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Friday, January 04, 2008 |
Chris Jaffe Shortchanges (A Little) The Angels' 2002 Game 6
Chris Jaffe has been publishing a series on best World Series Games in history (apparently with some help from Eric Enders), and today reaches Game 6. He placed the Angels' 2002 Game 6 at fourth, which is impressive (and I agree with it nebulously):
4. 2002: Angels 6, Giants 5. Rarely has such a large gap been surmounted with so much at stake.The drama was actually a bit more than he let on here, because he overlooked as denoument Robb Nen's last professional pitch. Troy Glaus's RBI double to left-center was the story, according to Eric Neel:
The Angels needed to win to stay alive. For four innings, no serious scoring threats occurred.
In the fifth, the Giants broke the ice, and poured it on from there, taking a 5-0 lead at the seventh-inning stretch. Only nine outs separated the Giants from their first title since moving to San Fran almost a half-century before.
The seventh began with a ground out against Giants starter Russ Ortiz. Eight outs. However, the Angels got back-to-back singles for their first rally of the day. Relief pitcher Felix Rodriguez came in to face Scott Spiezio. In a key battle, Spiezio fouled off numerous pitches to work the count full, then smashed a home run to make it a 5-3 game.
The Giants escaped without further damage, but the Angels began the eighth inning energized. The first four batters combined for a homer, two singles, and a double for a 6-5 lead with none out. Anaheim held on to win the game, and its first title the next night.
His first pitch is a cut fastball tailing out and away for ball one. His second is a slider, also outside, but Glaus hacks at it anxiously and the count is even at 1-1. The third pitch, another slider, cuts two feet outside, and Glaus, chastened by the last swing, holds back."He wasn't right out there that night," Neel continued. "Check that. He had nothing … nothing but a pitching shoulder full of torn labrum, torn rotator cuff and a whole lot of want-to." Nen never pitched in the majors again, his World Series saves erased by one blown, one that continued the heartache for Giants fans.Two-one. Hitter's count. Enough with the slider; Nen is coming in and going all-out.
"I knew Glaus was sitting dead-red, but I had to throw the inside fastball," he says. "I couldn't stand the idea that later I'd think maybe I hadn't thrown as hard as I could in that situation." He fires. The ball starts off inside, but it fades when it should bite. It comes out over the plate.
Nen sees the flight of the ball and winces.
Glaus tracks it and tattoos it.
Labels: angels, giants, history, postseason
Comments:
i can agree with his list but just want to point 3 flaws in his first two sentences:
#4
Actually with a tie at #3 and #4, this makes 2002 #5 in the list, doesn't it?
Rarely has such a large gap been surmounted with so much at stake.
ummm, i think he means never, not rarely.
The Angels needed to win to stay alive. pretty pointless to say - one team ALWAYS enters game 6 needing to win to stay alive.
(yep, college football is about over and pitchers and catchers report in just 6 more weeks.)
#4
Actually with a tie at #3 and #4, this makes 2002 #5 in the list, doesn't it?
Rarely has such a large gap been surmounted with so much at stake.
ummm, i think he means never, not rarely.
The Angels needed to win to stay alive. pretty pointless to say - one team ALWAYS enters game 6 needing to win to stay alive.
(yep, college football is about over and pitchers and catchers report in just 6 more weeks.)
"Never" should be right, as I recall there had never previously been a five-run lead surmounted in a World Series elimination game (and maybe in a World Series game, period).
If it wasn't for the damn NCAA rule changes, we'd have pitchers and catchers reporting at CSULB pretty soon, too, but now they've pretty much killed off the alumni games by pushing them back so far in the season.
If it wasn't for the damn NCAA rule changes, we'd have pitchers and catchers reporting at CSULB pretty soon, too, but now they've pretty much killed off the alumni games by pushing them back so far in the season.
Rob Nen is the son of Dick Nen. I had no clue. Dick Nen was a marginal player, but was a HUGE part of a game all but forgotten now, but to me is one of the biggest games in Dodger history.
