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| | Monday, October 18 | |||||
| BOSTON -- Newspapers reacted angrily today to blown calls by
umpires and unruly fan behavior during the New York Yankees' 9-2
defeat of the Red Sox in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series.
"Robbed again," read the banner headline in the Boston Herald,
accompanied by a photo showing Yankees second baseman Chuck
Knoblauch missing the tag on Boston's Jose Offerman in the bottom
of the eighth inning.
Umpire Tim Tschida called Offerman out, ending a Red Sox rally
and marking the beginning of the team's deeper descent to its third
loss in the best-of-7 series. Tschida later admitted he made a
mistake.
"The very integrity of major league baseball is now in
question, because it has detailed a six-man umpiring crew for the
ALCS that a) can't get its calls right, and b) has lost control of
what's happening on the field," wrote Steve Buckley of the Herald.
The Boston Globe focused on the Fenway fans' response to another
questionable call in the bottom of the ninth, when Nomar
Garciaparra led off with a grounder to third baseman Scott Brosius
and first-base umpire Dale Scott called Garciaparra out. Replays
showed he beat the throw.
"Red Sox -- and fans -- lose it," read a front-page headline.
Red Sox manager Jimy Williams was ejected after running onto the
field to protest and throwing his cap. Play was halted while more
than a dozen police and security staff took the field after fans
pelted the outfield with trash, including bottles and a batting
helmet.
The Globe ran a front-page photo of Williams turning away in
disgust from Scott.
Yankees manager Joe Torre called the fan reaction
"disgraceful." Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino issued a statement
today apologizing for the "inappropriate behavior."
Herald columnist Michael Gee said the fan conduct was "a
disgrace."
"A certain number of the 33,596 fans at Fenway Park couldn't
hold their liquor. Or maybe they were born pigs," he wrote. "Each
and every person reading this should be ashamed for what some of
his neighbors did last night. If you love sports, you should be
sickened."
Globe sports writer Dan Shaughnessy described the game as "a
hail of errors, bad umpiring, and worse conduct by Boston fans."
"It was scary," he wrote. "Police were unable to stop dozens
of unruly spectators from tossing things and the reigning world
champion Yankees cleared the field while officials weighed the
merits of resuming the game."
He also noted that Babe Ruth's 82-year-old daughter was
scheduled to throw out the first pitch tonight "assuming she feels
safe enough."
| ALSO SEE Another day, another blown call irks Sox
Red Sox manager fires back at Yankees owner Steinbrenner
Boston police beef up security for Game 5
Red Sox fans shower field with debris, profanities
Yankees vs. Red Sox series page
Yankees take commanding lead with 9-2 victory
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