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Sunday, September 16, 2001

Coincidentally, it was a Tuesday, too. Americans awoke to a world markedly different from the one that existed when they went to bed the night before.

June 6, 1944. D-Day. The day the much anticipated and much dreaded Allied invasion of France began. The signature event of World War II and of a generation. Until this past Tuesday, it was -- as you've read and heard time and again since the world's axis tilted in New York and Washington and Somerset County, Pa., this week -- the last time an entire day's schedule of major-league regular-season games had been postponed for reasons other than strike or lockout.

In a strange quirk of scheduling, though, only two games were actually affected -- a fact lost in history and patriotic gesture. The Pirates happened to be one of the four teams involved. They were to have played the Cincinnati Reds, with whom they were tangled in a fight for second place in the National League, that night at Forbes Field. Rip Sewell for the Pirates vs. Reds pitcher Tom de la Cruz. The Philadelphia Phillies-Brooklyn Dodgers was the other game affected.

"[Pirates President Bill Benswanger] felt that merely asking the audience to rise and offer silent prayers for Allied armies who have just invaded the enemy's stronghold would scarcely be sufficient for such a solemn occasion," wrote Ed F. Balinger in the Post-Gazette.

It was fitting that the Pirates be one of the four teams. In a sidelight to the day's events, PG sports editor Havey Boyle wrote that Benswanger approached Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis weeks before with the idea of a one-day shutdown to mark the invasion the whole world knew was on the horizon.

Wrote Boyle: "Long before the heroes across the sea made their landing, the Pirate boss wrote to Commissioner Landis suggesting the action that was finally taken on D-Day.

"At first, Benswanger's suggestion, while given a cordial hearing, was not acted upon. But as the mood of the home front became more sharply apparent to the baseball leaders they, with complete and eager co-operation from the owners in general, decided to pay homage to the gallant troops."

Not until another Tuesday, 57 years later, would there be another such day.

The powers that be

Commissioner Bud Selig couldn't help but be struck by the irony in recalling the last time he was with President George W. Bush, friend and former managing general partner of the Texas Rangers. "I haven't gotten the president off my mind today," Selig told Phil Rogers of The Chicago Tribune on Tuesday. "The last time I saw him, we were talking and he told somebody, 'Here's a guy [Selig] who has a tough job.'

"It's not so tough," Selig said as the delicate pressures of to play or not to play swirled about him. "I have games to worry about. He has life and death."

The fallout

Sorting through a lost week ... The Reds were in Chicago when the world stopped Tuesday. Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman was near the 100-story John Hancock Center when news began to spread. "My advice to everybody would be to get out of Chicago and go to a farm," Brennaman recalled a Chicago policeman telling him. ... White Sox bullpen coach Art Kusnyer was on New York's Fifth Avenue and saw the first World Trade Center tower crumble. "I know I'll remember it the rest of my life." ...

Beaver's John Burkett saw more than his share of highway. Trapped at his home in the Dallas-Fort Worth area following a day off Monday and scheduled to pitch Tuesday in Atlanta, Burkett borrowed an SUV from Texas' Rusty Greer and drove the 850 miles back to Atlanta only to learn that the game was postponed. "I felt obligated to my team," Burkett said. ... He has nothing on the Red Sox, though, who required a bus, a train, a plane and another bus to complete a 28-hour odyssey to get home from Tampa. ... Because of the reworked schedule, Baltimore's Cal Ripken and San Diego's Tony Gwynn will now conclude their careers at home Oct. 7 -- Ripken at Camden Yards vs. Boston, Gwynn at Qualcomm Stadium vs. Colorado. ...The World Series begins Oct. 27, meaning Game 7 could be played as late as Nov. 4.

The Bonds market

Gary Sheffield, Shawn Green and Barry Bonds in the same outfield in 2002? Only on the fantasy league dynasty Schween's Schwankers, you say? Try the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sheffield sees a glimmer of reality in the dream. Bonds, a free agent after the season, is represented by agent Scott Boras. Boras also represents about a third of the Dodgers, including Sheffield, and seems to be in so tight with the club that some think he actually calls the shots.

Sheffield told Jason Reid of the Los Angeles Times that he pitched the Bonds' idea to Boras. Sheffield even told Boras he might be willing to restructure his contract in order for the Dodgers, who already have a payroll over $110 million, to go after Bonds.

"Only a few teams have the money to put enough stars in a situation to win big," Sheffield said. "... If we played together, we would win it all. Who are you going to pitch around then? And we have so many stars, everything wouldn't be all Barry."

Cheap home run

Some argue that Barry Bonds' pursuit of 70 home runs comes too soon after Mark McGwire to be fully appreciated. It could be said his timing is bad in other respects, too. A slumping economy figures to put a drag on home run ball No. 71 on the memorabilia market. McGwire's 70th home run ball fetched $3 million in 1998. The Contra Costa Times asked several dealers what they thought a 71st home run ball would bring. Estimates ranged as low as $1 million. Said one dealer: "People aren't quite as wealthy on paper as they were."

Series of the week

Braves (78-64) at Phillies (75-68), tomorrow-Thursday. ... Who knows what state of mind teams will be in when they return from this unexpected break. "The mental part? There's no way that can be a positive," Phillies Manager Larry Bowa says. ... Braves own a 3 1/2-game lead over the Phillies in the NL East Division. Considering that the Phillies trail four teams in the wild card, this seems to be their only shot at the postseason. ... Phillies are 8-16 since Aug. 16, yet have lost only 5 1/2 games in the standings primarily because the equally muddling Braves are 13-10 in the same span.

This 'n' that

Bad news for the Giants and Dodgers. The six-day break in the schedule will allow the Diamondbacks to start Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in nine of Arizona's final 19 games. ... Johnson (336) and Schilling (257) need 22 strikeouts to surpass the record for strikeouts by teammates of 614 set in 1973 by California's Nolan Ryan and Bill Singer. ... Barry Bonds' 62nd home run Sunday was caught by Jason Kundtz, 24, a former tight end at Lock Haven. ...

How bad are things for Detroit (57-86)? Ace Jeff Weaver (11-14) has pitched five complete games this season and lost them all. ... The White Sox told Harold Baines, 134 hits shy of 3,000, he is not in their plans for 2002. ... Bonds will continue his pursuit of 70 HRs vs. Houston (Tuesday-Thursday) at Pac Bell Park and in San Diego (Friday-Sunday). ... Major League Baseball will begin using specially marked balls for Bonds at-bats once he reaches 67. ...

A little whiny? Mark McGwire, while applauding Bonds' run at 70 homers, believes he had a rougher go of it in 1998 trying to break Roger Maris' home run record than Bonds has trying to break his. "First of all, I was chasing a 37-year-old record that nobody ever thought would be broken," McGwire told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "He's chasing a 3-year-old record and the number 70. And ... he hasn't been under the microscope all year. I was under the microscope basically for 2 1/2 straight months, to hit 62"

Shot and a jeer

To those who would not believe there are life's lessons to be learned on the playing fields, we need only look at them in the context of this week's events. For in sports ...

We stop, but are not stopped. We stand alone, but stand together. We lose, but have not lost. And when the day is done, we move on, but do not forget.

Box score lines of the week:

HRs No. 61, 62 and 63. Three others have touched the magical star of 61, but none have done it with the flair, style or panache with which he muscled his way beyond the mythical barrier at Coors Field.

A single home run in a losing effort is deserving of note if for no other reason than it was his 46th of the season for a fabled and storied franchise that, incredible as it might sound, had never had a player hit more than 44. Not Gil. Not Campy. Not The Duke. Just Shawn.

Ugly: Shall remain empty this week