OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - Yet Another OOTP6 Dynasty, Year 2: One Flew Over the Pale Hose

cknox0723 · 05-18-2005, 01:21 AM

game iii - chw (0-2) @ bos (2-0) - "blizzard"

last year: W 4-1 vs. kc!!! shingo takatsu, he of the 8.10 earned run average, picks up a win. jeremy reed takes his first step toward the "clutch god" moniker with a two-run jack in the bottom of the eighth, and my boy bevis picks up his first big league save.

this time around: e. loaiza (0-0, 0.00) vs. b.h. kim (0-0, 0.00)

It's 35 degrees, according to pre-game introduction. Were it that cold the last two games, I sure didn't notice. Maybe there is something to the power of positive thinking after all! Or maybe I've finally learned how to dress myself properly for the cold weather.

Maybe. Maybe not. But lo and behold, top of the first inning, after two quick outs, Magglio Ordonez draws a walk and moves to second on a wild pitch, and then, as I stare on in amazement, Frank Thomas raps a hard single to left field. Ordonez chugs home, and we're winning. But I thought Thomas was a dead man walking. Burnt toast, you know? He got a hit? He got a hit! We're winning? We're winning! But that's not supposed to happen!!

Positive thinking. Bottom of the first, good old Esteban on the mound. "The Joker", Johnny Damon, is at bat. Loaiza misses wide with a fastball, in the dirt with a slider. Two and naught. Damon lays off completely on the next pitch, staring at some beaver in the stands in the interim, and Loaiza comes in the zone to move the count to 2-1, but then bounces another pitch, and it's three balls and a strike. The Art of Suck. Here comes that wonderful stench...

But Damon doesn't trot down to first after the next pitch, and then steal second or third, nor does he hit his third home run of the series. Instead, he flinches when Esteban slides in a breaking ball, buckles his front foot just a bit...takes a weak hack, and bounces it over to Adam Kennedy at second. Goes in the books as 4-3, and there's one away. Bloomquist and Ramirez both strike out, and there's three away. Manny Ramirez, a real live number three hitter, struck down by Esteban! Is it all just positive thinking?

And then the snows come, not letting up for a good hour. Snow? Where the hell are we, Alaska? Esteban, a native of Mexico, can't handle the cold. Hell, I'm from New Jersey, and I can't handle the cold! So I can't blame him, really, that with the snow comes a flurry of second-inning Boston runs. Kevin Millar hits a blast all the way to Amherst to tie the game. Roger Cedeno doubles. Vance Wilson singles him home. Johnny Damon eventually gets up with men on, and of course that goes poorly. The biggest blow is a two-run bloop single by Willie Bloomquist. It's 4-1 by the time Nomar's roller to second puts the second in the books.

Loaiza, to his credit, manages to shuffle through the next few innings mostly unscathed, but (stop me if you've heard this before!) we can't do much against B.K. Kim, either. Esteban finally departs in the sixth, after giving up a two-out double. Aki Otsuka actually retires The Joker to keep the score five to one, which ain't too bad, I guess.

In the top of the sixth, a Raul Gonzalez walk and Eric Munson single give us a pair of runners sandwiched around a Jeremy Reed strikeout. For a moment, I allow myself to dream -- a comeback, a comeback, my kingdom for a comeback! But Yorvit Torrealba follows in the steps of the Clutch God's recent hike, and after that whiff, there's two down and two on for the pitcher's slot. Shea Hillenbrand comes off the bench, gets a whiff of Antonio Alfonseca's cheddar, and sits back down a few minutes later, unable to handle it. So much for that dream.

Then it's Rule 5 pick Marcos Carvajal who pinches me, coming on for the seventh and putting runners on in every conceivable way. Walks, doubles, hard-hit balls that roll around the outfield and somehow go in the books as errors. A three-run home run by Vance Wilson makes it a ten to one game, and after Carvajal's second walk of the inning, I can't take it anymore and bring in P.J. Bevis.

Something about him and big innings. Remember his ill-fated appearance in that Texas chainsaw massacre last year? Johnny Damon walks, Bloomquist and Ramirez single. Then Bevis starts walking the farm, making me want to buy the farm. One run's forced in...then a second, then a third. Finally Mike Gallo comes in and a hard-hit liner is right at Ramon Vazquez. After five hits, an error -- and nine runs, it's finally over.

