Earth, Wind and Fiery Sky Conspire Against the Angels

On behalf of everyone everywhere, I would like to take this opportunity to thank ABC-TV, Mother Nature and the assorted gods, ghosts and goblins of Fenway Park for saving the 1986 American League Championship Series.

An Angel win Wednesday would have turned this series into a yawner, a boring mismatch and a rout. Instead, we wound up with one of the most entertaining games in years and a tied-up series.

It’s hard to explain what happened here Wednesday. Let’s just say reality took a holiday. I stopped keeping my box score in the seventh inning, so I can’t tell you much about the play where Toto fielded a single and fetched the ball to Dorothy, who wheeled and hit the Tin Cutoff Man.

“For the first three or four innings, it looked like I was playing defense,” said Reggie Jackson, who sat this one out.

In summary, here are some of the elements that ganged up against the Angels:

SUN--Because ABC wanted to air an AL-NL doubleheader, the game started at 3:07 p.m. in Boston, normally the city’s afternoon tea time.

From the start, the sun hung high over home plate, directly in the eyes of eight fielders. The Angels had more trouble with the sun than Icarus. He, of course, was the first player ever to lose himself in the sun. All the Angels lost in the sun was a ground ball, a pop fly and a truckload of dignity.

Pitcher Kirk McCaskill lost a ground ball in the sun. It bounced off his chest. What the heck, McCaskill is a hockey player. He’s happy any time he’s involved in a play and doesn’t lose any teeth.

WIND--A brisk breeze helped blow a pop fly to Bobby Grich into a key run-scoring double. It played around with other balls, too.

EARTH--On Fenway Park’s venerable natural sod, the Angels were victimized by two AstroTurf bounces--crazy, unexplainable, high hops over the heads of Dick Schofield and Gary Pettis.

AIR CURRENTS--A first-inning Don Baylor line drive caught a sudden updraft and sailed over the head of left fielder Brian Downing. Witnesses say the ball was laughing maniacally as it bounced off the Green Monster.

PSYCHIC CURRENTS--A rare and mysterious mental lapse caused Angel third base coach Moose Stubing to hang baserunner Grich out to dry in the sixth inning. Moose became instantly famous. Fred Merkle and Mickey Owens sent congratulatory telegrams.

The only Angel player who didn’t suffer directly at the hands of one of the above elements was catcher Bob Boone, who wore a mask and various shields to ward off evil spirits.

“I’ve never been in a playoff game that was quite so bizarre,” Boston designated hitter Don Baylor. “Wind, high sky, the pitcher getting hit by a ground ball . . . I’m amazed it didn’t rain or snow.”

No, it didn’t, but if all the baseballs the Angels lost in the sun ever fall back to earth, there will be a hailstorm in Boston.

I’m not amazed it didn’t rain or snow. I am amazed Dick Clark and Ed McMahon weren’t doing the play-by-play, instead of Al Michaels and Jim Palmer. I’m amazed the Angels didn’t fly in Henny Youngman to give a postgame analysis. This was a job for Casey Stengel.

Forget the news photographs of this game. We’ll have Dr. Seuss draw us some pictures.

This game set baseball back 100 years, took us all back to the days of iron men and iron gloves. It was a good and glorious show. This--as those of us who dropped out of baseball somewhere around the Little League level will attest--is the way baseball was meant to be played.

The Angels lost the game but came out ahead. In one afternoon, on national TV, they did the impossible--they made themselves lovable.

The gang that couldn’t see straight. Or throw straight.

Say this for the Angels--they were good sports about the whole thing. They didn’t cry and whine.

“We had our ‘A’ game last night,” Brian Downing said, “but we played our ‘Z’ game today.”

Was it the sun, Brian? The wind? The curvature of the earth?

“It was just our ineptitude, pure and simple,” Downing said, purely and simply.

Jackson’s analysis was also pure and simple.

“We were bleeping blown out, 9 to bleeping 2,” Reggie said, amiably.

Hey, as Gerry and the Pacemakers told us 20 years ago, don’t let the sun catch you crying. Center fielder Pettis said he knew when he walked onto the field for pregame drills that it would not be an easy day. The sun burned down like a giant police interrogation lamp.

“You can pretty much tell it’s going to pose problems,” Pettis said.

Someone asked Pettis if he looked at the sun and said to himself, “Oh, bleep.”

“Yeah,” Pettis said and walked away laughing.

In one corner of the clubhouse, Stubing was discussing the game with about 150 close friends in the media. He was drinking a beer.

Reggie Jackson held up a cold can of beer and yelled over to Stubing: “If you need another one, Moose, I got you backed up.”

Great, Reg. Where were you in the sixth inning when Moose needed you?

Really, though, why should the Angels be down? They got enough bad baseball and bad luck out of their systems to last through the end of October.

And Wednesday night, under the soothing cover of darkness, the Angels flew out of Boston.

THEIR HALOS SLIPPED Angel misplays and mistakes that helped the Red Sox win Game 2 of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park Wednesday: SECOND INNING: A ground ball hit by Wade Boggs is lost in the sun by pitcher Kirk McCaskill and hit McCaskill in the chest. Boggs is credited with a single, loading the bases. FIFTH INNING: A pop fly hit by Dwight Evans is lost in the sun by second baseman Bobby Grich and falls for a double. Bill Buckner scores, giving the Red Sox a 3-2 lead. SIXTH INNING: An error in judgment by third base coach Moose Stubing results in Grich being tagged out and takes the Angels out of a potentially big inning. SEVENTH INNING: Buckner reaches first base on Grich’s fielding error. Third baseman Doug DeCinces mishandles a ground ball hit by Evans, allowing Buckner to score, and DeCinces also misses a tag as Jim Rice moves to third base on the play. Dick Schofield’s throwing error allows Rice and Don Baylor, who had walked, to score, giving the Red Sox a 6-2 lead.