The Red Sox would not be playing in the American League Championship if they hadn’t seized the opportunity to eliminate the Tampa Bay Rays in Fenway Park in consecutive games on Sunday and Monday.

Some will point to the gift of the ground rule double in the thirteenth inning on Sunday, the one that bounced off Hunter Renfro and into the bullpen. But what really mattered was Fenway Park and the frenzied Red Sox fans in the bottom of the ninth on Monday, the 38,447 packed into a park with stipulated capacity of 37,731.

What you realize on your first visit to Fenway is how close to the field you are, regardless of the cost of your seat. The foul ground is exceedingly narrow, with the foul lines nearly touching the stands in both corners of the park.  The park was designed for fans, not for pitchers who might wish that more foul balls were caught in a capacious foul territory.

When you watch the game on television, it feels like the fans are almost in play, able to reach out and change the flight of the ball or at least to yell directly in the ear of the batter or infielder as they try to concentrate. That is what Wander Franco and Yandi Diaz endured as they tried to throw out runners at first in the bottom of the ninth. Franco threw far wide as he attempted to field Christian Vazquez’s grounder in shallow left field, his throw ending up in shallow right. The next batter, Christian Arroyo, successfully sacrificed Vazquez to second. Then Shaw reached on a throw by the third baseman in the dirt that should have been a short pitch from Diaz. Instead it bounced with a short hop to Ji Man Choi, who also could have snared the ball more smoothly.  First and third and only one out.

Because of home field scoring, both Vazquez and Shaw were awarded hits, but if you asked the Tampa infielders they would tell you they should have made those plays. But they were playing in the pressure cooker of Fenway Park. They were not throwing with optimal confidence, so they put the pitcher in the impossible position of keeping the next pitch in the infield.  The table was set for Kike Hernandez, who delivered the winning sacrifice fly to left.

Boston fans have class. They will applaud anyone who makes an outstanding play and cheer the player who returns after a trade to another team.  But in the bottom of the inning, when the Red Sox bat, they are loud and relentless, and it must feel like they lean over your shoulder as they cheer or jeer for their sacred cause.  They are the reason the Red Sox are going on to the ALCS. God help the visiting team for that one.

Jack Flaherty

Chris Sale

My pitching heroes made a splendid return to their pitching rotations this weekend, both with at least five-inning wins in which they were in control the entire time.

“In control” might be an exaggeration for Chris Sale, as he allowed two home runs and threw a couple of pitches that could have gone to the backstop, except for the alert snags of Christian Vasquez, but he was unfazed and worked in his constant quick rhythm the entire six innings. He threw a lot of pitches, but he also struck out eight batters, which always requires a few extra pitches to accomplish.

John Flaherty, on the other hand, went six innings and showed pinpoint control, walking none and striking out five. He probably could have gone another inning for his ninth victory, but the Cardinals were understandably cautious with his oblique injury. How about nine wins at this point in the season after missing two months of it?

Sale’s return might be a little more momentous, since he had Tommy John (elbow) surgery two years ago. Elbows are more recoverable since the ground-breaking surgery of Tommy John in 1974. It is a tendon replacement known as ulnar collateral replacement. Sale’s performance indicated a full recovery. He averaged 93.3 mph on his fastball, virtually the same speed of his fastball in 2019.

The biggest concern following Tommy John surgery is not velocity, however. It’s control. Strike-throwing ability is usually the last thing to return post-elbow reconstruction, and, on Saturday, Sale threw 60 of 89 pitches for strikes, or 67.4 percent. Between that and the velocity, there were positive signs abound. https://pressfrom.info/us/news/sports/-788388-chris-sale-strikes-out-eight-in-season-debut-for-red-sox-and-first-mlb-start-in-two-years.html

This weekend appears to be an overdose of comeback fever for a Boston-Red-Sox-converted-St.-Louis-Cardinal fan.

Two disabled pitching stars are making their first starts with the success of the ML Baseball home stretch hanging in the balance.

