Let him have his night, his revenge, a Game 1 last laugh.
Let him and his team bask until Game 2 begins at noon Wednesday. They earned the right. They outfoxed and outSoxed the White Sox, beating them at their own game of clutch hitting, relief pitching and shrewd moves.
Let Mike Cameron’s pride swell until he can barely keep from telling the media mob at his Comiskey Park locker to go ask Sox GM Ron Schueler how it feels. In 1998 Sox center-fielder Cameron helped inspire the ever-relentless ad campaign, “The kids can play.” In 1999 Schueler traded Cameron without bothering to call him. He heard about it while watching CNN-SI.
“I don’t have any respect for Schueler,” Cameron told the Tribune’s Phil Rogers two weeks ago. “At least somebody could have told me, `I traded you.’ I was hot . . . Every time I go out there against these guys, I try to make a statement.”
In Game 1 of this best-of-five Cameron told 45,290 at Comiskey, “This kid can still play.” He stuck it up Schueler’s upturned nose. He got even with a manager, Jerry Manuel, who liked him personally but soured on him professionally.
After Cameron hit .210 in ’98, he was traded to Cincinnati for Paul Konerko. After his Reds came within a wild-card playoff game of the ’99 postseason, Cameron was one of three players sent to Seattle for Ken Griffey Jr. Trying to replace Junior in center would have broken weaker backbones. Cameron responded with 78 RBIs, 24 steals and some of the most spectacular defense this side of, well, Junior.
So let Cameron crow, at least for a night. Actually, in front of the cameras he was nothing but class and humility. But you know some of his former teammates couldn’t help appreciating his revenge. After all, before Tuesday’s game Schueler enhanced his reputation as a cold-blooded operator by replacing catcher Mark Johnson, who has contributed so much in guts and savvy to a 95-win season, with rookie catcher Josh Paul. What else would you expect from one of Jerry Reinsdorf’s loyalists?
So much for that cuddly Sox camaraderie. So much for that contagious hitting. This might not have turned into Cameron’s stage if Jose Valentin and Frank Thomas hadn’t left the bases loaded in the fourth inning or the Sox hadn’t gone 2 for 14 with men in scoring position. Thomas, a feeble 0-for-3, looked more like a Most Vulnerable Player. If he’s the cinch Hall of Famer Reinsdorf insists, Thomas must rise and shine in Tuesday’s pivotal Game 2.
So it came to Seattle’s seventh, bases loaded, two out, Sox hanging on 4-3 as day turned to night. Manuel played one of his hunches, replacing Bob Howry with September call-up Chad Bradford. Though Manuel once considered Cameron’s swing too long, he did catch up with a Howry fastball this year and hit it out. But this was a tough spot for a reliever with little big-league experience.
Down a ball and two strikes, Cameron hung with a submarining fastball and slapped it into right field. Tie game.
Cameron was at it again in the 10th, leading off with a sharp single to left off Keith Foulke. Whoops: Manuel had pinch-run rookie Paul for Charles Johnson in the ninth, so rookie Paul was now catching. What a delicious spot for Michael Terrance Cameron, who began drawing throw after pickoff throw.
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Foulke seemed momentarily unconcerned with the hitter, somebody named Martinez. Edgar Martinez, one of baseball’s most dangerous big-moment hitters. After Foulke went ball one to Martinez, Seattle manager Lou Piniella added to the distraction with something Cameron hadn’t seen “since Little League.”
Piniella called time, trotted toward first, met Cameron in the coaching box, put an arm around him and whispered something that made Cameron laugh. Cameron’s sanitized version: “Steal this bag and we’ll go have a couple of drinks.” But Cameron thought Piniella’s strange behavior sent the Sox into “disarray” and helped them outthink themselves.
Manuel put Foulke in a 2-0 hole to Martinez by calling–what?–a pitchout. This was like giving Brett Favre five downs.
Cameron didn’t go. Next pitch, a changeup Martinez missed, Cameron did go, just beating a nice throw by Paul. Manuel probably should have walked Martinez intentionally and pitched to John Olerud. Instead Foulke threw Martinez another changeup. Two-run homer. Ballgame.
So let the former kid show us he can play, just this once. Now it’s the current kids’ turn.