Monday, April 23, 2007

Mike Lowell, Notable for Equaling Marlon Anderson

Jayson Stark's blog today reminisces on the Red Sox' four-consecutive-homer game last night vs. the Yank-Mes, which had Mike Lowell as one of the cast of characters going yard. Stark's angle in the piece (insider only) is that baseball is an amazing sport, which it is:

You'd think what Lowell did Sunday would make him a once-in-a-lifetime human trivia answer -- as in: Who's the only guy ever to hit two home runs and be part of back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers in the same game? But guess again. Pat Berger dug through the five back-to-back-to-back-to-back games in history and reports that somebody did that in all five games:

  • Marlon Anderson did it for the Dodgers on Sept. 18, 2006.
  • Harmon Killebrew did it for the Twins on May 2, 1964.
  • Pedro Ramos (the pitcher) did it for the Indians on July 31, 1963.
  • And Eddie Mathews did it for the Braves on June 8, 1961.

I give Stark credit for not highlighting the beauty of the Red Sox, instead indicating the beauty that is baseball.

Sure, the Dodgers did exactly the same thing, four consecutive homers, last year. Hmm. So why is this Boston game so noteworthy? I guess it's because the Red Sox are getting tons of press about their similar outburst since they did it against a divisional rival (as did the Dodgers), in front of a rabid crowd (as did the Dodgers), even utilizing JD Drew (as did the Dodgers). Oh wait, maybe this is exactly the same thing as the Dodgers. Except the Dodgers did it in September, not April, in the middle of a pennant race, during the ninth inning. Oh yeah, that's right.

East coast bias, exhibit #5,125,467,342.


LASteveinBoston said...

Nice post... living in Boston and hearing all these Massholes say "Oh wow - this has never happened before- the sawks are amazing" makes me cringe and I scream back - "yes it has turd sandwich... you might have realized it if you pay attention to anything outside of I-95."

Steve Sax said...

The problem is, Jillian's had already closed for the night when the Dodgers won their game in September 2006.

(Having lived in Boston myself, I empathize with you. Join our gamechats if you want a release. Only thing, please watch your language--turd sandwich--yikes!)

Thanks for the comment.

Orel said...

Actually, I tend to "work blue" during our game chats. And not just Dodger Blue.

Benaiah said...

ESPN covered the 4+1 game pretty extensively (it led Sportscenter and it was the front page on the website), surely you don't expect them to ignore this occurance just because it has happened before?

Steve Sax said...

Ben: No, I just expect them to put it in a reasonable perspective (which to Stark's credit was done, as was noted in the post). It's April for pete's sake. It's vs. the Yankees, true. But it's April.

I suppose that the Sept 06 Dodger 4+1 could have been bigger if it was vs. the Giants, though, to be fair--but the Padres did end up leading the NL West.

And I guess the more macro perspective is, it's also about what other news stories are playing at the time (though ESPN had the NBA Playoffs to consider this past Sunday, vs. nothing else besides baseball really happening in September 2006).

BTW are you east coast based? Why the Dodger love? Did you find many other Dukies (I don't even know if that's an appropriate term) who were Dodger fans?

Benaiah said...

My dad, who occasionally posts on DT, is a huge Dodger fan. So my three brothers and I, all grew up to be big fans even though we lived in Arizona and then Alabama. I have very rarely met other Dodger fans, but I always go to games when I can. I live in Chicago right now, but soon I am moving to Boston, which means I go from few games, to no games.

Steve Sax said...

Get ready to experience Red Sox Overload...

The bright side is that Shea Stadium (and soon Citi Field) is only a four-hour drive away...and if you can wait until September, Dodgers are at Wrigley 4th-6th.

vikki said...

What is a dukie?