Gagne seemed oblivious to it. He fired two strikes to Damion Easley and was one strike from another save, another addition to the nearly two-year-old streak.
But first, the unkempt Gagne surprisingly decided at that moment that he needed to tidy up. Gagne dropped his glove behind the mound, bent his knees and tucked in the front of his shirt. He looked like a couch potato shoving his T-shirt into his pants upon arising for the 30-foot journey to the refrigerator.
"Oh, he's a pig," Ventura said playfully. "He's definitely a pig."
The slightly tidier Gagne tossed three straight balls.
Was a tucked shirt Gagne's kryptonite? Forget it. He threw a fastball that Easley fouled off and uncorked another one that Easley stared at for strike three. Gagne pumped his fist, invincible again. He had the three outs.
Although Gagne has never been tested in the postseason, Ventura dismissed that as a serious issue and promised Gagne would be as dominant as Rivera if he closed games in October. Rivera is considered the best postseason closer ever.
As Ventura sipped a beer, he veered from complimenting the perfect closer to doing the same for the imperfect closer. Ventura said he trusted Benitez with the Mets and added, "I'd still take my chances with him because not everyone can have Gagne or Rivera."
Not everyone can get those three outs, either. This time, only Gagne did.
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May 1, 2004
Dodgers.com
Ventura starts: Phase two of the adjustment to Milton Bradley's absence from the Dodgers lineup calls for veteran infielder Robin Ventura to start at first base, with Shawn Green moving to right, Juan Encarnacion to left and Dave Roberts repeating his Friday night start in center.
It's Ventura's second start of the season, and he's OK with it.
"I came here to do what (Tracy) wants me to do," said Ventura, who joined the Dodgers last July 31 in a trade with the New York Yankees.
"If that means one at-bat a week or a start a week, fine...as long as they don't put me in the outfield or behind the plate.
"And I haven't pitched since Little League," he said, smiling.
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May 1, 2004
LA TIMES.com
DODGER REPORT
Green Will Play Right if Needed
By Ben Bolch, Times Staff Writer
In a departure from his previous stance, Shawn Green has told Dodger Manager Jim Tracy that he would be willing to play right field occasionally when others are injured to allow the Dodgers to field the best possible offensive lineup.
That will be the case tonight, when Green plays right field against the Montreal Expos to accommodate Robin Ventura at first base with Milton Bradley out of the lineup for a second consecutive game because of a high ankle sprain. Ventura has hit .426 with one home run and 12 runs batted in in 26 at-bats against Expo starter Livan Hernandez.
“It's the best scenario for the team," said Green, the former right fielder who was moved to first base before the season. "Coming in, I didn't want to go into this kind of halfway, back and forth. I wanted to dive into it and really embrace the change.
"At this point I feel comfortable enough at first to where if I played a couple of days in right, I don't think it's going to affect my learning process."
Green said he informed Tracy of his willingness to switch positions after Bradley initially sprained his ankle April 21 while sliding on slippery grass at Coors Field to cut off a ball hit in the gap. Bradley remained in the Dodger lineup until Thursday, when he irritated the ankle and left after the sixth inning of the Dodgers' 6-1 loss to the New York Mets.
Bradley did not start Friday against the Expos, though Tracy said he was available off the bench as a pinch-hitter, preferably right-handed.
"It bothers him much less hitting right-handed than it does hitting left-handed," Tracy said.
Dave Roberts moved over from left field Friday to replace Bradley in center, with Jason Grabowski getting his first start of the season, in left field. Adrian Beltre moved up from seventh to third to take Bradley's place in the batting order and drove in Cesar Izturis from third base in the first inning with an RBI groundout.
Green, who played first base Friday, will start tonight's game in right field, with Juan Encarnacion moving from right to left field and Roberts staying in center. Tracy said Ventura would also start Sunday against Montreal starter Sun-Woo Kim, against whom Ventura is four for four with two homers and four RBIs.
Tracy said Bradley, hitting .266 with four homers and 18 RBIs, would return Sunday at the earliest.