Except, incredibly, it's not.

05-18-2005, 01:21 AM	#358
cknox0723 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 1,957	blizzard game iii - chw (0-2) @ bos (2-0) - "blizzard" last year: W 4-1 vs. kc!!! shingo takatsu, he of the 8.10 earned run average, picks up a win. jeremy reed takes his first step toward the "clutch god" moniker with a two-run jack in the bottom of the eighth, and my boy bevis picks up his first big league save. this time around: e. loaiza (0-0, 0.00) vs. b.h. kim (0-0, 0.00) It's 35 degrees, according to pre-game introduction. Were it that cold the last two games, I sure didn't notice. Maybe there is something to the power of positive thinking after all! Or maybe I've finally learned how to dress myself properly for the cold weather. Maybe. Maybe not. But lo and behold, top of the first inning, after two quick outs, Magglio Ordonez draws a walk and moves to second on a wild pitch, and then, as I stare on in amazement, Frank Thomas raps a hard single to left field. Ordonez chugs home, and we're winning. But I thought Thomas was a dead man walking. Burnt toast, you know? He got a hit? He got a hit! We're winning? We're winning! But that's not supposed to happen!! Positive thinking. Bottom of the first, good old Esteban on the mound. "The Joker", Johnny Damon, is at bat. Loaiza misses wide with a fastball, in the dirt with a slider. Two and naught. Damon lays off completely on the next pitch, staring at some beaver in the stands in the interim, and Loaiza comes in the zone to move the count to 2-1, but then bounces another pitch, and it's three balls and a strike. The Art of Suck. Here comes that wonderful stench... But Damon doesn't trot down to first after the next pitch, and then steal second or third, nor does he hit his third home run of the series. Instead, he flinches when Esteban slides in a breaking ball, buckles his front foot just a bit...takes a weak hack, and bounces it over to Adam Kennedy at second. Goes in the books as 4-3, and there's one away. Bloomquist and Ramirez both strike out, and there's three away. Manny Ramirez, a real live number three hitter, struck down by *Esteban! Is it all just positive thinking? And then the snows come, not letting up for a good hour. Snow? Where the hell are we, Alaska? Esteban, a native of Mexico, can't handle the cold. Hell, I'm from New Jersey, and I can't handle the cold! So I can't blame him, really, that with the snow comes a flurry of second-inning Boston* runs. Kevin Millar hits a blast all the way to Amherst to tie the game. Roger Cedeno doubles. Vance Wilson singles him home. Johnny Damon eventually gets up with men on, and of course that goes poorly. The biggest blow is a two-run bloop single by Willie Bloomquist. It's 4-1 by the time Nomar's roller to second puts the second in the books. Loaiza, to his credit, manages to shuffle through the next few innings mostly unscathed, but (stop me if you've heard this before!) we can't do much against B.K. Kim, either. Esteban finally departs in the sixth, after giving up a two-out double. Aki Otsuka actually retires The Joker to keep the score five to one, which ain't too bad, I guess. In the top of the sixth, a Raul Gonzalez walk and Eric Munson single give us a pair of runners sandwiched around a Jeremy Reed strikeout. For a moment, I allow myself to dream -- a comeback, a comeback, my kingdom for a comeback! But Yorvit Torrealba follows in the steps of the Clutch God's recent hike, and after that whiff, there's two down and two on for the pitcher's slot. Shea Hillenbrand comes off the bench, gets a whiff of Antonio Alfonseca's cheddar, and sits back down a few minutes later, unable to handle it. So much for that dream. Then it's Rule 5 pick Marcos Carvajal who pinches me, coming on for the seventh and putting runners on in every conceivable way. Walks, doubles, hard-hit balls that roll around the outfield and somehow go in the books as errors. A three-run home run by Vance Wilson makes it a ten to one game, and after Carvajal's second walk of the inning, I can't take it anymore and bring in P.J. Bevis. Something about him and big innings. Remember his ill-fated appearance in that Texas chainsaw massacre last year? Johnny Damon walks, Bloomquist and Ramirez single. Then Bevis starts walking the farm, making me want to buy the farm. One run's forced in...then a second, then a third. Finally Mike Gallo comes in and a hard-hit liner is right at Ramon Vazquez. After five hits, an error -- and nine runs, it's finally over. Except, incredibly, it's not.