Revisiting the Most Painful Four Days of my Life

Trading places is one of my favorite movies ever. This was back when Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd were still funny. The plot revolves around an incredibly wealthy business man who gets framed for a crime and ends up on the streets, as a homeless man (played by Eddie Murphy) is sent to live the high life. There was a quote from the movie along the lines of "there's nothing worse you can do than take away a rich mans money." Little did they know that over 20 years after that movie was made, an entire fan base would re-live that quote and storyline. That's right, after seven long years, I'm ready to heal and re-live Games 4 through 7 of the 2004 ALCS...

(Note to readers: These are all thoughts from my memory. I did not want to taint them by doing research. They will be factual, however I may be off by an inning or two when recalling events so bear with me.)

Going into Game 4 of the 04 ALCS...

The hours leading up to this game will forever be known as the prime (and climax) of the Curse of the Babe. Coming off Aaron Boone's heroics in 2003,the Yankees used the 04' regular season to destroy the will of Sox nation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNAJMSALjXg&feature=related thanks MLB for not allowing this to be seen in its glory) which I happened to witness live and in person. Leaving the stadium that night, the fans at the Stadium taunted Red Sox fans so viciously that most of them just put their heads down and looked like they wished they could root for a different team. Their favorite team was in third place in the AL East, twelve games back of the first place Yankees.

After a late season streak by the Sox propelled them to within 1.5 games of the Yankees and a showdown at Fenway in mid-September. As always, the Yankees battled their way to a series win, including a series opening loss in which Pedro couldn't hold onto multiple leads,and declared that the Yankees were his Daddy. Life was good.

Both the Yanks and Sox looked good in dismantling small market foes in Minnesota and Oakland respectively. There were a couple of relevant stories heading into the ALCS showdown,and then into Game 4

1. On the eve of the series, two of Rivera's relatives-including-a 14-were electrocuted to death in Rivera's swimming pool at his home in Panama.

2. Curt Schilling popped off to the media about the great feeling it would be to "shut up 56000" fans

3. Whether was terrible and rain would certainly play a large factor in a potential comeback

4. Games one through three were won so masterfully and thoroughly that it kind of made you feel bad for Sox fans

5. John Olerud was injured in Game three, causing the salty haired Tony Clark to get the nod at first

Game 4

-Alex (I refer to ARod as Alex) bombs a two run home run off Derek Lowe in the third inning to open up the scoring. It would be the last meaningful hit he'd have for five years...literally

-Clinging to a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning, Alex strikes out with a runner on third and one out. History would have forever changed if he had hit a lazy fly ball to center

-It will always kill me that Kevin Millar didn't have to even swing the a bat in that lead off walk

-Dave Roberts...overrated transvestite

-Even after the blown save, I can't overstate how calm and confident I was about that series. In fact, I went to bed in the eleventh inning before the game even ended, assuming the Sox would win their token game at home

-Rivera was the only worry that I had. Being a closer is all about attitude and confidence. Till the day I die, I will believe that Rivera was highly effected by the deaths at his home, and didn't have any swagger

Game 5

-After a rousing game of backyard baseball with McKeever, we enter the house to watch the late afternoon showdown

- I remember that I didn't think that either starter (Pedro or Mike Messina) looked very sharp

-The bases clearing triple that Jeter got in the sixth was such a classic Yankee dynasty hit. I really didn't think the Sox had a snowballs chance in hell after that hit put the Yanks up 4-2 with only nine outs left for the Sox

- That all changed when Tom "tight as a drum" Gordon came in the game and threw up all over the field. Looking back on this series seven years later, he's one of the five goats I have for the Yankees in their epic choke. For some reason when Mr. Ortiz hit that rocket over the monster to cut the lead to 4-3, I started to panic. Apparently so did the Yankees

-This is a good time to mention that McKeever is still at my house. I highly suggest that if you re a fan of someone else's bitter rival, than you probably shouldn't watch the biggest game in the history of that rivalry with fans of the opposing team. Poor Dan was watching the greatest inning of his life-one that you knew as you were watching that it may be the start of something historical-and had to contain himself as this all was going on. The collective hate and anger from my family was tangible, not in any way friendly natured. I will give Dan lots of credit for not going crazy as the Sox tied that game. It would be the equivalent of me watching the eighth inning of game 7 of the 03 ALCS and staying under control. For the record Dan left after that inning and got to enjoy the rest of the game with is family the way it should have been. When he left the house nobody uttered anything either way, even my mother couldn't look at Dan-a Sox fan-at that point.

