Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 22, 2013

Today's episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast  is a celebration of June 22nds of the past!

The legacies of Tom Seaver, Grover Cleveland Alexander and Bobby Cox and the existence of the Minnesota Twins all had significant mile stones on this date over the years.


Paul Goldschmidt, Shane Victorino, and Stephen Strasburg all owned baseball on June 19, 2013.


To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.
Subscribe on iTunes HERE.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 22, 2013

Sully Baseball Salutes... Jimmie Wilson

Jimmie Wilson was a two sport star who became a World Series hero because of bizarre and tragic circumstances.

Chances are you never heard of Jimmie Wilson, the former Cardinals and Phillies catcher. I never heard of him until I stumbled across his story while compiling my latest 25 Man Roster. But he lived a unique albeit brief life that is worth a salute here at Sully Baseball.

The player who was nicknamed "Ace" was a native of Philadelphia and the son of Scottish immigrants. He dropped out of high school to work and by 19 went pro... in soccer.

When I read that, I had the same reaction that you probably had. "They had pro soccer teams in America in the 1910s and 1920s?" Yup, evidently they did.

And here I was thinking that they never played the game in America until Pele joined the Cosmos!

He excelled in soccer, playing for several different leagues, mainly for Philadelphia teams. In 1922, he played in the National Challenge Cup but failed to make it to the Quarterfinals. The tournament is now called The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. I had no idea that playoff is nearly 100 years old.

(Man, soccer sure is taking its sweet time catching on in America!)

He was a two sport player, playing minor league baseball as well. By 1923, the 23 year old Wilson focused solely on baseball and began playing for his hometown Phillies.

The 1923 Phillies were a 104 loss dog of a team who drew less than 3,000 a game. Not 30,000... 3,000.

The Phillies remained terrible between 1923 and 1928. But Wilson hit well his first year and by 1925, had developed into a .328 hitting part time catcher.

During the 1928 season, he was paroled from the purgatory of The Baker Bowl and the Phillies and was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals. The trade occured during a game between the two teams. He supposedly started the game as a Phillie, was taken out and watched the rest in the St. Louis dugout in his new uniform.

As a Cardinal, he became teammates with future Hall of Famers Rabbit Maranville, Jesse Haines, Chick Hafey, Jim Bottomley, Frankie Frisch and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

He was no longer on a team tumbling towards 100 losses. Now he was on a contender who would go on to win the pennant by 2 games over the Giants.

In the 1928 World Series, the Cardinals were manhandled by the Yankees. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig combined for 7 home runs in the 4 game sweep.

Wilson was held to a 1-11 series. He did get an RBI double in game 2, but the Cardinals were overmatched. But Wilson was now on a contender.

He developed into one of the best all around catchers in the National League, finishing 6th in the 1931 MVP vote and being selected to the 1933 All Star team.

And he played in the 1930 and 1931 World Series for St. Louis. In the '31 Series, he helped defeat the other home town team of his youth, the Philadelphia A's, as the Cardinals won the World Series.

After the 1933 season, he returned home to Philadelphia to be the player and manager of the Phillies. It was a disaster. The Phillies finished either last or just out of last place each year he was manager, losing 100 games in 1936. He lasted 5 seasons in control of the Phillies before being let go.

In 1939 Bill McKechnie, his former manager in St. Louis, brought him to Cincinnati where he became a player coach. Wilson only appeared in 4 games as a player as future Hall of Famer Ernie Lombardi was the catcher. The Reds won the 1939 pennant but were swept by the Yankees in the World Series.

In 1940, Wilson's playing days looked to be over as he became a full time coach.

Lombardi had an good backup named Willard Hershberger, a former Yankee farmhand who developed into a solid, if light hitting catcher.

Hershberger was a star football player in high school making him, like Wilson, a two sport star. He also seemed to have deep emotional issues stemming from a family tragedy. His father went broke in 1928, predating the crash, and shot himself in the head. An 18 year old Willard discovered the body shortly before he began his professional career.

It took Hershberger 8 years to make the majors but made himself a .300 batter. He was stuck behind a Hall of Famer in Bill Dickey while in the Yankee system and behind Lombardi with the Reds. A finger injury kept Lombardi out of the lineup for a stretch in 1940. Hershberger stepped in ably.

However when the Reds went on a 3 game losing streak in late July, Hershberger put the blame on himself. He felt like his team was blaming him as well and spoke to manager Bill McKechnie about killing himself like his father did.