On Friday Cardinal ace Jack Flaherty returns to service following two months sidelined with a torn oblique muscle. Here’s the good news from Mike Claiborne of Sportsgrid.

Mike Claiborne reports St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty will start Friday against the Kansas City Royals.

Flaherty has been sidelined with an oblique injury, last pitching in a 9-4 Cardinals loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 31. He went five innings, allowing two runs on two hits and striking out nine batters. Making 11 starts this season, Flaherty has an 8-1 record with a 2.90 ERA, 26% K rate and a 1.03 WHIP. He has struck out six or more batters in eight starts this season as a top arm in the National League.

Meanwhile, the legendary left arm of Chris Sale will be deployed in the Major League for the first time in two years, when he steps on the mound against the White Sox on Saturday.

Wrigley Field is famous for its ivy-lined outfield wall and for its persistent no-night game policy, which endured until August 8, 1988, almost sixty years after baseball’s first night game. I’m going to add the adventurous fans who break the boundaries of the stadium walls to watch from apartment buildings and who reach into the playing field to field fly balls.

You may not be able to read the banner signs on the apartments beyond the Horizon advertisement below, but they read “Wrigleyrooftops.com” showing a proprietary interest in the action on the field.  These seats are sold just like the seats in the stadium through some agreement with Wrigley Field. Here is the advertisement, if you are disposed to an Olympian view of baseball.

11 UNIQUE ROOFTOPS

While each rooftop has its own distinctive style, amenities and vantage point, Wrigley Rooftops ensures that every rooftop is the ultimate event experience for groups of all kinds.

BROWSE ROOFTOPS

The other example of taking a proprietary interest comes from fans reaching into the field of play to grab a baseball which, according to the center field announcement before the game, is a felony. We witnessed that in the first inning of the game on Friday, July 9, as a fan reached over the right field side wall to grab a ball hit by the Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt, preventing the right fielder (Jason Heyward) from catching it. As the ball was actually in the field, and Heyward had a legitimate shot at catching it, Goldschmidt was ruled out. The disposal of the case of the felonious fan is unknown at this time.

The event had to remind Cub fans of the notorious Steve Bartman affair, which actually deprived the team of a playoff win in 2003.

The Cubs were mired in their legendary title drought when Bartman made his mark on history in 2003. The team appeared to be headed for the World Series when he stretched out to catch a foul ball with the Cubs leading late in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series against the Miami Marlins. Bartman instead deflected the ball away from a Cubs fielder, the Marlins came back to win the game and then sealed a place in the World Series with victory in Game 7.https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jul/31/steve-bartman-world-series-ring-chicago-cubs-baseball

The defiant grab on the day we attended the Cubs vs. Cardinals turned out much better, since the Cardinals’ batter was ruled out due to fan interference.  Steve Bartman, on the other hand, had a legitimate right to the ball in the infamous playoff game,  since it was within the boundaries of the stands. However, it was not within the boundaries of good taste, and Bartman was a curse word among Cubs fans until July 31, 2017, when he received a World Series ring from the Cubs, who had finally broken their championship drought.

Our game was remarkably well-attended for an afternoon contest, raising questions about who works on a Friday afternoon in Chicago.  The Cubs broke the game open in the seventh as Kris Bryant pinch hit with the bases loaded and doubled them all home with a liner to deep center. Not bad for a guy with a strained hamstring. Then Patrick Wisdom drove in the pinch runner for Bryant with a home run, and there was not much to do but pick up the pieces. The result was Cubs 10, Cardinals 5.

Hospitality points for Wrigley staging a refreshment stand up on the third deck where we were seated, but low menu ratings for the ordinary ballpark fare- brats, hamburgers and nachos. Short beer menu as well. No pizza at all and ice cream was hard to find, according to my scout, Victoria. Vendors were prowling the stands throughout the game, and that’s pretty good service for the third deck.

Parking and accessibility seems like a weak point for a ballpark entrenched in a crowded city. Except for Marty Lazarus, my boyhood friend and his association with Park Hero, we could be still trekking back from Wrigley Field. We nabbed a secluded spot under the elevated and, despite an eighth-inning exit, still we labored our way out of the city.

