"HA HA!"
Posted on 04/04/2005 10:13:03 AM PDT by Mr. Mojo
NEW YORK (AP) -- The tallest Yankee ever began the big task of putting the Boston Red Sox back in their place.
Randy Johnson shut down Boston in his New York debut, dominating his new team's old rival. He outpitched David Wells, got help from Hideki Matsui and a rejuvenated Jason Giambi and led the Yankees over the World Series champions 9-2 Sunday night in the major league opener.
``I was pretty excited to go out there,'' said Johnson, who remembered how fans cheered him when he walked out to the bullpen to warm up.
Already, there were bad omens for the Red Sox: Matsui leaped in left to rob Kevin Millar of a two-run homer in the third, Giambi stretched to reel in two bad throws by shortstop Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez made a diving stop at third on Edgar Renteria, and Tino Martinez made a backhand dive at first to prevent an extra-base hit by Johnny Damon.
By the time Matsui hit a two-run homer off Matt Mantei for a 8-1 lead in the eighth, it was almost piling on.
``We're not disappointed,'' Damon said. ``We accept the fact that we really weren't that good tonight, We'll get better.''
With Boston taking the field as champions for the first time in 86 years, the Red Sox returned to the scene of their improbable triumph staring directly at the 6-foot-10 Big Unit, brought to the Bronx to help the Yankees win their first title since 2000.
Giambi, back at first base following injury, illness and a reported admission of steroid use, received a pair of standing ovations from the sellout crowd of 54,818 and went 1-for-2 with a single and two hit-by-pitches.
``I had a calm feeling because I knew I did everything I could to get to this point,'' he said. ``They respect a guy who worked hard to get back to where he was.''
Gary Sheffield, back from offseason shoulder surgery, hit a go-ahead single in a three-run third inning against Wells, and Martinez received two huge ovations in his first game in pinstripes since 2001.
``Who wouldn't like this?'' he said.
Since New York moved within three outs of sweeping the Red Sox in the AL championship series last October, the Red Sox had won eight straight, becoming the first major league team to overcome a 3-0 postseason deficit, then blowing out St. Louis in the World Series.
But following an offseason of joy in New England, the Red Sox started with a thud, pitching poorly, making a pair of errors and losing their fifth straight season opener. New York had 15 hits off Wells and six relievers.
``It's the first game we won since Game 3,'' Yankees manager Joe Torre said. ``It was a long winter waiting to get on the field again.''
The usual swells and celebrities were on hand to watch the Yankees extend their winning streak in home openers to eight. A sign in left field expressed the hope of New York fans -- ``1918-2004-2090'' -- referring to the years of Boston's last two Series titles and projected date of its next.
``The crowd was ready,'' Damon said.
Johnson was a model of quiet focus hours before the game, putting on a black undershirt, then a gray sweat shirt before sitting in front of his new locker near Torre's office and looking ahead, gathering his thoughts.
Hitting Johnson is, well, a tall order -- the New Yorker's playful front-page cartoon of him on the mound cut off at the neck.
He opened with a 93 mph pitch to Damon, and struck out Renteria and Manny Ramirez looking in the first, the latter on a smoking 97 mph heater. He got in trouble in the second, when Matsui grabbed Millar's fly ball and Jay Payton singled in the season's first run.
Johnson and Red Sox manager Terry Francona called Matsui's catch the turning point.
``They don't play much basketball in Japan,'' Jeter said playfully. ``I didn't know he could jump that high.''
Bernie Williams' sacrifice fly tied the score in the bottom half, and New York took a 4-1 lead in the third on Sheffield's double, Matsui's RBI single and a bases-loaded balk by Wells, who stepped back to start his windup and then stopped.
Rodriguez, vilified by Boston during the offseason and spring training, added a run-scoring single in the sixth off Blaine Neal and scored on Ruben Sierra's double.
Johnson allowed the one run and five hits in six innings and struck out six. Tanyon Sturtze and Tom Gordon followed with one hit relief.