The two had a private meeting after a game in Boston against the Bees (aka the Braves.) McKechnie seemed to have calmed his fragile catcher down and gave him the day off to collect himself. On August 3rd, Hershberger said he was going to go to the park even if he didn't play, but he never showed up to Braves Field.

Gabe Paul, the Reds' traveling secretary who would later build the great Yankee teams of the 1970s, went to the hotel to check if Hershberger was alright. He found Hershberger dead in his bathtub, having slashed his own throat.

Willard Hershberger became the first, and so far only, major leaguer to commit suicide during the season.

The death stunned the Reds emotionally and put them in a bind in terms of personnel. Third string catcher Bill Baker filled in and Ernie Lombardi came back quickly from his injury.

Jimmie Wilson stepped down as a coach and was activated to catch less than two weeks after Hershberger's death. He started 8 games down the stretch but needed to spell Lombardi in the 1940 World Series against the Tigers.

He started 6 of the 7 games of the World Series, batting .353 in the process.

Wilson singled and scored in the Reds Game 2 win. In game 6 with the Reds on the verge of elimination, Wilson singled and scored a critical insurance run in the 4-0 victory. And in the come from behind 2-1 Game 7 triumph, Wilson collected 2 hits and caught Paul Derringer's complete game victory.

The Reds won the 1940 World Series, their first title since the 1919 Series, the same one where the White Sox took a dive.

It was the last game Wilson ever played in. The team dedicated the World Series victory to "Hershie" and gave Willard Hersberger's mother a World Series share.

The next year Wilson took over the Cubs as manager but had little success. He began growing oranges in Florida when he dropped dead of a heart attack in 1947 at the age of 46.

About a decade later, Ernie Lombardi suffered from intense depression and harbored thoughts of suicide. But unlike his backup, he recovered and lived another two decades.

The 1940 Reds were the only Cincinnati team to win the World Series between the Black Sox scandal and the rise of The Big Red Machine. And Jimmie Wilson coming off of the bench to help heal a great tragedy was a big part of that title.

That's worth a salute.

Sully Baseball Salutes... Warren G. Harding

This President's Day, let's honor the chief executive that many people call the worst we have ever had... Warren Gamaliel Harding.

My friends know I have a mild Harding obsession as I've read way too many books about him. Yeah, he was totally unqualified for the job. He skyrocketed from newspaper publisher to Senator to President because a lot of corrupt people thought he looked the part, was a backslapping extrovert that everyone seemed to like and let the corrupt people do what they want.

And he assembled an astonishingly corrupt cabinet. When the Attorney General was a criminal and the Secretary of the Interior was selling off land for his own profit, then yeah... we're dealing with some corrupt people. And many of the relaxed regulations from his era lead to the Great Depression.

And he seemed to have sex with everything except the original copy of the Constitution and supposedly had a child out of wedlock.

And of course he kind of died just before the brown stuff hit the fan, but I am not saying there was anything suspicious about that. How dare you accuse his wife?

But in Harding's defense, there was peace and relative prosperity in his Presidency and putting him on the bottom isn't fair. (I'm looking at YOU Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan!)

And Harding was an avid baseball fan. The Ohio native was a Cincinnati Reds fan but went to many Washington Senators games when he was a senator himself.

During his campaign for President in 1920, the Harding team hired Albert Lasker the advertising genius to mold the candidate's image. At the time treating a Presidential candidate like a product was novel. Harding loved to golf but Lasker made sure that no pictures of him were made public. He felt that golf was too snobby. Baseball was the sport of the common man. And Lasker had connections with the Cubs.

So in September of 1920, 2 months before the election, Harding staged an exhibition game with the Cubs for his campaign. They played an Ohio Semi Pro team and guess who came in to pitch?

Yup, Republican Presidential nominee Warren G. Harding!

He then had a photo opp with Cubs pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander. (This was written up in the great book Selling The President by John Morvello.)

He beat James Cox for the Presidency and was actually beloved in his time.
In fact Hall of Famer Warren Spahn was named after Harding.

He died (under odd circumstances in San Francisco) in 1923. The very next year, Washington had their lone World Championship. The bland Calvin Coolidge met the World Champion Senators. No doubt Harding would have given them quite a party.

So let's salute Warren G. Harding. He wasn't a great President... but I must say he seemed like a cool guy and certainly someone I'd want to see a ballgame with!

Hall of Fame Ballot Insanity

Last year I suggested Jay Bell’s election to the Hall of Fame and Rickey Henderson’s exclusion could help end the nonsense of “First Ballot Hall of Famer” being a special title and unworthy players getting odd sympathy votes.

