September 10, 1999: Pedro Martinez pitches perhaps the best game anyone has ever pitched against the New York Yankees. And nearly loses.
The Yankees went into this game, at the old Yankee Stadium, the 1st of a 3-game weekend series against their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, 6 1/2 games ahead of the Sox in the American League Eastern Division. The Yankees had 23 games left; the Sox, 22. If the standings held to the end of the season, the Sox would get the 1 Wild Card berth then available to AL teams. So while they needed to solidify their Playoff position, winning the Division didn't matter much. But they still wanted to put a scare into their rivals.
And no pitcher at the turn of the 21st Century, not even Randy Johnson, was as scary as Pedro Martinez. Like Bob Gibson a generation earlier, he wore Number 45, and relied on both great control and pitching inside to intimidate hitters, and both worked. Unlike Gibson, however, Pedro (given the commonality of his surname, he was usually identified by his first name, much like a Brazilian soccer player) actually did intend to injure batters, and sometimes did. He aimed at the head, the hands, the back, the ribs. As I said after his actions in Game 3 of the 2003 AL Championship Series, the New York State institution he belonged in wasn't in Cooperstown, it was in Attica.
He came into this game with a 20-4 record. The Yankees' starter, Andy Pettitte, was 12-10. Sure enough, he started the game by hitting the Yankees' leadoff hitter, 2nd baseman Chuck Knoblauch. Knoblauch was then caught trying to steal 2nd base, thrown out by the Boston catcher, former Yankee Mike Stanley. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, designated hitter Charles "Chili" Davis hit a home run into the right-field Bleachers. The Yankees led, 1-0, and Pettitte held that lead through the 5th inning.
But to that point, Davis had the only Yankee hit; and, given that a player hitting a home run is officially, but not actually, a "baserunner," Knoblauch was the only baserunner that Pedro had allowed.
Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Pettitte began the top of the 6th inning by walking the Sox' best hitter, shortstop Nomar Garciaparra. The next batter was Stanley, who hit a home run to make it 2-1 Boston.
After allowing a double to Wilton Veras and a walk to José Offerman to start the 7th, Pettitte was replaced by Jeff Nelson, who got out of the jam. After getting the 1st out in the 8th, Nelson was replaced by Mike Stanton. In the 9th, Stanton gave up a triple to Veras and a single to Offerman, making it 3-1 Sox. Pedro struck out the side -- 3rd baseman Scott Brosius, pinch-hitter Darryl Strawberry, and Knoblauch -- in the bottom of the 9th, to end it.
Pedro struck out 17 batters, the most strikeouts any pitcher has ever had against the Yankees, including the last 5 he faced. He allowed 1 hit, the homer to Davis. If Pettitte hadn't allowed that home run to Stanley, maybe manager Joe Torre would have let him stay in the game, and he might have beaten Pedro, 1-0.
As a Yankee Fan, the part that bothered me was the fans in the Yankee Stadium Bleachers who were cheering for Pedro and waving Dominican flags. You want to be proud to be Dominican? Fine. You want to cheer for Pedro? Do it in Fenway! This is Yankee Stadium: The Pinstripes are our flag!
The Sox won the next game, 11-10; and the next, 4-1. They were now just 3 1/2 back with 21 to play. The Yankees ended up winning the Division by 4 games, but the Sox did get the Wild Card berth, and the teams were on a collision course for the Pennant.
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September 10, 1999 was a Friday. These other Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Darren Dreifort outpitched Al Leiter. For the Mets, Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Mike Bordick won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Cal Ripken went 4-for-4 with an RBI. For the M's, Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-3 with a walk, Edgar Martinez went 2-for-4 with a home run, and Alex Rodriguez went 2-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Wade Boggs, a Tampa native playing out the string with his home-region Rays, did not play.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 4-2 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 14-6 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-5 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Anaheim Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers, 7-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-4 at the Astrodome in Houston. Carl Everett won it with a home run in the bottom of the 13th inning, having already hit one in the 2nd. Sammy Sosa, on his way to finishing the season with 63 home runs, went 0-for-6.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 15-3 at Coors Field in Denver.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Montreal Expos, 10-3 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Phil Nevin went 2-for-4 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
* And the Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-2 at Candlestick Park (then known as 3Com Park) in San Francisco. John Smoltz started for the Braves, but their bullpen blew the lead, then they came back to win. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3 with a walk.
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