[Jazzmosis]

Chapter 78: Playoffs NLDS Game 1: October 6, 2010

The playoffs was always an exciting time, and of course, my old rival Marlins would have to counter us. I was decidedly more relaxed this time around. It was the third time this team had come here, and some players had been there every step of the way - it was no longer a ‘new’ experience for the team as a whole. On the other hand, there was a few first-timers: Takeo, who’d literally pitched his way on with only September’s 0.73 ERA as a reliever, while Tyler had bumped Sipple off the roster, Dardey was filling in for Gouin - again - and Paul McCree, who I decided would get his shot with Delgadillo to catch the postseason.

I wasn’t particularly nervous at all during the series, thinking back on it. I had grown with Chicago and was ready to put behind my younger grudges; I still hated Canon, but after 6 years of managing, I had the understanding it was a business before a game to the front brass. Even with that understanding, I could relish in the playoffs, because it was the one time each year that baseball grew past a business, and was all about pride. Well, pride and talent.
I was happy with the team going into the Florida series; there was a well-balanced attack of pitching and hitting, and the other guys offered up special skills that could make or break a game in late innings. One of those specialists was Alexander Cuddy, who was facing his last years in the game, and hadn’t collected a hit since August 29th. But he wielded a powerful glove, and was a certain late-inning defensive replacement.

I put Duncan out for game 1 - his ERA was higher than I’d wanted, at 4.40, but he’d led the team in wins and won out the K competition with Jackson, topping the NL at 281. He was being faced by another familiar playoff foe: Mike English, who’d put up 16 wins of his own and sported a 3.05 ERA with 251 Ks.

The home crowd was packed with Cubs fans; that made me feel better, particularly since I’d be dealing with the Cubs-burying twin Bennetts again.


The game started late - after the introduction of both teams and the national anthem, the clock had ticked past 7:07, settling on 7:21 when Duncan delivered his first pitch to Ruben Manzo. The first at-bat didn’t go exactly as planned, as plate umpire Richard Pent squeezed the zone, to a chorus of boos, and Duncan issued a free pass. After a flyout to Gober in right, Manzo swiped the bag, putting himself in scoring position with Bennett at the dish. The next pitch was left over the plate - and Bennett walloped it over the head of Taylor, as it rolled into the gap. Gober cut it off quickly and threw to Taylor, while Manzo sprinted for home. Aaron relayed it to Delgadillo, and in a bang-bang play, Francis dropped his knee and Manzo had nowhere to go. The crowd erupted as I pumped my fist - the first inning wasn’t even over and we’d already cut a run down at the plate.

“Here to play, Ruby!” I heard Cuddy yell from behind me. Manzo shot a dirty look to our bench before he went back to his. “Keep walking,” Cuddy yelled back, smiling cockily.

Four pitches later, Duncan was out of it, and it was our turn to swing. Hickman took the first at-bat and ripped the ball to deep centre. The crowd jumped up, but Manzo dove and cut the ball down at the track. I turned to Cuddy and mentioned “he’s here to play too.” Cuddy wasn’t smiling.

English cut us down quickly, and Duncan was greeted to a single in the top of the second. After a long, 10 pitch 3-2 count with Sam Duque, one misplaced pitch put us down 2-0. Things didn’t get better, either, as Molina singled and scored when Waterhouse doubled. 3-0 Florida, and we didn’t even have an out in the second. English sacrificed Waterhouse to third, and Manzo singled him in. I called the bullpen and got Takeo to start warming up. Duncan from that point settled down and a double play ended the threat, but we were 4 runs down.

Unfortunately, English was dealing and got three straight strikeouts. The score remained the same, with Deguzman picking up the first hit in 4th inning. Sadly for us, after Duncan struck out two in the 5th, a single and a walk was followed up by a Carrillo bomb - and a 7-0 Florida lead seemed poised for a blowout. That put an end to Duncan’s night, and I called in Takeo at this point. Amusingly enough, Takeo struck out Bennett two, who promptly argued the call and was ejected. The crowd cheered, but I just sat in the dugout. There was nothing to cheer about yet.

Takeo dominated, throwing 1.1 spotless innings. I pinch hit him in the 6th, and Dominguez assumed pitching duties. He went a scoreless 7th, and Taylor led off the bottom half of the inning with a strikeout. Up to this point, English had been one pitch short of unhittable, but that was finally about to change. Deguzman walked, making him the second baserunner of the game, and Clough sent him to second with a single. Dekker then came up to the plate, and ripped a 2-1 pitch down the third base line - and as Duque went into the corner to field it, it bounced around – meanwhile, Dekker slid into third with a triple, and much to the crowd’s approval, we were on the board, trailing 7-2. Gober then took the next pitch high into the air, good enough to bring in Dekker. 7-3. Kolo then whiffed on three pitches, but we were on the board with two innings to play.

Carrillo led off the top 8 with a single, but Waits bounced into a force out. With Duque coming up, I subbed Tyler in, with Perez warming up in the pen. The first pitch Tyler delievered, Waits ran. Delgadillo took the gutterball strike and hurtled it to Deguzman, who applied the tag. Waits was called out, and Tyler was cleared of most pressure- until he walked Duque. However, he recovered with a strikeout of Molina.

Delgadillo led off the 8th. I looked at McCree, and contemplated pinch hitting him. Up to this point, Delgadillo hadn’t made contact.

Good thing I didn’t. After falling behind 3-1, English dropped a straight fastball in which Francis hammered. Manzo tracked it back as far as he could, but ran out of room. We all jumped out of our seats; Delgadillo pumped his fists while rounding first, and the crowd went wild. 7-4. With Tyler coming up, I sent in Sam Martinez to wield the stick. After three pitches, English had put up his 11th strikeout - but at the same time, Sanson came out and gave him the hook - leaving us with the bullpen arms to deal with, 5 outs left in our favour. Cicero was the first arm we’d face - complete with his regular season ERA of 5.92 in an unreal 111 games.

And of course, he found his playoff groove and got Hickman and Taylor out in order.


To counter for the 9th, I sent in Popper, who set down Florida in order. We had three outs to score three runs.

Florida’s closer Paul Howie came out for the 9th. Deguzman greeted him with a single. Clough then struck out on a full count. Dekker came up and took a ball and two strikes. He then roped the ball up the middle - one hop into Carrillo’s glove, who flipped to White, who completed the double play to Bennett.

We slouched as Florida shook hands with each other. We’d lost, 7-4, Duncan saddling the L and all the 7 runs against. The team filtered into the clubhouse, tailed by myself, and I thought about game two. I knew the team had to have a short memory - so I started by turning away from the field and looking at the number on the player’s back who I followed.

That number? Gregory Jackson’s 67.