BOSTON – Prior to yesterday, Boston third-base coach Dale Sveum had become hated in New England because of his reputation as a human windmill.
For instance, the last time Randy Johnson pitched against the Red Sox on May 27, Sveum waved home two runners to their doom – in one inning.
This time, Sveum made a ridiculously cautious decision to hold up Kevin Millar at third in the fourth inning. Problem was, Doug Mirabelli was already between second and third, and he was erased on the bases to kill a rally against Johnson in the 7-4 loss.
How big a laughing stock has Sveum become in Boston? When manager Terry Francona went out to dinner late Thursday, he was heckled by a fellow patron who either mistook Francona for Sveum or simply wanted better decision-making.
“[He] was yelling at me from across the restaurant to hold up the [stinking] runners,” Francona said. “I didn’t know whether to laugh.”
Sveum’s poor judgment was no laughing matter yesterday when he squandered his team’s best chance to knock out Johnson. With one out, a run in on Manny Ramirez’s homer and two on, Bill Mueller singled to shallow center.
Millar was already at third when center fielder Bernie Williams – who has a spaghetti arm – fielded the ball. Sveum nearly body-blocked the lumbering Millar while giving him the stop sign, and Mirabelli was caught in a pickle between second and third.
He tried to retreat but was erased 8-5-6, and Mark Bellhorn whiffed to end the inning. The Red Sox would cut the deficit to 6-4 in the fifth but couldn’t get any closer.
Gun-shy in the sixth, Mirabelli stopped at second on Johnny Damon’s bloop single to shallow center, even though he had a good jump. He was stranded there.
In Johnson’s last start against the Sox at Yankee Stadium, Bellhorn and Damon were thrown out on consecutive singles in the sixth. In that inning, Boston managed five hits yet scored only one run.
Bellhorn was erased by left fielder Tony Womack on an Edgar Renteria single, while Damon was eliminated after Robinson Cano knocked down David Ortiz’ infield single and fired home. Johnson managed to survive the inning and the Yankees posted a 6-3 victory.
“I really do not think we ran ourselves out of the inning,” Francona reportedly said after that game.
