WPCNR PRESS BOX. “View from the Sunny Upper Deck” By John “Baseball” Bailey. October 28, 2003: Though Yankee fans are walking around in stunned disbelief at the Bombers’ demise over the weekend, I thought I’d get the perspective of Miami Jack, my brother-in-law, who is an avid Miami fan, and who attended Game Four and Five of the World Series at Pro Player Stadium in The Big Orange.
OPENING NIGHT OF THE 100TH WORLD SERIES Photo by WPCNR Sports
Miami Jack is a lifelong sportsfan, married, two children living in Miami Springs. He is a season ticketholder for the Heat, and one of the few Miamians who went to Marlins games before the recent run. Jack has played the game, he coaches his son and daughter quite successfully, and follows the team. He is a passionate and demanding fan. Anyway, we asked MJ what the he felt was the difference between the Marlins and the Yankees on the field.
Jack said in observing the Bombers-Marlins Games 4 and 5 that the Yankees Lineup seemed “Top Heavy” and “Bottom Light,” without “Good Middle Players,” consisting of “A couple of studs” and then lesser players.
He laid the blame on a very light pitching staff. “They’ve got starting pitchers who are way old, no middle relief pitchers, and then Riviera. This was very apparent in Game Five, when Torre used Contreras for the second night in a row. Jack McKeon put two starters in the bullpen for the Cubs series, and that’s why they won. Carl Pavano relieved and was a major factor. The Yankees did not have the quality in middle relief.”
Unlike Yankee fans, who are assured that “The Boss” will do whatever it takes to win, regardless of how much it costs, the Marlin Fans are not so secure. They were betrayed once in 1997 by Mr. Video Megabucks, H. Wayne Huizenga, who broke up the ’97 Marlins Championship team on the excuse he could not afford them, and still prosecutes the Marlins with a draconian hold on the Marlins’ lease.
As Miami Jack explains, however, Mr. Huizinga, still is bleeding the Marlins red. As the man who owns Pro Player Stadium, he retains all concession revenue, all parking revenue, and all skybox revenues, and charges the Marlins rent to boot. This is why the Marlins are running a $20 Million deficit, according to MJ.
The answer Jack says is a new ball park for the Marlins that will get them out from under Huizenga’s greedy fingers. Jack says the chances are 50-50 that Miami will spring for a new ballpark, because Miami’s schools are overcrowded, and there are other priorities crying for attention. Jack reports two sites are under consideration, near the Orange Bowl or along the Miami River downtown.
I asked him how Jeffrey Loria, the present Chairman, CEO and Managing General Partner of the Marlins was going to keep the new Champions together, in light of his gutting of the Montreal Expos franchise, which he did prior to purchasing the Marlins with H. Bud Selig’s blessing.
Would we see a repeat of the Loria Comanchero ownership in Miami?
Miami Jack says that Loria could sign half his free agents who are now eligible.
Luis Castillo, Ivan Rodriguez, and Ugueth Urbina, the closer, are free agents.
Mike Lowell, the third sacker’ Derrek Lee, the first baseman, and Brad Penny are eligible for artbitration, meaning that if Loria does not sign them, he might trade them to unload any arbitration-enforced salary he deems is too high. It does not look good.
The way Miami Jack analyzes it, GM Larry Beinfest, Senior VP and GM, can sign three of them and let three go.
Jack suggests Urbina is gone, (“He was a hired gun, anyway, and he makes me nervous.”).
“They can let Castillo go, and move Miguel Cabrera back to shortstop or second. They sign Pudge (Rodriguez), Encarnacion and Lowell, and maybe let Derek Lee go, because they have Conine to take over at first.“
The question is will Loria do that? Or will he cry poverty as he did in Montreal?
A Yankee fan perspective, mine:
Overall, the Marlins caught the Yankees at the end of a run. The Bomber pitching was good enough to win in this Series, but an old pitcher gave out (Wells), and cost them the fifth game, and the hitting was not as patient or selective as the hitters were in the glory years of the 90s.
The big boppers did not bop. The gloves were a little slow to the holes, and the Marlins played flawless defense in the infield and outpitched the Yankee hitters. A terrific scouting job by the Marlins.
In my opinion, Joe Torre’s going with Jeff Weaver in the Fifth Game with the game on the line, and not running in Manuel Riviera was the turning point of the series, in combination with Aaron Boone’s inability to put the ball in play with the winning run on third with less than 2 out in the 11th Inning.
Then, the decision to bench Alfonso Soriano in Game 5 is unforgivable. Perhaps he isn’t hitting but he has better range than Enrique Wilson who threw the ball away when Jeter did not cover third, and where was the backup at third? Did Dressen bench Gil Hodges in the 50s when he wasn’t hitting in the Series. No. You do not weaken your defense.
The 4th Game sticks in any serious fans’ craw: You have to put Riviera in. You have to win that game. It was the “swing” game.
By going with Weaver, based on righty-lefty matchup managerial correctness, Torre made the wrong call. Weaver had not pitched in a month. It was only a matter of time before he missed location. The idea of saving Riviera is ridiculous. Torre did not do that against Boston in the identical situation in Game 7, so why did he depart? He’ll have the rest of his life to secondguess that one.
Never mind that the Yankee lineup all season has been inconsistent, showing the slowfooted, plodding 2 bloops and a blast offense of the 1950s Yankees.
Never mind that Aaron Boone has hit worse than Robin Ventura, and played like a statue at third base. (Can we dive for a ball once, Aaron? He has the cleanest thirdbaseman’s uniform at the end of a game than any thirdbaseman in the major leagues.)
Never mind that Roger “It’s All About Me” Clemens is being accoladed by the know-nothing sports press as having a good last start.
Are you kidding me, Mr. Genious Big Time Sports Writers? A good start?
It was a lousy start. It was the kind of start we expected from Brad Penny in Game One, and did not get, thanks to Brad Penny’s heart. Roger Clemens has no heart for the heat, and never has. Remember, he got thrown out of a playoff game for arguing a strike call in the first inning in 1989.
Clemens warmed up in perfect steamy weather. He pitched like a rookie in his first series start in the fourth game. Walking guys, not locating. He Coughed up singles with fastballs with nothing on them over the plate, and put the Bombers in a hole before “settling down.” Too late, Roger. It was a lousy start.
Good riddance. Clemens is easily the “softest” 300-game winner in the 300-win club in the same class as Phil Niekro and Gaylord Perry. Clemens could not hold Warren Spahn’s glove.
Spahnie pitched 10 innings in the 1958 Series against the Yankees in Game 6, leaving with the score 3-2 in the 10th inning. That’s what a real money pitcher does.
Meanwhile, let us salute the Marlins, another Wild Card Team, who given a second chance to get in the dance, made the most of it. But they did it and the Giants, Cubs and Yankees did not. That’s what can happen in a short series in baseball because of the law of inconsistant performance.
To be fair the Marlins had the best record in the Major Leagues since they started 19-29. But, that’s the problem I have with the Wild Card. I cannot abide by it.
Has anyone cared to look at what the so-called World Champion Wild Card teams did in their next year? Florida in 1998 finished way out of the money. Arizona did not repeat. And is Anaheim still in the league? Wild Card status is a gimmick, undeserved, which creates unwarranted respect for mediocre managements unwilling to invest in an organization’s infrastructure (minor league operations and scouting) to make it a winner consistently.
