Mark Jazzington - a managerial career

[Jestor]

It lives!

...Maybe I'll be back someday myself.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Jestor

It lives!

...Maybe I'll be back someday myself.

That would be great!

[Jazzmosis]

There's a rumbling off in the distance; it sounds like the harrowed fingers of Jazzington, writing his next chapter in his life-story... and for those that have waited 2 long years (almost) for this dynasty to revive itself from the depths of the boards, that long wait has finally retracted its curtain; just in time to allow the newest, and conveniently enough, 2010's season starter to come out of its hiding spots.

I recommend those to read over at least the chapter before, since I, too, had forgotten some of the nicknames of the players.

But I said it'd be back, and when I make a promise, I deliver (eventually). It'll be up in a moment, so I hope you enjoy Chapter 75: Start With A Bang!

[Jazzmosis]

Chapter 75: Start with a bang

Spring Training came quickly, and before I knew it, the collage of faces that were all over the field in March had been thinned to 25. There was a few key surprises - a veteran pitcher named Eloy Soto had won a bullpen job over Dannie Dones, and Ira Hull took the starting leftfield job amidst fierce competition from Kolodziej. Gouin assumed the rightfield job that was vacated by Martinez, and Paul Dekker and Johnny Clutch were put into a platoon at second after Dekker hit .451 in Spring.

What was the most concerning was the starting rotation. The five pitchers combined didn’t have 120 wins; something all the critics were quick to point out. However, optimists also pointed out that the trio of Duncan, Jackson, and Delaney all had incredible strikeout potential. At the same time, the staff figured to lead the league in walks. The bullpen was a mixture of talent, with arms like Basil Dominguez looking to rebound at 23 years old, Popham starting his 4 year contract at 1.9 million, looking to top his last year, veteran fliers like Soto, Coy Kass, who was solid in long relief, and the lights-out Cole Aitken. Aitken was a no-doubter - and heralded as one of the best closers emerging in the game - but the question was whether or not the bullpen could get the ball to him with a lead.

The first game was in Chicago, against last year’s wild card. I marched Duncan out onto the mound, and during the national anthem I looked at the packed stadium - fans were in every seat, standing where there was room, anxiously awaiting the season to begin. The air was brisk - the sun coming down but providing no heat in the middle of the day. Upon the first pitch, it was a balmy 51 degrees, with a sharp wind. Of course, the season would start with a difficult pitcher opposing - the reigning Cy Young in Greg Vinson handling the duties for Milwaukee.

Duncan made quick work of Milwaukee in the first inning, retiring the first two batters on strikeouts before getting a fly out. Vinson returned the favour, and the two traded zeroes for the first 3 innings. Finally, it was a double by third baseman Mark Curtsinger that broke up the no-hit bid for Duncan in the fourth. However, a walk to the catcher Franco, and a single to Delbert Pierre, a batter that hadn’t hit below .320 in his 5 year career, brought in the first run of the season. Duncan, seemingly losing focus, then gave up a hit-and-run single to shortstop Dawson that plated the other two baserunners. Jimmy worked his way out of the inning after that, but Milwaukee had jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

We responded in kind in the bottom half, when a Hickman walk turned into a stolen base. Taylor singled him to third, and he trotted home to the approval of the crowd when Clough singled up the middle.


In the top of the sixth, Walton relieved Duncan - and promptly gave up a solo blast to Dawson, putting the Brewers up 4-1. Vinson looked to cruise through us until the 7th inning. Deguzman, Hull, and Talmadge all singled, which was sandwiched by an error to Clutch by Pierre. Deguzman scored an unearned run, and Kolodziej came up to bat for Walton. He promptly whacked a two-out single that allowed Hull and Talmadge to hustle home ahead of the throw, and just like that, the score was all locked up at 4.

From that point, I used Dominguez for an out in the 8th, before letting Popham take an inning. Vinson finally was out of the game in the 9th, but we couldn’t muster a run, and the game went into extras. I threw Aitken onto the mound for the 10th, but after that I was running low on arms - and Kass came out. The score was locked up, but Kass was nothing short of dominant. The game crawled past the 11th, 12th, and 13th inning, all with Coy on the hill shutting them out. After another shutout top of the 14th, Richard Wright, a pitcher Oberg had tried to sign, came out of the pen for Milwaukee.

He gave up a single, and two walks before recording a strikeout of Deguzman. The fans were bubbling with excitement - the bases loaded, one out - and Hull came up. Wright quickly got ahead 0-2. On the third pitch, he dropped a curveball that was off the outside corner of the plate - but Hull reached for it, and poked it down the line, just out of reach of the first baseman. Gouin hustled home, giving us the walk-off 5-4 win in 14 innings. Kass got the win, and the player of the game award, marking the first time a reliever won it while I was managing.


Luckily, the next series of games only went 9 innings. After two weeks of play, Duncan, Jackson, and Delaney all had ERAs below 3, while Guillen and Morales had ERAs above 13. Not surprisingly, neither of those two had won a game. That would all change, as from April 15th to the 22nd we went on a 8 game winning streak, which saw Gouin mash 4 home runs, Taylor extend his hitting streak to 17 games while hitting .465, and Aitken save 4 games while Kass had to save two of his own. We were 13-4, and half a game above Cincinnati for first. We had stormed out of the gate by the end of April, leading the central with a 17-7 record, 2.5 above Cincy and 3 up on St. Louis, while Jackson and Duncan were in a K race, Jackson leading 41-34, good for best in the NL; meanwhile, Delaney had shown a ton of promise with a 4th-best 2.32 ERA, while Aitken was 7/7 in saves while sporting a WHIP of 0.56 and an ERA of 0. That was just the start of his record-shattering season, one that would go down in major league record books as the most dominating season for a closer. Meanwhile, the offense was keeping pace with the pitching - Aaron Taylor won the batter of the month award after hitting .444, a major-league best. Gouin had parked 5 homers with 11 RBIs, while hitting .337 and walking 17 times, good for a .447 OBP. Deguzman was right on track with 4 homers and 12 RBIs, while Clough led the team with 6 jacks and 19 RBIs, complete with a .298 average.

