12/18/24
September 19, 2006
You Have Just Witnessed Possibly The Greatest "Do Not Erase" TiVO Moment in Dodgers History: (Unless you're Kevin Towers, who was busy making out his Christmas card list.)
posted by BullpenPro to baseball at 09:46 AM - 23 comments
What a great game! The Dodgers broke out of their slump in a most amazing fashion, the race out West is a good one! Combined with the NL wildcard race and the AL central brawl, the last couple of weeks promise to be worth watching. I love this time of year! RE: Mirabelli. He's lucky that Wakefield is still pitching, there is not much use for whining .183 hitters anymore. BPP: I would have liked to have heard Vin Scully's call, I wish he could call The World Series again, he is one of the greats in my book.
posted by mjkredliner at 09:58 AM on September 19, 2006
Sounds like a great game. Immediately I was reminded of Finley's walk-off home run to cap a 7 run 9th inning rally that clinched the 2004 NL West title and eliminated the Giants. Somehow that article nor the NYT recap made mention of that. Isn't that an obvious parallel? Or is it too much to mention the Finley homer given that that one put them into the post season where as this one only put them in first with a couple of weeks left?
posted by gspm at 10:27 AM on September 19, 2006
That is batshit crazy awesome. Back-to-back-to-back-to-back to tie the game in the bottom of ninth in a playoff race? Sweet.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:30 AM on September 19, 2006
The ninth? Amazing. The tenth? Rudy Seanez? Bah, foregone conclusion.
posted by justgary at 10:41 AM on September 19, 2006
Garciaparra, Cla Meredith, Derek Lowe, Rudy Seanez, Aaron Sele . . . why can't we get guys like . . . no, never mind. Except for Meredith. Man that hurts.
posted by yerfatma at 10:58 AM on September 19, 2006
I'll bet you can't get four guys to hit 4 in a row in batting practice. Ever.
posted by rollfastbyu at 10:59 AM on September 19, 2006
If you're in the L.A. area, Fox Sports Net Prime Ticket will replay the game today with Vin Scully calling it, at 12 noon PT. Set that TiVo, it's a keeper. Wish I'd seen it live....amazing.
posted by eccsport78 at 11:09 AM on September 19, 2006
Immediately I was reminded of Finley's walk-off home run to cap a 7 run 9th inning rally that clinched the 2004 NL West title and eliminated the Giants. Somehow that article nor the NYT recap made mention of that. How about the fact that they didn't hit 4 HOME RUNS IN A ROW in that game?? There have been countless walk-off homeruns in big games, this article is about the 4 homers in a row....
posted by LaKeR4LiFe at 11:43 AM on September 19, 2006
If I saw ESPN correctly, I think after the second homer the last two home runs were on consecutive pitches?? Wow. It's the first time a team has hit four HR's in a row in 40 years.
posted by eccsport78 at 12:41 PM on September 19, 2006
Gosh, you'd almost believe they aren't Bums!!!!!! They actually played like a real major leage baseball team! Very Exciting.
posted by Tigger1 at 01:26 PM on September 19, 2006
From the description in the NY Times, it sounded like all four were hit on consecutive pitches. Sounds like it was a killer.
posted by chicobangs at 01:42 PM on September 19, 2006
There have been countless walk-off homeruns in big games, this article is about the 4 homers in a row.... No duh. I was mentioning a perhaps equally pivotal moment in Dodgers history that also involved game ending dramatics. How many times in the last 40 years has a team clinched a penant on the second last day of the season by scoring 7 runs in the bottom of the ninth? Surely the same amount that hit 4 HRS back to back. I dunno, I saw a parallel. It's the first thing I thought of. It's the Dodgers after all. That might have been their most recent previous memorable game for the ages. And I'm supporting the Dodgers here. It might not amount for much, but I have only ever bought two baseball caps in my life and they were both Dodgers caps. Meh.
posted by gspm at 01:48 PM on September 19, 2006
If you did something like this in a video game, it would seem almost too ridiculous and would ruin any sense of "reality" associated with the game. I'll bet there are probably 10,000 people who have tickets to that game that are claiming they stayed to the end, but in fact were driving home on the freeway when it happened. This is why I have ALWAYS stayed until the final out, even in blowouts. You never know what you might miss out on...
posted by grum@work at 03:37 PM on September 19, 2006
One final thing: When Jack Buck announced "I don't believe...what I just saw!" after the Gibson HR in the 1988 World Series, I thought it was probably the only time in baseball during my lifetime that it was appropriate to use that phrase. I'm now amending that belief to include last night's game.
