RMJ 75 April 30

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30 ● Montreal, vs Expos

I started feeling a little weak last night. I was hoping that scratchy feeling in my throat was just a bad cigar, or something. I was not surprised to wake up this morning with a full-fledged cold. A lot of the guys on the team have had it, but so far, none of the coaches.

I was hoping that it was a bug that attacked only the young, because it has been innocuous enough that no one has missed any action because of it.

Bill Brown called me at 9 a.m. We normally walk to the top of Mount Royal, enjoy the view of the city, then jog back down. I had to pass on this one, even though it was a pleasant day.

Fact is, I passed on everything, so I could save what energy I had for the game. Even so, I felt sort of foggy. I don’t know if it was the medicine Dave gave me or just the bug, but I felt about half an f-stop behind the action.

And there was plenty of action.

           

Darryl Kile had a rough go of it. He was consistently behind in the count, throwing fastballs. To his credit, he threw low strikes and got ground balls. Unfortunately, they all went through the infield for hits. The Expos got a run in the second, then we scored four off Carlos Pérez in the third. Montreal got another run in the third and three more in the fourth to take the lead.

At this point, we were one run down and D.K. had thrown 78 pitches. I decided to take him out of the game to save his arm, even though it could put stress on the bullpen.

Ramón Garcia got out of trouble, and looking back, we should have shut him down there and brought in José Lima. Lima hadn’t worked for three weeks, and he desperately needed to see some hitters. I was hoping for a game when we were way behind to run him out there.

I got my wish when I didn’t want it, because Chief didn’t have much left after pitching four innings two days ago; the Expos jumped him for three more runs.

Lima came in and got the last two outs, then pitched well in the sixth, and we came back with another run. Russ Springer kept the score that way until the ninth. He could have been a winner if Bagwell or Bell had come through with runners on second and third, but Baggy struck out and Bell went down on a broken-bat grounder, and we came up empty.

Felipe Alou brought in Lee Smith to close the game. He started off by walking Listach. Bill asked me if I wanted to keep the green light on for Pat, and I said, “Hell yes, reinforce it. This guy is slow to the plate, and Fletcher hasn’t been throwing anybody out. Monty [Ray Montgomery] might hit into a double play.”

Pat had his chance, but he did not want to take it. Ray Montgomery hit into a double play on the fourth pitch. To make matters worse, Biggio doubled and Gonzalez singled to make it 8-6, with Bagwell coming up.

If Pat had stolen second, it would have been 8-7 and only one out.

I’m not sure it would have helped us a lot, because Ugeth Urbina came in throwing bullets, and he struck out Bagwell. Still, I had Thomas Howard on deck to pinch-hit for Springer, and he is lefthanded and a fastball hitter.

I think I am going to have to have a meeting with our regular players and tell them that if we reinforce the green light, they should try to go — even if they don’t have their best jump.

Pat apparently told Bill Spiers that Smith held the ball on him; so what? The guy is 1.7 seconds to the plate; you can get a bad jump and still be safe.

He also said he was afraid of getting doubled off on a line drive. Any time you steal or hit-and-run, you take that chance. The chances of a ground-ball double-play are far greater.

That was the only thing that really ticked me off in this game. I was disappointed in myself for letting Chief stay in too long, and for not showing more confidence in Lima.

But I was more than disappointed in Pat. He has not been hitting or fielding well. His calling card is the stolen base, and he seems to be afraid to even try.

It is clear that he is not as fast as he used to be: he goes down the line 4.1-4.2 seconds, when our scouting reports had him at 3.9. Still, he has shown us the ability to get a jump and steal a base. If he’s going to help us, he’s going to have to steal, because he doesn’t get many extra-base hits.

If we had tied the game, we would have an advantage in extra innings, because both of our closers were available and they had already spent theirs.

 

This game was a good lesson for me. I conceded, mentally, when they routed Kile; I just thought it would be best to save the bullpen for tomorrow. But the way the Expos’ bullpen has been riddled, I should have been thinking “comeback win” all along. I don’t know if that would have changed anything, but it is certainly a better attitude.

 

On a positive note, my penchant for cigar-smoking has spread. The clubhouse man here, Brian Greenberg, had three Cuban cigars waiting for me, and Barry brought me another one. These things go for $10-20 a pop here. 

I can’t wait to smoke them, but I will have to smuggle them out because with this cold, I wouldn’t be able to appreciate them.

It is 12:45 a.m. now, and the bus leaves for the ballpark at 10:30 in the morning. This is no way to enjoy Montreal, but if we win tomorrow, it will be a good trip.