However, Clutch had stumbled to a .167 average in 66 at-bats, which prompted me to shift him back to third base and give Deguzman the shortstop position again. Dekker, meanwhile, had hit .333 in 33 at-bats, which gave me the idea to try and let him learn third. I talked it over with him, and he was more than receptive to the opportunity, as long as he could get more plate appearances. I agreed, and I watched over the season as Dekker made his push for a starting job. Hull had really stumbled out of the gate, hitting only .212, while Kolodziej was hoping for an opportunity by hitting .259 in 27 at-bats. Gober, a player I’d always loved since seeing him two years ago, was tearing the cover off the ball in AAA, while Dardey for Chicago was struggling mightly.


The changes for the team started to pour in as the temperature got warmer. Oberg was quickly gaining a reputation for making deals and changes. The first was an obvious move: Jose Morales, who had absolutely crumbled thus far, was given the ticket to AAA; meanwhile, 2008's 16th overall selection, Stefan Takeo, got the call to take his place in the rotation. At this time, we had a scant 0.5 game lead over red-hot Cincinnati. We had all seen Takeo before, with his solo start two years ago, but I had the reason to believe he would provide a more lasting impression this year.

Around the same time, Eloy Soto was given his departure ticket, ending his brief appearance with us. His ERA was an atrocious 10.39 in 8 appearances, and on May 13th he received his unconditional release. Needless to say, he wasn’t picked up by any team for the rest of the year, and eventually signed with an independent league.

7 days passed before the next deal; papers were rumbling all over Chicago about whether or not the team was going to dissolve, which kept many players on edge. But even during that time, they managed to keep their composure and stretch the division lead to a full game. However, Ira Hull was moved across the city to the White Sox in exchange for a low-level prospect named Pedro Rodriguez.

What was more important about this day was the return of Robert Gober. Dardey was hitting exceptionally poorly, so I after a brief conversation with Oberg, Dario found himself back in AAA while Gober, one of my all-time favourite players to manage, came back to the majors after tearing the cover off AAA pitchers to the tune of a .345 average. In the small sample of last year, he’d hit .304, and in AAA he’d never hit below .300 - so everyone knew there was talent there, it was a matter of wondering if he’d find it in the majors. But what I loved about this man was that he was genuinely happy just to play in the bigs - while some players get egos, and start expecting more of their roles as they make their return trips to the majors, Gober was the kind of player that was confident, if unsure in its potential, about his own abilities. Whenever I told him to grab a glove or a bat, he would hop up and immediately get to it.

In fact, if there’s anything I could never forget about 2010, it was Robert Gober. I idolized his hustle - I idolized his upbringing, and attributed much of it to how he played. “Always learning,” he would say to me. I can remember countless games and nights where he would pick my brain, asking me about pitchers tendencies, asking the fielding coach about hitter’s spray charts - some players got annoyed by what he called his “baseball nerd” tendency, but nobody could lie that when it came down to it, he got the job done.
It was in late May when I learned something about Gober that I would admire for the rest of my life. It was a few hours before game time, and I saw him in the video room.

“Who are you watching?” I asked casually.

He looked up at me with a quick smile and then returned his focus to the monitor, jotting notes down as he did. “Kenneth Sardina.”

I gave him a puzzled look. “The Rockies pitcher? Why?”

“He was claimed by Pittsburgh a few days ago - I just want to make sure I know what he’s got.”

I looked at him, then to the screen. “Why a relief pitcher though? What about the starters?”

“Well, I figured that I won’t be starting in the outfield, and if I get regular at-bats it’ll be against relievers. It’s more useful for me to know how relievers pitch if I’ll be facing them more often than starters.”

I stopped, ready to say something but not finding the words. He gave me an expecting look, which made me blurt out exactly what I was thinking at the time. “Gobey, it’s that kind of thinking that’ll keep you in the bigs.”
It was those words that started a lasting friendship, and a trust for late-game situations.


Meanwhile, the team was cruising. We cruised through Pittsburgh, and by the end of the month, had opened up a 3 game lead over Cincy, who was trailed closely by Houston and St.Louis, both who were 3.5 back. We had a nice 31-21 record, while Aitken continued with his perfect season at 12 saves with no ER.

But the end of the month brought yet another Oberg trade. This time, it was Spanish Koan heading out the door, following Koan’s departure from last year. When Guillen was removed from the rotation, he was sporting a putrid 7.79 ERA, and a few appearances in the pen did nothing to help. This deal sent him to Philadelphia in exchange for another young pitcher, 25 year old reliever Clemente Rodriguez. At the same time, 38-year old southpaw Thomas Crumley was signed on as a situational pen arm when Pagel was sent back to AAA; then Eusebio Diaz, a 35-year old reliever, was signed and called up to take Spanish Koan’s spot in the pen. One would last less than two months; the other would remain on the team for the rest of the season.

[Jazzmosis]

Hey gang!

So, here I am, with the next chapter of Jazzington - I told you I'd update this more, and be damned if I won't! Anyway; this chapter is a little shorter than the rest, and to be honest I'm not exceptionally happy with it - I'd played ahead in the game and I'm writing to 'catch up' - so this and the next chapter may seem a bit disjointed before I get back into the full swing of things. I'm going almost entirely from written notes, which unfortunately need some work. If anyone has suggestions for what kind of notes to take from games, do share. I find that my notes get jumbled, and some notable (ie: a LOT of stuff) gets written on the notes but never makes it into the chapters. It's annoying, but simply put, without boring people with game-to-game writeups, I haven't found a system that works. It may surprise a lot of readers, but this story has, in large part, been flying on the seat of my pants as opposed to having a structure. Sadly, I feel that this is one of the most glaring holes in the storyline itself. So, I'm open to suggestions.

