The $100,000 question on both sides of Minor K debate is same: Why would Red Sox care?
The boy didn’t have school Friday, which meant it was Take Your Kid Work Day.
First up was the media availability after the All-Time Team luncheon at the fancy-pants Lowe’s hotel across the street from Globe Life Park, followed by an hour of watching Dad type.
He couldn’t go in the clubhouse, so he sat outside making the clubhouse security antsy, though he did get a chance to talk to a very accommodating Joey Gallo.
It was only a few days ago when the boy asked if Gallo had retired.
“I didn’t retire,” Gallo said. “I’ll be back playing next year.”
Gallo, by the way, doesn’t understand what the big deal is about a 200-strikeout season. He had one just last season.
Mike Minor’s 200-strikeout season remained the main topic of conversation, even though the New York Yankees were at Globe Life Park.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from Friday, when the Rangers lost 14-7, and some bonus Thursday reaction.
Where’s the beef?
One question is at the core of the Rangers’ bewilderment with why the Boston Red Sox wanted to prevent Minor from his 200th strikeout Thursday:
Why did the Red Sox care?
That’s very similar to the question Red Sox fans have asked in doubting the Rangers’ accusation. Why would the Red Sox care if a Rangers pitcher reached 200 strikeouts?
Good questions.
There are milestones in the game that players want to reach. Among them for pitchers these days are 200 innings and 200 strikeouts. The Rangers wanted to give Minor as much rope as possible to get there, pushing his pitching count to 126.
Yes, a 20-win season still means something to those within the game.
A chance at 20 is why Red Sox manager Alex Cora kept left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez in Tuesday’s game so long. The Red Sox were up big, but Rodriguez wasn’t effective in giving up seven runs in five innings.
Cora admitted afterward that had the game meant something, Rodriguez wouldn’t have made it out of the first inning.
“He wanted 19 wins, and you have to go five innings,” Minor said. “He just left him in there and let him keep on going, keep on going, and he gave up seven runs.”
Minor said that he has no baggage with Cora, who was his manager in July at the All-Star Game. The Red Sox pursued Minor in free agency before the 2018 season. Everything has been cordial.
He was stumped as to why Cora instructed his batters to swing at every first pitch, even if it resulted in a a three-pitch inning for Minor in the eighth.
“I’ve talked to Cora before, like during the recruiting process,” Minor said. “I’ve talked to him on the phone, I saw him at the All-Star Game, and then for him to have those guys swing first-pitch so I don’t get the 200 strikeouts and then whoever drops the ball and I get the strikeout, and he’s mad about it. I don’t understand.”
Cora might have dropped a hint Thursday in an answer after the game about the incident. It could easily be inferred that Rangers manager Chris Woodward got under his skin.
“I don’t manage the Rangers,” Cora said. “That’s a question for Woody over there, and he probably has the right answer.”
The popup the Rangers allowed to fall ahead of Minor’s 200th strikeout might have been at the crux of that quote, too.
Minor, though, isn’t alone in wondering why Cora and the Red Sox threw away their chance at winning a game to halt Minor’s progress to 200 Ks.
“A bunch of those guys don’t like to swing first-pitch,” Andrus said. “They were not even having good at-bats. They were just throwing at-bats away. Just by the way they were doing it and laughing after they made contact, that got in my head.”
Palumbo hangs
Left-hander Joe Palumbo appeared to have no intention of pitching around Yankees hitters or trying to be cute with them. He attacked, and three times they attacked back.
The native New Yorker allowed three solo home runs in three-plus innings, including a monster clout to Giancarlo Stanton, but he struck out seven batters and was at his best in the third with runners at second and third with one out.
Palumbo struck out Luke Voit for the second out and blew a fastball past Gary Sanchez to end the Yankees’ threat.
“I thought Joe threw the ball really well,” Woodward said. “His fastball had a lot of life on it. One thing he’s not afraid of is to go inside. He challenged those guys.”
The Yankees hit three more home runs, pushing their season total to an MLB-leading 305. That is an MLB record, but the Minnesota Twins are only one behind them with two games to play.
New York also has an MLB-record 14 players with at least 10 home runs.
And Minor shut them out Sept. 2 over 7 1/3 innings with five of his 200 strikeouts.
Palumbo said he will head to the Arizona Fall League after the season to continue to add innings for 2020. He will compete for a spot in the rotation next spring, and he plans to be with the Rangers next season.
“I will help this team win in the future,” Palumbo said. “I’m certain of that.”
Beasley belts it out
A person can search high, low and as long as humanly possible, but it’s going to be hard to find a better person in the Rangers’ organization than third-base coach Tony Beasley.
He’s in a great mood every day. He works his tail off. He was no different before he was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and has been the same since whipping its butt. He’s there to comment after a game if a runner he sent home was thrown out in a high-leverage spot.
And, as he showcased once again Friday, the man can flat out sing.
Beasley performed the National Anthem before the game, and it might have been the best of the season. He sang the song without trying to put his own spin on it, and he did it right tempo an anthem should have.
It was his second time singing the Star-Spangled Banner at Globe Life Park, with the first before the 2017 season opener. He also performed at the 2015 Do It For Durrett event, stealing the show with one of the key roles in We Are the World.
He wore a costume, too.
That’s a good guy right there.
This story was originally published September 27, 2019 at 10:46 PM.
