Chase Utley needs to kiss the Yankee Stadium dirt tonight.
Enough is enough, already. I would never advocate throwing at somebody’s head, but there comes a time when you’ve got to make an insanely hot hitter like Utley squirm.
That is what I would have done Monday night if I were A.J. Burnett. What do you think Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale would have done?
They would have knocked Utley on his fanny at the start of the game.
You don’t want to give in and just say, “OK you’ve got me.” Hell, go out there with aggression, man. Go out there and get rough. Get mean. Show some guts and knock the guy on his butt.
You can come inside and not hit Utley. You can lay him on his back. That is what you do when guys are smoking, because you don’t want them to get you. I don’t want to be the next victim, so I’m going to go out there and want to make a good pitch.
The Phillies have drilled five batters in this World Series and the Yankees only one. I don’t know if the hit batters were part of the Phillies’ game plan, but you know what? Retaliate.
When Joe Blanton hit Alex Rodriguez in the first inning of Game 4, both pitchers got warned. Right there, that takes the knockdown pitch out of the ballgame. Now you can’t do anything. Now the umpires are making sure it will be a high-scoring game, because you’re basically going to throw the ball right down the middle of the plate.
The next time you brush somebody back, you might be out of the game.
But bust him in. Move his feet. Make him feel uncomfortable. That’s what you have to do to be successful. Look at Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez and Gibson.
After you knock down Utley, you’ve got to pitch him like he’s Babe Ruth. I kid you not, you have to. Because Utley is in the zone right now — a one-man wrecking crew.
Start pitching him away. Make him hit your pitch. If you’re going to come inside, you’ve got to come in deep, and if you want to get him out, you’ve got to get him down-and-away, up-and-away. Try to get him to hit a fly ball to left field.
Andy Pettitte against Pedro in Game 6 will be fun to watch. It’s good for the throwbacks. These guys have been around a long time and they are professionals. They are not overpowering, but you are going to see a lot of smart pitching out there.
They have a game plan and they don’t get frustrated. You saw A.J. get all frustrated on Monday, but before that you saw Andy.
Yeah, Andy got a little frustrated, but he didn’t hold on to it and he went out there and battled. He kept his team in the ballgame and the Yankees ended up winning. That’s how you pitch.
Andy’s second pitch to Utley tonight should be a fastball away. I’m guessing you already know what the first pitch should be.