Well I wanted to take a more literal look at the distinction of NOT being a First Ballot Hall of Famer… and show some of the sillier Sympathy Votes.

Here are a list of Hall of Famers who did NOT make it on the first ballot.

GROVER CLEVELAND ALEXANDER (Third Ballot)
MICKEY COCHRANE (Sixth Ballot)
JOE DiMAGGIO (Fourth Ballot)
JIMMIE FOXX (Seventh Ballot)
HANK GREENBERG (Ninth Ballot)
ROGERS HORNSBY (Fifth Ballot)
CARL HUBBELL (Third Ballot)
NAPOLEON LaJOIE (Second Ballot)
TRIS SPEAKER (Second Ballot)
CY YOUNG (Second Ballot)

Now these were the crazy early days of voting… and it seemed that by the 1960s, sports writers were going to vote in worthy players on the first try (the likes of Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Stan Musial, Bob Feller, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron didn’t have to wait around.) But there are still some genuine head scratchers.

YOGI BERRA (Second Ballot)
ROLLIE FINGERS (Second Ballot)
WHITEY FORD (Second Ballot)
EDDIE MATHEWS (Fifth Ballot)
WARREN SPAHN (Second Ballot)

I can’t understand how some of the players aren’t elected in unanimously (Seriously, who DIDN’T vote for Willie Mays? Ted Williams? Cal Ripken? Tom Seaver?)

But how could there be enough sports writers looking unimpressed at Yogi Berra’s resume to say “Not sure he belongs in!”?

Was it the moronic “He’s not a FIRST BALLOT Hall of Famer!” mentality?
Who exactly remembers he wasn’t a First Ballot guy? Is he less of a Hall of Famer now? Or is he possibly the most loved living ballplayer?

And conversely take a look at the players who have in the last two decades received more than one Hall of Fame vote.

Anyone can take a single writer out to dinner and grab a vote. But these guys had VOTES… plural. And on their first ballot no less:

JAY BELL (2 votes)
CESAR CEDENO (2 votes)
TRAVIS FRYMAN (2 votes)
MIKE GREENWELL (2 votes)
DAVE HENDERSON (2 votes)
RICK HONEYCUTT (2 votes)
CARNEY LANSFORD (3 votes)
RICK MONDAY (2 votes)
JEFF MONTGOMERY (2 votes)
LARRY PARRISH (2 votes)
MICKEY RIVERS (2 votes)
JUAN SAMUEL (2 votes)
GARRY TEMPLETON (2 votes)
ANDRE THORNTON (2 votes)

Look, all of those players had nice careers… but I wonder if the two sports writers who checked their names left off an actual Hall of Famer from their ballot because of the moronic “Not a first ballot” mentality.

Do we really want writers saying “Yes” to Juan Samuel while wringing their hands over the eligibility of Whitey Ford?

Some Cy Young winners like Bret Saberhagen didn’t do too well in the Hall of Fame vote. But I am sure they can take solace over the fact that CY YOUNG didn’t get in at first either.

Getting October relief from Starters

One of my favorite aspects of playoff baseball is seeing pitchers being used in unusual roles.

Recently, especially since LaRussa regimented the bullpen roles in Oakland in the late 80s, pitchers are given very specific jobs.

Starters are supposed to give about 6 innings.

There is a middle reliever.

An 8th inning set up guy.

And a closer whose sole job is to pitch the 9th.

And you hear players whine when their roles change. "I'm not used to my new job."

I always thought their job was to get the batters out.

Well often in the post season, those roles go out the window and you'll see starters coming out of the bullpen. And not for the Joba Chamberlain reason, in that he's a great reliever who should never have been in the rotation.

Sometimes a manager will turn to a starting pitcher to get his team out of a jam. And there is always a roll of the dice element to it that I can't help but love.

So here is the latest Sully Baseball insane list...

PITCHERS WHO STARTED A GAME AND GOT EITHER A SAVE OR A RELIEF WIN IN THE SAME POST SEASON SERIES

DOC WHITE, White Sox

1906 World Series
White Sox over Cubs, 4-2.

Started and lost Game 2.

Relieved Ed Walsh in Game 5 and pitched 3 shutout innings for the save as the White Sox won 8-6 and took a 3-2 lead in the series.

Started the very next day and threw a complete game clincher in Game 6.

MORDECAI "THREE FINGER" BROWN, Cubs

1908 World Series
Cubs over Tigers, 4-1

Blew a save in Game 1 but held on for the win as the Cubs scored 5 in the 9th to won.