posted by grum@work at 03:40 PM on September 19, 2006
Wow. That was one up and down game. For those of you who need your Vin Scully fix here's a transcript of the call from Inside the Dodgers:
"Ten to nine in favor of San Diego. Mark Bellhorn takes over at third base and will probably bat high up... no he'll bat ninth. And Rudy Seanez the pitcher will bat in the cleanup spot. That way, if there is an 11th inning, Bellhorn would then bat second. So Rudy, coming in, and he becomes the seventh San Diego pitcher. And it's only fitting I guess, in this rather memorable game, that a former Dodger will come in, a somewhat shell-shocked Trevor Hoffman watches, and Seanez who was with the Dodgers in '94 and '95, that's a long time ago, he's had a tremendous career, he was originally signed by the Indians out of Brawly High School 20 years ago. And he is still at it. Kenny Lofton is still at it, he'll lead it off. Strike. Kenny has a single and a double. Hitting .302. Bellhorn well in on the grass at third. Fastball misses. One ball and one strike. Gonzalez is deep and guarding the line, so the right side pretty well wide open. And that's ball two. On deck Nomar Garciaparra and then Jeff Kent. Seanez will be 38 in October. Check swing, did he? Yes he did says Tim Welke, and a two and two count to Ken. Lofton who had to go right up against the center field wall to haul in that long out from McAnulty, now just trying to get aboard. Two and two. Ball three. (pause) And ball four, and the Dodgers have a rabbit as the tying run. Kenny Lofton has stolen 27 out of 31, and he draws the walk. Now Garciaparra. And for Bochy, more anxious moments. No lead is big enough. Not four in the first. Not five in the last two innings. Nomar, hit into a double play, flied to right, doubled, flied to left and struck out. So he's one for five, hitting 303. Jeff Kent, with four hits, is on deck. Ball one. Rudy Seanez had been with the Boston Red Sox. Only been in five games with the Padres. He's one and one. And a strike. His ratio since coming over to San Diego, you can't really guess much, he's walked four and struck out four. In the American League he was just about two to one, strike-outs to walks. One and one. Ball two. On deck Jeff Kent, who's had a huge night. A single, two doubles and a home run. And now Seanez, wild. Walks Lofton and he's behind three and one, and Bochy is twisting in the wind. And a high fly ball to left field, it is a way out and gone! The Dodgers win it eleven to ten! Ohhuhu... unbelievable! (Long, long pause, Dodger Stadium is going nuts!) I forgot to tell you. The Dodgers are in first place. (pause) I think we've said enough from up here. Once again, the final score, in ten innings, believe it or not, Dodges eleven, Padres ten. Stay tuned for Dodgers Live and it starts right now. Goodnight everybody."Classic Vin. After calling the walk-off home run ("Unbelievable!") he is completely silent for what seems like 5 minutes as the crowd at Dodger Stadium goes crazy. Its only after Nomar is mobbed at the plate and the game is truly over that Vin adds, almost bemused, that the Dodgers are in first. Even then he refuses to try and frame the moment with adulation ("I think we've said enough from up here."), he lets it speak for itself, thats good broadcasting. Joe Buck eat your heart out. I'm told Charlie Steiner just about crapped himself doing the radio play-by-play; wonder what that sounded like.
posted by lilnemo at 04:56 PM on September 19, 2006
Here is last nights game thread from Dodger Thoughts. An aftergame breather. And the morning after disbelief. Here is last nights game thread from Gaslamp Ball. Post-game shock. And some outright sniping. Slightly different tenor there, no? Good win for L.A., bad loss for S.D., but a good game all around.
posted by lilnemo at 05:04 PM on September 19, 2006
--I'm told Charlie Steiner just about crapped himself doing the radio play-by-play; wonder what that sounded like. haha.....someone told me the same thing, I haven't heard it yet. Hoping someone has a tape of it. Charlie gets pretty worked up, I can believe he just lost it last night. Vin Scully is absolutely the best in the business, because in addition to all the wonderful stories he can weave through a game, he knows when to sit back and let the camera tell the story. Thanks, Vinny, you're the best.
posted by eccsport78 at 06:18 PM on September 19, 2006
Scully is truly awesome. I was listening to Steiner last night, and he truly lost his mind. Actually, I feared for his life, he was getting so excited. In the afterglow, he compared last night's game to calling Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS -- the Aaron Boone Game. He stopped at putting last night's game over it, but he sure seemed to want to. It was a special gem, that one last night.
posted by BullpenPro at 06:44 PM on September 19, 2006
This would have been a game that I personally would have wanted Ernie Harwell to call, but you almost have to be a Tiger fan to know who Ernie is. He was the best as far as I am concerned.
posted by coach at 09:13 PM on September 19, 2006
For those who haven't heard it (or just want to listen to it again), see here for a link to Scully's call of the ninth inning of Sandy Koufax's perfect game. As with the Monday night game, Scully just leaves the roar of the crowd to speak for itself at the conclusion of the game. It's really wonderful.
posted by holden at 10:03 AM on September 20, 2006
Great link holden, thank you.
posted by mjkredliner at 09:57 PM on September 21, 2006
I agree on Earnie Harwell; he'll be on hand for one of the Tiger games in the playoffs.
posted by themightyjobu at 08:15 PM on September 22, 2006
I listened to this game last night, and it was hands down the greatest game I have seen or heard this year. Unbelievable. Charlie Steiner completely lost his mind calling the game, and in a post-game interview Garciaparra had no voice left. What made the ninth inning, in particular, even more astounding was that it happened so fast -- no deep counts, just BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. Incredible. The Cla Meredith inning was also just unbelievable, getting out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam on two pitches. Terrific, terrific game. I'm still buzzing from it... and I don't even root for these teams.