Anyway, in a few minutes, I'll post up Chapter 76 of Mark Jazzington. Enjoy!

[Jazzmosis]

Chapter 76: Grinding the Gears of Summer

The month of June saw veteran catcher Dennis Talmadge get his extension that he was asking for: 2.5 million over two years. While I shifted in the new starting players, mostly Kolo and Dekker, the team struggled to a 14-13 monthly record, while giving up the lead in the division. Takeo struggled mightily, throwing only three starts in the month - losing them all - and posting an ERA of 9.98 before being sent back to AAA; Jose Morales, who I’d entrusted many wins to in the past year, got his second chance. His first game back was a gem: 7 innings, 1 earned run. However, is tenure would prove to be brief, as he wouldn’t make it through the next month.

While the team struggled, other players mashed. Gouin hit 10 HRs and raked in 27 RBIs, Dekker hit .343 while manning (surprisingly well) the hot corner. This managed to keep us in the race for the division, only 0.5 games behind St. Louis. At the same time, we brandished a 45-34 record; good for the Wild Card lead (2 games above Arizona).

In the early season, Lilley and I had little time for each other – at least, ‘substantial’ time. The first few times we were together was insatiably awkward – after all, there was still some confusion from both of us about how to act. Truth be told, we both wanted to jump back into each other like nothing had happened over the past winter; but alas, we had tacitly agreed with each other to take it slow. Chicago was a large city with plenty to offer a young couple – but not necessarily catered to either of our schedules or lifestyles. All I really liked to do in my past time was relax – parks, movie theatres, and more calm areas – meanwhile, Lilley was more apt to go out, although she certainly enjoyed the relaxation I exposed her to.

Throughout June, though, the team was on a 12-day homestead. This gave me plenty of time to spend with her – and at the same time, some of the other players that were local to Chicago. Gober, feeling he had a chance to stick with the team, had rented out a small apartment with Taylor – one of the few single guys on the team. Many of the players were either engaged or married – it was only the youngest – guys like Aitken, Popper, and Jackson – that weren’t hooked to anyone.

It was with those guys that one could always find a ‘good time.’ I was caught in two worlds – one that wanted to be young, stupid, and rich, one that made friends with everyone on the team. Meanwhile, the other side of me realized that I was the manager – and that demanded a different relationship with the players.

The solution to this was the time I spent with Lilley. She made it exceptionally easy to say no to the three’s requests to live the nightlife, and didn’t damage any relationship with them. Regardless, within those twelve days, she and I really wanted to spend the majority of our free time together. We spent nights at each other’s places – the old apartment and my new place (which was still covered in boxes). She had scored a promotion within her work; I wasn’t sure of exactly how she was doing more work, but they were certainly paying her more. We laughed like we used to during these days; the awkwardness of the first two months was in large part remedied by those days in June.

Ultimately, those days had to end, and for the next month and a half we split days between the road and Chicago. July rolled in hard, bringing in a stretch where we played very well, winning 8 of 10 in the middle of the month. We pulled back into the lead in the division, and at last, the cluster at the top started to thin. St. Louis and Cincinnati still remained close, but Milwaukee and Houston faded into mediocrity.

The team certainly found its groove though, going 16-10 and finishing out the month on a 5 game winning streak (which ended at 8 straight).

Of course, with the trading deadline approaching, and teams starting to fade, Oberg made another move in order to try and sure up the pitching, which still had a weak end (like I said earlier, Morales had quickly faded after his strong debut). Morales was moved to Arizona for an old former pitcher I managed in Kenneth Andrzejewski. While his stats were nothing spectacular with the Diamondbacks, his control was astounding – and something this team was badly in need of. Delaney, Jackson, and Duncan were all high-strikeout pitchers, but they lacked a lot of control – which had led the team to the highest number of walks in the league. Andrze was in to remedy that situation.

His ‘remedy’ lasted all of 10 outs. On his first start with Chicago on July 25th, he was hit with a comebacker that fractured his elbow. He was about to miss 8 weeks, and plunge us back into the same problem the team faced before: who could fill in those weak back-end starts? The interm answer would be Willie Chaffin; a pitcher who was being thrown into the fire, after posting only a 4.15 ERA in AAA. It would be a rough 8 weeks, although Chaffin wasn’t terrible. Simply put, his pitching was an adventure; he’d last to the end of the year, but the amount of hits and walks gave him a WHIP of 1.55 – but at the same time, he also fired a shutout. He was like night and day on the mound; and it made me miss the consistency of Andrze even more.

Of course, the bullpen was facing some tough times, as well. Batters had figured out former rule-5 pick Raymond Sipple, and after cruising in April and May, he was getting lit up in June and July – and altogether, throughout the rest of the season. Robert Tyler, another hot handed 26-year old with no control, was brought up to try and find himself in the pen. Fortunately for him, his atrocious control wouldn’t hinder him, and he would become a reliable source for the middle innings.

However, all of the bullpen’s struggles with the youngest pitchers, and not the reliable Popper and Crumley, whom had formed the setup tandem, were forgotten by the fans under the performance of Aitken. After giving up his first ER on May 6, he didn’t give up another until July 29th. That gave him, at the end of July, an ERA of 0.67 and an MLB-leading 27 saves. And in the two saves he’d blown, we still won. Every game was, for the first time in my career, over if we were winning after the 8th. The crowd loved his extreme heater, drop-dead curve, and his strikeout pitch – an 79mph changeup. At only 24 years old, he was already being touted as one of the best closers in the game – and in all fairness, he certainly was making it look easy. It was hard to believe he could improve on his 42 save ’07 with a 2.56 ERA and 1.07WHIP – but let me tell you, the noise the fans made when he closed out in Chicago were that of pure love and respect – he was embodying the comeback of a team that had failed so often for so long – a return to the dominant years that many fans had never seen in their lifetimes.

