The Hobbit

no, I'm not listening to led zeppelin's "ramble on". and I'm not talking about the movies with all the walking and the schizophrenic child with that hair disease that is often seen in Toronto athletes. you know the one.

no, I'm talking about Frank "The Hobbit" Menechino. 2nd baseman and utility man for the Oakland Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Last night's soirée at the Sky Dome reminded me of the fateful night in 2004 when we actually ran out of pitchers, i mean we fucking ran out. and, well here's what happened:

Jays vs. Yankees
at Sky Dome
Ted Lilly vs. Kevin Brown
John Gibbons vs. Joe Torre
Frank Menechino vs. The World
Attendance: 43541

the jays got off to a good start with Ted Lilly on the mound, they opened up the first three innings by going up 4-0 on Kevin Brown.

the Yankees then came within one with 3 runs in the 4th off a Posda double and a Matsui single. and took the lead with 4 more in the 6th. thus chasing lilly out of the game and giving way to Charles "Vinny" Chulk. after Chulk and Jason Frasor each give up solo jacks the Yankees are up 9-4.

the jays come back though in the bottom of the 8th with a couple of RBI singles from Reed Johnson and Chris Woodward off Paul Quantrill. which gives way to the arrival of Mariano Rivera to try and get a save in the 9-6 game.

then, in the top of the ninth. Dave Maurer comes in and promptly gives up a double, a single, and two walks. giving up one run and leaving with the bases loaded.

and here comes Kerry "lights out" Lightenberg who gives up a grand slam on the second pitch to Ruben sierra. and another home run to Tony Clark on the very next pitch(now 15-6). he then settles down and gets Miguel Cairo to strike out swinging for the first out of the inning. but then gives up two more singles and a 2-run double to Gary Sheffield. luckily, Sheffield got greedy and was caught trying to get to third (yay, 2 outs). then a-rod belted one (or did he club it?) to make it a riveting 18-6 game.

here's where it gets interesting, john gibbons, in only his 19th game as manager, goes to the dugout and Frankie Menechino trots out to the bullpen and then comes to the mound. 2 out, bases empty, the hobbit against Posada. Posada, being the wily veteran he is, swings on the first pitch and gets a single. up comes godzilla against the hobbit (not fair), and he gets on base off the fourth pitch.

and then on the fourth pitch to Ruben Sierra he induces a ground ball to short and this ball game is almost over.

Mariano Rivera then retires the side and gets the save. yes, the save.


it is also noteworthy that frank also pitched an inning for Oakland in 2004, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits thus giving him a career era of 27 in 1.3 innings.

he also had the second most hit by pitches in 2001 with 19. David "spark plug" Eckstein had 21.

it's amazing what you can find on the internet
girv