October 22, 2004
Woody vs. Backe - Best Post-Season Duel Ever?
By John Shiffert, www.baseball19to21.com
News Item: October 5, 1949 – The Yankees’ Allie Reynolds and the Dodgers’ Don Newcombe hook up in one of the classic World Series pitching duels of all time.
Bill Kinsella… sorry, no more writing about mythological baseball in Iowa or Canada or anywhere else. And, Philip Roth, you’ll never be able to write a sequel to The Great American Novel. Robert Coover… we’ll never find out just what happened to J. Henry Waugh after he killed off Jock Casey by tipping the dice. Bernard Malamud? Your name is just plain “mud” if you try and bring back Wonderboy, with or without the Eddie Waitkus references. Henry “Author” Wiggen? You’re retired for good now. Same for you, Alibi Ike, Jack Keefe and Joe Hardy. Plus, it’s a shame, but Jerry Amernic won’t be able to come up with any more fictional tales of the Babe.
Why is that? Because baseball reality has blown away fiction. No longer will anything fictional in the baseball world ever match real life. Because, despite claims by a certain writer to the contrary, something has indeed happened in baseball that has NO historical precedence. It’s like the sun coming up in the west, the Republicans taxing the rich, the air and traffic clearing up in Atlanta, or a “reality” television show done in good taste. In the entire history of post-season baseball, dating back to 1882, a team had never lost the first three games of a single series, and then come back to even win three straight. And then came the night of October 20, 2004 when, in what has certainly been the biggest shocker of 21st century baseball, the sport’s most storied, arrogant, hated and successful franchise – in both the 20th and 21st centuries – completed the biggest choke job in baseball history, and did it against a team they have traditionally “owned” since 1920. A team, you might recall, that has been considered “cursed” since they sold the best player in the sport’s history (the aforementioned Babe) to their future tormentors. The 1964 Phillies, the 1978 Red Sox, legions of Brooklyn Dodgers and Atlanta Braves… you can now all rest easy. A new goat has taken your places. That’s right. In the 2004 American League Championship Series, the New York Yankees swept the first three games from the Boston Red Sox, embarrassing the Olde Towne Team 19-8 in front of their Fenway fans in game three. Let’s face it, it sure looked like the Yankees were the Sox’ “daddy” at that point, confirming 80+ years of infamy in New England. And then, the Yanks swallowed the Big Apple whole – though obviously only part way -- and promptly dropped four in a row. Even more remarkably, the Yankees’ four-game losing streak took place despite the Sox’ two aces being, A) ineffective after 100 pitches (Pedro Martinez), and, B) injured (Curt Schilling).
Even though the October 20 10-3 Blow Out in the Bronx (take a bow, Johnny Damon, and a curtain call for series MVP David Ortiz) was the game that set off rioting in both Boston and the New York owners’ box, the key game was the sixth contest, held the night before in storied Yankee Stadium. Once that game was over, and in the Sox’ win column, well, even the Yankees and their $185 million payroll were toast. They saw the handwriting on the wall. For further reference, recall the close-ups of the look on Kevin Brown’s face in the first two innings of game seven. Death warmed over. You see, a baseball team had never even forced a seventh game after dropping the first three of a best of seven. In fact, only twice had such a series even gone to a game six. And here the Yankees were in game seven. And, even though the Red Sox were in unchartered territory, they had tremendous momentum… a unique situation made even moreso because their starting pitcher in game six had been somewhere between crippled and disabled by an ankle injury that will require surgery when he’s finally done pitching for the year. However, this was no ordinary starting pitcher, this was Curt Schilling… if not the best pitcher in baseball (probably not), certainly the best clutch pitcher of his generation… the one pitcher you would want to have on the mound in an elimination game, a game your team HAD to win. And that’s a place Schilling had been twice before. In 1993, when the Phillies faced the Blue Jays in game five of the World Series, after losing a 15-14 abomination in game four. And then, in 2001, when he faced these same Yankees (and Roger Clemens) in the winner-take-all game seven of that year’s World Series. All he did in 1993 was throw a five-hit shutout at a team that had scored 15 runs the game before. In 2001, he pitched into the eighth inning of a 2-1 game to help set up the D’Backs’ dramatic ninth inning win. Thus, on the evening of October 19, 2004, did Curt Schilling become the first pitcher to ever start elimination games for three different teams.
