The Collapse That Wasn't

Matt Bruce

All month I have been thinking about 1996. Maybe there's something about the Olympics: Does anyone know whatever became of Jack Mack and the Heart Attack? Maybe it's the frustration of seeing another Republican presidential campaign self-destruct. Or does my sense of déjà vu extend to the ballpark?

In September 1996, Texas took advantage of Randy Johnson's absence to build a comfortable AL West cushion over Seattle. So overconfident were my Rangers that on September 4 they sent Rick Helling to Florida as the Player To Be Named Later in a deal for John Burkett. Helling and Ryan Dempster, the other player Texas sent to Florida in that deal, were a combined 26-20 with a 3.96 ERA in 395.2 innings through last Sunday.

All was not lost for Texas, which got Helling back less than a year later for situational lefty Ed Vosberg. Then again, the Rangers had lost plenty by trading Robb Nen to the Marlins for Cris Carpenter in 1993. That's not the current Blue Jay hurler but rather a nondescript setup man who saw his last major league action in 1996. None of this is relevant except to point out that general managers sometimes seem no better at talent evaluation than we are.

Anyway, on Tuesday, September 10, Darrin Oliver escaped three straight bases-loaded situations as the Rangers won at Toronto, 11-8, to take a nine-game lead in the AL West, the largest division lead in franchise history. Texas would allow 37 runs over its next four games, error-plagued debacles against the Blue Jays and Brewers. In a 10-day span they would win just once.

	Texas		Seattle
Date	Opponent	Result	Opponent	Result	Lead
9/10	at Toronto	W, 11-8	at Kansas City	L, 4-2	9
9/11	at Toronto	L, 8-3	at Kansas City	L, 4-2	9
9/12	Milwaukee	L, 15-4	at Kansas City	W, 8-5	8
9/13	Milwaukee	L, 6-3	at Minnesota	W, 13-7	7
9/14	Milwaukee	L, 8-6	at Minnesota	W, 5-3	6
9/15	Milwaukee	W, 6-2	at Minnesota	W, 7-0	6
9/16	at Seattle	L, 6-0	Texas	W, 6-0	5
9/17	at Seattle	L, 5-2	Texas	W, 5-2	4
9/18	at Seattle	L, 5-2	Texas	W, 5-2	3
9/19	at Seattle	L, 7-6	Texas	W, 7-6	2
9/20	at California	L, 5-6 (10)	Oakland	W, 12-2	1
9/21	at California	W, 7-1	Oakland	W, 9-2	1
9/22	at California	W, 4-1	Oakland	L, 13-11	2

Going into this stretch, the Mariners had their sights set on overcoming a five-game deficit in a wild card race that, much like this year's, included just about everyone. Baltimore beat Chicago September 10 and 11 to pass the White Sox for the lead, though game summaries show the Red Sox ("27-13 in their last 40 games") among many contenders.

Seattle's hot streak began in the middle of a Midwest swing, with a hero many of you may have forgotten. Mark Whiten hit a three-run homer at Kansas City September 12 and a 461-foot grand slam at the Metrodome the next day. Ken Griffey Jr. (back then he was a Mariner) and Dan Wilson (back then he could hit) added three-run clouts in that Minnesota slugfest.

Seattle pulled out an extra-inning win on Saturday, when Jeff Reboulet threw wildly on a bunt attempt by Dave Hollins, allowing Rich Amaral to score the go-ahead run. I name these men out of the same sick fascination that compels me to report Seattle's starting pitchers in those three games: Terry Mulholland (who won a day after the Royals beat fellow midseason acquisition Jamie Moyer), Sterling Hitchcock and Bob Wolcott.

Getaway day marked the first of consecutive shutouts for the Mariners, a two-hitter by Salomon Torres. There's a name that should make longtime Giants fans curl into fetal position, given his role in the 1993 pennant race against Atlanta. Torres was torched on the final day of the season to give the Braves the division, 104-58 to 103-59.

Some friends, San Francisco natives, loudly demanded that I not talk about magic numbers on my return from a 13-0 rout at Pacific Bell Park. This was the game that Ellis Burks got RBIs 1000, 1001 and 1002 in one mammoth blast, the game that the Giants salted away with an eight-run sixth inning, the game in which the entire starting lineup was benched by the eighth inning so that Pedro Feliz and Juan Melo could get their first major-league hits. San Francisco's ninth straight victory boosted its division lead to 8-1/2 games.

Through that game, the Giants were 29-5 at home since July 1. Twenty-nine and five. The next night they blew a 7-1 lead as the bullpen yielded a seven-run eighth. Then on Saturday, Russ Ortiz fell to Earth. Since work requirements forced me to file this piece early, I can only hope that Kirk Rueter proved to be the stopper last Sunday. If the small cut turned into a gaping wound, though, then the parallels should be clear.

Meanwhile in our time capsule, Texas took a six-game lead into Seattle for a four-game weeknight series that no Ranger fan will soon forget. After Moyer and Bobby Ayala combined for a four-hitter in the opener, Mulholland took a perfect game into the sixth inning of the second game. The real story was defense, as "the AL's top fielding club" gave away those games on errors by Dean Palmer and Kevin Elster.

Let me here expound on the limits of fielding percentage. Palmer, Elster, Mark McLemore and Will Clark had few errors among them that year but disturbingly many ground balls between them and into the outfield. Their lack of range was reminiscent of the late-1980s Braves and deadly to any groundball pitchers on the staff. Now it becomes clear why ex-Rangers Kevin Brown and Kenny Rogers both pitched on the Eastern Seaboard that year.

Bobby Witt, never one to leave anything up to his defense, took the mound Wednesday to avenge the losses suffered by teammates John Burkett and Ken Hill. (Excuse my twitching and drooling: There is some memory repression involved here.) Witt fanned eight batters in five innings but gave up a three-run blast to Jay Buhner in the bottom of the fourth, all the offense Seattle would need. With brooms on the brain, the Mariners chased Roger Pavlik (Roger Pavlik!) just two innings into the fourth game of the sweep.

Against the A's, pounding eight homers (three by A-Rod, Griffey and Edgar in a span of four pitches) was almost enough for Seattle to tie the division. The Rangers fell to one game ahead when Garret Anderson's two-out, two-run double brought the Angels back from a 10th inning deficit.

Luckily for Texas, the heart and soul of the team returned the next day. As the AP put it, "The Rangers also got a boost from Rusty Greer, back in the lineup after being out 15 games with a fractured rib. Greer hit a solo homer in a three-run third inning off Jim Abbott (2-16)."

Sunday afternoon, with one week to go in the season, Ken Hill pitched a complete game for Texas. In the final Kingdome game of the season, Mark McGwire had a solo homer and a grand slam, both in an eight-run fifth inning. (Useless trivia: Scott Spiezio added a three-run clout that inning, his first major-league homer.) The Mariners did get seven runs in the bottom of the frame to turn a 13-3 laugher into a close contest. Like the streak itself, their comeback ultimately fell short but is well worth remembering.

about the author

Matt Bruce felt impending doom the moment Bob Costas dubbed Juan Gonzalez "Senor Octubre" for one game's heroics. Using your best prognostication, write to mb@strikethree.com with a suitable nickname suggestion for A-Rod.