RMJ 181 August 15

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15 ● Houston, vs Philadelphia

It was with great reluctance that I stumbled out of bed in this morning. River Oaks is a beautiful golf course, but 6:30 a.m. is an unseemly hour.

Our host, team doctor Bill Bryan, is a good golfer and a big-personality guy. After a couple cups of coffee, I was ready to play. If I could hit the ball as well as I did yesterday, I would shoot a good score.

On the way to pick up Cubby, I realized that I had a stiff neck. I figured it would go away, but it did not.

Doc Bryan brought his son, Kyle, along. Kyle was miserable. Like me, he was fired up at the start. Like me, he was ready to quit at the turn. He was hitting it fat; hitting it thin. He was shanking and chili-dipping. He was a mess.

I wasn’t much better. My neck was seizing up on the follow-through. I was making a lot of double-bogeys. Cubby and Doc were playing better, but not by much. We were all soaked in sweat when we finished. You cannot arise early enough to beat the August sun.

 

We arrived at the ballpark at one o’clock. I went immediately to the trainer’s room, and got hooked up to an electrical stimulating machine. While my neck and back were being zapped, I slept for half an hour.

I awoke with a stuffed-up nose, and my neck was still stiff. I wasn’t too discouraged; I felt rested and ready to think. I was grateful I didn’t have to act.

As it turned out, no one was able to act up against Curt Schilling. He dominated the game, winning 5-1.

We had a chance to win late, but once again, I made some errors in judgment.  Chris Holt was pitching a whale of a ballgame, tied at 1 in the eighth. I paid him a visit with two outs and a runner at second, with a hot hitter, Midre Cummings, at the plate. Cummings is a lefty swinger, and Holt is right-handed. I had Martin warmed up, but Ausmus and Holt felt they could retire Cummings.

I left Chris in the game, figuring that if he could get his first win since June 21, it would do wonders for his confidence. He had a good fastball-slider-changeup combination working. I really thought he would get Cummings, until I saw a hanging curve ball float in on a 2-2 count.

I don’t know how many times we are going to have to warn our pitchers and catchers against throwing slow pitches over the plate with two strikes in the count.

Cummings hit a line drive to center, and it was 2-1. Holt finished the inning and started the ninth. He hung another curve ball with two strikes, and Greg Jefferies lined it to right for a single. I brought Russ Springer into the game, and he immediately gave up a single and a home run.

That was that. A tidy 2-hour-and-17-minute loss.

 

I am at a loss about the bullpen. Seems like I’ve lost the magic touch.

We recalled John Hudek and sent down José Cabrera. José was pitching well for us, but our other José (Lima) is out of options, and we can’t send him down without waivers.

Hudek has allowed only three hits in 17 innings at New Orleans. He has struck out 23. Perhaps he will be the glue that sticks our bullpen back together. I hated to send out Cabrera, because he had pitched so well. But we really need some veteran presence in the bullpen.

 

We also made a trade today, acquiring catcher Tony Peña for a minor-league prospect. Peña gives us the insurance we need in case Brad gets hurt. To make room on the roster, we sent out J.R. Phillips. J.R. had only one hit while he was here: a game-tying three-run homer.

I hope Peña will also be able to contribute to some wins. The loss of J.R. leaves us with no appreciable power on the bench.

One thing that was apparent after watching this game was the importance of pitching inside. Schilling moved back almost every hitter with an inside fastball. We need to be pitching inside more ourselves.

The loss to the Phils was less painful because the Pirates lost too. Beating Schilling would have been a big morale-booster, but losing to him is nothing to be ashamed of. He is really tough.

 

I was bone-tired when I got home, and with a 12:15 game for Fox tomorrow, I went straight to bed. I had a little trouble getting to sleep, because I still couldn’t breathe through my nose.