EVENTS
Sportsman of the Year
Heisman Trophy
Swimsuit 2001
CENTERS
Fantasy Central
Inside Game
Video Plus
Statitudes
Your Turn
Message Boards
Email Newsletters
Golf Guide
Cities
CNNSI.com GROUP
Sports Illustrated
Life of Reilly
SI Women
SI for Kids
Press Room
TBS/TNT Sports
CNN Languages
COMMERCE
SI Customer Service
SI Media Kits
Get into College
Sports Memorabilia
TeamStore
| |
Next stop: Altoona
Will Brenly, Kim recover from latest Series blunders?
Posted: Friday November 02, 2001 3:01 AM
Updated: Friday November 02, 2001 5:29 AM
NEW YORK -- Two years from now, when Byung-Hyun Kim is pitching in the ninth inning of a tight game for the Altoona BeaverBoofers of the Middle Pennsylvania Amateur Baseball League, his manager will stroll to the mound, pat him on the rump and offer some reassuring words.
"Byung-Hyun Kim," Bob Brenly will say, "let 'em rip!"
And he will. Kim will strike out the part-time auto mechanic. He'll force the accountant into an innocent pop-up to third. Then -- with all four fans on their feet and the Kutztown Krushers down to their final out -- Kim will throw three spine-melting heaters past Paulie Duer, the .450-hitting, 450-weighing mason from nearby Jonestown. With strike three, Kim will pump his fist, jog to the dugout and embrace Brenly, skipper of the 2003 MPABL champs.
"We did it!" he'll say in perfect Korean. "We did it!"
This is what happens when managers like Brenly, well-intentioned sorts placed in impossible pressure situations, choke. When they sacrifice a player for a game. Even a World Series game. Maybe Byung-Hyun Kim is big enough, strong enough, tough enough to overcome the horror of permitting two "Why don't you shoot my dog instead?" World Series homers. Maybe. But if Wednesday night's game-tying ninth inning meatball fastball to Tino Martinez and game-winning 10th inning meatball fastball to Derek Jeter didn't push Kim off the ledge, then Thursday night's two-out, bottom-of-the-ninth offering to Scott Brosius surely did.
Oops, forget the push. He jumped.
The Diamondbacks had the World Series all but clinched.
Miguel Batista, expected Yankee meat, pitched the game of his life, holding New York scoreless over 7 2/3 innings while striking out six. Then, with Arizona leading 2-0 and on the verge of a 3-2 Series lead, Brenly called upon Kim. Again.
This was the same Kim who, one night earlier, was hammered like a waif on Jägermeister. Who had thrown a ridiculous 62 pitches over three innings. Who is a closer only because Matt Mantei, Arizona's hard-throwing stud, missed nearly the entire season after Tommy John surgery last April.
The same Kim who was doomed to fail.
After Yankees catcher Jorge Posada led off the inning with a double down the left-field line, Kim forced Shane Spencer into a groundout to third, then struck out Chuck Knoblauch . Up came Brosius, owner of seven (now eight) career postseason homers. First, ball one. Then, the pitch. Waist high. Over the plate. Deep. Deep. Deep. Gone. Nestled into the left-field
stands.
Game tied.
As Brosius pumped his fists and raised his arms and smiled and hovered around the bases, Kim looked on in disbelief. He tucked his body into his legs, a gymnast trying to hide from the world. Catcher Rod Barajas walked out the mound to offer comfort, but how could it work? How could anything work? There was no doubt the Yankees would win again.
"I tried not to throw the same way I did the night before," Kim said after the game. He was wearing a black shirt, stark against the dozens of TV camera lights pointed at his body. To his credit, he answered every question. To his discredit, he threw the pitch. "I guess things didn't go my way."
Kim will make a wonderful Altoona BeaverBoofer because history tells us
so. Mitch Williams, the wild-yet-effective Phillies closer, allowed Joe
Carter's walk-off homer in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series, then was
never heard from again. Donnie Moore, the mediocre-yet-effective Angels
closer, allowed Dave Henderson's Game 5 homer in the 1986 ALCS. He was
never the same. In 1996, Jim Leyritz's Game 3 World Series homer off
Atlanta's Mark Wohlers not only turned around an event, but turned a
potent closer into Steve Blass II.
Throughout the season, Brenly has made his share of questionable calls. For a former catcher, he's surprisingly lax with pitch counts and tired arms. He often sends runners at odd times, and holds them at even odder ones. Hs lineups are head-shakers. He's hit and miss. "Bob has shown a willingness to go against the book," said Joe Garagiola Jr., Arizona's
GM. "I like that."
So will the good people of Altoona. They can't wait.
|
Copyright © 2001
CNN/Sports Illustrated
An AOL Time Warner Company.
All Rights Reserved.
|
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.
|
|