Wrigley Field did not disappoint, but I will still take Fenway Park for its weird design, including the Green Monster and the short right foul line known as Pesky Pole.  Wrigley is much more symmetrical, perhaps giving away fewer home runs. On the other hand, don’t we love the unexpected home run gifts that Fenway Park is known to bring?

I see that the Cardinals are substituting Wade LeBlanc for John Gant in the pitching rotation Monday night. Good move, Mike Schildt. Gant leads the rotation with 48 walks this season. That should not qualify him for a permanent spot in the pitching rotation.

Walks may be a matter of confidence for a pitcher. Trying to be too fine by hitting the corners of the plate.  In that case taking them out of the pitching rotation may seem like a lack of confidence in the pitcher, but it also sends another message the Cardinal pitchers need to hear. We don’t give the other team free bases. John Gant and Carlos Martinez need to hear that message. Maybe also Johan Oviedo, who walked four batters in the first inning yesterday in the Cardinals’ loss to the cellar-dwelling Pittsburgh Pirates.  Oviedo should have received a pitching mound visit after two walks and then pulled from the game after three.

The thing is pitchers get to thinking the game only depends on them. They have to hit the corners or the other team scores, and they can’t allow the other team to score. Really they should be thinking, they are not giving the other team free passes, because it gives the opponent more confidence. They should be thinking, Let them put the ball in play, and I’ll depend on my team to make the outs.

What if they sting the ball and score a couple of runs? That’s o.k. They need to believe, against all evidence, that their team will score three runs. Because walking four yesterday resulted in three runs scoring. Some of those runs came from runners who were given first base free of charge.

So putting Wade LeBlanc in place of John Gant is a good change for the Cardinals’ pitching rotation, because Mike Schildt is saying you can’t walk 48 opponents and stay in the rotation. LeBlanc said yesterday, “When you’ve got a defense like this, you’ve got to let them work.” Good attitude. That is a message for the rest of the rotation.

Next Schildt has to say that to Carlos Martinez, who is an experienced pitcher and knows that walks kill.  Bring up Matthew Liberatore, who has blown away opposition in both AA and AAA this year and insert him in Martinez’ spot in the rotation Tuesday night. Tell the young man to throw strikes and follow LeBlanc’s motto: Let the defense work.

The Cardinals hitters will eventually snap out of their funk, because that is what hitters do. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arendo are not .250 hitters. They will find their stride, and probably before the All-Star Game.  The offense may not produce eight runs a game, but it should do better than the meager two runs they eeked out yesterday. Patience.

But the message to the pitchers should be: we don’t give hitters free bases. Pound the strike zone and let them earn their base. A single is no different than a walk. A double is still not a run, so let them hit doubles. Show confidence, even when your head is saying, My stuff isn’t good enough. I’m going to get hit. Throw strikes.

Send them a message, Mike Schildt. You can’t walk guys and stay in the rotation.  Don’t tell the other team, we’re afraid you’re gonna get hits. Tell them to hit the ball and try to beat our defense.  Show confidence, even if you don’t believe your team will score any runs. That is the kind of confidence that ends losing streaks.

Maybe there’s a lesson for all of us Cardinals fans. Believe in your team and throw strikes. Walks are just concessions to the other team. Whatever you do, throw strikes.

8 a.m. – 52 degrees and sunny. Hoping the weather holds for the Cardinals Home Opener. Brunch at Chris@theDockett on Tucker Blvd around 10 a.m.  Honorable mention to the HK skillet breakfast, a truly spicy chile-style combination topped with eggs. Mimosas with orange juice make this my first alcoholic breakfast, as  well  as  my  first  Opening  Day  ever.