-Rivera getting charged with a blown save in Game 5 is the most unfair stat of all time. Rivera came in with a runner on third and nobody out and gave up a sac fly-Tom Gordon blew the save.

-Another reason I hate Fenway...Tony Clark hits a two out double in extra innings that would have scored the runner on first in every park in the majors...except Fenway. That joke side show of a park has a five or six foot fence that the ball promptly hopped over. Nobody scores

-Our first (of many) mistakes by Joe Torre in the collapse. Jason Veritek is catching Wakefield's knuckle ball in extra innings at the same rate that Ray Charles would have. I mean he probably caught at most 50% of the pitches Wakefield threw. The Yankees did have men on base too. And yet, not one frigging stolen base attempt. The seriousness of the situation was growing with each out, and inning where the Yankees weren't putting the Sox away.

-Most of games 4-7 seem like they happened in a flash, like some kind of avalanche. There were only two instances in the series that seemed to take place in super-slow motion. The fourteenth inning of Game 5 is one of them (the other will be mentioned). I can remember poor Estaban Loaiza was the sacrificial lamb that was sent out for that brutal half inning. After what I remember to be a lead off single to Damon, he eventually made it to third base with two outs. This sets the stage for one of the most painful at bats I've ever witnessed. I've got to hand it to Esteban, for being such a crappy pitcher, he put up a pretty good battle. He made quality pitch after quality pitch which Ortiz would promptly fight off. That's what great hitters due when they're in a steroid induced zone. In the roughly three minute, twelve pitch at bat we all knew we were delaying the inevitable. Ortiz was going to end this game, and sure enough he did-he fought off a cutter and plunked a single to center field, Damon scores, game over, we are headed back to the Bronx for game 6.

Game 6

-I could hardly sleep after Game 5. Losing back to back historically painful games will do that to you

- To say that I was nervous that Jon Leiber was my team's game six starter is one of the biggest understatements I've ever made

- I want to publicly vent my feelings on Schilling and the bloody sock since facebook and Twitter were not around in 2004...

Curt Schilling's game six performance from a pitching standpoint was masterful, and one of the most clutch performances that I've ever seen in my life. HOWEVA, in regards to the bloody sock and such, I don't now or ever want to hear about it. First of all, this was game 172 of the season for both teams, so all pitchers involved are hurting by the end of October. Certainly Schilling had a serious injury. I'd like one thing explained to me though. If this injury was so mortally serious, how did Schilling still manage to keep his velocity in the low to mid 90's all night? Anybody who's ever had a serious ankle injury would tell you how impossible the thought of going into a full wind up and powering through a pitching motion and be able to throw 94 MPH would be. If Curt went out there and gutted it through six innings throwing 85 MPH throwing slop up there that would be one thing. Schilling was throwing 93-95 with a devastating split for 100 pitches, and you re telling me he was that seriously injured? Please. As for the blood on the sock, you really can have the same thing happen when you have a blister, it's happened to me and lots of people I know. What was happening, was his foot exploding within his sneaker? Schilling pitched an unreal game, but it makes me sick when I hear people speak of how he battled through the frigging bloody sock. Sometimes fans and the media just manufacture a hero, and this is one of those times.

-Mark Bellhorn was probably the worst position player not named Tony Clark in this series. The guy totally sucked. He was a strikeout machine-and yet he always scared me for some reason even though I couldn't justify it. In the fourth inning of game 6 the homeless mans Johnny Depp hit a 319 foot opposite field home run down the 318 left field line. In the blink of an eye, 4-0 Sox. Beyond panic.

- I've now had almost seven years to reflect on the eighth inning. At the time I really did feel the Yankees were making their classic comeback like always. The rally was in full swing when Alex hit his famous chopper to Bronson Arroyo. I've waffled back and forth many times on how I felt about the karate chop. My final stance? I defend it. Put it this way, it very nearly almost worked. I mean Alex could either have let Arroyo tag him out, or he could pull a fast one. Baseball is a game all about pulling fast ones and getting away with it. If you remember the initial call on the field had him safe. If it stands a run scores (making it 4-3) and there are runners on first and second and one out. Say and hate all you want, if the umps don't get together it easily could be the Yanks that we talk about with another epic comeback. Instead it's just a really funny way to rile up the McKeever family when you bring it up.

