ANAHEIM – Is this the greatest World Series ever?
No, but it sure is the worst pitching.
As the Giants and Angels met last night in Game 7 at Edison Field, a game I’d like to think of as One for the Monkey, it’s clear that the Big Hitting, the Big Comeback, the Big Show is a direct result of the big, fat pitches.
“There are no easy outs in the playoffs,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said last night. “The pitching is really spread out.”
The Angels pitchers own a ridiculous 6.58 ERA while the Giants hurlers, and that term is to be used loosely, posted a 5.71 ERA. Certainly some of that is due to the booming bats of the Angels and Barry Bonds’ mighty presence, but the bottom line here is that both pitching staffs stink right now.
Only two starting pitchers have posted victories. For the Giants, Jason Schmidt won Game 1, while the only Angels starter to get a win was Ramon Ortiz, and he’s bothered now by a sore wrist.
They are both running on empty and they are both making some incredibly stupid choices in the strike zone, like Robb Nen’s down-the-pipe fastball to Troy Glaus that became a game-winning double Saturday night.
Of course, the shame of this Series and the shame of baseball is that no one on the East Coast is watching for two good reasons: It’s not the Yankees or Red Sox and the games are over so late that only night watchmen can view these affairs.
Here’s what you’re missing.
“Boom! Pow! Zap!” This is comic-book baseball with one hit topping another.
Bonds bashed a six-inning home run Saturday night that was the stuff of legends, and it didn’t even figure in the final details because of Scott Spiezio’s dramatic three-run home run in the seventh that cut the Giants’ lead to 5-3. Then in the eighth Darin Erstad drilled a solo home run off Tim Worrell, and three batters later Glaus lined his double over the head of Bonds.
And here’s the sick part, the ball wasn’t carrying that night.
No matter what Major League Baseball is saying, there is no doubt these Bud Balls are the hardest substance known to mankind. Combine that with the tired arms and strike zones the size of Supersized-cheeseburgers and you have a hitting bonanza.
There was much talk before Game 7 last night about the Giants being able to put this loss behind them.
They really shouldn’t have any problem considering the way the balls are flying in the All-Cali World Series.
“In spring training, if you said it would come down to one game for us to win the World Series, I’d say, ‘Yeah,’ ” said Worrell, who most certainly would be back on the mound last night. “The outcome in Game 7 will decide how I look at what happened [Saturday] night.”
One good pitching performance and all the sins of the previous six games will be forgotten.
In this World Series, you can’t worry what happened yesterday.
“These games are just incredibly long, mentally, physically draining,” said Spiezio, whose 19 RBIs in the postseason match Sandy Alomar Jr. for the most ever.
Imagine how it is on the viewers. Overnight, the World Series has turned into an NBA game. Only the last two minutes, or in this case, the last three innings matter.
“With three rounds of playoffs there’s a strong case to be made for shortening the season, it does take its toll on pitching,” Scioscia said. “When we configured our playoff roster we went with a 10-man staff. We’ve just about gauged it right, we’re about at the end where we think our guys can go out and execute and pitch and win ballgames.”
The bitter end.