It was a joy to watch, especially as August and September came, and the playoff crunch began.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Jazzmosis

Hey gang!

So, here I am, with the next chapter of Jazzington - I told you I'd update this more, and be damned if I won't! Anyway; this chapter is a little shorter than the rest, and to be honest I'm not exceptionally happy with it - I'd played ahead in the game and I'm writing to 'catch up' - so this and the next chapter may seem a bit disjointed before I get back into the full swing of things. I'm going almost entirely from written notes, which unfortunately need some work. If anyone has suggestions for what kind of notes to take from games, do share. I find that my notes get jumbled, and some notable (ie: a LOT of stuff) gets written on the notes but never makes it into the chapters. It's annoying, but simply put, without boring people with game-to-game writeups, I haven't found a system that works. It may surprise a lot of readers, but this story has, in large part, been flying on the seat of my pants as opposed to having a structure. Sadly, I feel that this is one of the most glaring holes in the storyline itself. So, I'm open to suggestions.

Anyway, in a few minutes, I'll post up Chapter 76 of Mark Jazzington. Enjoy!

What I'm doing in my MLB dynasty is simming one month at a time then looking through the news section and picking out some stories to write about. Also, I look through the league injuries and transactions to see if any prominent players are involved and finally I look for winning/losing streaks. I'm also making sure to put more focus on the front running ballclubs as it makes little sense not to.

After all this I have a list of stories in chronological order that I'll write up to cover the particular month's play.

[Jazzmosis]

So this one took a little longer, but it's a far better chapter than the previous one. The only way to make it really work well was to pile it all into performance, so there's little character development. That'll change, but I'm all caught up. For the next few months, there'll definitely be regular updates. Woohoo!

Coming up: Chapter 77: A Steamroll Mentality of Mark Jazzington!

[Jazzmosis]

Chapter 77: A Steamroll Mentality

August began with the completion of a 7-game winning streak – one that unfortunately, only had us 2.5 games ahead of St. Louis by the end of it. Duncan, Delaney, and Jackson each were pitching up a storm, with Duncan leading the team with 12 wins in mid-August.

However, it wasn’t all peaches. After the 7 game win streak, we traded winning streaks with losing streaks of the same length, all while St. Louis was putting together their best month of the season. By the 12th, St. Louis had tied us up for the divisional lead, and two days later they had taken it from us. While we scuffled to keep pace, they continued to streak away to a 21-7 month. We had the wildcard (by 5 games), but I wanted that division lead back – we’d lead it the majority of the summer, and every player on the team knew that – but simply put, the team was labouring through the month, and the increased workload on young players were showing the cracks in our team. Chaffin had burst out of the gate to a 3-0 record in his first three starts, but then dropped his next three to even his record out by the end of the month.

Kass saw his ERA start August at 3.59, but finish at 4.02 with a 0-3 month. Delaney gave a 6.49 ERA in the month, but went 4-1, thanks in large part to the work of one man – a hitter that was basically carrying the offence throughout the year, but especially in August.

Mark Gouin was his name, and after being injured for the majority of last year, he was certainly setting himself up to be the league’s MVP in this one. By the end of the month, he’d walloped a major-league leading 45 HRs, had an MLB best 1.035 OPS, and had driven in 102 RBIs – and there was still another month to go. Hickman, who was hitting in front of him, had scored 103 times, due in large part to Gouin’s bat. Taylor, who had missed the first week of August with a pulled tricep, was forming a powerful combination with Gouin – and all three players were hitting above .300. Meanwhile, Deguzman, hitting in the cleanup slot, was also hitting above .300 with solid power. In May, he’d joined the ranks of the elite power hitters by mashing his 600th career homerun – and hadn’t slowed down since. His only problem was that he was also on his way to 157 strikeouts, by far his highest career total.

And of course, there was the still-invincible Aitken. He strolled effortlessly through the month, complete with 8 saves (35 total), a 0.62 WHIP, and an ERA of 0.00. That lowered his seasonal ERA to 0.39 – and coming into September, he had a cushion of 4 earned runs to give up and could still give up the least earned runs of any closer in the history of the game (that threw a whole season in the role). His complete dominance had garnered the attention of all baseball outlets across the country – everywhere he went, he was a household name. It was 2010, and the 24 year old closer had achieved a fame that most people can’t even comprehend.

However, the good news was overshadowed by two things. The first was the fact that by the end of the month, we were 3.5 games back from St. Louis after a 16-13 showing. We were 20 games above .500 at 77-57, but it simply wasn’t enough.

The second was a brutal injury to Dennis Talmadge, who’d been hitting .288 with 12 HRs and 70 RBIs on the season – one that occurred in a hopelessly pointless game which we were losing 15-3 at the time. The collision that occurred at home plate in the game against Houston went on the sports reels, it was so hard. Bill Parks, the Astros’ first baseman, was attempting to score from second on a shallow single to the gap that Hicky retrieved and fired to the plate on a hop. The throw had beat Parks by a few steps – Talmadge turned to block the plate, only to be greeted by Parks’ bodyslam-like slide – a slide that netted him a fine and a 5-game suspension. Talmadge’s body was literally slugged backwards, bouncing off its hip, and then getting the brunt of Parks’ weight on top of it. The slide was compared to a hockey hip check – and with Parks, at 225 pounds, rolling onto of Dennis, his hipbone cracked in three places. He’d miss the remainder of the year for sure, and an unknown amount of time in the next season.

The collision itself damn near caused a brawl, but seeing Talmadge in so much pain that he couldn’t even roll around in agony turned focus away from fighting. In the end, the injury promoted defensive stalwart Delgadillo to a starting role, and called up Paul McCree – another catcher known for his defensive abilities. And while Delgadillo would certainly step up as the starting catcher (complete with a 55% caught stealing rate) and hit .301 in September, he himself would admit that it was not the situation he hoped to gain the role from.