-On the short list of MVP's for the Sox comeback, Keith Foulke has to be near the top. He was spectacular in the series. The bottom of the ninth in game six was the other instance in the series that felt like it lasted hours. Maybe it was because of how sickening the thought of a game seven was. Anyway his at bat against Tony Clark (who was the winning run) was long, gutsy,and ultimately painful. When Foulke fired a 3-2 fastball past old man Clarke the Sox had done the unthinkable



Game 7

-The night of game seven had the strangest feel to it. My family went out for dinner before the 8:30 start. We all were saying the right things that fans should say. All of us were trying to convince ourselves that the Yanks had a prayer that night. We all knew though, so the mood was almost like we were on our way to a funeral. Nobody ate too well.

-I'm almost glad that the Sox stomped Brown and Vasquez in the first two innings. I'd rather that than have had Ortiz hit one in the upper deck in the eighth inning to break a tie. Instead, we kind of just laughed when Caveman Johnny popped up a Grand Slam into the first row to make it 6-0. For the record, we all went to bed before the third inning.

-To say that Kevin Brown and Javier Vasquez are the most gutless pieces of crap I've ever had to watch is not strong enough. If those two golfed with Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright, somehow there wouldn't be a winner at the end of the round.

-The series was over. For all I know the final score of game seven was 12-0. The curse was over

Some thoughts:

-My parents were cool and didn't make my brother or I go to school the next day

-The real heroes for the Sox; Ortiz (and Ortiz's batch of HGH), Foulke, Francona, Roberts, Mueller, Bellhorn, Damon(only for game seven, can't explain how awful he was the rest of the series)

-The real goats for the Yankees; Tom Gordon, Kevin Brown, Javie Vasquez, Tony Clark, Joe Torre

-The genesis of the choke began with a great ninth inning in game four for the sox. The only real thing you can get on Rivera for was the walk-totally indefensible. Game five was Gordon's choke masterpiece. Nobody after that (besides Torre) really choked. Game six you could say the same, Leiber basically had one bad pitch. The point is that until game seven the Yankees didn't choke so much as the Sox gained enough steam, and had Ortiz on one of the great postseason streaks ever. Than in game seven they were practically coughing up vital organs onto the field.

-The collapse was really a snap shot of the Yankees that season. Going into the season the Yankees lost Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, and David Wells from their rotation. Yes, the Yankees had a loaded lineup, but their staff had no ace, no stopper. Really that's the only way that a team can lose a 3-0 lead in a seven game series. The Red Sox probably were the better team that year. They had better pitching, a deeper lineup, and much better chemistry. In pure baseball terms they were the ones who deserved to win, even though there are about 20 plays in the series the Yankees could have made to win, and the Sox need about 50 hings to break right to have the chance they did.

-Looking back, we will never see a sporting event like those four games. It was Hollywood, Broadway, Shakespeare, everything. Given the history, the way the season before had ended, the grandiose style of the comeback, and the markets involved, nothing in baseball's future will ever match it. It was a privilege and a disaster to be apart of. I certainly was never the same fan after watching that, almost like I had been baseball raped. Along those same lines it's one of maybe four sporting events that I will remember every grim detail about as long as I live. Hope you enjoyed it Sox fans. You sent us Yankee fans to the poor house while you went to the penthouse.