This time, though, there was a difference. Namely, Schilling’s ankle, which gave a new meaning to the term “red sox.” Hobbled pitchers do not typically start any type of game, to say nothing of an elimination game, at least not since Dizzy Dean tried to come back from a broken toe too soon in 1937 and permanently wrecked his golden arm. The chance of an arm injury while favoring a bad foot, or ankle or leg is too great. But, this was Curt Schilling, and torn tendon sheath or not, or he was going to pitch game six.
“Schilling’s problem is with the peroneal retinaculum. That's a band of tissue (fascia really) that crosses over the lower ankle to hold the peroneal tendons in their respective grooves,” explains Dr. Lawrence A. Levine, DPM, a highly respected podiatrist in Cherry Hill, NJ. “The grooves plus the retinaculum act as a pulley so that the tendons can turn the corner and go into the foot. Without the fascial cover the tendons are free to pop out of the groove and this is what causes the pain. The actual diagnosis is a tenosynovitis of the peroneal retinaculum.”
Incredibly, Schilling took the mound with three sutures in his skin of his right leg. The tendon was sutured Monday, October 18, and, as soon as he left the game in the seventh inning on Tuesday, the sutures were removed. Why, in the name of Don Newcombe?
"To avoid having it popping in and out, they sutured the skin down to something in between the two tendons to keep the tendon out. It worked." That’s how Schilling was quoted in the AP story of the game. Well, Schilling may not be a podiatrist and an expert on feet and ankles, but there’s no doubting his heart (which is right there on his sleeve, by the way). With blood staining his white sanitary sock red, Schilling took a three-hit shutout onto the seventh inning before leaving after seven with this line… and a feat that may well prove to be his ultimate ticket to membership in the Hall of Fame (given a couple more good years that would get him to 200 wins and 3000 strikeouts). Given Schilling’s appreciation for baseball history – a rare thing among modern players – it seems that, after 17 years in the majors, he has made his own place in history.
IP H R ER BB SO PC-ST
7 4 1 1 0 4 99-67
Although ostensibly healthy (though tired) relievers Bronson Arroyo and Keith Foulke were a little shaky after Schilling left, the Sox held on to a 4-2 win. And the Yankees were officially dead and buried (until they buy an entire new team of superstars for 2005… hello, Carlos Beltran). Schilling, by the way, also turned out to be a pretty good prognosticator. Remember when the AL won the All-Star Game? Schilling was quoted as saying something like, “the World Series will start at Fenway Park this year.” Everyone in New York laughed then. They’re not laughing now.
So, what does this have to do with Don Newcombe? Well, first of all, Newk’s heart WAS questioned by many, since he never won a World Series game, and since he also lost the 1950 regular season elimination game against the Phillies. However, those who questioned Newcombe’s guts probably don’t know the entire story behind his famous duel with Allie Reynolds in the first game of the 1949 World Series. It is, in fact, the closest parallel you can find to Schilling’s performance in game six of the ALCS. Newk was brilliant that day (this was when the Series was still played in daytime). After eight scoreless innings, the Yankees offense consisted of four hits, while striking out 11 times. The Dodgers had just two hits and four walks off of Reynolds. After the Bums went down one-two-three in the top of the ninth, Newk came out to face Tommy Henrich. On a 2-0 count, Old Reliable hit a fast curve into the lower right field stands – just about the same place in the same stadium where David Ortiz hit his two-run home run to start the 2004 ALCS game seven rout – to hang a 1-0 loss on Newcombe. What is not commonly known is that Newcombe pitched the entire game in pain from an ingrown toenail. Now, those of you who have never had an ingrown toenail may poo-poo this, but, trust me on this, they hurt, and such a foot problem could well effect a pitcher’s delivery. Nonetheless, Newk went out that day and pitched what he considered to be the best game of his distinguished career… a game that, unfortunately, has often been overlooked.