September was a big month for the team – with the playoffs so close, and the Chicago fans expecting yet another trip, we had to resolve to simply play better baseball. Apart from the usual September callups, there was nobody that was expected to contribute heavily. 9 days into the month, we were still in the exact position we were before, 3 back of St. Louis, and 5 ahead of Milwaukee for the wildcard. It seemed likely that we were going to hit the postseason anyway, but there was the status of being the divisional champion that we wanted.

After that day, everything changed – all because of a double.

It was predictably going to be Gouin, absolutely mashing to the tune of .467 with 6 HRs and 12 RBIs in the first week, which would start the change. Too bad it was for all the wrong reasons. While legging out a two-RBI double, he pulled up lame between the bags and soon hit the dirt, sitting on second base and signalling for the trainer. After a quick diagnosis, the news was nothing short of cataclysmic: a torn groin muscle. It was going to happen again – he’d miss the next two months, which meant: the rest of the season, and all of the playoffs. It was a blow that we were all too familiar with.

Instead of rolling over, the team responded. We won the next six games, giving us an 8-game winning streak, which pulled us back into a tie in the middle of it; by the end, it gave us a half game lead in the division. In the meantime, Paul Dekker strode out to a .352 average on the season, good for the tops in the NL. Two days later, Andrzejewski was activated from the disabled list, ending Chaffin’s time as starter. Stefan Takeo was called up and put in the relief corps, where he excelled in 9 games.

On the 21st, Duncan won his 16th game after a 6 inning performance – 15 of the outs being strikeouts. Not to be outdone in the K race, the next day Jackson hurled a complete game with 10 strikeouts of his own – it was also his 15th win on the season. That gave us a three game lead over St. Louis, whom had seemed to hit the wall. Meanwhile, we were opening up our steamroller mentality, and had only lost 4 games in the month as of the 22nd. On the 25th, Taylor broke a franchise record by recording 8-straight hits in 8 AB. On the 26th, Deguzman joined Gouin as the team’s 100 RBI men with his 25th HR. On the 28th, while in a 3 game win streak, Aitken rolled to his 100th career save with his 43rd on the season (also a career best). His ERA lowered to 0.34, as he still hadn’t gave up a run since July 29th. However, in an improbable turn of events, this was also the save that completed a three-game sweep of St. Louis, and toasted our team as the division champions. We were back in the playoffs as the NL Central leaders.

The next day, we won our 4th straight on Andrze’s seven shutout innings, while Dekker raised his average to a major-league highest of .358. He ended up with that average for the season, helped in large part by a .406 September. On the same day, Florida clinched the East, joining San Francisco in the NL playoff squad. Over in the AL, it was far murkier, with only Detroit clinched. Boston and Baltimore would end up having to play an extra game to decide (which Boston would win), while Seattle and Oakland both clinched playoffs as division and wildcard, after both lost their last 3 games in a row.
St. Louis, in the midst of their September tailspin, found themselves fighting to stay alive with only two games to play. While I put Chaffin and rookie Mulhern into pitch the last games for Chicago, Milwaukee made their push (against us), but ultimately Chaffin shut the door on their season on the 30th with six shutout innings in a 3-2 win, which also gave St. Louis it’s ticket to the postseason. It was ironic, since it was us that put St. Louis into that position, and then us who helped them out of it.

When it was all said and done, my Chicago Cubs finished off a dominating season, at 97-65 – the best record in baseball – and 7 games in front of St. Louis. We’d played to a 20-8 month, had the HR leader (Gouin, 51), the OPS leader (Gouin, 1.035), the average leader (Dekker, .358), the top two strikeout leaders (Duncan 281, Jackson 276), the saves leader (Aitken, 43), and the 2nd place runs scored (Hickman, 119). It was certainly no surprise we finished as well as we did, and for the first time, we’d played to our potential. In the meantime, we’d played in the toughest division, with 4 teams finishing above .500 (and Houston finished 80-82). The city of Chicago was jumping with excitement over our year and imminent playoff series. However, it was Cole Aitken that was really soaking in the praise, as he’d undoubtedly gone down in the record books with the most dominant season by a closer ever – 56 innings, 43 saves, 5-0 record, 2 earned runs, 71 strikeouts, a WHIP of 0.70, an opponent average of .128, and an ERA of 0.32.

We had a few days off before the playoffs; and while I spent that time with Lilley, my mind was just on baseball, and the coming week ahead.

[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.

[Jazzmosis]

Chapter 79: NLDS Game Two: October 7, 2010

I knew that going into game 2 that we were essentially in a win-or-die situation. Falling behind 2-0 would sentence us to an early exit, and despite the mentality that I had nothing to prove to Florida anymore, the bitter fact that ever since Chicago had made the playoffs with me, we’d won only one game against the Marlins and lost eight, including the last game. And once again, coming in without my best hitter was going to hurt. However, no matter how much I could bring myself down, I reminded myself that just last year we swept out Arizona, a team that was better than Florida at season’s end. And knowing I had Greg Jackson squaring off against Rex Carson, who was only 7-5 with a paltry 4.81 ERA in 34 starts, and who stuck out 228 in 166 innings but struggled to get out of the 5th inning under 90 pitches helped. Florida’s pitching was highly suspect, with three pitchers after Carson who reminded me a whole lot of Morales. Meanwhile, I still had guns that could help.

I didn’t have much to say before the game, but I felt that the team needed their leader to say a few words. I looked on at all the faces on the bench as the preparations for the national anthem were being made, swallow hard, and said “Boys, we’ve given them one win this series. Tonight’s our night. We jump out on top, and this game is ours. We fall behind, and we’re back where we were last night. So tonight, everyone hits. This is our field, our home, our series. Let’s take what we know is ours.”

