Bauman 這篇也可看一下。官網的Baseball Perspectives
Persistence makes Yankees lethal
Endless lineup flexes muscles with six-run eighth against Sox
09/15/2007 1:55 AM ET
BOSTON -- The New York Yankees cannot be counted out of any game in which
they still have at-bats remaining. They can play seven innings of baseball
that can be described only as ugly, and then, in a heartbeat, turn a deflating
defeat into an uplifting victory. (沒錯 ugly)
All the proof that notion ever required came on Friday night at Fenway Park
in a game that appeared to be beyond redemption, even for the Bronx Bombers
and baseball's best offense.
New York was down, 7-2, to Boston in the eighth inning. Nothing, to this point,
had gone according to plan for the Yankees.
They had been frustrated early by Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka. A
bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first inning yielded nothing. The first
three Yankees in the fourth inning reached, and this produced only one run.
The Yankees' defense had suffered costly lapses. This was not a pretty contest,
and this was obviously not the Yanks' night. Not only were they five runs down,
but the Red Sox had premier setup man Hideki Okajima on the mound and top-shelf
closer Jonathan Papelbon behind him. It was practically over, and the Red Sox
were going to walk out of Fenway Park with an extremely comfortable 6 1/2-game
lead in the American League East. Maybe this was the night when reality would
leave the Wild Card as the Yankees' only October option.
Hold it. Wait a second. Back that up. The Yankees still had six outs left at
this point. The fact is they didn't even need any of those outs to completely
alter the nature of this event.
Jason Giambi, home run. Robinson Cano, home run. Melky Cabrera, walk. Johnny
Damon, double. OK, this isn't Okajima's night, and they'll be asking Papelbon
to get a six-out save, but this thing hasn't completely turned around. Papelbon
had not allowed a run in his last 16 2/3 innings, and he entered with an ERA
of 1.52.
So what? Derek Jeter, single, scoring a run. Bobby Abreu, double, scoring two
runs, Abreu reaching third on a throwing error. Alex Rodriguez, single, scoring
a run.
Just like that, in the blink of an eye, a lead the Red Sox had raised and
nurtured all night, like so many dutiful parents, had disappeared. Seven
Yankees batters, six Yankees runs. New York 8, Boston 7. And that's the way
it ended.
The outcome was a tribute to the Yankees' never-say-die mentality. And it was
a tribute to the offensive abilities of this team, which simply cannot be
overstated. These abilities had been apparent for the vast majority of the
first 146 games of the season, but they were never more in evident than right
here in Game No. 147.
"This ballclub never stopped fighting," manager Joe Torre said. "We knew it was
ugly, but you can't do a lot about it, other than go out and try to score some
runs. And that's a big difference in this ballclub -- they just never get to
the point where they feel that they cannot win a game."
In this case, "some runs" ended up being six runs. The back-to-back power burst
opening the inning pointed the Yankees in the right direction.
"Emotion grabbed us," Torre said. "I think it was the two home runs, because
then it's only a three-run deficit."
Okajima had given up only four home runs in 67 innings before those two blasts.
Then again, Papelbon had blown only two saves in 37 opportunities before this
offensive awakening.
But that's the issue with facing the Yankees. With the bats in their hands,
they're not all that much like the rest of humanity.
"Look at our lineup," Damon said. "There is no easy out."
There were no outs to be found at all for the Red Sox, while the Yankees were
turning a 7-2 deficit into an 8-7 triumph.
The whole thing took four hours and 43 minutes -- nearly a record for a
nine-inning game. OK, this one dragged a little bit at times. But the truth
is, the Yankees won it in a relative handful of minutes, in the span of seven
at-bats. What came before was not good, but what came after was Mariano Rivera,
and that meant the Yankees had another one in the plus column.
This is not a club without some serious question marks. But on the strength of
its offense, no questions need be asked. The Yankees can look like a lost cause
nearly all night, but their approach and their run production can turn any
contest around in a matter of minutes. This sort of thing does not require a
bonus, but when it happens against the Red Sox, the bonus is there, anyway.
Mike Bauman is a national columnist for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
from:http://kuso.cc/2yYY
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