Snaking into the Series

Let’s be realistic here. Nobody expected the Arizona Diamondbacks to move into the World Series (after a second thought here, I do know one person who was sure the D-Backs would get here). Yet with teams like Houston and St. Louis playing well towards the end of the regular season, Arizona quietly won a very good NL West Division with great pitching and timely hitting.
Curt Schilling has been superhuman on the mound, giving up two runs in three victories, all complete games. Yeah, that’s 27 innings and only two runs, or a 0.67 earned run average. Schilling also has 30 strikeouts and opposing batters are hitting a pitcher-like .140 against him.
Arizona’s other pitcher, or a guy named Randy, finally won his first postseason game in Game One against Atlanta, and followed that up with a victory in the series-clinching Game Five. In three starts this postseason, Johnson has only given up five runs in 24 innings, for an ERA of 1.88. He’s also got 28 Ks to go along with a 2-1 record, with his only loss coming against St. Louis, a game in which he got almost no run support.
Arizona has also had the timely hitting necessary to win these playoff games. They’ve done the little things, from sacrifice bunts to stealing bases. One glance over the batting statistics doesn’t evoke memories of great offensive teams. Two starters are hitting better than .300 (Steve Finley and Mark Grace) and their best hitter (Luis Gonzalez) is in the mid .200s. Matt Williams is barely hitting over .150, but they seem to score enough runs to help out their tremendous pitching.
They’re getting production from players who are stepping up come playoff time. Steve Finely, whose best years are behind him, is hitting .364 with six RBI and 12 hits in 33 at bats, while little man Craig Counsell has scored seven runs to lead the team. And while for the most part Johnson and Schilling have pitched well into the games, the bullpen remains strong, with sidearmer Byung-Hyun Kim throwing six-plus innings of scoreless baseball for three saves.
As for a World Series title, this team must be favored to win. Although they have quietly played their way into the Fall Classic, Schilling and Johnson should get at least four starts in the Series, with the possibility of a fifth game for one of these two powerful pitchers. That said, the offense must only produce a few runs for W’s. And a win from either of Arizona’s other starters, Albie Lopez or Miguel Batista, would all but clinch a title in Phoenix, where the champagne on ice may melt before the game ends. So when the World Series begins this week, turn on the tube and root for these guys. They’re good people, and we all hate the Yanks.

Who Cares?
MJ, MJ, MJ, MJ. Oh, Michael did this, or Michael did that. Please, shut up. Please. Who cares? So Michael scored 41 points in a preseason game against the high-powered New Jersey Nets (please note the sarcasm). I think it’s great for basketball that this old man can come back and play well. He was and is a great basketball player, but he plays for arguably the worst team in the NBA, and I wish there were other stories to read or talk about in the NBA. Let’s talk about the new team in Memphis, or the return of Grant Hill after a year off. Or all the high-profiled rookies that came out last year. Or how about some teams that may win more than 20 games this season.
The media has become completely one-dimensional around the return of Jordan, and I’m sure his ego is hating the fact that he’s created such a hoopla (please note the sarcasm). So please, talk about something else. Jordan will be fun to watch and he’ll probably score a lot of points (because he’ll take half the Wizards shots, but that’s another story). But he’s certainly not the only thing going on in the NBA, where the new salary system has actually worked and competition should be good for the eight-playoff spots in each division. So sit back and enjoy Jordan, but when the Wiz are losing by 50 at halftime, tune into the Clips games (they’re gonna be good) or watch the Raptors become the first Canadian basketball team to the reach the finals.

I think I’ve decided to give out some weekly awards to those people or teams deserving a little shout out.

Randy Johnson – the Big Unit proved he’s no playoff flop by winning two games en route to Arizona’s first World Series berth.
David Patton – the man became the first player since Walter Payton to throw, receive, and rush for a touchdown. And he plays for the Pats.
The New York Islanders – you still haven’t lost a game and the season is a few weeks old. That’s impressive.
Antoine Walker – please grow up – you got thrown out of a preseason game and fined $5,000. Some people never learn.

Contact Dr. Z at [email protected]

Popularity: unranked [?]

 Print This Post

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2001 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.