October 25, 200323 yr Expect eruption from Mount George October 24, 2003 BY JAY MARIOTTI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Advertisement MIAMI -- You can blame a priest in Chicago for this madness, this seismic shakeup in baseball's social order, this precious possibility that a little teal machine will topple the bloated Steinbrenners and cause Yankeegeddon. When the Marlins were in town for a certain series that Cubdom seems to have forgotten, America's Grandpa, Jack McKeon, was blessed by a priest who happened to be a Cubs fan. Why a man of the clergy would prioritize church duties over his favorite team is beyond me, especially when the Cubs need all the spiritual help in the city limits. But he made the Florida manager feel so good that he kept returning, day after day. "I went on an off day when we arrived in Chicago,'' McKeon said Thursday. "Next day, we were playing the Cubs in Game 6. I was sitting in the pew before church had begun. The priest came up to me and said, 'I want to wish you good luck.' When I went to the ballpark that night, I knew we were going to win. I just had that feeling.'' And they did, thanks in part to the itchy hand of the Most Famous Bartman Since Simpson. So what did McKeon do the next day? "I went back,'' he said. "I didn't see the guy. But then we won [Game 7] and won the pennant. I went back the following day because we had to hang around Chicago to find out where we were going to play next. He came by again. He shook my hand and congratulated me.'' Then the priest confessed. "I hate to tell you, but I'm a Cub fan,'' he told McKeon. "I wish you guys luck and hope you beat whoever you have to play'' That opponent would be the mighty New York Yankees. Unfazed by payrolls and pinstripes, the Marlins are performing just as the priest hoped in the World Series, drawing to within a victory of a preposterous world championship with a 6-4 win in Game 5. Afterward, the fans in Miami chanted the typical Yankees-related obscenity chant while Aerosmith's "Dream On'' pounded over the speakers. What's crazier: the shot of the 11-year-old Marlins winning two World Series in six seasons, when Chicago's teams haven't won any in a collective 181, or the sight of the Yankees reeling with injuries, batting slumps and other issues? "We haven't been down this road many times,'' manager Joe Torre said. "When we've won the World Series, I think six [games] was the longest for us. You really don't think about what you don't have now. You have to see what you do have and hope to get the job done." The only issue for McKeon is his starting pitcher in Game 6. Will he use his stud, Josh Beckett, on three' days rest? Or will he save Beckett for a possible Game 7. "I have an idea, but I'm not saying,'' he said. Knowing McKeon's pact with the unconventional, expect Beckett, keeping in mind that everything he touches turns to gold. The evening started with a twinge, then a cringe, then a sense of dread throughout the Evil Empire. You could see the pain in David Wells' beer-weathered face when his problematic lower back spazzed out again, at the worst possible time, proving a pitcher with a rubber arm also can have a lumbar disc made of cookie dough. But what you couldn't see was the look on George Steinbrenner's face. The look of a thousand hemorrhoids, I'd say. When Wells departed after one inning and eight pitches, so went the Yankees' hold on the Series. Suddenly, they appear old, battered, frazzled and quite ordinary as they limp back to the Bronx, sapped of their momentum and energy by the Marlins. As it was, the Yankees were using a lineup unbecoming of their $150 million payroll after Alfonso (Kid K) Soriano was benched and Jason Giambi didn't start because of knee soreness, which sounded lame from a slugger with a seven-figure contract who wound up homering in the ninth. Then came Boomer's busted backside, resulting in the shortest Series outing by a starting pitcher in 19 years. Next thing you knew, the Yankees trotted out tired Jose Contreras and hittable Chris Hammond, throwing the ball away in easy rundowns and looking ripe for one of the wildest and most popular upsets in baseball history. Imagine if they're whipped by the Marlins, a team with one-third the payroll and exactly two .500 seasons in their brief existence. That gurgling noise is bubbling lava, ready to flare from Steinbrenner's nostrils like fire from a dragon. Mt. Boss is completely out of control, even more than usual, prepared to rage with laughable fury if he doesn't get his way and the Yankees fail. Before falling behind 3 games to 2, he had taken to paraphrasing one of his war heroes, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, in a statement that puts goosebumps on your arms because of its creepiness. "For us, winning isn't the only thing. It's second to breathing,'' Steinbrenner said. "As MacArthur said, 'Victory is essential.' '' Steinbrenner's statements are potent in what they reveal: a maniacal, win-or-else mantra that will result in front-office dismissals, dramatic roster changes and enough rumbling to shake New York for an entire offseason if the Yankees lose. It isn't so much that George has to win, as he squirms in the back of the owner's box in his wraparound shades. It's that he needs to avoid humiliation, which is what baseball's most extravagant spender faces if the small-budget Marlins win. When he places himself on his financial island, contributing so much to revenue sharing that he funds team such as Florida, anything less than the big championship is an utter failure. In many ways, I admire Steinbrenner for reinvesting ample percentages of his profits into his roster. He makes the most and spends the most, an approach not shared by the Cubs, whose profits rank among the top teams while this season's payroll settled in at No. 12. But the expenditures only intensify George's obsession with winning. You can't tell me his pressure cooker is healthy for the Yankees. Granted, they are big boys who are paid lots of money, but the constant ghost of Steinbrenner haunts them. It ratchets up the burden of playing in New York and doesn't help when Soriano slumps and Giambi faces batting woes, injuries and questions after he was named in a federal investigation targeting a company whose founder has been linked with the steroid THG. That's why it's critical to have a calm soul like Torre in the dugout, though George still hasn't figured that out entirely despite four rings. While The Boss fidgeted, surely ready to fire general manager Brian Cashman despite five Series appearances in seven years, Torre talked about the pressure. "Let's admit it. You say, 'Is it fair?' '' he said. "I think it started probably with Babe Ruth, for crying out loud. We have won 26 world championships. The Yankees have been in many, many World Series. They've been the standard everyone is measured by. I used to be envious of the Yankees because you knew what they represented.''
October 25, 200323 yr You can blame a priest in Chicago for this madness What an idiot... This is what pisses me off (and Josh Beckett) the most... They can not accept that the Marlins are a good team and that they blew it themselves... Enough with this supernatural crap. When you believe that someone or something else has the power to change your destiny you will certainly always lose. Chicago and Boston are so self-defeating is not even funny...
October 25, 200323 yr Mariotti Predicted Yanks in 5 in Around the Horn on wendsday.... Moronotti is the definition of "Frontrunner."
October 25, 200323 yr I believe in the 'supernatural crap'. The Marlins are a supernatural team, a supernatural force that I felt, starting the season, had a special team this year. I thought World Series, but after the Cubs series, even I started to doubt how this team would respond. But right now, they are poised to do something unthinkable. Even for us Diehards. But here is the thing that gets me most giddy: Steinbrenner's statements are potent in what they reveal: a maniacal, win-or-else mantra that will result in front-office dismissals, dramatic roster changes and enough rumbling to shake New York for an entire offseason if the Yankees lose. It isn't so much that George has to win, as he squirms in the back of the owner's box in his wraparound shades. This is exactly why we have to win. For some, to save baseball from itself. From the overspending, high priced salaries running rampant. The Marlins, of all teams, stand to be baseball's savior. Like Neo in the Matrix, we are overturning the whole league...
October 25, 200323 yr Lets blame , zambrano for pitching badly in two game, or the cubs o for getting 3 hits off of beckett, or prior for giving up all of those runs in the 8th, remeber it was out of play, or wood for that shi* performance on the hill of game 7, lets not blame it on the fan interferance call, which wasnt even interference, what alou shouldve been yelling at in left field was prior, to stop choking, and for farnsworth for absolutely blowing it.
October 25, 200323 yr i believe that the marlins have some sort of magic on their side but its not that God is helping them win. that is absurd. McKeon doesnt pray for a win. he prays that his team has the ability to do their best. that they not get hurt. that they realize that this should be fun. this is why we have been winning. the team has realized their true potential. they are out there doing their best and only their best.
October 25, 200323 yr Like Neo in the Matrix "Whoa." damn and i thought i was bad with the whole matrix thing
October 25, 200323 yr Like Neo in the Matrix "Whoa." damn and i thought i was bad with the whole matrix thing "doh!"
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