Hardball Hyperbole: Chapter 27

In today’s edition, the Yankees held off the Red Sox to win the AL East by three games, and then both teams won their divisional series to set up a second consecutive AL Championship Series showdown.

True to their carefree nature, the Red Sox were lounging in the visiting clubhouse at Camden Yards after losing their meaningless season finale to the Orioles, paying more attention to an NFL football game on television than they were the Twins-Indians game unfolding in Minnesota, the result of which would determine where they would be flying to later in the day to start the postseason.

If the AL Central champion Twins won, they would secure the second-best record in the American League behind the Yankees and would be hosting Boston to start one of the best-of-five AL divisional series. If the Twins lost, they would be tied with the AL West champion Angels at 92-70 and would lose a tiebreaker, meaning the Red Sox would head to Anaheim while the Twins would have to travel to New York to start the other divisional series.

The Red Sox, who finished 98-64, three games behind the Yankees but six games better than both the Twins and Angels, didn’t care one way or the other. Their confidence was so high, they had no doubt they were going to emerge victorious. “I don’t think anybody wants to play us,” said Kevin Millar, who along with Johnny Damon branded the Red Sox as fun-loving idiots.

As it turned out, the Twins blew the game against Cleveland, so off the Red Sox went to Anaheim to begin what ultimately would end up being the most glorious playoff run in franchise history.

“We expect to win the whole thing,” said Damon. “We definitely got a feel for it last year - the heartache, how we lost it and how hard it is to get there. We knew we were going to win Games 6 and 7 (of the ALCS last October), and when it didn’t happen, and the fashion in which it happened, we’re never going to forget that.”

The Yankees certainly hadn’t forgotten what happened in 2003 either because while Aaron Boone’s pennant-winning home run delivered a staggering blow to the tortured Red Sox while simultaneously producing one of the most iconic moments in Yankees lore, it was not George Steinbrenner who was handed the championship trophy after the World Series.

Never one to dwell on the past, Derek Jeter said, “You can throw it all out the window. Every year is different. Every series is different. Any advantage we have, they have.”

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. After all, the Yankees set a team record with 242 home runs in 2004 and Twins center fielder Torii Hunter knew his team was a big underdog and in for a massive fight.

“The Yankees are like Goliath and we are like David,” Hunter said. “We are like a Honda Accord and they are like a Mercedes-Benz. We will try and roll as long as we can without an oil change.”

Yankees vs. Twins

Johan Santana’s MLB career ended with a whimper and sooner that it should have due to injuries, but at this point the lefty was a Lamborghini and a month hence he would have the hardware to prove it when he was presented the AL’s 2004 Cy Young Award. He went 20-6 during the regular season, led the AL in ERA (2.61) and strikeouts (265), and in two regular-season starts against the fearsome Yankees offense he limited them to three earned runs on eight hits in 12 innings.

The Yankees knew he was going to be a problem, and in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium he certainly was. Santana gave up nine hits and a walk, yet even without his best stuff he blanked New York for seven innings and relievers Juan Rincon and Joe Nathan finished off a 2-0 shutout victory. It was another frustrating postseason loss for Mike Mussina who pitched well, but just not well enough as he allowed an RBI single to Shannon Stewart in the third and a solo homer to Jacques Jones in the sixth.

“Nothing has been easy for us,’’ Alex Rodriguez said. “We don’t expect it to start now.’’

And that statement held true the rest of the series because even though the Yankees won the next three to eliminate the Twins and advance, it was a fight to the death in every game.

For so many years, when Joe Torre needed a big pitching performance in the postseason he could hand the ball to Andy Pettitte. But Pettitte was now pitching in the NL playoffs along with Roger Clemens for the Astros, so Torre’s Game 2 choice was Jon Lieber who had never started a postseason game.

It didn’t begin well as the Twins jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but Lieber battled and wound up pitching into the seventh inning without allowing another run. In the meantime, the Yankees jumped on Twins starter Brad Radke as Jeter led off the bottom of the first with a home run, Gary Sheffield hit a two-run shot in the third, and A-Rod hit a solo homer in the fifth. With Radke out, A-Rod tacked on an RBI single in the seventh for a 5-3 lead, but in a shocking development, Mariano Rivera faltered. He replaced Tom Gordon with two outs and a man on first in the eighth but gave up two runs which tied the game.