The Clydesdales prance the inner perimeter of Busch Stadium on Opening Day. This is apparently a big deal, kind of like the appearance of the Royal Rooters of the 1890’s in the old Boston ballpark or politicians waving at the spectators for Opening Day in Washington, D.C.  As a northeastern migrant to St. Louis and an emergent Cardinal fan I have yet to catch the Clydesdale fever that comes of witnessing their great entrances at the Poplar Street entrance. Victoria and her friends are beside themselves with anticipation. They have almost forgotten that the Clydesdales are the pre-game show and there is baseball game to follow.

The gates open at 1 p.m., and we planned to find our seats in the National Car Rental Suite at 1:30 p.m. We have all-inclusive tickets, which means unlimited eating and drinking and indoor shelter from two hours before till two hours after the game. This is the kind of decadent life I have always considered the hallmark of patricians not really interested in baseball, just alcohol. Here I am fraternizing with decadence.

The Clydesdales were apparently staged in a inaccessible site, so we finally gave up on witnessing their arrival and headed for our party suite, which turned out to be on the right field side between first base and the foul pole, not at the National Car Rental Suite in left field. We had a good overhang, which kept the rain out and a warm enclosure behind us, which kept the drinks flowing, so we were fortified for the chilly Opening Day weather. (Open this movie file)   Clydesdales Opening Day 

For the record, the weather did not hold, the clouds rolled in, and later in the game, so did the rain. April is the cruelest month, as the poet says. We managed to console ourselves with nachos, bourbon, and pretzels with melted cheese, none of which was warm, except to the imagination.

I admit the sight of the of bejeweled Clydesdales high-stepping in perfect rhythm to the tune of “Here Comes the King,” (homage to Budweiser, no less), is a sight to behold.  The team of eight patrician horses lend more class than a plebian sport like baseball can possibly deserve, but they remind us of days of beer barons delivering the finest ales to the monarchs of yesteryear.  We were honored for three uplifting minutes as they pranced the outer track.

Adam Wainwright then brought us down to earth.  He struggled with the strike zone in the first inning, loaded the bases, and was spared three runs by a catch at the wall by Dylan Carlson, who made drama of it at the last minute by turning around and snagging a deep fly off his left hip.  Not a good omen for Wainwright’s day on the  mound.

Adam Wainwright smiles after throwing a simulated inning at

Arenado launched the first pitch down the third base line into the stands and everybody stood up to cheer the magically timed swing. Arenado stood and screamed his joyful war cry before turning up the first base line, the game virtually clinched by his blow. The crowd awoke madly. “Here comes the king” suddenly had a new subject, as Arenado rounded the bases.

When you say “Opening Day” what else could it be but baseball? Yeah, some stores will claim “opening days”and maybe some other sports seasons, but we know the real opening day is baseball.

In many baseball towns it is too early to play baseball, and the players dread going out in forty-degree weather after spending a delightful spring in Florida or Arizona. Some of the Caribbean-born players may suffer swing or arm slumps until May, so chill is the air in the early season.  It doesn’t seem right to play the summer game in sub seventy-degree temperatures.

But play they will. Every game counts, so shorten up the swing and loosen up the arm for five innings until the weather breaks warm.  They will play to two-thirds empty stadiums, the crowds, socially distanced,  welcoming and shivering at the same time.  No cries of “beer” and “hot dogs” will salt the air, because no selling in the stands for now.  In the party suites there may be excessive eating and drinking.

But we are hungry and thirsty for baseball as well. Baseball has suffered from the lack of in-person entertainment more than any sport. It is a panoramic sport with action at every corner of the field: fielders shifting, runners taking a lead, batters shifting, and then the contact or lack of contact with the ball. There’s the sign out in center field you can read only with binoculars, and magnificent beer spillage from a foul ball down the right field line.  And the swell of crowd noise that signals every event on or off the field.  The crowd knows everything.  You just have to be there for the full experience of baseball.

For me, April 8 at Busch Stadium will be the first Opening Day I attend in person.  Getting the tickets was a major skirmish, and I ended up paying too much for seats in a party suite on the left field line. Wait, did I say I paid too much for Opening Day tickets?  Is there still a balance in my bank account? All right, whatever, I paid it.

