Monday, June 27, 2005
Sox 12, Phillies 8: The Mike Shall Inherit the Runners (and Let Them Score)
The grand slam is a wondrous thing, isn't it? And Manny Ramirez leads all active players with 19 of them in his career, with only Junior Griffey and Piazza anywhere close at 14... it takes a weird combination of skill and luck to hold that record - after all, Robin Ventura had 18 of them, not even counting his grand slam single in that great 2000 NLCS, and noone thinks continually of Ventura as one of those who were truly great (sorry, had a Stephen Spender moment there). But in terms of chasing the grand slam record Manny also has the disadvantage of batting 3rd here, which means he automatically loses one chance a game of a slam... which, come to think of it, could explain Ventura's totals, as well as Manny's early few slams, when he hit lower in that awe-inspiring late-90s Cleveland lineup.
And amidst that ManRam fanfare, Mark Bellhorn just missed out on the cycle by a triple. Bellhorn's shot was a towering thing of beauty I thought.
Oh, and for all of Mike Timlin's All-Star quality season, he really shouldn't be allowed inherit runners.
The grand slam is a wondrous thing, isn't it? And Manny Ramirez leads all active players with 19 of them in his career, with only Junior Griffey and Piazza anywhere close at 14... it takes a weird combination of skill and luck to hold that record - after all, Robin Ventura had 18 of them, not even counting his grand slam single in that great 2000 NLCS, and noone thinks continually of Ventura as one of those who were truly great (sorry, had a Stephen Spender moment there). But in terms of chasing the grand slam record Manny also has the disadvantage of batting 3rd here, which means he automatically loses one chance a game of a slam... which, come to think of it, could explain Ventura's totals, as well as Manny's early few slams, when he hit lower in that awe-inspiring late-90s Cleveland lineup.
And amidst that ManRam fanfare, Mark Bellhorn just missed out on the cycle by a triple. Bellhorn's shot was a towering thing of beauty I thought.
Oh, and for all of Mike Timlin's All-Star quality season, he really shouldn't be allowed inherit runners.
Actually, Manny's been batting in the cleanup spot for a while now. He started off 3rd, but Tito switched him and Ortiz up a few weeks back.
-MRhe
-MRhe
Oops, totally screwed up what I meant by foolishly employing the present tense... I just meant that Manny was batting 3rd a lot in Boston, and when he was in Cleveland - like in that 165-RBI season - I recall him being much lower in the lineup. Which I suppose you could say didn't help either, since he had less chances to come to the plate.
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