SEATTLE -- It was nearly 10 days ago when Art Howe leaned back in the chair of
the manager's office at the Oakland Coliseum and cut through the nonsense.
"I wouldn't sleep too well this winter," the A's manager said, "if Tim
Hudson didn't pitch against the Mariners."
As for Howe's sleep over Christmas? Who knows.
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On a roll
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Since giving up seven runs and losing to Cleveland on August 23, Tim Hudson has won five straight starts and lowered his ERA from 5.23 to 4.40.
Aug. 28: Beat White Sox 3-0 with a one-hitter, striking out eight. Hudson allowed only a fourth-inning single to Frank Thomas.
Sept. 3: Allowed three runs (two earned) in 7.2 innings to beat Toronto 4-3.
Sept. 9: Pitched a two-hit shutout with no walks in a 10-0 win over Tampa Bay.
Sept. 16: Gave up two runs in 6.2 innings to beat the Devil Rays 5-2.
Sept. 21: Beat Seattle 5-2, allowing two runs (one earned) in six innings.
September totals: 4-0, 1.53 ERA
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But the dude slept the sleep of the just after Thursday's 5-2 win in Seattle.
Oakland's decision to juggle their rotation before this current road trip proved
devastating to AL West-leading Seattle, as Howe moved pitchers around to get
Hudson on track to pitch the series opener at Safeco Field -- a blatant
and justified statement to the largeness of the series, and a blatant and
justified statement to the largeness of tiny Tim Hudson to baseball's
small-market heroes, the Oakland A's.
On Thursday night, Hudson won his 18th game in crippling fashion, blocking out
a sellout crowd's noise, staring down a veteran lineup's menace, and stating his
case as the true "mini-Pedro" he has light-heartedly been called in the
past.
Why not? The 165-pounder is, like the great Martinez, sleight of build,
enormous of heart. The A's couldn't possibly pass through Safeco without Hudson
getting his say, not with his 3-0 career mark vs. the Mariners.
Oops. Make that 4-0 after Thursday night's 6-plus innings, in which he allowed one earned run and five hits.
"I was focused tonight," Hudson said, "focused from the first pitch."
It's that sort of drive the A's adore in this pitcher who started 1999 in Double-A. But a relentless push through the A's system, fueled partially
by Hudson's split-fingered pitch and changeup and more heavily by Hudson's desire to
succeed, found the kid in the bigs last June. He went 11-2 in a smashing rookie
season, as hitters chased the split-finger into the dirt game after game.
Hudson, 25, opened 2000 with a 1-2 record and an 8.44 ERA, and the word was
out: lay off the split-finger and wait for his fastball. Hudson,
in typically stubborn fashion, took the challenge. He began to throw more
fastballs than hitters had been seeing, and the end result was a more effective
set up of his splitter, which returned to its dominant state.
Oh, sure, Hudson can get cuffed around. He has been tattooed by Cleveland
nearly every time he faces the patient Indians, and had a stretch of starts in
the second half which suggested fatigue.
But Hudson one-hit the American League's best, the Chicago White Sox, on August
28 and it was on. He won three consecutive starts into September, forcing Howe
to make a change that would ensure his slumber in the offseason: the pitcher
the A's lovingly call "Huddy" would headline their arrival in Seattle.
If the A's were to lose Thursday, a four-game deficit with three more at Safeco
would prove debilitating, no doubt. And Hudson's first inning did nothing to
assuage such fears: he walked Mike Cameron, allowed a hit-and-run single to Alex
Rodriguez, an RBI groundout to Edgar Martinez and, then, disaster -- Hudson
misplayed a nubber down the first-base line from John Olerud for an error,
scoring A-Rod.
2-0, M's. Safeco rocked.
The sold-out ballpark rumbled even louder when Hudson hit his nadir, serving a
fastball that was smashed into right-center field by Jay Buhner. Olerud was sent
home. Somehow, the rookie combination of novice right fielder Adam Piatt and
Triple-A callup second baseman Jose Ortiz relayed home a strike that nailed
Olerud.
End of inning.
End of Hudson's woes.
The Safe would, for the most part, be silenced.
A 1-2-3 second inning featured an embarrassing fan of Mark McLemore. The third
would feature a critical whiff of A-Rod with Cameron on second base. A 1-2-3
fourth featured an inning-ending fan of Joe Oliver. A 1-2-3 fifth included
another shaming of McLemore for Hudson's fifth strikeout. The sixth inning,
Hudson faltered, if for a moment: He plunked Edgar and walked Buhner.
With Safeco sensing a rare chance to nick Hudson, roars rose. Hudson delivered
a pitch that David Bell could only fist into shallow right: End of inning.
The seventh was Hudson's farewell, but hardly a denouemont. Pinch-hitter Raul
Ibanez delivered a legit pinch-hit single, but McLemore feebly tapped a ball up
the line. It could have rolled foul. It didn't. A 45-foot infield single
Two on, nobody out.
Howe thought he'd seen enough. He visited Hudson on the mound, and was certain
the right move was to bring in Jim Mecir. Hudson, true to his nature, stared at
his manager and was defiant.
"I've still got good stuff," Hudson told Howe.
"Yeah," an appreciative but realistic Howe said, "take your good stuff to
the dugout."
The skipper was prophetic. Mecir fanned A-Rod and Edgar to get out of the jam. The A's won. The plan was vindicated.
Hudson was the man the A's wanted, in the place the A's wanted, at the time the A's wanted.
Oh, one other thing about the A's rotation: The juggle made it so Hudson's last
start comes Sunday, October 1 vs. Texas. The last day of the season. That is,
unless the A's have other plans.
"That way," Howe beamed, "we could also start Huddy in Game 1 of the
playoffs."
Brian Murphy covers the A's for the San Francisco Examiner. He is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. | |
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