The excitement may also mark a solemn event: the transition of my fan loyalty from the Red Sox to the Cardinals. After three years in St. Louis, the time has come.  I was seven years in Boston before I gave up on the Yankees for the Red Sox, but that was a more vicious rivalry. I will still follow the Red Sox, but I have my Cardinal regalia, I am in Busch Stadium on Opening Day, I have learned their starting line-up, I have quaffed their beer (which is no treat). What is left to make my commitment? I am a Cardinals fan.

One more thing about being a Cardinal fan. The weather feels like baseball on their Opening Day, which will be April 8.  Partly cloudy, high in the 70’s is the forecast.  St. Louis really is a baseball town.

“Spring Training” are words almost as magical for me as for the baseball players who participate and compete for a place on Major League rosters. Yesterday the St. Louis Cardinals made their selections for their 2021 roster and re-fired my imagination with possibilities for stars of the future. Names like John Nogowski, Jacob Woodford, Austin Dean and Edmundo Sosa suddenly became part of their plans for the season.

I always imagine that one or more of these players are going to transform the team in unexpected ways, delivering key hits, closing out crucial games, making game-saving catches in the outfield. The development of baseball players always surprises the fans and even the coaches, more than athletes in any other sport. Oh sure, the decision to put them on the Opening Day roster proves the shrewd judgment of the  manager and coaches, but the sudden development of a rookie into a star often takes even the experts by surprise.

Spring Training is the season of inflated hopes. I remember attending my first one– the Red Sox camp in Fort Myers in 2007. Daisuke Matsusaka was the talk of the Major Leagues, a Japanese pitcher for whom the Red Sox had paid exorbitantly.  The anticipation was in the air, even though I didn’t get to see Matsusaka pitch.  I remember the first evening; it was rainy and chilly, and I wondered why I had come to Florida, but the next day it broke into the sixties, and the PA announcer chirped it was 33 degrees in Boston. The crowd cheered.

But when you see new players assigned to your team heading north, you feel that unwarranted optimism that they will make all the difference in the team that just barely missed the playoffs last season. In the Cardinals’ case, it is the difference between the Division championship and the League Championship– the extra hitter that would drive in a crucial run.

The Rays, who beat the Houston Astros in seven games to advance, totaled a “meager” $28.29 million in payroll for the 2020 season, according to Sportrac. The Dodgers, by comparison, have the second-largest payroll in MLB behind the New York Yankees with more than $107.91 million. [https://www.foxbusiness.com/sports/world-series-displays-big-gap-between-rays-dodgers-2020-payroll]

Today begins the World Series, a match-up of power vs. pitching, if you listen to the sports pundits, but a match-up of fat vs. skinny payrolls, if you listen to the Wall Street pundits.  The subtext of recent World Series has been who got the most for their bucks.

Both teams are known to have respectable farm systems that develop young talent, but the Dodgers have used their young players (e.g. Alex Verdugo) to acquire big name talent (e.g. Mookie Betts), whereas the Rays have players without much name recognition or salary.  The Rays have built their team around young pitching and defense, which is less expensive than hitting.

The Rays already have some national sentiment after polishing off the Yankees, with the biggest payroll in baseball, and the Astros with the darkest reputation in baseball.  Those kind of victories can put you on the white horse to send you into combat.  Instead of using cameras and espionage to win, the Rays used baseball analytics to perfectly position their infield.

The Dodgers have a gold-plated pitching staff (upwards of $100 million/ year), and superb media exposure, which means money.  They have an outstanding manager in Dave Roberts, and it will be interesting to see the chess games between him and Rays’ manager Kevin Cash.  Strategy will matter, as well as talent.

If you like underdogs, the Tampa Bay Rays are your team with their payroll 25% of the Dodgers, with their small media market and lukewarm fans.  They are the invisible champions with a stealth attack and a steel-curtain defense.  They will not be favored, and that’s the way they like it.

It could be wishful thinking, but I am picking Tampa Bay, with their “stable of 98-mph relievers,”  in seven games.