Renascent
Game 141: September 10, 2005
Red Sox (83-58), 9
Yankees (79-62), 2
W: Curt Schilling (6-7)
L: Shawn Chacon (5-10)
4 games ahead in the division
1 game winning streak
I always thought that the saying “the worm will turn” came from the mythology of the phoenix. After immolation, some versions say the bird would be reborn from a worm in the ashes. Other variations say the bird would re-emerge from an egg or from the marrow of a single remaining bone. The entirety of the proverb is “tread on the worm and it will turn,” however, and again my knowledge is shown to be lacking. This adage is inspiring, giving hope to the downtrodden that they will have their day.
But I like the image of a lowly worm transforming into a lustrous creature so different from its meager origins. It’s not unlike how Schilling has seemingly turned around his season with his start yesterday against the Yankees. The righty threw 108 pitches over 8 innings, allowing 5 hits and 2 earned runs (including 1 home run by the resurgent Jason Giambi) with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. For nineteen of the 32 hitters he faced he had first pitch strikes.
It took a while, but Schilling has returned to last year’s postseason form, this time without his tendon being stapled. He didn’t give up a hit until the 4th inning, and that was to the aforementioned Giambi, who may have found a new regime to return to hitting competence. Schilling even had his reflexes tested with a Bernie Williams comebacker in the 1st that he nimbly snatched with his bare pitching hand. In the 3rd, however, he dropped an underhanded toss from John Olerud to allow the first baserunner of the game in the form of Matt Lawton.
Manny Ramirez had a revival of his own in the 1st inning with his 2-run home run. It wasn’t a cheap right field porch shot, either. With David Ortiz, who had reached on a walk after a 9-pitch at bat, Ramirez absolutely scorched the ball beyond center field, into the vicinity of Monument Park.
The Red Sox 6-run 4th inning sounded the death knell for the Yankees. Olerud began the barrage with a shot to the right field upper deck to score his 7th round-tripper of the year. Bill Mueller, Gabe Kapler, and Tony Graffanino all singled in a row to load the bases with no out. Although Edgar Renteria grounded into a force play that had Mueller out at the plate, Ortiz came through with what should have been a simple sacrifice fly to left. Hideki Matsui dropped the ball for only his 2nd error of the season to keep the bases loaded with 1 out. Ramirez singled to the opposite field for his 3rd RBI of the game and Trot Nixon singled to center to get 2 RBIs of his own. Jason Varitek hit a grounder that should have been a room service double play had not the spirit of Chuck Knoblauch possessed Robinson Cano, who threw the ball near Derek Jeter’s personal radar gun technician. Olerud came back to the plate and flied out to center, but meanwhile the Red Sox batted around for the 37th time this season.
Graffanino demonstrated transcendent baserunning instincts in the 8th inning by not letting up out of the box on his fly ball to center. Knowing that he was running on the weak-armed Williams, he led off with a triple. The Red Sox second baseman scored the 9th and final run of the game when his double play mate Renteria sacrifice flied to center.
The Yankees got a glimpse of Jonathan Papelbon in the 9th inning. He yielded a single to Cano, a walk to Mark Bellhorn, but struck out Lawton and induced a fly out from Jeter to end the game. To everything there is a season, turn, turn, turn.
