Rockin' the Rockies

It's only the bottom of the 5th, and the Sox have 10 run and 16 hits (9 extra-bases). Beckett is rolling - 8 Ks through 5 innings and is growing his legend with every inning. It's funny, I wonder how many Rockies fans or pundits want to talk about Colorado beating Beckett way back in June ... anyone? Yeah, I didn't think so. It's funny how a game from June 14 turns out not to mean jacksh*t come October. I mean, I couldn't believe how much I was reading about how the Rockies beat Schilling and Beckett and outscored the Red Sox 20-5 in winning 2 of 3 back in June ... WHO THE F**K cares? It's October now - guess what? The Indians went 0-6 agains the Yankees in the regular season, and then beat them 3 games to 1 in the ALDS.

The fact is this, even with the Sox spanking the hell out of Colorado tonight in Game 1, it won't matter come tomorrow - they aren't going to lie down against Schilling, the Sox will need to come with their "A" game again, but I love the idea of them going up against a rookie who I'm sure they're going to work the count against and could very easily get 'fausto carmona'd' ... Schilling is the key tomorrow; if he can pitch his game, the Sox will win. By the way, the following just occurred:

- Joe Buck just explained what it means to 'bat around' in an inning
- The Rockies just walked in three consecutive runs

I'll give Colorado credit for making it this far, with one of the greatest runs ever seen in September/October (winning 21 of 22 ... that's insane), but I said this before the series even started - who the Sox had to beat to get to the World Series doesn't even compare with who the Rockies went through; the Cubs and D'Backs do not compare to the Angels and especially Indians. The key word of the day is: PERSPECTIVE.

1. Let's stop applying any credence to a series that took place in June
2. The Rockies are not as good as the Red Sox

Now whether the Sox prove that on the field is another story; but so far, after 5 innings, I'm feeling pretty good about their 13-1 lead.

GO SOX!

What It Means ...

The Sox did it - one week ago today I can't say I expected to be gearing up for Game 1 of the World Series; it was more wondering whether I'd care enough to watch Cleveland vs. Colorado. But here we are, Red Sox vs. Rockies and I can't wait.

It's funny, I was INCREDIBLY nervous and excited for Game 7 Sunday, had a couple drinks to calm my nerves but really had a confident feeling that Boston would win but until they turned that huge DP off Casey Blake in the 7th, that's when I truly believed it was going to happen. When the Sox blew it open in the 8th it set up for a a very anti-climactic 9th inning, which was a little surreal because the whole game had been so tense that it didn't seem appropriate for it to end so effortlessly and without zero worry. I'm not complaining, but as that moron McCarver said, which is very true, people will look at the final score and assume the game was a blowout, but it was very far from that - I was a nervous wreck for 7 1/2 innings.

So here we are, the Sox - in my opinion - just beat the 2nd best team in the playoffs in Cleveland and now get ready for the Rockies, who have won 21 of 22 games. It's funny, I was saying to my Dad earlier today that 2004 has changed everything - I expect Boston to win now, whereas before '04 I was praying that they did. It will be so cool for Boston to win the World Series AGAIN ... it's weird to even say the word "again" when it comes to talking about Boston and them winning a World Series. It was only four years ago after the heartbreaking 2003 ALCS loss that Sox fans wondered if they'd EVER see them win a World Series.

What 2004 did was give us hope and teach us to believe that we're not always doomed. When Lugo dropped the pop-up in Game 7 we didn't expect the worst, but instead hoped for the best. Also, 2004 did ruin one thing - I know that through my lifetime no sporting event will ever mean as much to me as a fan as the 2004 ALCS and World Series victories did. That was the pinnacle. The ultimate. The best. It could never be topped, and to be honest, 2004 had to happen in order to make 2007 "okay." By that I mean the Sox HAD to go through the Yankees to win; had they beaten another team in the '04 ALCS and won the Series there would've been the obligatory taunts of how the Sox took the easy way out and didn't beat the Yankees, and if '07 had gone down as it has so far, people would've said the same thing. Assuming the Sox win the Series this year people would've said, "Sure, you've got two titles but you still haven't beaten NY" and you know what, they'd be right. It would still be something the Sox had to accomplish; they'd never admit it, but most fans would probably agree. October 17 - 27, 2004 will forever be the best 11-days of my life as a sports fan. It was a Hollywood movie come to life and I still get chills thinking about how amazing that was. Game 4 and Game 5 of the ALCS were two of the greatest games I've EVER seen ... living through that postseason, beating the Yankees while making history at the same time and then beating the Cardinals in four-straight to end 86 years of frustration makes this year so much more enjoyable.

