Posted by Pete Brewer on August 05, 19102 at 12:33:54:
I had two tickets to see the Phils & the Giants play at the Vet last Thursday evening, August the 1st. I've had these tickets for quite some time now.
As I'm sure everyone knows, Barry Bonds missed over a week with his hamstring problem, so as the date neared we got nervous about whether he'd play. Then Wednesday night July 31, he came back and has 8 total bases in 5 plate appearances, so we're excited right?
We get there- they post the lineups- no Barry. Damn! It's a great game though as Rich Aurilia hits a Piazza-like liner over the cf wall with 2 down in the 1st off of Randy Wolf. Then Jeff Kent hits what I thoughtwas a goner that Rickey Ledee catches at the track in center to end the inning. In the 2nd, Santiago & Sanders destroy fastballs by Wolf, both on a line to the right field warning track that Abreu catches up to. So-4 consecutive batters and 4 pitches - all fastballs (I believe)- nailed right on the button, but 3 for outs.
So, Randy Wolf decides he needs to throw this slow curveball he's got. One of the smaller scoreboards keeps telling us 67 mph, 70 mph, 66 mph etc. They couldn't touch him- I think they were still looking for that fastball. Wouldn't you? In Aurilia's 2nd at bat he started him with the curve and Rich could've swung at it twice considering how out in front of it he was. I said to my friend- "he's gonna look for that fastball this whole at bat- and Randy ain't gonna throw it once." What does Wolf do? He busts him inside with two fastballs- neither one was hittable if
ya ask me. Aurilia missed the 1st one & took the 2nd one, but it was a call strike 3. Meanwhile, Rich Ortiz of the Giants had settled down and by the end of the 6th it had been something like 4 innings since he'd given up a hit, so the 1st inning HR by Aurilia was still standing up. 1-0 Giants.
Then comes the bottom of the 7th. Giambi starts things off with a solid line drive single to right center. Lieberthal hits a very sharp sinking liner up the middle that hits the ground right about at the dirt, but Aurilia can't get it- right between his glove and Ramon Martinez' (whendid he switch to being a 2nd baseman? :-) Now it's 1st & 2nd no one out and Polanco bunts. Ortiz tries to throw out Giambi at 3rd. No dice- big mistake- it cost them the game actually. Bases loaded- no one out and Marlon Anderson grounds to 2nd- they get the force but that's all- it was a bouncer- not really hit very hard. So now it's 1-1 with one out and runners at the corners. Travis Lee comes up to pinch hit, and after barely getting a piece of two pitches, he barely gets a piece of athird, but this one's fair- bouncing down towards Jeff Kent who was
playing first base last night. Kent made the 2nd mistake of the inning, although it didn't cost them. He threw home. There was no chance to tag the runner, and it looked to me as if Kent screwed up and thought the bases had been loaded and he thought it would be a force at home. So now it's 2-1 Phils. The next hitter knocked into a DP, so Kent's mistake hadn't cost them. If Ortiz had gone for the out at first on Polanco's bunt, then Lee's little roller would have been the 3rd out, which Kentwould have thrown to 1st to end the inning rather than going home with it. The score would've still been tied, but instead it was 2-1 Phils.
Neither team did anything in the 8th so now the top of the 9th comes and the Giants have their 6, 7 & 8 hitters coming up, so you know Bonds is gonna bat this inning. Reggie Sanders lines a Jose Mesa pitch into right center with David Bell in the on deck circle. Immediately David is called back & here comes Barry!! For a moment I thought "why now?" then I realized that Dusty Baker had thought this through much better than I had. Bonds was gonna bat 3rd in the inning, for Ramon Martinez, but when Sanders got on 1st, I believe the thinking was this: If Bell does anything to get Sanders to 2nd base, the Phillies will intentionally walk Bonds, but with Sanders on 1st, they're gonna choose to pitch to Barry rather than put the tying run into scoring position. I thought it was a smart move.
So now the greatest hitter of his generation and the greatest hitter alive, hitting at the apex of his game, is at the plate with no outs and the tying run on first. The crowd went wild, and me and my friend were on the edge of our seats. Barry took two balls, then he fouled a pitch back, then he tagged a sinking, curving liner the other way. Because of the way the stands curve down the line at the Vet, we couldn't see where the ball landed, but there's very little foul territory in there, so the ball couldn't have been much more than 2 or 3 inches foul. But foul it was, and a collective gasp went up all around the stadium. Barry had just missed putting runners on 2nd & 3rd with no one out at the very least. He fouled off another pitch, then he took a pitch so close I had to look away- I was so afraid it was a call strike three, but no. All I can say is it must've been just outside- there was no other place for it to be. Now it's 3-2 & this absolutely electric at bat had gone on for about 6 pitches. I believe it was the next pitch that he hit solidly, right at the 2nd baseman. The runner was going on the 3-2 pitch or it probably would have been a DP. With a man on 2nd, Damon Minor hit the 2nd liner of the game that I was absolutely sure was over the center field fence- this one looked even better than Kent's 1st inning shot. But no- it was caught and the last batter hit a bloop fly to center to end the game.
The Barry Bonds at bat- a simple everyday groundout, was as dramatic a moment as I've ever spent in a ballpark. Just the sight of him walking to the plate was a memory that'll never leave me. My friend turned to me and said "I only saw Mantle at the end of his career, but watching that (Bonds) at bat gave me some insight into what people must have felt when Ruth came to the plate." I agree. It was magical.
Pete