RMJ 76 May 1
THURSDAY, MAY 1 ● Montreal, vs Expos
May Day! May Day! Let us out of here!
Half the team has this cold now, and the rest of them have Martinezitis. We won’t see Pedro again until the end of July, and that’s too soon for most of our hitters.
What a game he pitched today! A three-hit shutout. It didn’t help that Chris Holt was without his best stuff, and the Expos were able to jump out in front and give Martinez a little working room. But I’m not sure he needed it.
The first time through the order, he brushed every hitter back from the plate at least once. He hit the outside corner with fastballs and sliders at will, and he mixed in an occasional changeup. Each time he faced a hitter, he gave him a little different sequence.
I’m going to review the tape, and if it looks like I think it will, I may use it as a teaching tool for some of our young pitchers.
The first time we faced him, we actually got an earned run when Russ Johnson hit a homer. That is the only earned run Martinez gave up in April.
I suppose it is comforting to know that no one else has been able to hit him, but the fact is, we will have to beat some good pitchers 1-0 or 2-1 if we are going to win our division.
We have already won a few low-scoring games. And with the Marlins coming to the Dome, we may have to win some more to stay over .500.
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | BF | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedro Martinez, W (4-0) | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0.31 | 32 | 111 | 74 |
In this game, we could have gotten out of the first inning without a run if Pat Listach had made a play behind the second-base bag on Henry Rodriguez. It looked like a tough play at first, but when I saw the replay, I knew that he should have made it.
That set the tone. Chris was in trouble throughout the game, and Martinez was cutting through our lineup like a hot knife through butter.
Derek Bell was lucky enough not to be in the lineup today. Before the game, Mac told me he thought it would be good to give him a day off.
“Derek’s not ready for this guy right now,” Mac said. Then he told me that he had been talking with a psychologist friend about Derek. This is just another example of the way the coaches go the extra mile. Of course, we as a team will not go beyond the regular season unless Derek Bell hits a lot better than he is hitting now.
“The guy told me that with a personality like Derek’s, you can only work on something for three or four minutes at a time,” Mac said. “I’m going to work his ass off today. We’ll work for three minutes and then take a break. Then we’ll do it over, again and again. Maybe it will help.”
I don’t know if it will help.
Derek certainly hit the ball well in BP today, but then he always hits the ball well in BP. I know one thing for sure: When he saw the way Martinez was throwing, he wasn’t champing at the bit to get in there.
On the way out of Montreal, one of the US Customs agents was giving everyone a hard time about not having passports or visas. Normally, the only players who are required to carry these documents are the players from countries other than the US.
When I was going through, the clerk couldn’t find my boarding pass. Jim Deshaies was not
traveling with us, so Barry told me to just use Jim’s pass.
When I got to the customs agent, I had both arms full of carryon luggage. He asked me to show identification, and I put down my bag and retrieved my driver’s license.
“So, where were you born?” he asked.
“Hollywood,” I said.
“California or Florida?”
“California.”
“This all the ID you got? Anyone can get a fake driver’s license.”
I showed him my Social Security card.
“That’ll help you out when you retire. It’s not any good here.”
At this point I’m thinking:
C’mon, we lost the games, and we donated our three-dozen autographed team balls to the national economy. Let’s get on with the process.
“How would you like it if twenty guys you didn’t know got on your team plane?” he said.
“I wouldn’t,” I said, playing along. “But I don’t think that is going to happen. We all know each other.”
“If all you had to have was a driver’s license and a boarding pass, you may get some strange people on the plane.”
At this point I was thinking that they couldn’t possibly be any stranger than this guy.
I was also amused that he didn’t notice that my boarding pass said Deshaies and my driver’s license said Dierker. Oh well, they say it takes all kinds. By the way, does anal-retentive have a hyphen?