on friday night, june 17th, when it rained all around the capital district, a circle of sun hit new scotland field, and we got a game in.
what a game. undecided until the last strike. a testament to how cruel - or upbeat -this game can be. and why it ages managers fast who are already aging fast.
historical note: the peppers have never beaten the marlins, and, that history appeared about to change on friday. we were up 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh and the marlins were down to their last strike. there two outs, a runner on third, and our pitcher matt leinung was making his pitches. he had gone a full game and had registered seven strike outs.
skip treece, that guy who always seems to get on base, had worked the count full, and then took the next pitch. the ump started to signal strike three - his fist was clenched, he reached to his right, the game was ours - then he shook his hand, something i've never seen done, and said,. no, it's a ball. skip walked and minutes later, stole second.
up steps randy craft, who - managers note - in his last at-bat laid down an absolutely beautiful bunt down the third base line. having seen him hit many liners to left but never having seen him bunt - it so happens i was playing third - i was at first surprised, then, despite catching the ball barehanded and throwing sidearm, beaten as randy won the race by a good step or two. now, he could bunt again. if the runner scores on a squeeze, the game is tied. unlikely with two outs, but still possible. or randy could pull the ball down the line. should i play up? back? midway? close to the line? i chose midway, a few steps from the line, and said, under my breath, come on randy, hit it to me.
what i didn't think - managers note again - is that randy won the title as the league's best hitter last year and that i could have walked him. the next batter, paul (?), their catcher, someone i didn't know, had gone 1-for-3 on the day. but with the bases full, our chances might be better with paul than randy.
actually, i did think that - i really did - just as matt let his second or third pitch go and randy swung and socked a game-winning double down the left field line.
it so happens that i'm reading Buzz Bissinger's book about Tony LaRussa and the Cardinals-Cubs series of 2003, "three nights in august," and when i got home, i opened the book to read this line:"(La Russa) developed a catch phrase for himself, a way of mental discipline: 'Slow it down by staying ahead of it to stay on top of it.'" an awkward mantra, but if only i'd read that before i left for the game.
still, both teams played a great game. ralph caputo pitched a strong seven innings himself, also notching seven strikeouts (great curve there), and three players, ralph, chris, dave and randy went 2-for-3. for the peppers, herb carter and mark meyers both went 2-for-3, scoring four runs between them and knocking in two.
so history didn't change. we're still looking for our first win over the marlins - and our first of the year, for that matter. the game's hard - and games like these are harder on your birthday - but that's why we're there, and why, afterwards, we were glad we were there.
