As the Playoffs approach,Dodgers beat the Padres in one of the most incredible games ever (9/18/06)

 

One For The Ages!

Anyone who enjoys sports will tell you that great plays happen all the time. In fact, all you have to do is watch Sports Center and you’ll see at least one great play every day. It might be a hockey goaltender snatching a puck over his left shoulder just before it crosses the goal line, or a wide receiver making a one-handed catch while falling to the turf. In baseball, it could be a shortstop leaping to snare a line drive, or perhaps a center fielder making the grab while crashing into a wall.

But every once in awhile, sports fans are treated to something so rare, so special, that when they’re watching it happen they know they’re seeing history unfold. Such was the case at Dodger Stadium on September 18, 2006, a seemingly innocent Monday evening that turned into a memory that sports enthusiasts in general, and Dodger fans in particular won’t soon forget.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were squaring off with their arch rivals from down south, the San Diego Padres in the final game of a 4-game series with significant playoff implications. The Padres had won two out of three going into the game, and a sold-out crowd of over 55,000 were well aware just how critical it was that the Dodgers win that night. After all, it’s not every Monday night that you will find a baseball stadium filled to capacity – even in Los Angeles.

This night was anything but typical, however. The pitching match-up suggested that this was going to be a low scoring affair. Arguably, both teams had their aces throwing; Brad Penny for the Dodgers, and Jake Peavy for the Padres. And yet, before much of the large crowd had even found their seats, Penny had given up four hits and a walk, and the Dodgers were trailing

4-0 in the top of the first inning.

The Blue Crew managed to touch up Peavy for three hits of their own in the bottom half of the inning, trimming the Padres lead to 4-1. A shouting match between Peavy and Dodger first base coach Mariano Duncan near the mound, after the final out of the inning was recorded, made it abundantly clear that both teams had their game faces on. Russell Branyan of the Padres stepped between the two men, successfully preventing the incident from escalating.

In the bottom of the second inning the Dodgers inched a little closer, courtesy of what turned out to be Marlon Anderson’s first and less historical solo home run of the evening. Anderson, who had joined the Dodgers only days earlier by way of the Washington Nationals, looked particularly comfortable at the plate wearing Dodger Blue.

By the end of the third inning, the Dodgers had tied the score at 4-4, and it would stay that way until the eighth, although the Dodgers managed to squander a golden opportunity in the sixth inning, when they loaded the basis with nobody out but were unable to score.

The offenses flexed their muscles once again in the eighth inning. The top of the inning saw the Dodgers allow a walk, two hits, a stolen base, a wild pitch, and an overthrow, all of which the Padres used to their advantage in scoring two runs, giving them a 6-4 lead. The Dodgers were unrelenting, however, and managed to get one of the runs back in their half of the inning, making the score 6-5 Padres. Then came the ninth inning…

The Dodgers made some key defensive changes in an effort to keep the deficit at one run. Julio Lugo replaced Wilson Betemit at third base, and Takashi Saito, who has thrived in the closer role for the boys in Blue, took the mound. But as Dodger announcer Vin Scully is often heard saying, “Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men.” The decision to put Saito into the game in a non-save situation appeared to backfire on manager Grady Little, as the Padres managed to widen their lead to 9-5 courtesy of three hits, an intentional walk, and a sacrifice fly.

Thus, with much of the wind let out of the sails of the Dodger faithful, many of whom began making their way to the parking lots, the history lesson began to unfold.

The Padres started the inning with rookie pitcher Jon Adkins on the mound. Manager Bruce Bochy seemingly had a different mindset about utilizing the team’s closer, Trevor Hoffman, in what had become a non-save situation. Jeff Kent greeted Adkins with a home run to dead center field. This was followed by an even longer, more majestic home run off the bat of J.D. Drew. Suddenly there was some life back in the Dodger fans who had remained to witness the back-to-back shots.

With no outs, the Padres decided the time had come to turn the game over to Hoffman, Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in saves. But this night wasn’t about record holders. This night was for record making. The first batter to face Hoffman was Dodger catcher and rookie sensation, Russell Martin. Martin swung at the first pitch he saw, and deposited it well into the left field bleachers. “I faced him the other day, and he started me off with a fastball at the belt,” Martin explained. “I went up there looking for it again, and he gave me the exact same pitch. This time I took care of it.” Martin struggled to put his emotions into words. “I can’t find the words to describe it. I can’t explain it. Magic happened!”

Indeed, the lead had been cut to one run, there was still nobody out, and the Dodgers sent the new guy, Marlon Anderson, to the plate. With electricity in the air and the fans feeling a rejuvenation of their hopes and dreams, Anderson took a huge rip at the first pitch he saw from Hoffman and completed the miraculous come back by hitting his second home run of the game, a bullet over the right-center field wall. With his fists raised in the air, Anderson circled the bases with the tying run by way of back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs, a feat which had not been accomplished since 1964.

Hoffman, who appeared a bit shaken, would regroup and retire the next three batters he faced. Then came the tenth inning…

With fans still in the midst of hugging strangers and shaking their collective heads in disbelief, Aaron Sele took over as the Dodger pitcher. But by the time he had faced his fifth batter, Padre catcher Josh Bard had driven in the go-ahead run with a sharp single to right. Although Sele managed to limit the damage to one run, it seemed to once again knock the wind out of the stadium. In fact, for a moment one could almost hear a pin drop as the emotional roller coaster appeared to have taken its toll on the exhausted crowd. Then came the bottom of the tenth…

The Padres put the game in the hands of their latest acquisition, right-handed reliever and

former Dodger, Rudy Seanez, who had been designated for assignment a month earlier by the Boston Red Sox. The 14-year veteran would first have to face Dodger outfielder Kenny Lofton, a crafty old timer in his own right. Lofton won the battle by coaxing the proverbial lead-off walk; the one that baseball managers, announcers and fans alike always say will come back to haunt. Tonight would certainly be no exception.

The very next batter Seanez would face was Nomar Garciaparra, who had just missed hitting a home run in the fifth inning when he doubled for his only hit of the evening in five plate appearances. Then came plate appearance number six…

With Seanez desperately seeking to induce a strikeout or double play, he threw a 3-1 fastball that caught entirely too much of the plate. Garciaparra connected and, with his left hand still holding the bat, began to celebrate by thrusting his right hand high into the September sky. Padre left fielder Dave Roberts never even bothered to go back on the ball. In fact, he was already walking toward home plate with his head down as the ball disappeared well into the left field pavilion. The entire Dodger bench swarmed the field, and the curtain fell on perhaps the most exciting, if not satisfying Dodger victory since Kirk Gibson’s heroics of 1988. 

Dodger players and coaches couldn’t find enough adjectives to adequately describe what they were feeling. “I’ve never seen a game like this in my entire 15 year plus career” said a seemingly stunned Jeff Kent. And when Greg Maddux was asked if he had ever been a part of such a game in his illustrious career, he smirked and replied, “Has anyone?”

Marlon Anderson, who finished the night going 5-for-5 at the plate with two home runs and merely a double shy of hitting for the cycle, recalled his wife “giving me a kiss goodbye and telling me to have a good game.” It worked.

Yah, that was some game the other night at Dodger stadium. One for the ages as the Dodgers win a big one on their run to the playoffs in 2006.