The 1962 Dodgers blew the NL pennant. Not only did they let a several-game lead evaporate in the last week of play, they had the last game of the resulting playoff series WON, only to blow a 2 run lead in the 9th and hand the Giants the pennant.
1963 was a different year---or was it? Coasting along with as much as a 6-game lead, the Dodgers watched their lead over the Cardinals all but vanish. Limping into St Louis clinging to the NL lead, they began a 3 game series with the Cards at Sportsman's Park.
With the exception of Southern California, the whole nation was rooting for the Cardinals. They had not won a pennant since 1946, and Stan the Man was getting no younger. Unlike the previous season, the 1963 Dodgers rose to the occasion, winning games 1 and 2 behind Podres and Koufax. Nonethless game 3 was critical. Were the Cards to win, they would only have lost 1 game in the standings to the Dodgers, and still be very much in the hunt.
Pete Richert started for LA, and was roughed up for 4 runs in 2-1/3 innings. The Dodgers trailed, 5-1 thru 7. Pitcher Bob Miller was scheduled to lead off the top of the 8th. Rookie Dick Nen, making his MLB debut, batted for Miller and promptly lined out. The Cards were 5 outs away. Lee Walls was next, and got a hit that began a 3-run rally.
Trailing now 5-4, it didn't look much better after Ken McMullen made the first out in the top of the ninth with rookie Nen due up next. As I recall, Nen was 2 strikes down in the count, yet blasted the tying home run on the next pitch. The crowd went silent.
It wasn't over yet. Dick Groat led off the bottom of the 10th with a triple. Ron Perranoski struck out the next batter, then intentionally walked the bases loaded before getting two groundball outs.
The Dodgers got a run in the 13th on an error and groundout to the right side. It stood up for Ron Perranoski, who went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning. I listened to every pitch of that game on KFI. I will never forget, as long as I live, Jerry Dogget screaming into the mike, "Strike three! And the Dodgers sweep!"
The 1962 Dodgers blew the NL pennant. Not only did they let a several-game lead evaporate in the last week of play, they had the last game of the resulting playoff series WON, only to blow a 2 run lead in the 9th and hand the Giants the pennant.
1963 was a different year---or was it? Coasting along with as much as a 6-game lead, the Dodgers watched their lead over the Cardinals all but vanish. Limping into St Louis clinging to the NL lead, they began a 3 game series with the Cards at Sportsman's Park.
With the exception of Southern California, the whole nation was rooting for the Cardinals. They had not won a pennant since 1946, and Stan the Man was getting no younger. Unlike the previous season, the 1963 Dodgers rose to the occasion, winning games 1 and 2 behind Podres and Koufax. Nonethless game 3 was critical. Were the Cards to win, they would only have lost 1 game in the standings to the Dodgers, and still be very much in the hunt.
Pete Richert started for LA, and was roughed up for 4 runs in 2-1/3 innings. The Dodgers trailed, 5-1 thru 7. Pitcher Bob Miller was scheduled to lead off the top of the 8th. Rookie Dick Nen, making his MLB debut, batted for Miller and promptly lined out. The Cards were 5 outs away. Lee Walls was next, and got a hit that began a 3-run rally.
Trailing now 5-4, it didn't look much better after Ken McMullen made the first out in the top of the ninth with rookie Nen due up next. As I recall, Nen was 2 strikes down in the count, yet blasted the tying home run on the next pitch. The crowd went silent.
It wasn't over yet. Dick Groat led off the bottom of the 10th with a triple. Ron Perranoski struck out the next batter, then intentionally walked the bases loaded before getting two groundball outs.
The Dodgers got a run in the 13th on an error and groundout to the right side. It stood up for Ron Perranoski, who went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning. I listened to every pitch of that game on KFI. I will never forget, as long as I live, Jerry Dogget screaming into the mike, "Strike three! And the Dodgers sweep!"
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