Slammys Part 2 presented by TV Lands hit new sitcom "Hot in Cleveland"

A few finals thoughts before we get to the Slammy's:

-Perhaps everyone who picked the Mavs to win the Finals weren't racists after all
-Dallas won this series because of their defense, specifically in Games 2 and 4. Miami still shut down the Mavs for the first five games. What I never in a million years would have expected was Dallas to step up to the challenge and totally take the Heat out of their offense, especially in those two pivotal games
-As much of a little boy as he is, if Miami had consistently fed Chris Bosh the ball, we may be talking about them as champs today. If for no other reason, to put Dirk or Chandler (both of which NEED to stay out of foul trouble to win) in foul trouble, or tire them out. Also after a couple shaky games to start the series, he was effective later this series in his limited touches
-Dirk would not have his ring if not for JJ Barea and Jason Terry...let that soak in for a moment
-DeShawn Stevenson is my new favorite crazy player in the league narrowly edging Captain Jack
-There isn't enough space or time for me to discuss what happened to LeBron in this series
-Dirk is the best basketball player on the planet right this second

On to Part 2 of the Slammy's

Dan McKeever/Yovani Gallardo Award for Worst Annual Fantasy Duo

Every season I have the same strategy in fantasy baseball. First and foremost I load up on starting pitching (I've had Doc Halladay every year that I've ever played), because that's half of the game, and I can never figure out why people pick one or two mediocre starters in fantasy baseball and expect to compete. The other strategy that I have is to get elite infielders at every position. Elite infielders are the scarcest in the sport, so usually in the first seven rounds, I will have spent all of my picks on starters and infielders/catcher(s). It's proven to be a great strategy,as I'm generally successfull in most leagues I'm in. However, it also means that my outfielders normally blow donkey balls. For the third year in a row, I'm stuck with the least exciting player to ever own as my third outfielder...Bobby Abreu. It's become a part of summer that I just accept and move on now.

Miguel Cairo Punch and Judy Award

Sadly...Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter along with Mo is my favorite baseball player of all time. He's been a part of my day to day life since first grade. No baseball player will ever mean as much to me. His credentials speak for themselves, and is an athlete who actually got better on the biggest stages. He made the greatest defensive play off all time on his flip to get Jeremy Giambi at the plate in the 2001 ALDS (I have always been a fan who kept perspective and wasn't blinded to make ridiculous claims about my team. So when I make this claim it's what I truly think. When you factor in the situation of the Game-Yankees clinging to a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning, the situation of the series-Yankees trailing 0-2 in the ALDS to the pitching heavy A's who had two home games in a row coming up, and what it meant-it single handidly saved the game, series, and lead to the Yankees making a seventh game of the World Series and rejuvenating a city under crisis in New York by playing in one of the greatest baseball series ever played. That's the context. The actual play itself is breath-taking when you truly think about it. First of all, I believe that no SS in baseball would have been within 30 feet of where Jeter was on that play-it was pure instinct at it's best. More under rated is the fact that once he was in that position, to make that play accurately to flip the ball to the right spot as he was running so hard to his left that he started to stumble just made that play something that I will tell my grand kids about one day after they change my diaper. OK now back to 2011). That's why it's so painful to watch Jeter get up there and do his best Scooter Rizzuto impersonation by not being able to get the ball to the warning track anymore. I would absolutely pay for a batch of steroids for my favorite Yankee.

Billy Bean era Oakland A's award for "Wait their cleanup hitter is who?" award for sorriest lineup

The Oakland A's...and their cleanup hitter last night??? Josh Willingham hitting .234 on the year. Wow. Even better. Their number three hitter was Hideki Matsui...who's hitting .221.

2005 Adrian Beltre most shameful contract year performance

To the Mets speedster Jose Reyes. So let's see, after four straight seasons of regression, and injury as a result of not being in top shape, Jose is absolutely murdering the ball. That's convenient. Shame on the team that will inevitably give Jose five years and $100 million in the off season.

Doris Burke award for creating bad media

Doris Burke has been so offensive as a NBA analyst/reporter that her award transcends sports. How appropriate that John Sterling matched her ineptitude last night during the Yankees game. AROD hit a ball to the track, that Sterling no joke for 10 seconds called a Home Run as he began to go into all his theatrics. Upon realizing the ball was in fact caught, his reason for blowing the call was that he saw a fan in the first row stand up. You can't make this stuff up...but I love the guy.

Until next year, this has been the first annual slammy awards. Thanks for participating

A Response to "Time for the Hating to Stop"

I understand why Steve wrote what he did about Lebron. The difference in opinion was captured by the annual Q ratings that ESPN publishes. Steve and I went to the same high school and he is 100% right when it comes to the reaction. Loyalty is overvalued, especially by many NBA fans, but it shouldn't be. It's an economic business.

