Memorabilia: Prologue I

Prologue I

Bill Buckner is not to blame. Anyone who blames Bill Buckner is an asshole. That’s like blaming the bull for running into the sword. Be serious. Jim Rice gets thrown out at the plate in the 7th inning. Clemens fails to execute a sacrifice bunt not once or twice, but three times with Spike Owen on first base and one out. What? You want to talk about errors? The Rocket strikes out once, pops out to the catcher once and gets Owens forced out at second once. Give me just one successful sacrifice bunt and I give you the game winning run via Wade Boggs’s bat. But it didn’t happen. Bucker? Bill Buckner? No. Don Baylor sat on the bench and watched Schiraldi strike out. Yep. After giving up the tying run in the bottom of the 8th inning and barely surviving the bottom of the ninth, Schiraldi was sent up to bat with a one run lead in the top of the 10th. He struck out like a freshman playing Varsity baseball, shitting in his pants, amazed someone could pitch so fast. Baylor, the veteran bat off the bench, year-long clutch pinch hitter, drank Gatorade and didn’t get a bit of dirt on his uniform during Game Six. Inexcusable errors? Even if Schiraldi gets on base you know La Schelle Tarver will pinch run for him. So why let him bat at all? Bucker? No. Don’t mention his name. Unless you want to bring up how in the top of the 10th he took a fastball off the leg and ran to first base. Unless you want to talk about how he was drifting toward second base in the bottom of the 10th inning because Marty Barrett had called for a pick-off attempt, a pick-off attempt that didn’t happen because neither Catcher Rich Gedman nor Pitcher Bob Stanley saw the call. So Stanley threw another slicing screwball and Mookie Wilson got a little piece of it and it rolled to where Bucker usually played, but where he wasn’t because he was expecting the pick-off attempt at second base. But don’t talk about Bucker if you want to bring up what happened next. Any idiot can tell me he made an error. The Mets won the game. Yeah, I was watching too. But I’m telling you that there is more to the story. There is always more to the story for those who care to look. When the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up I could see the flames blossom from the fuel tank. “The Space Ship exploded because of the flames,” I said. Sure. I was a child. “The flames killed those astronauts. Blame the flames.”

Like in the 8th inning: Lee Mazzilli singled and Lenny Dykstra bunted him to second base. But Schiraldi tries to throw Mazzilli out at second base and the throw is late. You want to talk about flames? The next sacrifice bunt by Wally Backman puts men at second and third with one out. An intentional walk to Keith Hernandez loads the bases with one out. IN THE 8th INNING OF A ONE-RUN GAME!! Carter comes a fraction of an inch from hitting a grand slam, and gets the tying run home. Daryl Strawberry flies out to end the inning. That was Schiraldi’s first inning. But instead of benching him right away, McNamara sends him back out for the 9th inning. Schiraldi immediately walks Ray Knight. Then Mookie Wilson reaches on Gedman’s error. Listen: of the 8 men Schiraldi had faced so far, 5 had reached base. FIVE out of EIGHT! In seven innings, Clemens only allowed 6 men to reach. Schiraldi had nearly matched that in a single inning. One run has already scored. A base hit brings in the winning run. Does McNamara bring in some relief? Nope. After all, he only has 10 rested pitchers in the bullpen. And people like to say flames killed the astronauts. Flames? What was McNamara afraid of? Were critics going to say, “Why did you pull Schiraldi? He was pitching so well.” Or “ Schiraldi had retired 3 batters of the 8 he faced. What made you think he didn’t have his best stuff?” Or “That was a controversial move, replacing a pitcher who had allowed one single, two walks, a sacrifice fly, three sacrifice bunts, and a fly out. What strange strategy were you executing?” No one would have said that. If your pitcher has allowed men on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the 8th inning and then again in the bottom of the 9th inning of a tied game, then you have basically lost the game. Two consecutive outs will lose you the game. A base hit loses the game. Almost nothing you can do will win the game. So you might as well bring in some fresh relief. But in a decision similar to Custer shouting, “Charge!” McNamara left Schiraldi in. And in a result similar to Jesus emerging from his tomb, Schiraldi retired the next three batters. Wow! Schiraldi was due up third in the top of the 10th inning. But surely, he wouldn’t bat. Surely, a hitter like Don Baylor would bat in his place. Even if Schiraldi gets on base he would be replaced with a pinch runner. And if he didn’t get a pinch runner and he was left to run for himself then why would you send him back out to pitch? There is a reason pitchers walk in from the bullpen instead of sprinting. Flames killed the astronauts. Errors?

