Thank You Keith Foulke Options

[The Flying Dutch...]

Keith Foulke is now officially an Indian. I don’t think he got enough appreciation for what he did in ‘04, and he’s not getting much love now. He came in and got the job done in his first year and it couldn't have happened without him. So stop being a Johnny for Burger King and show the guy some love.

The display he put on in the 2004 playoffs was incredible and he was my pick for the world series MVP. (Of course when I mentioned that to him he responded “Manny’s driving my car then”)

Thank you Keith for being one of the 25 and sacking up big time when it mattered. I will always remember you for those times.



"Foulke to the set, the 1-0 pitch, here it is...swing and a ground ball, stabbed by Foulke. He has it. He underhands to first. And the Boston Red Sox are the World Champions. For the first time in 86 years, the Red Sox have won baseball's world championship. Can you believe it?"



(Ill let Temple or Gray eagle start the Loretta thank you thread.)

[philly sox fan]

He'll never have to buy a Whopper in this town again.

He will, however, have to check to make sure Johnny didn't spit in it.

[Pandemonium67]

I agree he's gotten a really bad rap the last two years, especially given that there's a good chance his injuries stem in part from what he did in the 04 post-season.

My hope is that in a few years he'll retire, people will lighten up, and several more years down the road -- 2014 sounds about right -- Foulke will come back to Fenway for the hero's welcome he so deserves. What the Sox did in 04, with Foulke right in the middle of it all, was the type of once-in-a-lifetime achievement that makes sports so compelling.

[Rough Carrigan]

He was a better World Series MVP choice in 2004 but the voters seemed to have been impressed by the fact that Manny had a hitting streak of X games in the world series. Of course only 4 of those were in 2004.

And if not for the greatest man in the western hemisphere, Foulke might've been ALCS MVP, too.

Thanks Keith!

[PedroSpecialK]

As cliche as it is, without Keith Foulke we don't come near winning the World Series - not to Game 6 against Tony Clark, not to Renteria's at-bat to end it - we may not even reach a game 5 in the ALCS, or the playoffs at all for that matter. He didn't get nearly enough credit when he was here, and as Pandemonium said, hopefully he'll be better remembered someday.

[geoduck no quaho...]

I never understood why he wasn't MVP of that series.

Does anyone know the actual voting tallies of "Certain Media Members, Major League Baseball Officials, and (ughh) Fan Voting" which led to that oversight?

Thank you Mr. Foulke.

This post has been edited by geoduck no quahog: Jan 4 2007, 08:25 PM

[reggiecleveland]

The one run he gave up in the series probably cost him the MVP. I have siad it many times he was great in the year that we all remember.

[Caspir]

He was a better World Series MVP choice in 2004 but the voters seemed to have been impressed by the fact that Manny had a hitting streak of X games in the world series.  Of course only 4 of those were in 2004.

And if not for the greatest man in the western hemisphere, Foulke might've been ALCS MVP, too.

Thanks Keith!

IIRC, Manny's hitting streak was for all rounds of the playoffs, not the WS, and is now a record. He passed Derek Jeter. Shouldn't have effected the WS MVP, but voters like that stuff.

I never liked Foulke much, but man oh man did he sack up in a major way during that magical run. He'll always have my respect as a ball player. Thanks for the championship, Keith.

[Kevin Mortons Gh...]

My hope is that in a few years he'll retire, people will lighten up, and several more years down the road -- 2014 sounds about right -- Foulke will come back to Fenway for the hero's welcome he so deserves.  What the Sox did in 04, with Foulke right in the middle of it all, was the type of once-in-a-lifetime achievement that makes sports so compelling.

If I'm at a Sox-Indians game at Fenway this year, I'll be standing up cheering for him when he comes into a game.

[MoVaughnsTruck]

I never understood why he wasn't MVP of that series.

Does anyone know the actual voting tallies of "Certain Media Members, Major League Baseball Officials, and (ughh) Fan Voting" which led to that oversight?

Thank you Mr. Foulke.

Bud Selig and Fox Sports are responsible for Keith Foulke being snubbed for WS MVP, apparently wanting a 'name' player instead.

[sfip]

The guy sacrificed his body to help the Sox win a championship in our lifetimes. He outpitched Mariano Rivera in the ALCS to do so. He got out of a huge jam in ALDS Game 3 before that, with 2 Ks of the heart of the Angels' order. He blew a chance to eliminate the Sox in '03 ALDS game 4. The least I can do is thank him in this thread, even if he never sees it.

[plnii]

As someone who has attempted to pitch several innings on consecutive days, I can say that I have no idea how Foulke pitched effectively in three straight games after going 2.2 innings in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS:

Game 4 (10/17): 2.2 Innings, 0 Runs, 50 pitches!
Game 5 (10/18): 1.1 Innings, 0 Runs, 22 pitches
Game 6 (10/19): 1 Inning, 0 Runs, 28 pitches

I recall thinking that he was jeopardizing his health by doing that, and possibly our chances of winning, but he got the job done, so he gets a pass forever.

I hope people have enough sense to cheer him when he returns. There is no way we win the World Series without him.

Edit: lurker jeffmcneely provided some pitch counts, comments:

Of course, it's even more impressive that they were on back to back to back days due to the rain out. Yeah, I'd say he sacked up.

