April 8, 1985: New York Yankees (0-0) @ Boston Red Sox (0-0)
So, like I think I mentioned, we kick things off with a homestand against the dreaded Yankees – three games with an off-day tomorrow for whatever reason. Man, I thought the Giants-Dodgers rivalry was hot – baby it ain’t got nothing on how much these two clubs hate each other. This whole scenario with Ruth getting sold to New York and the Sox not having won anything since while the Yanks have stocked their trophy room to overfill drives the most even-tempered Bostonite stark raving mad come baseball season.
Oil Can Boyd gets Opening Day honours for us, while they’ve got Phil Niekro going for them. “Knucksie” joined the Yanks at the end of the 1983 season as a Free-Agent after the Braves – who he’d won over 250 games for – let him go. Oh, well, it’s all part of the game and it obviously didn’t bother Phil much, as he went out and had himself a fine old season, going 16-8 with a 3.09 ERA and making the All-Star team. At 46, I'm told he becomes the second-oldest pitcher to ever start on Opening Day - good on you, Knucks!
Our Analytics guys tell me I’ve faced Phil more than any other pitcher in my MLB career. No real surprise there I s‘pose, with him at the Braves all that time and me where I was. Anyway, apparently I ain’t done too bad against him and his giggling knuckleball – I’ve hit 301 in 123 ABs and have even taken him deep a couple times. Musta guessed right on those two. All the same it’s nice to know this sort of stuff when the stats work in your favour – not so much if they’ve ridden you like their favourite saddle and ya’ve hit 147 lifetime against ‘em! It’s all about that positive reinforcement.
Game Recap
We get to Phil early, as Tony Armas comes through for us with a two-out single in the 1st to knock in a couple. After I make the third out with my first appearance of the year, the Yanks come right back at us as Pags Pagliarulo belts one out with one on in the top 2nd.
The pitchers settle down a bit until Dave Winfield leads off the 4th with a double and eventually comes in on a sac fly by Ken Griffey.
My second AB ends up in Winfield’s glove in deep RF.
Our bats get something going in the home 5th, with Boggs tying it at 3 with a run-scoring hit. He then scores the go-ahead run on a trip by Jim Ed Rice, who in turn comes home when one of Phil’s floaters gets past Butch Wynegar.
That’s Niekro done for the game, with Rich Bordi taking over in the 6th. I seem to appreciate the change, as I ride one out to right-centre to make it 6-3. The top of the order tacks on another one in the next, with Rice knocking it in with a single, and I make the third out with a routine flyball to Moreno in CF.
Can finishes it off for a complete game win that we can feel pretty good about.
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- Daily Notes: That loss by Niekro is his seventh in a row, an MLB record. Jack Quinn is the oldest OD starting pitcher, at 47 in 1931 for Brooklyn.