Chili on Pedro

August 6, 2008 by Benjamin Kabak 11 Comments

Once upon a time, back on Sept. 10, 1999 in a game I remember vividly, Pedro Martinez shut down the Yankees. He struck out 17 Yanks and allowed just two base runners as Chuck Knoblauch was hit by a pitch and Chili Davis homered. While the Yanks held the Red Sox to just three runs, it was all for naught. Last week, Davis sat down with BP writer and keeper of the Pinstripe Bible Steven Goldman to talk about that game. It’s a glimpse back to both Pedro and the Yankees in their respective late-1990s primes.

ceciguante

i say cashman should offer chili the league minimum to come off the bench.
JohnnyC

They missed an opportunity…or I should say Torre missed an opportunity…to have Chili be the batting coach at least twice: before offering Mattingly the job and then after they moved Mattingly to bench coach. Chili was not one of Joe’s guys.
steve (different one)

i remember listening to this game on the radio in the car.

i also think the next day was the game where Bryce Florie was hit in the eye, but i could be wrong.
- The Honorable Congressman Mondesi
  
  Actually I was at that game (the Florie incident), it was in Fenway.
Michael T

Ben K-

I was at the Pedro 17k game at the Satdium. we had seats in the fron row field level, just to the right of home plate so it was literally the “bater’s view”. This was the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen in sports.

Me and my buddy (A Bosox fan) who were at teh game togetehr still joke that it would have been an 18k perfect game, except Chili Davis guessed fastball and got a change-up. Get it? (His bat was so slow at that stage of his career that he accidentally hit the HR).
stuart

Sorry but back to the jeter AB with the bases loaded.. you stat geeks never look at context or the situation.. You tell me Jeter is a better hitter with a 3 and 1 count then 3 and 2, DUH..ALmost every hitter is..

Rupe was imploding take the pitch, use your brain….
- steve (different one)
  
  you are being annoying in the wrong thread.
  - Clayton
    
    Sorry I know this is the wrong thread, but I can’t let it go.
    
    Its not called stats, it called understanding baseball. Jeter was in a strong hitter’s count. A good hitter in that situation will look for a fastball over the plate that he can drive. If you look at Gameday, you will see that Jeter got a 95 mph fastball over the heart of the plate. The perfect pitch for a batter on a 3-1 count. Jeter drove the ball, he just happened to hit a line drive right at Kinsler.
    
    Also, in the at bat Jeter was fooled by a slider on the second pitch. If the count went to 3-2, he would have to prepare for the fastball and try to ward off the slider. I would much rather have a batter drive a 3-1 fastball that was a strike then take his chances on a 3-2 pitch.
    
    How can you fault a hitter for hitting a line drive on a strike? That is a ridiculous statement.
stuart

clayton again you forget one variable Rupe could not throw a strike..

that is the key point..

he could not throw a strike….
- Clayton
  
  Read my reply, according to Gameday it was a strike.
Joey H

haha now hes a loser that cant stay healthy with a 6 ERA.