RJM 228 October 1

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1 ● Atlanta ● Playoffs, Game 2 vs Braves

I woke up from a distressing dream at 8 a.m. Everyone else was sleeping. I had time to walk down the street to Starbucks to get two Café Grandés and bring one back for Judy.

There is nothing I can do in life to ingratiate myself with her that has quite the impact of a fresh cup of coffee. I may return home a villain, but at least I have started today’s battle with a victory, which was a lot better than my dream.

I told Judy that in my dream I kept trying to jump off a building and land on my feet. Somehow, I never was able to do it, but I didn’t die trying. The crowd was laughing and jeering, and I tried to pull a rabbit out of a hat, and couldn’t. I knew I wasn’t a magician, and I could not comprehend why I was humiliating myself that way.

Baseball can be mysterious, but I’m glad I am a baseball manager and not an interpreter of dreams.  

 

There was no one from our team at the cab stand in front of the hotel at 9:00. I figured they were already at the park, and I was right.

I ended up going out with Rob Matwick, and he told me that we had a sellout for the first playoff game and that it looked like we would sell them all out if the series went to five games.

I knew a win today was critical, because the Braves’ pitchers like the Astrodome better than their own park. We have actually won more games in Atlanta than in Houston the past few years.

“If you can pull a win out of your hat today, we’ll be in good shape,” Rob said. I did a double-take and told him about my dream. We sat in silence for moment, and then he laughed. There was nothing left to say.

           

Tom Glavine was on the mound for the Braves, and I was hoping we would be patient enough to get to him and get into their middle relief.

Glavine is a nibbler; he won’t throw a strike unless he has to. Most of our hitters are selective. I figured we had a pretty good chance if Hampton was on his game.

Unfortunately, Hamp was wild. He wasn’t nibbling; he was just flat wild.

We did manage to make Glavine work, and we got him out of there in time to face rookie Mike Cather. By that time, it was too late.

Hamp looked a little shaky in the first and second innings, but he got out with no runs. In the third, Glavine got a hit, Lofton walked, and Jeff Blauser hit a three-run homer.

Blauser has always hit Mike well; that I knew. What bothered me is that Hamp allowed two lefthanded hitters to reach base. If he had retired them, he would have started the fourth inning with Blauser, pitching from a windup. It would have been a whole new ballgame, as they say.

Well, at least we showed some spunk in the fourth inning. Richard Hidalgo and Billy Spiers walked in front of a two-out double by Brad Ausmus. I’m sure the writers and broadcasters were letting Bobby Cox have it for not walking Ausmus. I would have pitched to him too; Brad is only 2-for-23 off Glavine. And Hampton is a pretty good hitter. He proved it by lining a single down the right-field line to tie the score.

In the fifth, the Braves untied it. Four consecutive walks were all I could stand. I brought Mike Magnante in to face Ryan Klesko. Bobby pinch-hit with Greg Colbrunn. I thought we were going to escape with just one run when Colbrunn chopped the ball to the right side, but Biggio was playing way up the middle and couldn’t get to the ball. Instead of two outs, they got two runs and then added two more to put Glavine on Easy Street.

It wasn’t that easy for him, however. His control was as bad as I’ve ever seen it, and after struggling through a scoreless sixth, he came out of the game — but not before he delivered another single in a scoring rally.

In the bottom of the eighth, I brought Billy Wagner in for a tuneup. We had tomorrow off, and I wanted build Billy’s confidence. You may recall that this is where he gave up the game-winning home run to Javy Lopez that started his slump. I was convinced he would have a good inning, and be ready to save Friday’s game in Houston for Shane.

Shows how much I know.

Lopez got him again, this time with a two-run double.

We lost, or should I say, were embarrassed 13-3.

 

I knew I was going to get grilled about leaving Hampton in to walk four consecutive batters. There were two outs when he came unglued, and it seemed likely that he would eventually throw a strike and that someone would hit it and make an out. He did throw a few strikes, with no such luck.

The question came up, as I knew it would. I just said that we continually tell our pitchers that no matter how much trouble they are in, they are still just one pitch from getting out of it. I thought Mike would make that one pitch, and that if he survived the inning, he might settle down and pitch a good ballgame.

I don’t know if they bought this reasoning, or they just felt sorry for me, but they let it go at that.

 

I felt really tired when I got back from the press conference. I hoped I wouldn’t have to do much one-on-one stuff — especially for television. No one was in my office when I got there, so I jumped in the shower and stood there soaking my head.

This was the low point of the year for me. I knew it was extremely unlikely that we could beat them three in a row at home. The dream wasn’t over, but it would be hard for me to keep my eyes closed long enough to get the happy ending.

As it turned out, I only had to do a couple of interviews, and I was able to duck out and spend ten minutes with Judy before the buses left for the airport.

I tried to sleep on the bus, but I was too weary. One thing I did contemplate was what it would be like when it was over. I realized that if we lost the final game, and I felt as empty as I did right then, I wouldn’t feel like talking to the guys and thanking them for their effort. I made a mental note to talk to them before the workout tomorrow.

 

When the bus arrived at the Dome, there were a few reporters on hand. Judy and I carried all of our luggage, so we didn’t have to wait for the equipment truck. We made a beeline for the car, and we arrived home just after dark.

I felt worse than ever — really down in the dumps. Six months of continuous effort had been reduced to the desperate hope of a sweep.

We waited for Ryan to return with Rick and Susan. I talked to Rick a little about the game and then hit the sack, hoping for sweet release — and no more dreams.