Noon
Game 30: May 8, 2005
Mariners (12-18), 3
Red Sox (18-12), 6
L: Joel Pineiro (2-3)
W: Jeremi Gonzalez (1-0)
H: Mike Myers (2)
H: Matt Mantei (4)
H: Mike Timlin (7)
S: Keith Foulke (8)
There was a moment of silence at the noon game for Bernie Logue. The public address announcer simply said that he was part of the Red Sox organization, so I didn’t know more about him until I came home. By his picture on the jumbotron and the year of his birth, you could tell that he was young and that his passing was unexpected. Combined with the grey and cold, a bit of a pall was cast over the day. There was no batting practice for either team before the game, but as the Red Sox players were warming up, I remember seeing David Ortiz put his arm around Kevin Millar. At the time, I thought it was your usual expression of camaraderie, but it was probably more given the circumstances. Requiescat in pace.
There’s quite possibly no one I fear more at the plate and on the basepaths than Ichiro Suzuki. He’s a human catalyst. Once he gets on first with no outs, you might was well mark down a run. In the 1st inning he singled, stole second, reached third on a throwing error by Doug Mirabelli (but no one was backing up second), and scored on Richie Sexson’s sacrifice fly.
Some things never make it to the boxscore. Suzuki fielded Jay Payton’s 2-RBI single in the 4th inning and made a throw from right field that made it to home plate without a bounce and was right on target. Payton’s hit itself was a thing of beauty from my vantage point in the left field loge boxes, right below where the .406 Club ends and the luxury boxes begin. It bounded down the right field foul line, receding into the curve past Pesky Pole.
For Rashomon accounts of Games 30 and 31, visit Jere and Rebecca’s sites, as they were there and might remember things differently. In-person Jere noted that there is usually an opposing team-inspired song before “Centerfield,” and he mentioned it should be a Seattle band. I recommended “Jeremy,” but that song wasn’t played, and no one could recall what eventually did blare from the speakers.
Jeremi with an i went 5.2 innings, ending with a line of 4 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, and his first win this season. Let the record show, however, that Dave McCarty can pitch, too. Can Jeremi field?
