Sunday, September 11, 2005 |
Random Angels Game Callback
September 11, 1995
The 1995 season got off to a late start thanks to a prolonged strike that started in 1994. The owners, demanding a salary cap and a boatload of other concessions, were far from unified. That point became almost immediately clear when the chief negotiator for ownership, Richard Ravitch, came under fire by George Steinbrenner, Peter Angelos, and Marge Schott, owners of the Yankees, Orioles, and Reds respectively. About nine of the owners, including Peter O'Malley of the Dodgers, were against the proposal if it meant a strike, with the rest of the mid- and small-market teams waffling or outright opposed, as were the then-NL East-leading Montreal Expos.Those owners hoping to get concessions from the players were badly disappointed. The new agreement made almost no changes in the ownership-union relationship, but it did radically alter the relations between teams, adding a payroll tax for the first time and introducing partial revenue sharing. By the time the 1995 season started, it was already late April and the fans were tentative about embracing a sport stopped exclusively on the grounds of mere commerce. To counteract that, the Angels, like a lot of teams that year, had a special promotion on opening day, April 26, selling $1 tickets, with the desired result that ticket windows closed an hour before the game, and the club filled the stadium to capacity at 51,145. Despite the strike, it had been a year of bad news, with the Oklahoma City bombing and the O.J. Simpson case dominating headlines. Still, the initial re-embrace of baseball didn't last; 1996 attendance fell to levels not seen since four years prior, and wouldn't surpass 1993's 7.02 million high water mark until 1998.
California had a slow start, with only three games separating the top and bottom of the still-newish four-team AL West entering July. But an incredible 20-7 July, combined with mediocre 13-14 records over that same span by both Seattle and Texas, and a 17-10 run by cellar-dwelling Oakland, vaulted the Halos over the competition to a seemingly insurmountable 11-game lead as of August 1. Getting hot at the right time -- the Angels ended July on a six-game winning streak that ended two games later in August -- the Angels looked ready to cruise to the postseason.
Most histories of the Angels' 1995 talk about their abysmal performance in September, as well they should, but no less should they discuss the club's 13-17 record in August. With the rest of the division in a muddle, the Angels could have buried the Mariners, but in fact their July record was somewhat misleading, as the schedule ran them through some of the weakest teams in the league -- Toronto, Chicago, and Detroit. August tested California in a way they hadn't been tested in a while, and the team came up short. By the end of August, the Mariners had trimmed California's lead to seven and a half games, still commanding, but you could see trouble ahead.
So by the time the Angels got to see the Chisox again, it couldn't have been more timely. The Angels had come off a demoralizing nine-game skid, six of which were on the road against the Yankees and Red Sox, and three at home against the Orioles. They weren't just small losses, either: these were slaughters handed out by teams in or near to contention, outscored 71-23 over that time.
That day, the Angels looked to fourth starter Shawn Boskie to provide a spark, and did he ever, tossing a complete game and surrendering only one run on five hits. The only run, a solo shot by Chicago All-Star third baseman Robin Ventura, came in the ninth to spoil a potential shutout. The journeyman was completely puzzled by his own excellence, saying to reporters after the game that
"Tim Raines popped up a pitch [in the first inning] and that got me rolling and into a rhythm and the rhythm was the popups," said Boskie, who retired 14 White Sox on popups or fly outs. "I don't understand it and I'm not going to try."Like a lot of things about the 1995 Angels, that, too, would pass; he wouldn't win another game for them that year. On this day, however, starting first baseman J.T. Snow would drive in a couple runs, with Garret Anderson and Chili Davis providing the rest of the offense. The 4-1 victory would prove rare that September, as the Angels were about to collapse, going 10-16, while the 19-8 Mariners got red-hot. Boskie would close the season with a 7-7 record in 28 starts and a 5.64 ERA. The Angels re-signed him in 1996 in a single-year deal that proved his last with the club, turning in a 12-11 record with a 5.32 ERA. He was out of baseball two years later.
Thanks to Retrosheet and the Los Angeles Times.
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