As I watched the Sox win Sunday night I thought to myself, "Is this what it feels like to be a Yankee fan?" Expecting to win, and then winning - it must be - it really felt weird and surreal. Are these my Red Sox? Then I also thought how much the Red Sox winning means to me - I mean, I didn't play one game, I'm not part of the team or organization, and my life (outside of my mood) is not affected whether they win or lose, and I know it's hard for some people who are NOT sports fans to understand how a game can mean so much, and you know what, it's hard to explain. It's easy to understand why parents love their kids, but not so easy to comprehend how one person can love a group of people they've never met so much. But you know what, it's an emotional investment to be a fan and people that are not fans do not have such investments thus it's harder to understand. There is no frame of reference for them. When the season started April 2 I took a half-day to come home and watch the Sox start the season in KC. Since then I've watched almost every game, read articles about them every day and went to see them play in person in two cities. They dominate my summer, so while they don't know me or the millions of other Sox fans, we know them - and we revel in their success and frown in their failures. It's the life of a fan. This has been a 6-month journey that we've been on - the constants in my life the last 6-months have been my family, friends and the Red Sox. They are part of my life, and now it's time to culminate this 6-month journey with ANOTHER World Series Championship ... how cool would that be!

It Doesn't Get Better Than This

Unless you're a rabid sports fan like myself, it's probably hard to appreciate the nerves I'm feeling right now - less than two hours before Game 7 of the ALCS begins. I'm not playing, just watching - my life will not be altered, other than my mood come Monday morning, but I've spent the last 6+ months with the Red Sox; spent many an evening together. As a fan, you invest a lot, and as a Red Sox fan your mood can change pitch-to-pitch and game-to-game. There have been many memorable moments this season, but last night's J.D. Drew grand slam in the first inning might top the list (until tonight I hope).

Here the Sox had load the bases, with Manny Ramirez due up - he battles a tough at bat but strikes out, and then Lowell pops out on the first pitch. #*$!% Guess who is coming up? The 'Grim Reaper' himself ... J.D. Drew. Pretty much the last guy a Sox fan would want up in such a situation; I couldn't stomach the thought of seeing them load the bases with no out and then not score, and of course, before Drew stepped in the box, I'd made my mind up that they weren't going to score. With the count 3-1 I was just hoping for a walk - PLEASE, just walk ... don't swing. Now since we were all out at dinner I saw Drew swing, and I saw Sizemore retreat, but I didn't know the ball went out of the ballpark until I saw Drew triumphantly running around the bases. I jumped out of my seat at the restaurant and screamed and cheered in delight. All I could say was, "Holy sh*t - I can't believe J.D. Drew hit a grand slam!"

I was awesome - all I wanted as a fan was to them bring it back to Boston, and they did behind Beckett, and now Schilling & Drew had ensured Fenway would see it's first deciding game since Game 7 of the 1986 ALCS, where the Sox topped the California Angels 8-1.

It's our series now - Cleveland had their chance and I'm ready to see a Fenway Champagne Party tonight, and hopefully another "jig" from Papelbon.

Bring it home boys - do it for Cameron ... GO SOX!

Bringing it Back to Boston!

One down, two to go - the Sox did what they needed to last night, they brought it back to Boston, that's all anyone could ask for ... just give us a chance to play again at home. It would've been so disappointing for it to end like that. And Josh Beckett, I don't know what to say about him. He's the best postseason pitcher going right now, and aside from Johan Santana, arguably the best pitcher in baseball.

Half of last night's game I had to follow on my blackberry, as we were celebrating Mom's retirement at a dinner in her honor; by the time I got home it was only 2-1 in the the top of the 6th inning and from there the Sox broke it open and won easily. It was so satisfying to hear the Indian fans mute, with their stupid towels by their side, not knowing what to do with them. Now Cleveland is a good baseball town, they don't have pathetic thundersticks, and they fill the ballpark, which is saying something for some cities in October, but it's almost as if they need the towels to create their atmosphere, and that's sad ... you'd never need that in Boston, or New York for that matter. Fans alone should create atmosphere. Real fans at least.

Now tomorrow the Sox will turn to Schilling who said himself, 'came up small in a big game' last time out. It's hard to imagine someone with Schilling's ego, and his preparedness coming up 'small' for a 2nd straight outing. He has a chance to vindicate himself and that's all he or Red Sox Nation can ask for.

As for this weekend, LETS PLAY TWO!

Did We Come This Far For This?

