Nomar Unloads on Orioles

Nomar Garciaparra belted a grand slam to highlight a 4 run fourth enabling the Red Sox to coast past the Orioles  6-1 in Game 1 of their All-Time East ALDS. This playoff features the top 25 all-time franchise players in WAR value for each team in the National League and American League East divisions. It'll probably take me a while to play this one as I have my hand in every series. The other AL series sees the Blue Jays taking on the Yankees while the Braves face the Nationals (Expos) and the Phillies are up against the Mets in the NL. Miami and Tampa Bay were eliminated in each league's Wild Card game with the Blue Jays ousting the Rays, and the Nationals sent the Marlins packing.

Nomar launching his granny

With runners on second and third and one out, Baltimore elected to face Garciaparra instead of David Ortiz by granting an intentional free pass to Big Papi to load the bases. Orioles' starter Jim Palmer hung a curveball to Garciaparra, and he made Baltimore pay smoking it over the Green Monster for a 5-0 lead. Ted Williams had given the Red Sox a first-inning lead lining a single into center to score Fred Lynn who had tripled to deep center in the previous at-bat.

The fourth inning would be Palmer's last as he languished through a 31 pitch inning after tossing 48 pitches in the first three innings combined. The three-time CY Young Award winner gave way to Jack Powell who took the Orioles the rest of the way. Powell was a turn of the 20th-century hurler for the St. Louis Browns. Even though he had a losing record with the Browns (117-143), his 10-year career ERA was a stout 2.63, and his WAR value as a Brown was an impressive 32 earning him a place in the all-time Oriole bullpen.

Starring offensively alongside Garciaparra for Boston was Ted Williams. "Teddy Ballgame" was a perfect 3-3, scored 2 runs and had 2 RBI adding a solo homer to deep right in the seventh. Williams was the oldest player to win a batting title as he led the American League in 1958 with a mark of .328 at 40 years of age. Wade Boggs and Bobby Doerr chipped in with two hits apiece with each player clubbing a double.

Williams breaks into his home run trot

On the mound, Pedro Martinez was absolutely filthy pitching 8 innings of 3 hit baseball. He did not allow a walk and punched out 14 Oriole batters. Baltimore's Ken Singleton spoiled the shutout with a bridge ball in the eighth. Like Baltimore starter Jim Palmer, Pedro was also a 3 time Cy Young Award winner. Martinez won the ERA title five times in his illustrious career with four of those seasons coming with the Red Sox, and he also led the American League three times in strikeouts during his time in Boston.