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GREG KOSC |
THE CURSE OF
THE BAMBINO, PART 9
"IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER"...
The White Sox beat Clemens
July 30, 1986
... Roger Clemens, whose celebrated season had been
dotted by nothing but increasingly higher peaks, plunged to the depths, getting
ejected for the first time in his major league career. And the Red Sox continued
their nosedive, suffering a 7-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox as the American
League East leaders ended this dismal trip with a 3-10 record.
There were all sorts of
opinions about what happened in the fifth inning
when umpire Greg Kosc threw Clemens (17-3) out of
the game while 30,889 at Comiskey Park watched in
amazement. After Chicago had rallied from a 2-0
deficit to tie the game, Harold Baines hit a
two-out grounder to first, and Clemens, who took
the toss from Bill Buckner, appeared to have
reached the bag in time for a putout. Instead, he
wound up being the one put out of the game.
First, Kosc called Baines safe, enabling the White Sox to
take a 3-2 lead as John Cangelosi scored, and provoking Clemens to stage an
uncharacteristic display of rage. When Clemens got too close while arguing the
call, Kosc judged that he had been bumped and threw him out of the game.
There also were conflicting opinions on the bumping.
Clemens thought it was accidental contact and couldn't understand why Kosc threw
him out. The ejection prompted a fit of fury, and teammates Don Baylor and Jim
Rice had to carry Clemens away from Kosc in order to restrain the pitcher.
Clemens became the latest victim on this abysmal midsummer
tour. He had avoided the emotional stress of the past two weeks with individual
brilliance, recording a pair of wins, in Seattle and Anaheim. Tonight he had a
2-0 lead, and Chicago's Ping-Pong attack didn't seem to pose much of a threat.
It wouldn't have done any damage without help from Kosc.
Clemens had given up two runs on four singles and a sacrifice fly. But it would
have been a 2-2 game without the bizarre play. Starting the calamitous fifth,
Tim Hulett, who had four hits, rolled a single to center, and Ozzie Guillen beat
out a slow roller to second. Julio Cruz' bunt single loaded the bases. Cangelosi
sent one run home on a forceout at second, and Steve Lyons tied the game with a
sacrifice fly. Baines' ball was a routine grounder, and replays show Clemens
beat the runner to the bag easily. But Kosc disagreed.
At first, Clemens did not even realize he was out of the
game. He was still arguing the call when it dawned on him. But when he did
discover he had been ejected, Clemens became a raging bull. He wasn't the only
infuriated Red Sox player. The Boston bench was in an uproar, Al Nipper openly
challenged Kosc, and Nipper and Bruce Hurst were ejected. Only manager John
McNamara remained calm and eventually got Clemens off the field.
Second baseman Marty Barrett was benched in favor of Dave
Stapleton. Shortstop Ed Romero was elevated to the leadoff spot in the batting
order. McNamara said he also considered asking Wade Boggs, whose average dropped
to .345, to take a day off if his back was bothering him. Boggs told the manager
he was fine and was in the lineup. |