Started Game 4 and threw a complete game shutout.

1910 World Series

Athletics over Cubs, 4-1

Started and lost Game 2.

Pitched the 9th and 10th innings for the Game 4 win out of the bullpen.

Lost the clinching Game 5.

SMOKEY JOE WOOD, Red Sox

1912 World Series

Red Sox over Giants, 4-3 with 1 tie.

Started and won Games 1 and 4.

Started and lost Game 7.

Pitched final three innings and won the clinching Game 8.

SEATTLE BILL JAMES, Braves

1914 World Series

Braves over Athletics, 4-0

Started and threw a complete game shutout in Game 2.

Pitched 2 innings in relief to win Game 3.

RED FABER, White Sox

1917 World Series

White Sox over Giants, 4-2

Started and won game 2.

Started and lost game 4.

Pitched the final 2 innings to win game 5 in relief.

Started and won the Game 6 clincher.

JOE BUSH, Red Sox

1918 World Series

Red Sox over Cubs, 4-2

Started and lost Game 2.

Relieved Babe Ruth in Game 4 in the 9th inning and a one run lead with 2 on and nobody out. He retired the first batter and got the second to hit into a game ending double play for the save.

WALTER JOHNSON, Senators

1924 World Series

Senators over Giants, 4-3

Started and lost games 1 and 5.

Pitched 4 shutout innings in relief to win the Game 7 clincher in extra innings.

REY KREMER, Pirates

1925 World Series.

Pirates over Senators, 4-3

Started and lost game 3.

Started and won game 6.

Pitched 4 innings letting up 1 run in relief to win the Game 7 clincher.

GROVER CLEVELAND ALEXANDER, Cardinals

1926 World Series
Cardinals over Yankees, 4-3.

Threw complete game victories in Games 2 and 6.

Relieved Jesse Haines in Game 7 for one of the most famous World Series saves of all time.

Leading by one with the bases loaded in the 7th, he struck out future Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri. He retired the next 5 batters before walking Babe Ruth with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th. Ruth was caught stealing to end the World Series, giving Alexander the clinching save.

LEFTY GROVE, Athletics

1930 World Series

Athletics over Cardinals, 4-2

Started and won Game 1.

Started and lost Game 4.

Pitched the final two innings to win Game 5 in relief.



BILL HALLAHAN, Cardinals

1931 World Series
Cardinals over Athletics, 4-3

Started and won games 2 and 5.

Came out of the bullpen to record the final out of Game 7 and get the save

SCHOOLBOY ROWE, Tigers

1935 World Series
Tigers over Cubs, 4-2

Started and lost Games 1 and 5.

Pitched the final 4 innings and got the win in relief for the 11 innings Game 3 victory.

SPUD CHANDLER, Yankees

1942 World Series

Cardinals over Yankees, 4-1

Recorded the final out for a save in the Yankees 7-4 Game 1 victory.

Started and lost Game 3.

HANK BOROWY, Cubs

1945 World Series.

Tigers over Cubs, 4-3

Started and won game 1.

Started and lost game 5.

Pitched final 4 innings in relief to win Game 6.

Started and lasted only three batters for the Game 7 loss.

HARRY BRECHEEN, Cardinals

1946 World Series.

Cardinals over Red Sox, 4-3

Started and won games 2 and 6.

Pitched the final two innings of Game 7, earning the win in relief and clinching the World Series.

RALPH BRANCA, Dodgers

1947 World Series

Yankees over Dodgers, 4-3.

Started and lost Game 1.

Came out of the bullpen to win Game 6.

WARREN SPAHN, Braves

1948 World Series

Indians over Braves, 4-2

Started and lost Game 2.

Pitched the final 5 2/3 shutout innings out of the pen with the Braves on the verge of elimination to win Game 5.

GENE BEARDEN, Indians

1948 World Series

Indians over Braves, 4-2.

Started and threw a complete game victory in Game 3.

Relieved Bob Lemon in the 8th inning of Game 6 with the bases loaded and the go ahead run at the plate.

He escaped the inning with the lead and the next inning got the save as the Indians won their last World Series as of this writing.

ALLIE REYNOLDS, Yankees

1950 World Series

Yankees over Phillies 4-0

Won a 10 inning complete game in Game 2.

Finished the 9th inning for the save in the clinching Game 4.

1952 World Series

Yankees over Dodgers 4-3

Started and lost Game 1.

Started and won Game 4.

Pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to get the save in Game 6.

Threw three innings in relief to win Game 7.

1953 World Series

Yankees over Dodgers, 4-2.

Started Game 1.

Recorded the final two outs for the save in Game 5.

Pitched the final two innings for the clinching Game 6 victory out of the bullpen.

JOHNNY ANTONELLI, Giants

1954 World Series.
Giants over Indians. 4-0.

Pitched complete game victory to win Game 2.

Pitched the final 1 2/3 innings to earn the save in Game 4 and be, as of this writing, the last pitcher to ever clinch a World Series for the Giants.

BOB GRIM, Yankees

1955 World Series

Dodgers over Yankees. 4-3

Pitched the 9th inning for the save in Game 1.

Started and lost game 5.

DON LARSEN, Yankees

1957 World Series

Braves over Yankees. 4-3

Won Game 3 in relief, pitching the final 7 1/3 innings.

Started Game 7 and lost.

BOB TURLEY, Yankees


1958 World Series.
Yankees over Braves, 4-3.

Started and lasted only 5 batters in Game 2.

Started and threw a complete game shutout to stave off elimination in Game 5.

Ended a potential World Series winning rally by getting the last out and the save in Game 6.

Pitched the final 6 2/3 innings out of the bullpen to clinch Game 7 and earn Series MVP honors.

DICK DONOVAN, White Sox

1959 World Series
Dodgers over White Sox, 4-2

Started and lost Game 3.

Came into the 8th inning with the bases loaded, one out and the White Sox up 1-0 trying to hold off elimination.

Donovan retired Furillo and Zimmer and then threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the save.

HARVEY HADDIX, Pirates

1960 World Series

Pirates over Yankees, 4-3.

Started and won Game 5.

Blew the save in Game 7 but was the winning pitcher when Bill Mazeroski homered.

GARY BELL, Red Sox

1967 World Series

Cardinals over Red Sox, 4-3

Started and lost Game 3.

Pitched the final two innings for the save in Game 6.

DAVE McNALLY, Orioles

1971 World Series
Pirates over Orioles, 4-3.

Started and won Game 1.

Started and lost Game 5.

In the 10th with the Pirates putting together a potential World Series winning rally, McNally got Al Oliver to fly out to end the threat. In the bottom of the 10th the Orioles won, giving McNally the victory in relief.

VIDA BLUE, A's

1972 World Series.
A's over Reds, 4-2

Pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for the save in Game 1.

Started and lost Game 6.

JIM "CATFISH" HUNTER, A's

1972 World Series.
A's over Reds, 4-2

Started and won Game 1.

Started Game 5.

Pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief to win the clinching Game 7.

1974 World Series

A's over Dodgers, 4-1

Recorded the final out to save Game 1.

Started and won Game 3.

RICK WISE, Red Sox

1975 World Series.

Reds over Red Sox. 4-3

Started Game 3.

Pitched in relief in Game 6, working out of a jam and becoming the winning pitcher when Fisk homered off of the foul pole.

BERT BLYLEVEN, Pirates

1979 World Series.
Pirates over Orioles. 4-3.

Started Game 2.

Down 1-0 and facing elimination in game 5, Blyleven came out of the bullpen in the 6th inning throwing 4 shutout innings. The Pirates rallied and Blyleven got the win in relief, saving the series.

DICK RUTHVEN, Phillies

1980 NLCS

Phillies over Astros, 3-2.

Started Game 2.

Entered the deciding game in the bottom of the 9th with the game tied at 7. He retired all three batters who could have clinched the pennant. When the Phillies scored in the 10th, he retired the Astros in order to get the win and clinch the pennant.

CHARLIE LEIBRANDT, Royals

1985 ALCS

Royals over Blue Jays. 4-3

Started and lost Games 1 and 4.

Entered Game 7 in the 4th inning and pitched into the 9th inning. He got the win and the Royals won the pennant.

OREL HERSHISER, Dodgers

1988 NLCS

Dodgers over Mets, 4-3

Started games 1 and 3.

In game 4 with closer Jay Howell suspended and set up man Alejandro Pena already thrown 3 innings, Lasorda tried to use Tim Leary and Jesse Orosco to close out in the 12th with a 1 run lead.

The Mets loaded the bases and Hershiser came in. He closed out the game and got an unlikely save.

He threw a complete game shutout in Game 7 to clinch the pennant and win the MVP.

JIMMY KEY, Blue Jays

1992 World Series.

Blue Jays over Braves. 4-2

Started and won Game 4.