This post has been edited by plnii: Jan 4 2007, 11:04 PM

[curly2]

First off, thank you Keith Foulke. Thanks a million. You showed the heart of a lion in 2004, and your three-day, 100-pitch performance in Games 4-6 will never be forgotten, at least by anybody who has half a clue.

But for those who think Foulke was robbed of the World Series MVP, I don't see it. Sure, Foulke could have gotten it, or Manny, or you could argue for Bellhorn, too. foulke's only bit of pressure pitching was in Game 1, when Renteria's single and Manny's error allowed the Cardinals to tie it 9. He got Rolen to pop up in perhaps the biggest AB of the series (either that or Bellhorn's), then got Edmonds to K and got the Cardinals in the ninth.

But then, after that, he was not exactly in tight spots. In Game 2 he came in with a four-run lead, a man at first and two outs in the eighth. In Game 3 he came in to pitch the ninth with a four-run lead, and in Game 4 he got one of those "cheap saves" that are dismissed on this board by pitching one inning with a three-run lead.

Foulke had a fabulous 2004 postseason, but it's too bad they couldn't haven given out two MVPs in the ALCS (Ortiz and Foulke) and none in the World Series.

Good luck in Cleveland, Keith, except when you face the Sox.

[Rudy Pemberton]

I'll never forget him pitching to Tony Clark in Game 6, when he pretty clearly had nothing left. Everything changed after that at bad...the old Sox would have lost when the Thermos hit one out; but not this time. When Tony Clark struck out, I finally believed that the Sox could win it all.

What happened the year and a half after that, I have no idea, but he hit the market at the right time and I'm sure he'll enjoy pitching on the west coast closer to his family...oh, he signed with Cleveland?

[Tudor Fever]

There was a fantastic thread in P&G on Foulke last month when he declined his player option. I hope noone minds, but here are a couple of highlights.

From Soxfan in Fla:

Thank you Keith Foulke, without you, its 88 and counting for sure.

From Monster Dick Radatz:

This is the bottom freakin' line, folks. No Foulke = No Championship. Period.

Personally, I love the fact that he likes hockey more than baseball, shamelessly hits on co-eds, and makes fun of Johnny Burger King. These guys are people too, not Gods. And yet, during one special moment in time, 25 of these guys acted like Gods as they fought against all odds, carried the weight of generational expectations, and performed as sublime a feat of atheletic accomplishment as I have ever seen.

Think about where you watched the games that October. Remember what you were thinking everytime Foulke took the mound and think of the excruciating tension just where you were. Now think about the way he delivered. Again and again. Just unbelieveable. Thanks, Foulkie. You were one of a kind.

And this classic from reggiecleveland:

I too echo the comments that anyone who booed him is an ass. To me it compares to the British people jeering Churchill towards the end of WW2. Granted preventing the Nazis from ruling the world pales in importance in comparison to handing the Yankees an epic asskicking, but the comparison is valid.

[DeJesus Built My...]

Keith Foulke is a badass mofo and deserves a ton of credit for the Sox WS victory in 2004 - he left it all on the field and hurt his career in the process. In a perfect world, he retires in Boston while all the Johnny Burger Kings go to Cleveland.

[TallerThanPedroi...]

14 IP in 11 of 14 Games + 257 Pitches + 19 K + 1 ER = 1 World Series.

Thanks, Keith.


[But yeah, Foulke wasn't the MVP of the WS. His WPA was only .012 for the four games, second in the bullpen to Timlin's .117. Lowe led the starters with .399, and Bellhorn led the hitters with .482. Foulke's WPA for the postseason overall, however, was .827 (.342 DS, .473 CS). That blows away everyone except Ortiz (1.911!), and that's without any adjustment for the difference between hitting and relieving.]

[joyofsox]

In that other thread linked to by Tudor Fever, I posted the stats:

CODE

ALDS 1 - 10/05
ALDS 2 - 10/06 - 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 14 PIT
         10/07
ALDS 3 - 10/08 - 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 37 PIT
         10/09
         10/10
         10/11
ALCS 1 - 10/12 -  .1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K,  5 PIT
ALCS 2 - 10/13 -  .2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 17 PIT
         10/14
         10/15
ALCS 3 - 10/16
ALCS 4 - 10/17 - 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 50 PIT
ALCS 5 - 10/18 - 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 22 PIT
ALCS 6 - 10/19 - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 28 PIT
ALCS 7 - 10/20
         10/21
         10/22
WS 1   - 10/23 - 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 36 PIT
WS 2   - 10/24 - 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 19 PIT
         10/25
WS 3   - 10/26 - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 14 PIT
WS 4   - 10/27 - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 14 PIT

Foulke pitched in 11 of the 14 post-season games:

14 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 8 BB, 19 K, 0.64 ERA

Also:
His only hi-lev WS innings were in Game 1, when he blew the save, but the Sox got the runs right back (off the soon-to-be Sexy Lips).

Then:
WS 2: Was up 6-2.
WS 3: Was up 4-0, allowed 1 R
WS 4: Was up 3-0.

[Pumpsie]

I think we're really, really going to regret this.

I much rather we'd have Keith Foulke as our closer going into 2007 than not.

I guess he really didn't like his stay in Boston. He's going to play in Cleveland, for cryin' out loud.

If Foulke has another 2004 and our bullpen blows up again, well then...there'll be heck to pay.

[jacklamabe65]

The very definition of courage: Keith Fouke's appearance in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS.