Ah, Mendoza. Bob Lobel calls him ''the embedded Yankee,'' and there
have been moments this spring when fans have feared that the polite
Panamanian is some kind of Yankee double agent. The theory goes that he
was sent here by George Steinbrenner to sabotage the Red Sox' season. The
Evil Empire Strikes Back.
The Nation wonders. Why is it that Red Sox stars go to New York to win
championships (Babe Ruth, Joe Dugan, Sparky Lyle, Wade Boggs, Roger
Clemens), while Yankee stars come here and screw things up (Danny Cater,
Mike Torrez, Mendoza)?
We'd do well to remember that there is much good to say about the Red
Sox this early in the season. They had one of their best Aprils. They have
gone 60 consecutive games without being shut out. They rank second in
baseball with nine comeback wins and trail the Yankees by only four games
despite the fact that the Yankees are off to the greatest start in their
golden history. The Sox are 8-1 in one-run games, have won four of their
last five overall, and have Pedro Martinez on the mound today against the
Twins. And new public address man Carl Beane is doing a boffo job behind
the microphone.
The Sox showed their typical 2003 moxie last night with a season-high
six-run seventh inning that wiped out a 5-0 deficit. This is the kind of
stuff that's made Fenway a fun place to watch baseball thus far this year.
But anyone who knows anything about baseball knows the Red Sox are not
going to be able to compete with the big boys until they solve their
bullpen woes. Last night's 11-7 beating at the hands of the Twins was the
latest in a sorry line of sad performances by the Boston bullpen.
It was startling, almost laughable. Boston rookie reliever Kevin Tolar
was in position for his first big league win and he retired Corey Koskie
to start the top of the eighth, but then Grady was out of the dugout.
Mendoza was summoned and it went like this: homer, single, walk. Then
came Alan Embree and it went like this: single, single, double, single.
Embree was pulled in favor of Jason Shiell. Shiell surrendered a single to
the first batter he faced. When the inning was over, the Twins led, 11-6.
They had followed Boston's six spot with six runs of their own. Six runs
on seven hits and two Nomar Garciaparra errors (he made three on the
night).
Embree said it all.
''I let the team down,'' said the stand-up southpaw. ''It was horrible.
I let everyone down. The offense battled back and to waste an effort like
that is a shame. It's embarrassing. To have felt the way I felt and
pitched the way I pitched is awful. It snowballed and I couldn't stop it.
''The bullpen has been pitching pretty well and settled down before I
got here. Tonight, we just fell apart. Hopefully, we can limit those kinds
of outings.''
Little admitted, ''Do we know exactly what we're gonna get from every
one of them out there? I can't honestly answer yes to that question.''
In fairness, Brandon Lyon and Mike Timlin have pitched well lately, but
neither was available last night. Little needed Mendoza and Embree to get
the last five outs and they didn't get anyone out while allowing seven
base runners and six runs. Ugly.
''What would you like me to say about that?'' said the manager. ''We
did a great job coming back tonight, but when we went back out into the
field we had trouble avoiding contact. They were hitting everything we
threw up there and we couldn't stop the bleeding. I always feel like in
the late innings we've got a chance to come back, but their six-run inning
took the wind out of our sails.''
The manager says he still thinks Mendoza can straighten things out, but
right now the sinker is not sinking and it's batting practice against the
ex-Yankee.
Sox general manager Theo Epstein was alone with his thoughts in the Sox
locker room after the game. No doubt he's thinking about getting more
bullpen help, and maybe wondering if Mendoza really is Steinbrenner's
revenge.
By Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe Staff.
This story ran on page D51 of the Boston Globe on
5/3/2003.
Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.