Dave Henderson hit a home run to lead off the 10th. Spike Owens struck out. Baylor, who was briefly warming up with a bat, put his gear away and let Schiraldi bat in his place. Errors! Sciraldi struck out. Boggs doubled and scored on Barrett’s single. Buckner got hit on the leg. Rice ended the inning with a pop fly to right. The Red Sox led 5-3. The only question was who would McNamara pick to relieve Schiraldi. Which of the other pitchers would he call on to get the final three outs? Oil Can Boyd? Sammy Stewart? Al Nipper? Bruce Hurst? Bob Stanley? Joe Sambito? Tim Lollar? Rob Woodward? Wes Gardner? Mike Trujillo? Jeff Sellers? Mike Brown? Which of these pitchers would McNamara…oh my god!

Schiraldi came out to pitch the bottom of the 10th inning. What? Schiraldi? Again? Schiraldi emerged from the dugout to face the same part of the line-up that loaded the bases with one out against him in the 8th inning, a deadly part of the line-up that included (at least) Wally Backman, lefty Keith Hernandez, and Gary Carter (who crushed the last pitch he saw from Schiraldi). If trouble arose, a probable pinch-hitter for Rick Aguilara would follow Carter (unless Mets Coach Davey Johnson followed McNamara’s insane strategy), then Ray Knight and, if a true nightmare had occurred, Mookie Wilson. Flames! Errors! And so Schiraldi pitched and Backman popped out to left. Then Hernandez popped out to center. Two outs. But across New England there was dread. Why? Why? Because Schiraldi had been hit hard for three straight innings. The only easy out was a sacrifice bunt from Backman in the 8th. Every other out was hit hard. From our point of view, and from the point of view of many, the Red Sox weren’t very close to winning. No. From our point of view, The Mets were very close to breaking loose on a pitcher who obviously did not have the stuff. If Clemens were pitching then yes, the champagne would’ve been popping. But it was Schiraldi. SCHIRALDI! Only McNamara could pull him out. But he didn’t. Errors! Flames!

The next out Schiraldi would get would be two days later in the 7th inning of Game Seven when Roger McDowell laid down a sacrifice bunt after Knight had homered, Dykstra had singled, and Santana had singled to score Dykstra. His performance in Game Seven merely punctuated his performance in Game Six. He earned the loss in both games.

In the bottom of the 10th inning Carter sliced a single. Kevin Mitchell pinch hit for Aguilara and drilled another single. Knight blooped a single to score Carter. Mitchell stood on third base. Only then, possibly after a call from his doctor, McNamara summoned Bob Stanley from the bullpen to relieve Schiraldi, whose final stats for the night justify the “L” next to his name in the box score: He faced 16 batters. He retired only half of them. He allowed four runs (1 was unearned because of Gedman’s error) and four hits. He walked two and struck out one. Flames? Buckner? Buckner who?

Facing Mookie Wilson, Bob Stanley’s answer to New England’s prayers was to unleash a wicked fastball that was about three feet inside. The ball rolled to the backstop. Mitchell scored the tying run. Knight moved to second base. Wilson then fouled numerous pitches off before nudging one toward first base. Buckner moved to his left and in. Stanley raced Wilson to the bag. Instead of going “Hop, Hop, Hop.” the ball went “Hop, Hop, Skip.” and rolled cleanly beneath Buckner’s glove. If he had touched it at all Knight would not have scored and Stanley, or someone, would’ve faced Rafael Santana. But Buckner didn’t touch it and Knight scored the winning run before Dwight Evans had even reached the ball. Instead of celebrating on the mound, the Sox headed for the showers. Bucker is to blame? No. Remember the flames that crawled up the side of The Challenger before the fuel tank exploded? Remember? The flames burned the astronauts? The flames were to blame? No. Buckner is not to blame either. And if you aren’t convinced it’s alright. I am just getting started.