Where do I go with this one? Yeesh!
I went to this game with my wife, who was a major trooper about the length of the thing. I was meeting some friends from online at this game. Turns out it was the first EVER baseball game for the woman who went. Boy, what a first ever game to go to, eh? 18 innings. We won in a spectacular fashion in the bottom of the 18th. Well, maybe not that spectacular, but given how long it’d been going on, we were kind of glad that it had ended. :)
I’m not going to recap the entire game, the summaries below do that well enough. However, there were two totally spectacular defensive plays in the 17th inning by our guys to keep it going – plus a great pickoff by Chris Michalak (two days in a row for that). Arod had the kind of defensive play you see in the first inning, and Chad Curtis had a dive that was also an early inning play, not a 17th inning play. Kudos to both those guys for running it out like that at 1AM!
One thing about this game.. I’ve always wondered during a game how many balls are used during a game. Tonight I decided to count. I kept track of all the balls that were used during the actual game itself. Not counting the ones that were tossed around between innings, just actual game balls. I don’t have my scorecard with me as I write this, but I’m pretty sure it was around 145. I also counted the total pitches for the game, and I’d see three figures on ESPN, MLB, and the AP wire. My count was higher than all of them – all of the ones I listed were all different, too. I counted about 657. Someone else had 602, and someone else had 62something. Either way, it was a lot – I’m never doing that again!
What was interesting about this game is that after we got to the 14th and beyond it became a communal experience for those of us left in the stands (yeah, my wife and I (and my friends) were there till the end). My wife was ready to pass out, and was desperately hoping for the end of the game for quite awhile
Oh yeah, speaking of my wife… She really REALLY wanted to see Nomar play, and out of all the players Boston had, he was the only one not used (save for some starting pitchers). That really bummed her out, as Nomar is probably her favorite player.
Line Score AL FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - - - - - - - - - BOSTON 0 1 0 1 1 0 3 1 0 TEXAS 1 0 1 0 0 2 3 0 0 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 R H E -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - - - BOSTON 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 16 2 TEXAS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 13 2 (FINAL 18) BATTERIES: BOS - FRANK CASTILLO, RICH GARCES (6TH), TIM WAKEFIELD (7TH), ALLEN MCDILL (7TH), TODD ERDOS (7TH), SUN WOO KIM (9TH), UGUETH URBINA (12TH), ROD BECK (15TH), DEREK LOWE (18TH) AND SCOTT HATTEBERG, DOUG MIRABELLI (17TH) TEX - RICK HELLING, JUAN MORENO (7TH), MARK PETKOVSEK (7TH), MIKE VENAFRO (8TH), JEFF ZIMMERMAN (8TH), DANNY KOLB (11TH), PAT MAHOMES (12TH), CHRIS MICHALAK (16TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ, BILL HASELMAN (17TH) WP - CHRIS MICHALAK (7-8) LP - DEREK LOWE (4-9) SAVE - NONE HOME RUNS: BOS - CARL EVERETT (14) OFF HELLING IN THE 2ND, 0 ON TEX - MIKE YOUNG (7) OFF F CASTILLO IN THE 3RD, 0 ON ALEX RODRIGUEZ (39) OFF F CASTILLO IN THE 6TH, 0 ON RAFAEL PALMEIRO (35) OFF F CASTILLO IN THE 6TH, 0 ON TIME: 6:35 ATT: 43,775 PROBABLES: BOS - PEDRO MARTINEZ (7-2, 2.26) TEX - DOUG DAVIS (7-8, 4.23) Box Score BOSTON (7) VS TEXAS (8) - FINAL IN 18 INNINGS BOSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg T Nixon cf 7 1 0 0 2 3 5 .271 Offerman 1b 7 1 1 2 1 1 3 .253 Stynes 2b 9 1 4 0 0 1 6 .285 Everett dh 7 1 1 2 2 4 3 .264 Bichette lf 8 0 3 0 0 1 5 .294 Oleary rf 7 0 1 1 1 2 7 .258 Hillenbrand 3b 7 1 2 0 1 1 2 .272 Hatteberg c 6 1 2 0 2 1 0 .256 D Lewis pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .252 Mirabelli c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .232 Lansing ss 6 1 2 0 2 2 2 .255 Totals 64 7 16 5 11 16 33 BATTING: 2B - Oleary (15, Helling); Hillenbrand (17, Helling); Stynes (17, Mahomes); Lansing (22, Michalak). 3B - Stynes (2, Helling). HR - Everett (14, 2nd inning off Helling 0 on, 0 out). SF - Offerman. RBI - Everett 2 (55), Oleary (46), Offerman 2 (43). 2-out RBI - Oleary, Offerman, Everett. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Hillenbrand 1, Oleary 3, Stynes 1, Lansing 1, T Nixon 1. GIDP - Oleary 2. Team LOB - 16. BASERUNNING: CS - Lansing (2, 2nd base by Je Zimmerman/I Rodriguez). Picked off - D Lewis (1st base, Michalak). FIELDING: E - Lansing 2 (11, throw 2). DP: 2 (Erdos-Lansing-Offerman, Kim-Lansing-Offerman). TEXAS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg Catalanotto lf 9 1 1 1 0 0 4 .342 Lamb 3b 6 0 2 0 0 1 1 .329 Curtis pr-rf 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 .283 A Rodriguez ss 6 1 2 3 2 1 3 .319 R Palmeiro 1b 6 1 1 1 3 1 3 .262 I Rodriguez c 8 0 2 0 0 2 4 .308 Haselman c 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 .240 Sierra dh 7 0 0 0 1 2 4 .292 Ledee rf 3 1 0 0 1 0 4 .240 Sheldon 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .230 a-Velarde ph-3b 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 .298 Kapler cf 7 1 2 1 0 2 1 .247 M Young 2b 6 2 3 1 1 2 0 .254 Totals 63 8 13 8 9 13 28 a-struck out for Sheldon in the 14th. BATTING: 2B - Lamb (14, F Castillo); Kapler (22, Wakefield); M Young (14, Kim). HR - M Young (7, 3rd inning off F Castillo 0 on, 0 out); A Rodriguez (39, 6th inning off F Castillo 0 on, 1 out); R Palmeiro (35, 6th inning off F Castillo 0 on, 1 out). S - M Young. SF - A Rodriguez. RBI - A Rodriguez 3 (112), M Young (35), R Palmeiro (95), Kapler (57), Catalanotto (45), Haselman (9). 2-out RBI - A Rodriguez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - I Rodriguez 1, Catalanotto 3, Sierra 2, Ledee 2, A Rodriguez 1. GIDP - Sierra, Kapler. Team LOB - 16. BASERUNNING: SB - A Rodriguez (12, 2nd base off Kim/Hatteberg); Curtis (6, 3rd base off D Lowe/Mirabelli). FIELDING: E - Lamb (14, throw); I Rodriguez (7, catch). Outfield assists - Catalanotto (Bichette at home). DP: 2 (A Rodriguez-M Young-R Palmeiro, Mahomes-A Rodriguez-R Palmeiro). -------------------------------------------------- Boston - 010 110 310 000 000 000 -- 7 Texas - 101 002 300 000 000 001 -- 8 Two out when winning run scored. -------------------------------------------------- BOSTON ip h r er bb so hr era F Castillo 5 1/3 5 4 4 1 6 3 4.57 R Garces 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.73 Wakefield (H, 3) 0 2 3 3 1 0 0 3.73 Mcdill (BS, 1) 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.75 Erdos 1 1/3 2 0 0 1 0 0 3.86 Kim 3 2/3 4 0 0 4 1 0 4.91 Urbina 2 1/3 0 0 0 0 3 0 1.50 Beck 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 3.98 D Lowe (L, 4-9) 2/3 0 1 0 2 0 0 3.86 TEXAS ip h r er bb so hr era Helling 6 1/3 8 4 4 2 6 1 5.33 J Moreno (H, 9) 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 4.36 Petkovsek (BS, 3) 2/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 5.94 Venafro (BS, 3) 2/3 2 1 1 1 1 0 4.63 Je Zimmerman 2 1/3 1 0 0 1 3 0 2.79 D Kolb 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 5.79 Mahomes 4 2 0 0 3 3 0 5.92 Michalak (W, 7-8) 3 3 0 0 1 1 0 4.51 J Moreno pitched to 2 batters in the 7th. Wakefield pitched to 3 batters in the 7th. WP - Kim, D Lowe. IBB - R Palmeiro 2 (by Kim, by D Lowe); Everett (by Mahomes). HBP - Ledee 2 (by Erdos, by Kim); Kapler (by Erdos); Bichette (by Michalak). Pitches-strikes: Helling 117-75; J Moreno 13-5; Petkovsek 21-11; Venafro 19-10; Je Zimmerman 32-21; D Kolb 9-7; Mahomes 77-41; Michalak 46-27; F Castillo 97-67; R Garces 8-5; Wakefield 11-7; Mcdill 3-2; Erdos 24-11; Kim 67-36; Urbina 23-19; Beck 37-25; D Lowe 22-13. Ground balls-fly balls: Helling 4-8; J Moreno 0-0; Petkovsek 0-1; Venafro 0-1; Je Zimmerman 1-2; D Kolb 0-2; Mahomes 5-3; Michalak 2-5; F Castillo 5-5; R Garces 2-0; Wakefield 0-0; Mcdill 1-1; Erdos 4-0; Kim 6-4; Urbina 1-3; Beck 3-3; D Lowe 2-0. Batters faced: Helling 27; J Moreno 2; Petkovsek 4; Venafro 5; Je Zimmerman 8; D Kolb 3; Mahomes 15; Michalak 13; F Castillo 22; R Garces 2; Wakefield 3; Mcdill 2; Erdos 8; Kim 19; Urbina 7; Beck 9; D Lowe 5. UMPIRES: HP--Andy Fletcher. 1B--Fieldin Culbreth. 2B--Dale Scott. 3B--Larry Young. T--6:35. Att--43,775. Weather: 95 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 12 mph, in from center. AL BOSTON AT TEXAS NOTE: TEXAS' FRANK CATALANOTTO EXTENDED HIS HITTING TO 11 GAMES WITH A SINGLE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FIRST INNING. AL BOSTON AT TEXAS NOTE: TEXAS PITCHER RICK HELLING HAS FIVE STRIKEOUTS THROUGH THREE INNINGS. AL BOSTON AT TEXAS NOTE: THE HOME RUNS BY TEXAS' ALEX RODRIGUEZ AND RAFAEL PALMEIRO IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH INNING WERE HIT BACK-TO-BACK. AL BOSTON AT TEXAS NOTE: TEXAS' IVAN RODRIGUEZ EXTENDED HIS HITTING STREAK TO 10 GAMES WITH A SINGLE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH INNING.