Relieved closer Tom Henke in Game 6 in the 10th inning. When the Blue Jays took the lead in the 11th, Key pitched in the bottom of the 11th. He gave way to reliever Mike Timlin who got the save and Key got the win for the World Series clincher.

RANDY JOHNSON, Mariners

1995 AL Division Series.

Mariners over Yankees, 3-2.

Started and won Game 3.

Was brought into the 9th inning on one day's rest for the Game 5 clincher. He stopped a Yankee rally and pitched into 11th inning. He let up a run in the 11th but the Mariners scored 2 in the bottom of the 11th ending the series and giving Johnson the win.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ, Marlins

1997 NLCS

Marlins over Braves. 4-2

Relieved Tony Saunders in Game 3 and got the win after the Marlins rallied off of John Smoltz in the 6th.

2 days later threw a complete game victory in Game 5 where he struck out 15 batters (aided by Eric Gregg's generous strike zone) and earned the series MVP.

GREG MADDUX, Braves

1998 NLCS

Padres over Braves, 4-2

Started and lost Game 3.

Came into the bottom of the 9th with a 1 run lead facing elimination. Maddux retired the first two batters before walking Finley. Got Tony Gwynn, who represented the pennant at the plate, to ground out and earn the only save in his big league career.

KEVIN MILLWOOD, Braves

1999 NL Division Series

Braves over Astros. 3-1

Threw complete game 1 hit victory in Game 2.

Retired the Astros 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 12 inning to record a save in Game 3.

PEDRO MARTINEZ, Red Sox

1999 AL Division Series.

Red Sox over Indians, 3-2.

Started Game 1.

Came into a wild slug fest do or die Game 5 in the 4th inning. He proceeded to throw 6 no hit innings as the Red Sox rallied to take the game and the series. Pedro finished off the series and got the deciding Game 5 win.

JOHN SMOLTZ, Braves

1999 NLCS

Braves over Mets. 4-2.

Threw 1-2-3 ninth inning to record a save in Game 2.

Started Game 4.

RANDY JOHNSON, Diamondbacks

2001 World Series
Diamondbacks over Yankees, 4-3

Started Game 2 and threw a complete game shutout.

Started and won Game 6.

With no days rest and the Diamondbacks 6 outs from elimination, Johnson came into the 8th and retired Chuck Knoblauch to end a Yankee threat. He then shut down the Yankees 1-2-3 in the 9th.

Then the Diamondbacks rallied for 2 in the bottom of the 9th, Johnson was the winning pitcher. Not only did he become the first pitcher on this list to do it for two different teams, he also was the winning pitcher of two heart stopping deciding playoff games against the Yankees.

DEREK LOWE, Red Sox

2003 AL Division Series
Red Sox def. A's, 3-2

Started Game 3 (the day I got married.)

Relieved Scott Williamson in the bottom of the 9th with a 1 run lead, 2 on nobody out. After loading the bases with 2 outs, Lowe got Terrence Long to strike out looking for the series clinching save... which included an interesting gesture to the Oakland dugout.

BRAD PENNY, Marlins

2003 NLCS

Marlins over Cubs, 4-3

Started and lost Game 2.

Relieved Mark Redman in the 4th inning of Game 7 with the Marlins trailing 5-3. He recorded a 1-2-3 fourth. The Marlins rallied to take the lead in the 5th as they clinched the pennant. Penny was credited with the win for the clincher out of the pen.

(It should be noted that Josh Beckett also came out of the bullpen that day and pitched 4 innings just 3 days after throwing a complete game shutout. Why HE didn't get the win is anyone's guess.)

ROGER CLEMENS, Astros

2005 NL Division Series
Astros over Braves, 3-1

Started and lost Game 2.

Came in as a pinch hitter in the 15th inning and executed a sacrifice bunt, moving the potential series winning run into scoring position. The Braves wiggled out of the jam and Clemens remained in the game as a pitcher.

He threw 3 innings of 1 hit shutout relief, earning the win when Chris Burke ended the series with a home run.

MARK BUEHRLE

2005 World Series

White Sox over Astros, 4-0

Started Game 2.

Relieved Damaso Marte with 2 outs and 2 on in the bottom of the 14th inning of Game 3. He got Adam Everett to pop up to earn the save.

So there you have it...

A bunch of Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers... and a bunch of guys who were unlikely heroes (I'm looking at YOU Brad Penny!)

Let's hope the 2009 playoffs have more crazy relief appearances that would make Grover Cleveland Alexander proud.