Wells, who pitched a perfect game for New York in 1998 and helped the Yankees win the World Series that year, was starting in place of Curt Schilling, his bloody sock in the Hall of Fame and the ankle it surrounded still recovering from surgery that followed the title.
Signed to fill the gap created by the departures of Pedro Martinez and Matt Clement, Wells made a shaky debut, allowing four runs and 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings. With the temperature 43 degrees, he had trouble gripping the ball.
Fans gave him the loudest boos.
``Out in the bullpen, they rode me pretty good,'' Wells said. ``That's all right.''
It was a night of milestones -- the first night opener at Yankee Stadium, the first time the Red Sox played as defending champions since 1919, when they opened with a 10-0 win over New York at the Polo Grounds behind a Babe Ruth home run.
Johnson made his 13th opening-day start, tying Roger Clemens for the lead among active pitchers.
New York, with the first $200 million payroll in baseball history, had a former All-Star in every spot in its starting lineup, the first time that happened in the major leagues since the Yankees did it on July, 24, 2003, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. In all, it added up to 53 All-Star appearances.
Notes
Flags were at half-staff and a moment of silence was observed one day after the death of Pope John Paul II, who celebrated mass at Yankee Stadium in 1979.
"HA HA!"
"Best player in baseball" my fanny!
Gotta be payback soon.
David Ortiz need one right between the ears.
I'm serious.
Next week.
Personally, I wouldn't care if I got hit except for being hit in the face or in the balls...
Gotta be payback soon.
Will see the may Yankees pussy-out.
I'm sick of Jeter and every other Yankee getting drilled without retribution.
Lol, the way I used to operate, you'd have best worn your deluxe cup, OR a hockey mask.
IF you're gonna come into the kitchen, COME IN ;-)
But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if the Yanks wimp out.
BRONX CHEER BACK AT YA, by Mike Vaccaro
".....those who see falling skies and gloomy times ahead because Rivera has committed the unpardonable sin of breaking slow from the gate"
This is not about Mariano "breaking slow from the gate." It's about (perhaps) the biggest blown save in Yankee history in game 4 of the ALCS last Oct., and about blowing four straight saves to the hated Red Sox. This year's slow start was just the last straw -- the boo-birds were bound to vent. Mo (and people like Vaccaro) should take note of Jeter's words from last April (during the worst slump of his career) -- "If I were in the stands I'd have booed me too."
Yep.
2 blown saves in a row to the Bosox is an anomoly; 4 blown saves in a row -- on the heels of the two that would have closed out a series is a trend.
Mo deserves to be booed, plain and simple. The guy is killin' us. And yes, he ought to take a cue from Jeets reaction last April.
I hope they booed his sorry ass out of the stadium.
Now it's Quantrill's turn, Yanks losing 8 - 3.
Lol, gee, I wonder how Lieber's doing?
Catch Karsay's line? 1 inn, 3 hits 3 ER. Then Quantrill belched up his usual sloppy performance with 1 ER in 1 inning -- but surrendered 3 hits AND balked.
Any boo-birds out for ole Bernie, who's still 0 for the season?
At least Jeter is getting the job done.
I did see A-Rod booed after his feeble ground-out with the bags full. Lol, we Yankee Fans sure don't have much patience, do we? Didn't see Bernie's ABs, but I'd be surprised if they booed him this early. He deserves slack.
Jeter can't do it alone, can he? And if not for him, the Yanks may very well be 1-3.
Again, the most disturbing part of the evening is Jared Wright's performance.
In other news, Bernie got his first hit of the year and A-Rod came through with a runner in scoring position.
Yanks losing 5 - 1 in the 4th.
lol....yep, we have NO patience.
Thankfully ESPN didn't air the ring ceremony.
Mussina got shelled, A-Rod made yet another huge error, and the Yanks are looking at a 7 -1 deficit in the 7th.
The Yanks, down 1-0 top 5th take the lead 2-1...Only to have Nixon HR on the second pitch of the bottom of the 5th by Wright just as Murcer and Jim Kaat were telling the audience how important it was to hold the Bosox down after the the Yanks scored.
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