I put Dardey in for Gober, who was atrocious against Carson for his career. Dardey had swung a hot stick ending the season, so I wanted to continue that trend. But before I could think of anything else, I saw Jackson taking his warmup pitches for the start of the game, and the umpire yell “play ball!” All my preparation would face its test - game time.

Jackson took all of one pitch to retire Manzo, who had been a menace in game one. Taylor fielded the bouncing grounder, and tossed to Clough. However, it was Jacques White, coming up to a chorus of boos, who turned a 3-2 fastball around and dropped it to Dardey in right for the first hit of the game.

Trouble brewed when Jackson walked Bennett, but Delgadillo gave us the second out by tossing out White on a double steal attempt. Bennett moved into scoring position, but Carrillo whiffed on a 2-2 heater, and we were out of the first unscathed.


In our half, things started out right. Carson jumped out 1-2 on Hicky, but a tough grounder to short that had White laying out and grabbing it turned into a throwing error, and we had our leadoff on second four pitches into Carson’s game. Taylor then ran the count to 3-2, and pulled a single past Carrillo - which gave Hicky more than enough opportunity to score. 1-0 Chicago. Deguzman grounded into a twin killer, but Clough walked and Dekker singled to put runners at first and second with two out. Kolo hit a sharp 2-0 pitch, but right back at Carson on a bounce, and the inning was over.

In the second, Jackson walked Bennett 2 but nothing came of it. However, Carson took the 7-8-9 of our order with ease.

The third started off brilliantly for Jackson - a flyout and a strikeout. But from there, White singled again, and Bennett took another free pass, this time Carrillo following suit. Bennett 2 stepped up, waggling confidently. Jackson had already thrown 58 pitches, which worried me. The on the first pitch, Bennett 2 took a hack. The ball flew up into the air, heading for the seats near third base. Dekker hustled back and dropped to his knees right by the wall, scooping the ball out of the air. We all exploded in the dugout while Jackson pumped his fist, and the crowd all celebrated the narrow escape. Dekker, sitting in the dirt, handed the ball to a nearby fan and jogged back into the dugout to a barrage of high fives, the first from Jack.

Carson looked like he was locking in, as he whiffed Hicky and Taylor, and got Deguzman to line out softly.

Duque led off the 4th with a double to the gap, and once again, Florida was pressing. Jackson’s control problems continued, as he walked Molina on five pitches. He came back to strike out Waterhouse, who always buried us in one way or the other, and Carson stepped up to the dish. He missed the first bunt, and received a ball on the second. On the third, he dropped a gorgeous bunt down the third base line - Dekker had a great jump and sprinted to the right side of the ball, sliding down while barehanding it, and then sending an all-elbow throw to Deguzman, who was covering third. It was a bang-bang play, but Duque was beaten. The crowd once again went insane for Dekker’s heroics, and I stood on the top step clapping my hands in awe.

However, our glory was short lived. Manzo then took a 2-1 offering into the right field corner, which scored both Molina and Carson. White whiffed, but Florida had broken through and took the lead, 2-1. At the same time, Jackson had thrown 83 pitches, which forced me to get Kass and Takeo warming in the pen.

Carson once again made short work of our lineup, and was looking stronger and stronger.

However, facing the 3-4-5 of Bennett, Carrillo, and Bennett 2, Jackson finally settled. He struck out all three, all on different counts, giving him 8 on the day.

Carson took care of the bottom three in order, and I chose to leave Jackson in. After getting Duque to foul out, Molina hit a single up the middle, which brought up Waterhouse. I gritted my teeth, looking at Jackson’s pitch count, and back at Kass and Takeo, both who were ready. I swallowed hard, and prayed Waterhouse wouldn’t bury us here. He didn’t. However, Jackson walked him, marking the 6th walk, and the end of his day.

Coy Kass relieved him, and immediately threw a ball to Carson, who obviously squared to bunt. In a moment of deja-vu, Carson once again dropped a bunt down third, in a similar spot - but like clockwork, Dekker made a quick read and barehanded the ball, Deguzman finishing off the force out. Once again, the crowd went insane.

But yet again, Manzo buried us. This time, he took an 0-2 change through the middle, which plated Waterhouse. White then bounced out, ending the jam. 3-1 Florida.


We were falling into a hole and needed an immediate response. Leading off the bottom of the 6th, that response came in the form of James Hickman. After taking two balls, he ripped a Carson fastball to straight centre - well over the head of Manzo and the fence. Two batters later, Deguzman took a 2-2 pitch deep to left, and with a huge roar, two solo bombs had the crowd losing their minds, fists being thrust into the air, and a tie game. Carson struck out Clough, but was then pulled. Amusingly enough, Jackson and Carson had nearly identical lines - 5 + innings, 5 hits, 3 runs against, and 8 strikeouts each.

Ryan Ricard, a lefty who’d provided much of the punch in the pen for Florida, relieved Carson. Dekker stepped up to the dish to a roaring applause - took a strike, and then flew out to Molina, ending the inning. 3-3.

I left Kass in to start the 7th. Bennett was up, and Kass had success against him -a success continued as Coy reeled off a 92 MPH fastball to strike Benny out. With each strike, the crowd got louder and louder. He followed that up with a Carrillo groundout, but hit Bennett 2, who promptly stole second. He then fell behind Duque 2-1. Turning back to his changeup, he left a floater up in the zone - one that Duque put a good swing on, hammering it on the ground, trying to sneak between first and second. Clough dove, but missed. Taylor streaked towards the ball, making a diving snag. From his knees, he delivered a hard throw to Kass, who completed the close out at first. Inning over; tie still in place.

Ricard dominated in the bottom seven, setting down Kolo, Delgadillo, and Dardey in order. Kass started out the 8th, but Molina battled for a walk, and was immediately pinch run for by James Bagwell. I hopped out of the dugout, and signalled to the pen. At the same time, I signalled for Dardey to come in. Gober hustled out to right, while Popper came to the mound. I’d pulled off a rare mid-inning defensive double-switch, but in a tie, I was already thinking extra innings.

