April 16th vs New York

[dirtdogman5]

Originally posted by TheFens+Apr 16 2004, 10:45 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (TheFens @ Apr 16 2004, 10:45 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-dirtdogman5@Apr 16 2004, 11:34 PM
-loved the booing of A-Rod and "BALCO" chants for Giambi

Yea, I smiled when A-Rod was booed (it was really one of the loudest booings that I&#39;ve seen on TV, I cant recall a bigger one) and the sporatic Balco chants were fun.
[/b][/quote]
I&#39;m pretty sure Fox turned up the volume on the booing. I could be wrong though.

[TheFens]

Originally posted by dirtdogman5+Apr 16 2004, 11:49 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (dirtdogman5 @ Apr 16 2004, 11:49 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

Originally posted by TheFens@Apr 16 2004, 10:45 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-dirtdogman5

@Apr 16 2004, 11:34 PM
-loved the booing of A-Rod and "BALCO" chants for Giambi

Yea, I smiled when A-Rod was booed (it was really one of the loudest booings that I&#39;ve seen on TV, I cant recall a bigger one) and the sporatic Balco chants were fun.

I&#39;m pretty sure Fox turned up the volume on the booing. I could be wrong though. [/b][/quote]
Well, of course they did. They wouldn&#39;t be fox if they didnt sensationalize everything. But, even with the pumped up volume, it still sounded much louder than usual.

[yeszir]

Here&#39;s ESPN&#39;s article (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=240416102):

BOSTON (AP) -- Tim Wakefield shut down the Yankees&#39; third baseman six months too late.

Boston&#39;s knuckleballer ruined Alex Rodriguez&#39;s visit to the park that nearly was his home, holding him to an infield single and leading the Red Sox to a 6-2 win over New York before a packed house Friday night.

Last October, third baseman Aaron Boone won the AL championship series for New York when he hit Wakefield&#39;s first pitch of the 11th inning into the left-field seats for a 6-5 win in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium.

Boone seriously injured his knee while playing pickup basketball and was released in late February, although he hopes to play for a team this season.

The Yankees filled his spot by obtaining Rodriguez from Texas after Boston&#39;s long courtship of the former Rangers star failed.

Rodriguez, the AL home run champion, finished 1-for-4 after lining out in the eighth against Scott Williamson and didn&#39;t hit the ball out of the infield.

Manny Ramirez, who would have been traded for Rodriguez, AL batting champion Bill Mueller and Doug Mirabelli homered off Javier Vazquez (1-1). Jorge Posada hit his fifth homer for New York in the second, cutting Boston&#39;s lead to 4-1, after Wakefield retired his first five batters.

The first of 19 regular-season games between the rivals began a four-game series. A full house of well-behaved fans could buy souvenir T-shirts with the message: "Showdown in Beantown."

Wakefield (1-0) pitched two outstanding games in the ALCS before losing Game 7 in relief. He was strong again Friday, allowing two runs, five hits and four walks in seven innings. He struck out four.

But the eighth inning nearly ruined the Red Sox again. The Yankees scored three runs in the eighth to tie Game 7 at 5. On Friday, Ramirez dropped a routine fly with two outs and nobody on. Williamson then loaded the bases on two walks, but lefty Alan Embree struck out lefty Hideki Matsui.

Boston scored four in the first on Mueller&#39;s two-run homer, Ramirez&#39;s solo shot and shortstop Derek Jeter&#39;s error that allowed the fourth run to score.

In the top of the first, Rodriguez was booed when he entered the batter&#39;s box and cheered when he swung at the first pitch and missed.

He grounded to shortstop on an 0-2 count in the first and struck out swinging on three pitches in the fourth. In the sixth, he beat out an infield hit on which shortstop Pokey Reese bobbled the ball but still appeared to throw him out. But Rodriguez was thrown out trying to steal third.

His first fielding chance came in the sixth when Kevin Millar hit a leadoff liner that Rodriguez grabbed as he jumped a few inches off the ground.

Rodriguez, an outstanding shortstop, shifted to third so Jeter could keep his position.

"I&#39;m enjoying playing third," he said before the game. "Every game&#39;s a new challenge."

Boston&#39;s bid to obtain Rodriguez from Texas failed when the players&#39; union said his deal with the Red Sox would have decreased the value of his contract.

The crowd of 35,163 -- 108 fewer than attended Thursday night&#39;s 12-7 loss to Baltimore -- cheered when Rodriguez lined out to third baseman Mueller on his fourth at-bat in the eighth.

Mirabelli made it 5-1 in the fourth with his first homer, but the Yankees got a run in the fifth on Matsui&#39;s single, Mirabelli&#39;s passed ball and Bernie Williams&#39; single.

Mirabelli then doubled in a run in the sixth.

Game notes
The Red Sox unveiled a bronze statue of Ted Williams outside Fenway Park four hours before the game. The Boston slugger died in 2002. ... Friday was the 86th anniversary of Carl Mays&#39; one-hit, 1-0 win over the Philadelphia A&#39;s that gave Boston a 2-0 record on its way to the World Series championship. It hasn&#39;t won a title since. ... Mueller was in a 1-for-25 slump before his homer.

And as a side note, I&#39;m glad that they have a Ted Williams/Jimmy Fund statue outside of the stadium now. It looked nice from what I saw and it&#39;s a good gesture.