Tuesday, October 19, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B • Page 2
Commentary
Fenway faithful prove fan-aticism
By Jim Kitke
The Associated Press
BOSTON — They had one more chance to get it right.
No, not the Red Sox.
Their fans.
The ruckus in Fenway Park near the end of Game 4 of the American League playoff was the reason there were almost as many cops on hand Monday night as there were at Woodstock this summer.
with hiss anymore. "Hey, we understand their frustration." Boston center fielder Darren Lewis said. "But when you throw things on the field, you're crossing a line."
The sad part about too many sporting events is how blurred the line has become. Only a few letters, after all, separate "fan" from "fanatic." What's troubling about now, however, is how easily a few miscreants, stoked by alcohol, rage or a pathetic need to be part of the show, can lead entire crowds down the wrong road.
Opposing ballplayers used to talk about New York or Philadelphia — sometimes Cleveland and Chicago — as the tough places to play. There's no need to bother with lists anymore. Every town is tough.
What ever happened to peer pressure? At an NFL game in Philadelphia a few weeks ago, uglish spread through the stands at Veterans Stadium like a virus. While Dallas Cowbirds receiver Michael Irvin lay motionless on the turf after a numbing hit, what began as a few isolated cheers gathered momentum until it crashed over him like a wave. Minutes later, the same sick sentiment rippled through the crowd a second time as a stretcher was rolled onto the field to carry Irvin off.
That episode hardly marked the first time an injury to an opposing player was cheered. Yet, what was so troublesome about the latest display there was how easily the crowd let a few morons hold sway.
Likewise, the number of bottle- and garbage-throwers in the Sunday night crowd at Fenway were just a few dozen among nearly 34,000 people. What was stunning was how quickly those few managed to make the whole place feel unsafe. All they needed was an excuse. And when Red Sox manager Jimmy Williams went out to argue an umpire's blown call — the third to go against Boston this series — they had it.
By now, every baseball fan knows the story of how Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to New York just before the 1920 season to finance a Broadway play. Naturally, some people believe Williams' tirade provided the wick for those 80 years of bottled-up frustration that spilled over after Game 4.
What a crock. Even Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, whose ballpark may be the most notorious garden spot in all of sports, knew better. What happened Sunday night was the same thing that always happens: a few idiots act up; too many other people stand around and do nothing, or worse, get caught up in the moment.
"I hope we don't have to go back to New York to play these guys again." Steinbrenner said. "But if we do, I don't worry the Boston players have anything to be worried about."
Here's hoping that his confidence is not misplaced. But the dangerous few are more inventive, more abusive and more menacing. And unless the rest of us are serious about stopping them, soon they'll be the only ones in attendance.
Likee is the national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at llikeep.org.
Giants win 13-10 in waning seconds
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Tkl Barber provided the New York Giants with some revenge for Deion Sanders' heroes against them a year ago.
The Associated Press
Barber returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown, then took a short pass 56 yards to set up Brad Daluiso's 22-yard game-winning field goal with 1 second left and give the Giants a 13-10 victory against the Dallas Cowboys last night.
Cowboys not hating.
The game was 3-3 until Barber's punt return with 7:50 left in regulation gave the Giants a 10-3 lead. But Emmitt Smith scored on a 2-yard run at the end of a 68-yard, seven-play drive to tie it 10-10.
That led to more heroics by Barber, who had 233 all-
purpose yards in the game.
On a second-and-10 from their own 41, Kent Graham found Barber in the flat, and he eluded Dat Nguyen and raced to the Dallas 3, setting up Daluiso's game-winner.
"I saw I was 60 yards away with 20 seconds
left, and I
I thought I
Just split
the defenders'
like I'm
t o l d .
Barber said. "So instead of running out of bounds that's what I did."
The victory was the first for the Giants (3-3) in seven Monday night meetings with the Cowboys.
It also atoned for a 31-7 thrashing on a Monday night by Dallas (3-2) last season.
"We were embarrassed last year," Barber said. "We wanted to hold down Deion, and I think we did it. Then we made the big plays."
But the Giants got a scare. After Daluiso's game-winning field goal, he squibbed a kick and Dallas began lateraling. They got into the end zone, but it was called back because one of the passes clearly went forward.
"I was at Stanford during the Stanford-Cal fiasco." Giants coach Jim Fassel said, referring to the play on which Cal returned a last-second kickoff for a touchdown through the Stanford band. "We didn't get it deep enough, and I was seeing ghosts for a few seconds."
Daluiso tore a ligament in his right knee on the play and is probably lost for the season.
Bye weeks: Kansas City,
Baltimore, Tampa Bay.
WEEK SIX NFL SCORES
Miami 31, New England 30. Dolphins make comeback with out injured Dan Marino.
Pittsburgh 17, Cincinnati 3.
Bengals free-fall continues.
- Oakland 20, Buffalo 14. Bills quarterback Doug Flutie threw three interceptions and only completed 19 of 41 passes.
Bengalis Commissio
St. Louis 41, Atlanta 13. The Rams are the NFL's only undefeated team left.
Jacksonville 24, Cleveland 7.
