Boston at Oakland, 8:00 PM ET (Game 5)
First, let me commend Robert, whose playoff work to date has been terrific, but I thought I would lead the game thread tonight, though I will be too nervous and involved with the game to comment on it while it is in progress. I’ll leave the various pre-game machinations and statistical innuendo to ESPN.com and other sites, and instead I will ask one question: Just what is at stake here, as the A’s try—for a ninth time—to close out an ALDS? In short, everything.
OK. Maybe that’s hyperbolic. But this is an absolutely critical game for the A’s, for more than the obvious must-win-to-advance scenario. If they manage to lose this series—during which they have, quite frankly, played some seriously bad baseball—it will be awfully difficult to dismiss four straight opening round losses as simply being bad luck. Has there been some dumb luck the last four seasons? Of course. This year alone the A’s lost Mark Mulder, they lost Tim Hudson, and Jose Guillen is playing with half a wrist. But I don’t know if Mark Mulder could have done much to prevent Jeremy Giambi’s spirit from possessing Eric Byrnes and Miguel Tejada during those abominable base-running gaffes. No matter whether Tejada was obstructed or not, there is no excuse for him not running the play all the way through. I don’t know if Tim Hudson could do much to persuade Eric Chavez or Miguel Tejada to quit trying to pull every pitch or to take a strike now and then. Erubiel Durazo, one of the most patient hitters in the game, nonetheless hacked at the first pitch from Scott Williamson in the top of the ninth inning Sunday, popping out meekly to third. Bad luck? No. Bad base-running, attempting to do too much at the plate, or moving away from what you know and preach are not products of bad luck. What they are products of is unclear. If I knew, I would dispatch the info to the A’s right away.
We all know luck, or lack thereof, is a factor: the fat slider missed by a millimeter and fouled off the screen; a deep drive to the warning track brought back by the wind; the injury suffered late in the season to key players (see Mulder, Mark). But all teams are subject to the cruel demon known as random chance: the Marlins did not have one of their best hitters—Mike Lowell—but still managed to defeat the Giants, thanks in part to Barry Bonds not getting a chance to hit (a different subject altogether)—but also in larger part to some seriously bad baseball played by the Giants.
The Red Sox are a terrific, if flawed, team and they deserve credit for not quitting and for forcing this final game. But they are professionals; should we not expect every team to play hard to the end? (I could mention the listless/choking Braves here, but I will save that for another time.) So if Boston wins tonight, kudos to them, and good luck versus the Yankees. We must remember to give teams credit for winning a series, even—or perhaps especially so—as we acknowledge that they didn’t quite so much win as the other team lost.
And if the A’s do in fact lose tonight, I will not accept that they are victims of the system—i.e. the five-game series where anything can happen. Is luck a huge factor during four losses in a row in games when they can clinch the series? Sure. Five? OK, but getting a bit iffy. Six? I’ll allow it, but barely. Seven? Hmmm. Eight? No chance. And nine? Sorry, but that’s not bad luck. That’s simply not getting it done when you need to.
And if the A’s win? I don’t care how or why—I’ll just be happy.
I’ll have more after the game.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20031006063042999