Running Commentary on Game 6 of 2001 World Series
Sun, Nov 4, 2001
by Geoff Young
Thought I’d try something a little different: a running commentary on last night’s game. Enjoy…
4:52 p.m. Filthy slider to Derek Jeter. My goodness. No chance.
4:54 p.m. Interesting play by Greg Colbrunn. Easy inning for Randy Johnson. Too easy.
4:58 p.m. Huge break for the Yankees. That ball stays in the park, Tony Womack is on third.
5:00 p.m. Give ‘em credit, Diamondbacks have come out fighting.
5:02 p.m. Luis Gonzalez swings at ball four, up 3-and-0. Oops.
5:04 p.m. Nice play by Alfonso Soriano to double up Gonzalez. Easy grounder by Colbrunn to end the inning. Pettitte gets out of the first allowing only one run.
5:08 p.m. Jorge Posada first pitch swinging. Second straight inning Johnson gets the first out on one pitch.
5:11 p.m. Tino Martinez singles to center off Johnson after looking helpless on an 0-1 slider. Impressive.
5:12 p.m. Johnson makes it through the first two innings with just 17 pitches. What’s up with that?
5:16 p.m. First shot of Matt Williams’ wife. Is that really the babe from Blame It on Rio?
5:17 p.m. Reggie Sanders hammers a pitch to dead center for a double. Two runners in scoring position, nobody out. Arizona needs to score some runs this inning.
5:26 p.m. Womack comes up big, again. Pettitte is in trouble.
5:31 p.m. Danny Bautista battles Pettitte, drills one over shortstop, 4-0. Scott Brosius’ poor throw to the plate on Johnson’s grounder is looming large.
5:33 p.m. First Jay Witasick sighting. I smile every time I see him. Thanks, George.
5:34 p.m. Pettitte needs 32 pitches to get through the second. Maybe there will be a Game 7 after all.
5:37 p.m. Brosius takes the first pitch of the third. That’s more like it.
5:40 p.m. Pettitte lines a single to left. Are you kidding? Lefties are 2-for-2 against Johnson tonight.
5:50 p.m. Bernie Williams draws a walk after fouling off a few 3-2 pitches. Jorge Posada steps to the plate as the tying run.
5:53 p.m. Posada strikes out on a pitch in his eyes. I thought only Soriano swung at that pitch. Yankees do not score.
5:58 p.m. Damian Miller draws a walk. Nice at-bat.
6:02 p.m. Matt Williams up. Do something big, so we can see your wife again.
6:03 p.m. Williams drills a double over the head of right fielder Shane Spencer, after just missing a double down the left field line. Pettitte is out of the game. No shot of Williams’ wife.
6:06 p.m. Two former Padres face each other. Witasick versus Sanders.
6:07 p.m. Base hit left Sanders, 5-0.
6:09 p.m. Base hit left Jay Bell, 6-0. Witasick is useless.
6:11 p.m. Chants of "Yankees Suck" begin. Base hit left Miller, Sanders holds at third. Bases loaded, nobody out, Johnson up.
6:12 p.m. Randy Choate up in the bullpen.
6:14 p.m. Johnson singles past a drawn-in Soriano, 7-0. Someone needs to tell Witasick this is not batting practice.
6:16 p.m. Womack goes down on three pitches. One out, bases still loaded.
6:17 p.m. Base hit center Bautista, 9-0. This is embarrassing.
6:18 p.m. Base hit left Gonzalez. Nice play by Posada to cut off that critical 11th run.
6:19 p.m. Base hit center Colbrunn, 11-0. Replays show Posada didn’t tag Bautista for second out.
6:21 p.m. Double to right-center Matt Williams, 12-0. Still no shot of his wife. Now that there’s going to be a Game 7, do you pull Johnson after five so he can maybe face a batter or two tomorrow?
6:28 p.m. Fox poll asks whether Bob Brenly should pull Johnson early. Spencer strikes out.
6:30 p.m. Yes: 64%, No: 36%. Johnson’s at 56 pitches right now; if he can make it through five with 70-75, I think about it.
6:36 p.m. Strikeout, wild pitch; Bell reaches first. Poor Witasick.
6:38 p.m. Miller misses a homer to dead center by inches; double scores Bell, 13-0.
6:39 p.m. Yes: 69%, No: 31%. Tim McCarver is convinced Johnson wouldn’t be able to give anything in Game 7 but I’m not so sure.
6:42 p.m. Joe Torre finally pulls Witasick after Womack singles to left. Enter Choate. After going on record as saying I’d be surprised if there would be a Game 7, I’m hoping crow doesn’t taste too bad. Ah well, pizza is on the way.
6:46 p.m. Soriano botches routine grounder, 14-0. McCarver asks whether this is bad or ugly. Ugly is perhaps too kind.
6:47 p.m. Base hit left Gonzalez, 15-0. My fingers are getting tired. David Dellucci pinch-runs for Gonzalez. This is a remarkable display of character by the Diamondbacks.
6:51 p.m. Joe Buck manages to get excited by a nice barehanded pickup by Brosius.
6:58 p.m. Knoblauch grounds out to short to end the fifth. Johnson has thrown 69 pitches. If ever there is a time for Bobby Witt to pitch in a World Series game, it’s now.
7:36 p.m. Pizza was excellent. Johnson is still in the game, up 15-2 in the seventh. Did you see him screaming after the first Yankee run crossed the plate last inning?
7:39 p.m. I don’t mean to sound unpatriotic but I’m really looking forward to hearing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” again.
7:41 p.m. Yuck. I thought anybody could sing “God Bless America.” Guess not.
7:43 p.m. Clay Bellinger enters the game in left field for the Yankees. Witt begins to warm up for Arizona.
7:50 p.m. Erubiel Durazo bats for Johnson.
7:53 p.m. Durazo strikes out against Mike Stanton. Nobody cares.
7:56 p.m. New battery for the Diamondbacks. Witt on the mound, Rod Barajas behind the dish. Yawn.
8:02 p.m. Troy Brohawn sighting.
8:10 p.m. Buck is still talking about Johnson possibly being available for Game 7. Uh, Joe, let it go. The guy threw 104 pitches.
8:17 p.m. Enter Brohawn. He hasn’t pitched since the regular season? Easy chopper back at him, one out in the ninth.
8:21 p.m. Is that graphic right? The Yankees outscored the Pirates, 55-27 in the 1960 World Series and lost? Yikes.
8:23 p.m. Bellinger just misses hitting the most meaningless homer in World Series history.
8:24 p.m. Bellinger strikes out swinging, game over. “New York, New York” over the PA after the game? That’s pretty tacky.
8:27 p.m. Johnson tells Jeannie Zelasko he will be available for Game 7.
Well, it was a heckuva game. I really thought after Games 4 and 5, and particularly given Brenly’s propensity to make boneheaded calls, the Diamondbacks were toast. I give them ultimate credit, though. They came to play and thoroughly dismantled the defending champs. If this was a test of character, the Arizona club passed with flying colors.
Game 7 between Curt Schilling and former mentor Roger Clemens promises to be a classic.
Picking up where last year's version left off, the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual provides in-depth analysis of and commentary on the San Diego Padres. Get your copy today.
