Thursday, October 21, 1999 Older Editions

Watching the Sox unravel

By Neil Fater

Townsman reporter Neil Fater, a passionate Boston sports fan, was probably one of very few, if not the only, Andover resident to score tickets not only to both Saturday and Sunday's Red Sox vs. Yankees games for the American League pennant, but to the New England Patriots' game against the Miami Dolphins in Foxboro on Sunday afternoon.

After recovering from the trauma, he filed this report on the Sox highs and lows.

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It was early Tuesday morning when the Red Sox' quest for the American League pennant was thwarted by the New York Yankees, and, suddenly, summer was officially over.

Even Pedro Martinez's special oven mitts could no longer keep frost off the pumpkin and off the heart of Red Sox Nation.

But the gritty '99 Sox edition, picked by experts to finish fourth in the American League East, gave fans plenty to enjoy. It turns out the Sox did finish fourth -- fourth-best in the major leagues. They also provided one heck of a memorable last weekend of the 1900s at Fenway Park.

Walking out of Saturday's game, dozens of strangers were slapping five as they passed by each other. Horns were blaring, eyes were sparkling, beer was pouring and fans were dancing on Landsdown Street.

By contrast, all was quiet on Sunday, as thousands of fans left the stadium.

Both games were memorable. After all, it was the best of lines, it was the worst of lines.

Pedro's Saturday pitching line of seven innings, no runs, two hits and 12 Ks, combined with the Sox offense outburst of 13 runs and 21 hits made for a perfect day in the Park.

But the post-season party ended Sunday, with a final of nine runs, zero errors for New York and two runs, four errors for Boston. There was also the dozens of plastic bottles tossed by fans that didn't appear in the box score, and the meatball offered by Rod Beck.

Saturday

People were raring to go for this game, and why not? It was Boston's best of the late '80s against its best of the late '90s.

Given Bostonians penchant for attacking Roger Clemens for his perceived weight and post-season "manhood" problems, I expected to see a sign saying, "The Fat Lady's Singing... But Enough about Clemens."

I saw every sign but.

About half way through the game it became dark enough to notice that even the Prudential building had gotten into the act. Lit office windows spelled out "Go Sox."

You expected the other side of the Pru to say "Yanks stink."

Hey, everyone else was saying it.

The chants hollered with the most enthusiasm would have to be "Where's Roger now?" with the answer of "In the showers." But my personal favorite, as the Sox climbed out of their 2-0 series deficit to pound 21 hits was "Just like Cleveland."

There was a lot of positive feeling, too. Nomar's biggest fan was sitting behind me for this ALCS game. I know this because she kept telling everyone. And, lest her voice wear out, her cheeks were painted with a similar message.

She was about 10 years old and sitting with her mom in the last row of Section 1, deep right field.

With every Red Sox run and Pedro punchout I'd turn around and give her and her mom a high five.

But as the game became a blowout, I stopped this and directed my applause toward the field. So she kept tapping me on the shoulder, so that we could slap five. Why stop a good thing?

We were about as far out in right field as you can get, but damn near close to hardball heaven, yelling and clapping like a pair of 10-year-olds.

We weren't the only ones. I've never seen so many positive Red Sox fans in one place in my life. Everyone believed the Sox could win from the first pitch on. Plus, in uncharacteristic fashion, they believed their team could win not just the game, but the series.

For once, I knew what it must be like to be a Yankees fan.

Then, the following day, as people began hurling cups and bottles at players and umpires, I knew what it must be like to be at Yankee Stadium.

Sunday

Most of the bleacher bums surrounding me during Game 4 did not toss anything onto the field. However, they didn't seem to mind "the riot" much either.

People were in a foul mood toward the umps, but the throwing of debris onto the field by several dozen people for about two minutes was disgraceful and pathetic. I was legitimately surprised at how long the tantrum lasted.

The fools were throwing empty plastic beer cups for the most part, and lots of empty plastic water and soda bottles, too.

Unfortunately, there were a handful of plastic bottles that clearly had some liquid in them. There is no question in my mind about that. One came very close to an umpire (or possibly an event-staff member who was standing in fair territory once the game was stopped). The bottle probably came closer to his head than Knoblauch's tag had come to Offerman.

Again, it was 100 percent wrong, and I was ashamed to be a Sox fan of for those eight minutes of suspended play.

But despite what I guess some have said, this wasn't exactly the Los Angeles riots -- or even a typical day on the LA freeway. Plus, I've seen Yankee fans try to pelt outfielders with golf balls, quarters or batteries.

So when I heard King George's comments about how bad Boston fans are, I wondered if Steinbrenner had ever paid attention to the two New York teams' hooligans.

After the Mets beat Boston in the '86 World Series, Sox traveling secretary Jack Rogers was hit off the head with a bottle tossed by a Mets fan. He was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and suffered a laceration and a fractured skull.

New York fans did this after they won the World Series. What do you think they would have done if they had lost, and two brutal calls had gone against them?

Hopefully, we'll learn the answer to that question next week. Go Braves!

But there is a more important question for Sox fans this winter: How can we clone Pedro?