My issue with it is not race. I am clear, like Larry Bird, and anyone will say that it's still about race. It's about my disappointment with how competitive balance is disappearing from the League. Players like Lebron and Wade can carry teams by themselves, both economically and competitively. Lebron spurred an amazing revival for the Cavaliers. Who would've thought in the six years he spent in Cleveland minus his rookie year, the team had minimum yearly capacity of 94%? And he's a pretty damn good player too, averaging 27.7 PPG, 7.0 APG, and 7.7 RPG for his career. Those numbers are unreal, and they held up this year (26.7 PPG, 7.0 APG, 7.5 RPG). In the playoffs, he's grabbing 8.7 RPG, blocking 1.4 shots per game, and he is down by nearly one turnover to 2.8 per game. While the rule is 2 Hall of Famers or don't even think about seeing the Larry O'Brien trophy, Dwyane Wade absolutely dominated the 2006 Finals. Shaq shot 29% on free throws and only averaged 13.7 PPG in the series. Antoine Walker shot too damn much, and Wade shouldered the scoring load as everyone else focused on shutting down the Mavericks and hitting the open shots, which no one had to consistently do during that series.

But now they're playing together because they're friends. I don't think that Isiah and Jordan were friends (see: here and here). However, Jordan was friends with other NBA players, like Barkley (kind of playing into Jeff Van Gundy's mind games theory). But Jordan, like other players during the 1980's and early-to-mid 1990's, had a different perspective on collaboration: if you were the alpha, you ran by yourself and you ran your pack until, like Barkley, you realize that you aren't able to handle the responsibilities of providing stats. Sure, some alphas don't realize that they sometimes can't provide like they once did (see: Jordan in Washington). But they were willing to isolate themselves and prove themselves alone.

Lebron, who in no way lived a cushy life, has a different perspective on how this friendship should manifest. You can see it in More Than A Game, the documentary that followed Lebron and his St. Vincent-St. Mary teammates through high school. The title speaks volumes about Lebron: I bet he loves basketball, but he values what it has given him: his best friends from before he became famous. Hell, he always said if he'd decided to go to college, he would've gone to Akron because two of his high school teammates, Dru Joyce III and Romeo Travis, were playing there.

My problem with Lebron is that he embodies this change. He is a great team player. It is ridiculous how talented he is. The man has amazing touch from everywhere, he could average a double-double every game if he wanted to focus more on crashing the boards or became more pass-first in his approach.

But Lebron has changed a standard that made the NBA so great: the greatest player never banked on another star to help him get a ring until his prime ended (see: Oscar Robertson, Gary Payton). Now, Lebron has helped to decrease competitive balance within the League by making these partnerships more acceptable. This summer, if the Hornets get contracted, we will probably see Chris Paul end up with the Knicks to team with Amar'e and Carmelo. As Steve points out, it remains to be seen whether Melo and STAT will take the opportunity seriously and step up their defensive games. I mourn the time when stars went for it on their own or with one companion followed by a supporting cast. But I cannot fail to mention, I am extremely excited to see these teams gather great players and wage more classic battles like we've seen throughout these playoffs.

Time for the Hating to stop

The Slammy's will make a triumphant return next week. They had to be put on hold as Johnson and Johnson is being sued for being the company that killed all of the dead babies in the dead baby jokes...a strange twist of irony. In light of these recent allegations we here at the Buzzer are cutting ties, and currently looking for a new sponsor to our awards.

As for the finals...
I'm not sure they're even worth analyzing. This series is over in four or five games. Last night, James and Wade rarely got in the paint. They became jump shooters exactly the way Dallas wanted them to. Chris Bosh was 5/18 at one point late in the game. TWO of Miami's starters did not have a single point...And yet the game wasn't in reach for Dallas by the six minute mark of the fourth quarter. Miami's defense is that good. There are too many athletes for the finesse Mavs to handle.
Honestly, I'm going to give this Heat team some credit. When LeBron announced to the world he was leaving Cleveland for South Beach, in his heart, he knew that Cleveland would forever hate him. What I think he underestimated was how much America would hate him for what he did,(Keep in mind this subject I'm about to tackle is a tough one to discuss without looking bad one way or the other, but it's relevant enough that it needs to at least be brought up) specifically white suburbia. "The Decision" and the subsequent celebration in Miami over the summer was about as over the top as it gets if you re a white man in his late 40's. Nobody can really relate to all of that kind of hype and celebration that the summer of 2010 brought into mainstream America. Parents of kids at the High School like I went to would be outraged if their kids decided to leave their respective cities to go be with their friends, and celebrate like rock stars for having made that decision. Think I'm wrong for making this a race issue? Think of white folks you know personally, or have heard on TV/Internet analyze LeBron since the decision. Did even one of them have anything but bad or even hateful things to say about LeBron and the Heat-especially in regards to the decision? If you can name somebody besides Dan LeBetard (even Client 9 thought the Decision was in poor taste) than I'm very surprised.