Popper would open up to face Waterhouse - and again I crossed my fingers. I guarded the lines, expecting an attempt to slash one down for a double, but Waterhouse squared on the first pitch, dropping a perfect sacrifice that got Bagwell on second. Luis Fernandez, the backup catcher, immediately roped the ball past Dekker, which allowed Bagwell to score, and Fernandez took second on the throw. Popper retired Manzo and White, but we only had six outs to fight back. 5-4 Florida.

“It’s not over, boys!” I called.

Cicero came in - the same Cicero that had the horrible ERA in regular season. He greeted Gober with a strikeout, and then took care of Hicky and Taylor.
Predictably, Bennett lead off the top of the ninth with a walk, which prompted me to send in Aitken. After getting two quick outs, pinch hitter Irick rapped a double that brought in Bennett, which was followed by two walks. However, Aitken recovered and K’d another pinch hitter, Justin Waits, and the inning was over. But with 3 outs to use, we were trailing 5-3. The crowd slumped into their seats, and our dugout was very quiet between the inning.

Howie came in to try and shut the door. Deguzman greeted him with a single, and the crowd immediately found some life. With Clough having an 0-fer, I pinch hit him for Johnny Clutch, and began praying. He delivered, singling past Bennett 2 and White. This brought up Dekker, who had singled earlier, but we were all hoping would bring some of that magic that he’d shown on the field earlier in the game. I called the hit and run. Dekker ripped on the ball, tearing it down the third base line - unfortunately, the steal had put Bennett 2 in that direction, and he fielded it on his knee. He got the force at third, and then gunned to first - too late, but we hadn’t accomplished anything. I pinched in Martinez for Kolo, who was 0-3. He took a ball, and then fouled three off.

Howie set and fired. The fastball ran inside - WAY inside. Martinez tried to duck out of the way, but the ball hit him in the shoulder, and then in the face. Sam dropped like a rock, sending the crowd into a chorus of “ooos.” I ran out with the trainer, talking with Sam. He stayed down for a while - blood staining the dirt. Eventually, and thankfully, he got up, but with a bloody jaw I sent Cuddy in to run. Martinez waved to the clapping crowd as he was helped off the field, knowing his bodily sacrifice meant the bases were now loaded with one out.


Delgadillo stepped in as the crowd returned to their screaming. On the first pitch, Francis took a hard swing - belting the ball in the air, deep to right. We all jumped off the bench. The crowd cheered in anticipation. Munoz, one of the pinch hitters, raced back towards the wall as fast as he could. He jumped and reached - grasping the ball in his glove, denying a potential game winning grand slam. Howie pumped his fist, pointing at Munoz while Harshaw tagged and scored as the crowd moaned and simultaneously cheered - 5-4, two outs. With Aitken due up, I subbed in my last position player - Paul McCree.
Howie wiped the sweat off his brow and looked back at Dekker on second. McCree waggled the bat slowly, waiting for the pitch.

Ball one.

Ball two.

On the third pitch, McCree swung - the ball pounded the dirt, heading near White. He strided a few steps, dropped his glove, and the ball went in. He reached in, but the ball squirted out his hand. The crowd cheered wildly as everyone was safe - bases loaded, two out, one run game, and Robert Gober coming up.

I clenched my fist and hoped for a miracle. Gober came up in this position seemingly every other playoff game.

Howie looked in, and delivered a ball that was high and outside. Gober sighed and stretched his neck to try and calm the nerves that were undoubtedly flowing throughout his entire body. Howie set and fired in a slider. Gober turned his bat on it, lofting a soft liner into the air. Carrillo jumped, but the ball cleared his glove and dropped to the grass. Dekker pumped his fist as he trotted in - Munoz fielded the ball and threw hard - because Cuddy had hustled around third and was sprinting for home. He slid hard into the plate as the throw was off line - and our bench erupted, spilling onto the field. The crowd could not contain their excitement, pounding around and cheering in an enormous, rowdy mass. McCree mobbed Gober and pulled him towards the fracas on the plate - and I just basked in the moment, trailing the mob, smile beaming on my face.

The series was tied, thanks to a walkoff single by Robert Gober that put the final score at 6-5. Even as a backup outfielder, Gober was quickly being immortalized in Cubs folklore.

Meanwhile, I wondered how much video of Howie’s pitching he’d watched.

[Jazzmosis]

Chapter 80: NLDS Game Three: October 9, 2010

We had the 8th off, as we packed our bags to head to Florida for the next two games. We were riding high from our improbable comeback win, and had got through the toughest pitchers the Marlins had. If we won on the 9th, I figured that we’d see English for game 4, but I tried not to get ahead of myself.

Interestingly enough, of the 4 playoff series happening, only Oakland had jumped out to a 2-0 lead - the rest were all locked up at 1 apiece.

When we boarded the plane in the morning, most of the players were hung over. However, they all piled on and the plane took off on schedule, which was all I cared about. The off-day went without fanfare - we flew to Miami, where it was considerably warmer, had an on-field practice, and then retired to our personal duties. I hung around in my hotel, figuring out matchups with my hitting coach, trying to prepare and put us in good position to dispose of Florida for the first time in three years. I predicted they’d throw Ronnie Rawls, while I would obviously be countering with Delaney.

The day rolled over quickly and I soon found myself on the field I was very familiar with. However, the fans in the packed house all screamed against me, and we didn’t have the comfort of having any noise behind our efforts. I didn’t care, though. I had the upper hand in pitching and I was determined that this game would fall in our favour.


Rawls took his warmups - and was introduced to the fans, while his stats glared on the scoreboard: 12-16, 4.72 ERA. The 25-year old had pitched in the playoffs last year, leading the club to the ring with a 2-1 record and a stellar 3.15 ERA. This was a different year, though.