The game carried on to the 12th where Tanyon Sturtze, who had pitched tremendously, yielded a solo homer to Hunter and the Yankees were three outs away from going to Minnesota down two games to none. And then the echoes awoke and with Nathan on to close, Miguel Cairo and Jeter walked, A-Rod doubled home the tying run and Hideki Matsui’s sacrifice fly capped the 7-6 victory.

Sheffield, getting his first taste of postseason baseball in the Bronx said, “I’ve said it over and over; I don’t know how much more my heart can take.’’

In Minnesota, there was more drama. Not so much in Game 3 as the Yankees rolled 8-4 as Jeter had three hits and three RBI, Williams hit a two-run homer that made it 5-1 in the sixth, and Matsui hit a solo shot in the seventh to back a strong six-inning outing by Kevin Brown.

But Game 4 did not come easily. Javier Vasquez struggled and the Yankees fell into a 5-1 hole after five innings, again unable to get anything going against Santana. However, Santana was pitching on short rest and he was done after 87 pitches, so it was left to the Twins bullpen to hold on, and it couldn’t do so.

The Yankees erupted for four runs in the eighth off Rincon, the big blow a game-tying three-run homer by Ruben Sierra. And in the 11th inning, A-Rod doubled, stole third and scored the winning run on a wild pitch by Kyle Lohse.

The Yankees’ ticket to the ALCS was punched. Waiting for them would be the Red Sox who bludgeoned their way into the much-anticipated rematch a day earlier thanks to an easy three-game wipeout of Anaheim.

Red Sox vs. Angels

Boston manager Terry Francona had never managed a postseason game until the night of Oct. 5, 2004 at Angels Stadium and when the Red Sox easy 9-3 victory was complete he said, “I like it so far. You know what? It’s not really different - I mean the game is still played exactly the same, and we have good players, and if we play like we can I will enjoy myself.”

There was plenty to enjoy. Curt Schilling pitched into the seventh inning despite his sore right ankle which would become a major storyline in the next couple weeks to come. He faced traffic all night as he allowed nine hits and two walks, but Anaheim scored only three runs and with Boston scoring seven times in the fourth, the Angels were done.

In that fateful inning Millar hit a two-run homer, Angels third baseman Chone Figgins made a critical error with the bases loaded that allowed two runs to score, and then three more unearned runs trotted home when Manny Ramirez homered.

“We are not the cowboys anymore,’’ Damon said, speaking of Boston’s 2003 mantra. “We are just the idiots ... We like to have fun and I think that’s why this team is liked by so many people out there. We’ve got the long hair, we’ve got the corn rows, we’ve got guys acting like idiots, and I think the fans out there like it.’’

The idiots were back at it for Game 2 and while Pedro Martinez wasn’t great, he was good enough to have a 4-3 lead when he left after the seventh inning thanks to Ramirez’s tie-breaking sacrifice fly in the top of the inning. And after Mike Timlin pitched a scoreless eighth, closer Keith Foulke entered in the ninth in a non-save situation because the Red Sox poured across four runs in the top of the ninth, the last three on a bases-clearing double by Orlando Cabrera that made it an 8-3 final.

At this point the series was over, but there was the formality of Game 3 and to their credit, the Angels made the Red Sox work for the clincher.

Down 6-1 and looking like a team that couldn’t wait to get to the offseason, the Angels stunned Fenway with a five-run rally in the seventh capped by a Vladimir Guerrero grand slam off Timlin that tied the score at 6-6.

Foulke escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth by striking out Garrett Anderson and Troy Glaus, and after Derek Lowe pitched a clean 10th, the Red Sox won it when David Ortiz hit a two-run homer off Jarrod Washburn.

And so, just like in 2003 when it was simply inevitable that the Yankees and Red Sox would meet to decide the AL’s World Series representative, so too was that the case in 2004.

“You know what? This is the World Series,’’ Ortiz said. “Everyone said we would handle our business against the Angels and that the Yankees would crush Minnesota and we’d do it again. The way I see it, it comes down to us and them, like before,. But I think this team is better than last year’s team. We are ready to play. This is the first time, people have told me, that they feel good against the Yankees.”

NEXT WEDNESDAY: The Yankees exploded out of the gate in Game 1 of the ALCS, but then had to hold off a furious Red Sox rally to secure the victory.