Now look, I'm not claiming to be someone who's totally in touch with Urban culture. I do however have a lot of close friends who grew up in the inner-city, and I do work with many as well. I'm going to be honest, not too many of them really cared about The Decision. In fact, a lot of them wonder why everyone still brings it up now almost eleven months later. I'm not one who normally thinks that race would play a role in a sport like the NBA (where the root of the sport is white fans rooting for black players), but in this case I've come to the conclusion that it certainly has.
I've heard countless people at my work, and in my group of friends pick the Mavericks to win this series. I know that I will be blasted for this, but I think race really is a factor in that. The Mavs are a team that has white men as their three most recognizable faces. There is no real urban presence on their team, there are no high-flying show boaters, and they share the ball as well as anybody. The Mavericks have paid their dues, and have put years into making their team a title contender. The media and suburbia have a comfort level with a team like the Mavs, and deep down believe that they have done things "the right way."Much like the Fab Five, the Miami Heat represent things that my Father and Grandfather can't relate to. It's perceived that LeBron is a self-absorbed jerk for his actions, and that the rest of the team are right there in his same boat. The idea of a team beating the rest of the league three on five offensively goes against everything we've ever been taught about the game.

I actually thought that Jeff Van Gundy made the best point that anybody has made about the Heat. As they were going on one of their patented runs Van Gundy said that if you took away all the hoopla and hating, that Miami was a well coached, very unselfish basketball team. He couldn't have said it any better. I watched the Knicks at the end of the season be a "me first" gunning team with no commitment to defense whatsoever. These Heat are the exact opposite. The play hard every second of every game. They swing the basketball and find the open man. Wade and LEBron have put their egos aside for a bigger cause. Most importantly, they all bust their butts on both ends of the floor. You can't name me too many other super stars or teams that do that consistently. Despite the fact that he looks like a kid playing dress up in a suit, Spoelstra actually is a good coach. It was a brilliant move to put LeBron on Terry, and essentially make him a non factor in the game.
I've hated on the Heat and it's players for the entire year. I may never like these guys on a personal level like you would someone like Shaq in his prime or Sir Charles. I've come to the conclusion that the hating from me stops now. I'm still rooting for the Mavericks, but I'm going to appreciate the things the Heat do instead of being blinded with spite. LeBron really could go down as the greatest player that's ever walked this Earth, and unlike Kobe or Mike (neither of whom were/are very good teammates) LeBron is a great teammate, an unselfish player, and can guard any player in the league and hold his own. I would do nothing but hurt myself as a fan to let the Decision get in the way of appreciating a player like him.
In a week or so when we are all watching Miami celebrate after a five game series, two thoughts will run through my mind. One is that I hope guys like Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, Monta Ellis, Blake Griffin, and DeMarcus Cousins are taking note. If you want to be anything in this league you have to play defense, anybody who says that there's no defense in the NBA should never be allowed to talk about the NBA again. Specifically Carmelo, if he isn't inspired to at least play some defense, than I can never take him serious as a superstar in this league. The same goes for his passing. If that happens than we will have one bright future in the NBA with the Knicks and Heat battling each other for the next five years.
My second thought...If youre a basketball fan try and appreciate what the Heat are doing right now. Don't let your hate get in the way. Just imagine last summer that Steve Nash held a press conference to announce that he was leaving Phoenix to team up with Dirk and Pau Gasol to make a run at a title, and that all proceeds from the press conference were going to charity-would there have been the same reaction for them??? Food for thought