As per usual, Hicky dug into the box as the first batter. The only real change I had made was putting McCree in behind the dish over Delgadillo; Delgadillo had struggled last game and McCree deserved some chance. Meanwhile, Gober reassumed his spot in rightfield.

Two pitches into the game, and Hicky roped a liner - right into the glove of Bennett 2 at third, who made a lunging stab. The crowd loved it; Hicky just shrugged his shoulders and jogged back to the dugout. Rawls got through the inning unscathed, bring Florida to the bats.

Delaney didn’t look worried at all, as he retired them in order - including the dangerous Bennett on a weak grounder.

After Rawls got two quick outs in the top 2, Kolo brought the first hit of the game in with a single up the middle. However, Gober struck out to end the inning. Florida responded in the bottom half when Bennett 2 hit a double with one out, in which the fans acted as if it was a homerun. But after a shallow flyout and yet another impressive play by Dekker on a high chopper, the threat was erased.

The two traded three-up, three-down innings in the third, but it was us who struck first in the fourth. Taylor led off the inning by rapping a ball into the gap in right, and then stretched it into a double on a tight call at second. Deguzman then struck out on three pitches, but it was Clough, hitting .143 up to this point, who took a 2-1 splitter back up the middle that plated a hurrying Taylor, and put Clough on second on the relay. It was all we got in that inning, but we were on the board. 1-0.

Delaney had to face the heart of the order in the bottom. Usually, Florida struck right back in games that we scored. However, David got White and Bennett to fly out to Gober, and after a walk to Carrillo, Bennett 2 grounded out. We had preserved our lead for now.

Rawls, angered by his previous inning, then came by and stuck out Gober, McCree, and Delaney in the 5th. That was what Florida needed to get their bats going - after a quick out, Molina singled and moved to third when Waterhouse blooped one in front of Gober. In a bizarre twist, Rawls came up to bat, and squared. I thought they were trying a squeeze, but Molina stayed put. The ball rolled hard up towards third, where Dekker gobbled it up and delivered a strike to Taylor at second. The bunt was a costly decision, as Manzo worked a 2-2 count before Delaney dropped a backdoor hook that Molina couldn’t hold up on. We erupted in the dugout as David jogged off the diamond - still 1-0.

Our celebration didn’t last long, as Rawls once again three-upped us, and White then led off the inning with a double. Bennett whiffed, but my choice to guard the lines didn’t pay off when Carrillo dropped a single past Clough that knotted the score at 1. Delaney retired the next two batters, but we were in for a fight now. 1-1.

After another shutout inning, Delaney opened up the bottom of the 7th with a walk to Molina, who was quickly pinch run for by Bagwell. I had Crumley and Perez warming in the pen, but decided to roll the dice with David. Bagwell took off on the first pitch to Waterhouse, McCree taking the strike and delivering one right back to Taylor. The call was tight, but it went in our favour - and the threat was erased before it could build. Of course, Waterhouse worked a 10 pitch at-bat and won the battle with a single, which prompted me to call on Crumley to face Fernandez, who was pinch-hitting for Rawls.

Crumley did exactly what I wanted - retired Fernandez on three pitches. With Manzo, a left-handed batter coming up, I brought in Perez. At the same time, I got Dominguez and Popper working in the pen.


No such luck this time - Perez fell behind 2-0, and then gave up a double down the line, one that scored even the slow moving Waterhouse. Things then quickly fell apart - White then doubled home Manzo, bringing up Bennett. From there, the damage was limited - Perez got Bennett looking, but Florida had jumped out in front, 3-1 after 7 innings.

Cicero started out the 8th - and despite his regular season numbers, he’d shut us out in game one and two. After McCree grounded out, I pinch in Johnny Clutch for Perez. He delivered, as he always did, with a looping single.
Sanson called time, and made the switch to Paul Howie. He would need 5 outs for this save, and I had the top of the order up. In some ways, it was a relief to see him, because Cicero had shut us down while Howie hadn’t.
I called a hit and run on the first pitch. Clutch took off, while Hicky had to reach for a fastball and chopped it high - Carrillo made a quick grab-and-throw and retired him at first. But Taylor came through for us with a bloop single, and Johnny C scored. 3-2 Florida. Deguzman then struck out for the third time in the game, and the threat was over.

I left Clutch in the game, taking over third, while Dekker shifted to short, and Popper slotted in Deguzman’s spot. Popper did exactly what I needed; a quick, three batter inning. I had Clough, Dekker, and Kolo coming up in the ninth.

Clough led off with a whiff, which got the crowd into a huge frenzy. Dekker then walked on 5 pitches, and Sanson surprisingly came out to pull Howie - I presumed he was taking no chances for another blown save, and Aaron Springer came into the game. He got Kolo to fly out, and we were down to our last out.

Who was coming up? Robert Gober. I was planning on leaving him in, despite his 0-3 with three K’s, but Sanson again switched pitchers, bringing in lefty Ricard. That prompted me to call on Martinez, who’s jaw was swollen to hell but hit lefties. I then began to cross my fingers. He delivered off Ricard, who up to this point hadn’t gave up a hit - a single past a diving Bennett, and Dekker was on third, with McCree coming up.

Ball one.
Foul.
Ball two.
Foul.
Ball three.

Martinez took off from first, and McCree swung at the changeup - plowing it down the third base line. Bennett 2 took one step and dove - the ball falling into his glove. McCree hustled up the line as Bennett 2 threw - and Bennett, in full stretch, caught the ball just before McCree hit the bag.

Game over.

Final score? 3-2. Florida now led 2-1, and somehow, Ronnie Rawls, a guy who couldn’t throw a strike in regular season, had given up all of one run in 7 innings. We were saddled with a tough-luck loss, and now we would have to win out to get into the NLCS.

Oh, how I was bitter that night.

[Jazzmosis]

Chapter 81: NLDS Game 4 October 10, 2010


Every series was locked up at