RMJ 60 April 15

TUESDAY, APRIL 15 ● in Houston, vs Montreal

Today is Tax Day. Once again, I am filing an extension. It’s hard to get it done when you are out of town in March and April. 

I wish they would go to a consumption tax. It would certainly make things a lot easier, and it would capture a lot of money that is currently passing under the table. It would also encourage savings, which would be a boon to the government down the line, because they tax you more for dying than for working.

           

A bottle of champagne greeted me when I got to the ballpark. It came with a card from Rodger Brulotte, the Expos’ French announcer. I think about how much the Expos have struggled to stay in the league, usually coming up a little short of first place, a little short on paid admissions. I think the announcers do pretty well there. But the franchise seems in constant jeopardy, which must be disconcerting to a French announcer.

Still, Rodger seems as sunny a man as I have ever met. You might say hale fellow well met but he is so small that hale seems too large. I know he doesn’t get his pleasant disposition from the Montreal weather; perhaps he gets it from a higher source. When I saw him later, I thanked him and told him I would drink it in October.

 

After batting practice, I spoke with our team doctor, Bill Bryan, about Sid Fernandez.   I had forgotten that my son, Ryan, had seen him too.

Dr. Bryan told me that Ryan had a bone separation that was attributed to growth plates.

“It would be better if he didn’t play this summer.” he said. “He should be fine next year.”

The news on El Sid was inconclusive. He still has a lot of pain, and he cannot throw. But it seems like it is muscular, rather than nerve damage. This was good news, in a way: the muscles might recover rather quickly, but nerve damage likely would have ended his season — and his career.

           

The game with the Expos was relaxing — in the wrong sort of way.

Chris Holt was greeted by a pop-fly double that should have been caught. He made matters worse by trying to get the out at third on a bunt, failing miserably. After a strikeout, he yielded a single. Henry Rodriguez then hit an opposite-field homer to make it 4-0.

When he hit the ball, it sounded like his bat was made of cardboard — or maybe filled with cork. There is no way a sound like that is associated with an off-field homer in the Dome.

I looked at Bill Virdon and said, “That didn’t sound right.”

He agreed, but we let it slide. We were down 4-0, and when Pedro Martínez came out the mound, he was throwing 95 MPH. It looked like a loss in the making, but we still had a long way to go.

Holt tightened up and held them scoreless until the seventh. In the meantime, Russ Johnson hit his first big-league homer to make it 4-1.

In the seventh, Holt tired. He gave up a double to Shane Andrews, and a one-out RBI single to pinch-hitter Doug Strange. I came out to get Holt and brought in José Lima, who has been no mystery to National League batters in the early going. Lima gave up a triple to F.P. Santangelo and sacrifice fly to Mike Lansing. Now it was 7-1.

We got a run back in the seventh off Dave Veres on a triple by Gonzo and an RBI grounder.

In the eighth, we threatened again, and Felipé Alou went to this closer, Ugeth Urbina — the first double-U player in big-league history. With one out, Biggio and Abreu singled and then Bagwell hit a three-run homer on a 3-0 pitch.

Now it was 7-5, and I wished that I had brought Russ Springer into the game instead of Lima. Still, if Lima is going to be on the staff, we need for him to pitch enough to stay sharp; get sharp might be a better expression.

He doesn’t walk batters, but he sure throws a lot of pitches down the middle.

Springer pitched the top of the ninth, and Russ Johnson walked with one out in the bottom of the frame. I brought Thomas Howard up to hit for Listach, hoping for an extra-base hit. James Mouton would then hit for the pitcher, and then we would be at the top of the lineup with a chance to win.

It didn’t work out that way. Howard hit a check-swing grounder to short, and the game ended in a double play.

 

Afterward, Biggio came into my office, complaining about Rodriguez’ bat. “They got a guy that plugs them up there,” he said. “I know they’re cheating. No way he hit that ball good enough to leave in left field. We ought to get all his bats out of there tonight and have them X-rayed before the game tomorrow.”

I told him I would check on it, and I got out the rule book. As I read it, Rodriguez could be kicked out, fined, and suspended if caught. But I’m not sure this would help us. We can’t get the game back, because we did not protest at the time. And if we catch him tomorrow, his punishment will come when he is playing another team.

At any rate, I’m going to review a tape of the game to see what I can tell.