In a similar fashion, there is a chance that another great pitching performance may be overlooked in the awe surrounding Schilling’s soon-to-be-legendary game (as in, one that will be remembered as long as baseball is baseball), and, of course, the forthcoming World Series, especially since the winning team in this game didn’t win the NLCS. The game in question took place the day before Schilling’s gem, on Monday October 18, and it might well just stand as the greatest joint post-season pitching duel of all time. A feat so rare… a dual one-hitter for eight innings, that the Newcombe/Reynolds game again comes up as one of the few relevant historical precedents. What’s going on here, anyway?
Looking at the big picture, what’s going on here is great baseball… the magic of baseball, or the magic that is baseball. What went on on the night of October 18 was two highly unlikely pitching heroes just throttling the two best offenses in the National League. First, there was the Cardinals’ Woody Williams. A great alliterative name, but not a guy you would expect to throw a one-hitter in the post season. A 12-year veteran who pretty well defines the word “journeyman,” Williams has pretty evenly split his career between the Blue Jays, the Padres and the Cardinals, running up a steady 103-84 record and a 108 Adjusted ERA. Nice, but not Christy Mathewson. For the 2004 regular season, he was 11-8 with an Adjusted ERA of exactly 100. Then there was the Astros’ Brandon Backe, a 26-year old third-year pitcher and a converted shortstop (the Astros used him to pinch hit in game six) who was starting his 12th game as a major leaguer. Prior to 2004, he had pitched in 37 games in relief, for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In 2004, part of which he spent in the minors, he was 5-3 with an Adjusted ERA of, that’s right, 100. Is baseball a great game, or what?
And here’s what these two gentleman produced…
IP H R ER BB SO PC-ST
Williams 7 1 0 0 2 4 94-52
Backe 8 1 0 0 3 4 99-61
Although Backe didn’t get the win he deserved (Brad Lidge did) and Williams didn’t get the loss he didn’t deserve (Jason Isringhausen did), they staged a duel for the ages… Backe giving up just a ground single to the immortal Tony Womack with one out in the sixth, and Williams a single to Jeff Bagwell, with two outs in the first. After the Cards pinch hit for Williams in the eighth, and the Astros for Backe in the ninth, the bullpens took over. And, in the bottom of the ninth… Isringhausen gave up a single and a stolen base to Carlos Beltran, walked Lance Berkman intentionally, and then Jeff Kent delivered his own personal editorial against the intentional walk, bombing a pitch high off the façade of Minute Maid Park to end the game, 3-0.
Have there ever been any better pitched post season games, from the point of view of both starters excelling? Certainly, the Reynolds/Newcombe game deserves consideration, but, let’s start at the beginning, focusing on low hit games, shutouts that went into the ninth inning, extra inning duels, and series’ clinchers – the real pressure moments.
1905 – Although Matty threw three shutouts in this series for the Giants, Iron Man McGinnity and Eddie Plank – both Hall of Famers – hooked up in the best contest in game four, the first 1-0 game in the World Series. Although the A’s Plank only gave up four hits to McGinnity’s five, he came out the loser. Naturally, given the era, both threw complete games.
1913 – Matty was back to haunt the White Elephants as he and Plank both threw shutouts for nine innings in game two. Three Giant runs in the top of the 10th won the game, 3-0, however, the two aces scattered 15 hits over the 10 innings.
1916 – The longest game in World Series history saw the Red Sox’ Babe Ruth best the Dodgers’ Sherry Smith 2-1 in 14 innings in game two. Ruth gave up six hits, Smith seven as both went all the way.
1921 – This series was decided, five games to three, in the final game by a 1-0 Artie Nehf win over Waite Hoyt. Nehf gave up four his, Hoyt six.
1930 – At the height of the first great hitters’ era, George Earnshaw and Burleigh Grimes hooked up in a beauty in game six. Scoreless into the eighth inning, when Lefty Grove took over for Earnshaw, the A’s scored twice in the ninth on a home run by Jimmie Foxx to beat Grimes. The A’s had five hits, the Cards three.
1947 - In one of the most famous games in World Series history, Bill Bevens takes a no-hitter and a 2-1 lead (he walked 10 during the game) into the bottom of the ninth inning in game four. Two outs and a couple of base runners (walks, of course) later, he faces pinch hitter Cookie Lavagetto with a chance to make history. Cookie doubles off the right field wall at Ebbets Field, and Bevens loses, 3-2. Four Brooklyn pitchers give the Yankees eight hits.