Brownls led at halftime but are still looking for first win.
Tennessee 24, New Orleans 21.
Titans scored all their points in second half.
Indianapolis 16, New York Jets
13. Jets wish Vinny Testaverde
was playing.
was playing:
Detroit 25, Minnesota 23. Lions kicker Jason Hanson launches six field goals.
Philadelphia 20, Chicago 16.
Eagles win first road game since 1996.
Denver 31, Green Bay 10.
Broncos rookie quarterback
Brian Griese throws for 363
vards.
San Diego 13, Seattle 10.
Chargers kicker John Carney booted 41-yard field goal as time expired.
Carolina 31, San Francisco 29.
Failed two-point conversion
ended comeback hope for
49ers.
Washington 24, Arizona 10.
Redskins amass more than 400
yards of total offense.
Yankees win 25th title head to World Series
The Associated Press
It will be the Yankees' third trip to the World Series in four years and an opportunity for them to win their 25th title. All of those championships have come since Boston won its last championship in 1918, two years before the Red Sox sold Ruth to New York.
Hernandez, blowing on his hand to keep warm on a chilly night, improved to 4-0 with an 0.97 ERA in five career starts in the postseason.
starts in the postseason.
El Duque shut down
the Red Sox on three
hits through seven
innings, but left after
Jason Varitek homered
to start the eighth and
Nomar Garciaparra
followed with a double
Mike Stanton relieved, setting off a series of mix-and-match moves by managers Joe Torre of the Yankees and Jimy Williams of the Red Sox.
Allen Watson wound up walking pinch-hitter Butch Huskey to load the bases with one out. But just like always, the Red Sox fell short against the Yankees.
Ramiro Mendoza came in from the bullpen and kept it at 4-1, striking out pinch-hitter Scott Hatteben on a 3-2 pitch that bounced and getting Trot Nixon on a foul pop.
Jorge Posada hit a clinching two-run
homer off Tom Gordon in the ninth.
this first-ever postseason meeting
Despite the disappointment, the Red Sox fans did not let their frustration spill over. Maybe a heavy security was responsible, but it was quite a different scene from Sunday night, when the Fenway faithful littered the field with debris after an ampire's bad call.
between the Yankees and Boston ended up the same way regular-season duels did for so many years, from the days when Joe DiMaggio led New York against Ted Williams and the Red Sox, to the afternoon when Bucky Dent's homer won a 1978 American League East tiebreaker.
Twice during the series, umpires admitted blowing calls against Boston. The Red Sox did not help themselves in the five games, though, by making 10 errors.
series - went to Knoblauch led off the game with a single against Kent Mercker and Jeter homered into a stiff wind for a center-field shot that made it 2-0. After only eight pitches, Bryce Florie was warming up for the Red Sox.
Rather, all that promise the Red Sox held — they rallied from an 0-2 deficit to beat Cleveland in the best-of-5 division series, then roughed up former star Roger Clemens in Game 3 of this series — went to waste.
It was a cold night — 48 degrees at gametime with a 17 mph wind. During batting practice, a few Yankees players in left field tried beat the chill by stepping through a door into the Green Monster itself.
Day of rest well-earned for NL playoff teams
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — At last, the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets rested. Who could blame them?
The teams dragged into Atlanta on Monday, still feeling the aftershocks of one of the greatest post-season games in baseball history.
An National League Championship Series that looked like a blowout just a couple of days ago is now up for grabs. Sure, the Braves have a 3-2 lead and the next two games at home, if needed. But New York is riding a wave of emotion after its 15-inning, 4-3 victory in Game 5 Sunday night.
For the Mets, it was a time to revel in their improbable victory the night before at Shea Stadium. For the Braves, it was a chance to forget.
in Game 5's Sunday night.
"It's a team that obviously doesn't quit," said third baseman Robin Ventura, whose grand slam-single added at least two more days to the Mets season. "It just seems like this team responds to dire situations."
"Nobody is too down, nobody is too up," insisted Kevin Millwood, who will start Game 6 for Atlanta. "I think everybody is just preparing for tomorrow."
Neither team worked out Monday, choosing to rest up for Game 6 Tuesday night at Turner Field.
There were about 6,000 empty
seats for the first two games of the series, but a sellout is expected in Game 6. The Braves sold some 6,000 tickets following Game 5 and had only 3,000 remaining.
It was the longest postseason game by time ever, surpassing the 5-hour, 13-minute marathon between the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners in Game 2 of a 1995 division series.
Whether the final score was 7-3 or 4-3 didn't matter. New York became only the second team in playoff history to force a Game 6 after losing the first three games of a series. The Braves were the first, mounting a comeback against San
Diego in last year's National League Championship Series and seeming — like the Mets — to have all the momentum on their side following a 7-6 victory in Game 5.
That was the game in which Padres ace Kevin Brown, working in relief, gave up a three-run-homer to Michael Tucker in the eighth and Greg Maddux pitched the ninth for his first career save.
Two days later, the Braves returned to Turner Field before a raucous crowd and managed just two hits in a 5-0 loss that sent San Diego to the World Series.
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