1948 – Indians’ Hall of Famer Bob Feller and another pretty fair pitcher, the Braves’ Johnny Sain, open the series with a game that sees only six hits. All Feller’s two-hitter gets him is a 1-0 loss, when a blown call on a pickoff play at second in the eighth inning costs him the game.
1949 – The Super Chief and Newk open the series in style.
1950 - Surprise starter Jim Konstanty of the Phillies holds the Yankees to five hits in eight innings in the opener, and loses 1-0 to Raschi’s two-hitter.
1956 – The most famous World Series game of all? The Giants’ Sal Maglie, the game one winner, and Don Larsen, who was knocked out early in game two, square off in game five. Larsen pitches a perfect game, Maglie gives up two runs on five hits, one a Mantle home run. Almost forgotten is game six, when Clem Labine, like Konstanty normally a reliever, keeps the Dodgers alive with a 10 inning, 1-0 shutout win over Bullet Bob Turley. Labine gives up seven hits, Turley four.
1962 – Game seven is a much-discussed classic. The Yankees’ Ralph Terry hurls a four-hit shutout, and Giants’ fans just hurl when Willie McCovey hits a rocket right at Bobby Richardson to end the game. Jack Sanford gives up seven hits in seven innings, Billy O’Dell none in the last two frames.
1966 – The fourth and final game of the Orioles’ sweep was a 1-0 beauty -- Dave McNally wins with a four-hitter. And Don Drysdale loses with a four-hitter.
1969 – McNally is back, matching the Twins’ Dick Boswell zero for zero for 10 innings in game two of the ALCS. The O’s finally breakthrough for a run in the bottom of the 11th to win it. The Twins get just three hits, the O’s eight.
1972 – Game three of the World Series is a battle between the Reds’ Jack Billingham (eight innings) and the A’s Blue Moon Odom (seven innings). Each gives up three hits, but Odom gives up the run that loses it, 1-0.
1974 – Game three of the ALCS sees the A’s Vida Blue and the O’s Jim Palmer give up just six hits between them. The A’s score the run on four hits, and win.
1980 – This time it was game three of the NLCS… 10 scoreless innings, largely due to the Astros’ Joe Niekro and the Phillies’ Larry Christenson. The ‘Stros win 1-0 in the 11th, they have six hits, the Phillies seven.
1983 – The White Sox and the O’s hook up in an extra inning shutout in the four and final game of the ALCS… mostly through the efforts of Storm Davis and Britt Burns. Tito Landrum’s home run in the top of the 10th makes the difference in a 3-0 O’s win.
1984 – Game four of the ALCS sees a combined six-hitter (three each) between the Tigers’ Milt Wilcox and the Royals’ Charlie Liebrandt. Wilcox wins 1-0 with a save from Willie Hernandez.
1986 – The Mets and the Red Sox open the World Series with starters Bruce Hurst (eight innings) and Ron Darling (seven innings) and a 1-0 game. The Sox get the run on their five hits, the Mets get nothing on four hits.
1991 – Another of the famous games in World Series history – Jack Morris throws a 10 inning, seven hit, game seven shutout to start the Braves on their long trek of post season futility. John Smoltz, Mike Stanton and Alejandro Pena give the Twins 10 hits, including the game-loser to Gene Larkin in the 10th.
1995 – In the one World Series the Braves did win, it took eight innings of one-hit, shut out ball by Tom Glavine to get them there in the concluding game six. Mark Wohlers saved the 1-0 shut out win in the ninth. The Braves, on their part, got just six hits, notably a David Justice home run, off Dennis Martinez and five (Jim Poole actually threw the gopher ball) relievers.
1997 – Game six of the ALCS made the headlines. The O’s Mike Mussina threw eight innings of one-hit, shutout ball against the hard-hitting Indians, and didn’t get anything for it, because Charles Nagy also shut out Baltimore. The game was scoreless through 10, with the Indians finally scoring the lone run in the top of the 11th, despite getting only three hits all game.
And now we have Brandon Backe and Woody Williams in the 2004 NLCS. You decide on the best-ever. On the basis of joint performance, I’ll vote for the Reynolds/Newcombe complete game, although the Series’ opener the previous year was just as good, especially when you consider that the Braves shouldn’t have scored. Who knows what this World Series will bring?