I tried to tivo the game last night, you know, change up my luck a little. I put my phone on silent, put in a drawer and put the home phone on do not disturb – we had a pretty productive evening, cleaning up the house putting up some new pictures, listening to some music … but then at about 10:50, I went upstairs to put the game on. I zipped through the Indians at bats (and so did Wakefield for the first four innings) and just watched the Sox bat. Nothing good, only my reinforcement that I really can’t stand J.D. Drew or Coco Crisp anymore – we need a break from each other. Coco’s defense his two years in Boston has been nothing short of superlative – a joy to watch, but he has been so far from the offensive force that I expected him to be when they acquired him in ’06. Overall, he’s been a disappointment. Drew, we’ll save that for another time, because he’s still got four years left on his inconceivable deal that we don’t have to get into now; we just know he’s pretty much sucked all year. He summed up his year in his first two at bats in Game 4: AB #1, Manny on 2nd, one out, he strikes out on four pitches; AB #2, with two out and nobody on, he rips a single up the middle. Nice!

Anyway, this isn’t a place I want to recap a loss, we all know they lost – it sucks, and they’re down 3-1 and have been completely outplayed. I love to cook, so if a baseball team wants to whip up a dish called “Disaster” here are the ingredients:

Don’t score first
Your starters in Games 2, 3 and 4 can’t make it through the 5th inning
The last eight runs you’ve scored have been the result of a HR
J.D. Drew and Coco Crisp make-up 2/3 of your outfield

The one that gets me is the third one – you’re not going to win a championship if your only course of offense is the HR. It helps, hell yeah, but they’re singular sources of offense, they are not stringing together productive hits, thus they’re not having productive innings and haven’t done so since the 3rd inning of Game 2. They have no momentum. But as they say, momentum is a good as the next day’s starting pitcher, which is Josh Beckett – so I feel pretty good, as should all Sox fans, but they’ll be going against Sabathia again, and I’d be surprised if he gives up 8 runs again in less than five innings for a 2nd straight start, but the Sox have fared pretty well against him so we’ll hope for the best.

Back to Game 4 for a moment – I never had a problem with Francona starting Wakefield over Beckett (on three days rest) in Game 4 … Wake won 17 games this year, he was a vital part of the division championship and a 2-1 deficit is no reason to panic; I mean, he was pitching against Paul Byrd, who allowed almost 50 more hits than innings pitched in ‘07 – this wasn’t anyone who should’ve overmatched the Sox offense. What I DID have a problem with is Francona unwilling to move the lineup around – why not sit Drew in favor of Kielty, who has great numbers against Byrd, and give Ellsbury a shot over Crisp? What’s the harm? I know Tito is fiercely loyal as everyone has written, but there’s a difference between being loyal in June and October, down 2-1.

This team desperately needs a spark – they NEED to score first Thursday or I fear they won’t recover; if they can get on the board first, that will jumpstart them, give them and the fans the “Alright, this things not over” yet feel. Hopefully they can return to Boston this weekend for more than cleaning out their lockers. They had to win one game in Cleveland to guarantee Fenway sees another game before April 2008, and it doesn’t matter which one you win … of course now their only choice is to win tomorrow.

Here’s hoping for some baseball at the Fens on Saturday!

No Dice

I don’t know how to feel about Dice-K right now … his season so far reminds me a lot of Josh Beckett last year; hints of brilliance, but more headaches and frustration than you anticipated. I refuse to judge Matsuzaka on this season, as I fully expect a much better season next year. Of course, that doesn’t do much good right now.

Dice-K has had a good year, but I’m sure most Sox fans would say they expected more, and how could we not with all the hype. He’s been good, but far from great. The fact that he’s yet to make it through the 5th inning in two playoff starts is very frustrating. He’s like a right-handed Jon Lester right now … pitch counts in the neighborhood of 90 pitches at only the 5th inning mark.

Last night’s game had ominous signs from the outset: 2nd inning - bases loaded nobody out and zero runs scored, 4th inning – leadoff double by Ortiz, but an ill advised baserunning move by him and he gets hit by Manny’s ground ball and then he’s out and again, zero runs scored.

Tonight’s game is HUGE! I have no problem with Wakefield pitching – the guy won 17 games this year, a lot of the Cleveland players haven’t faced him before so the knuckleball is quite a different look, and for the Sox to win this series they’re going to need someone other than Josh Beckett to step up. Until Grady’s boner in ’03, Wake was headed for the ALCS MVP … he’s been there before so I have no doubt that he can come through. The Sox need to do something they’ve yet to do in this series – jump ahead first, take some of the pressure off Wakefield.

Win tonight dammit and give the ball to Beckett on Thursday, all knotted at two. I like my chances!

No More Gagne! PLEASE

This is what it means to be a fan – look forward to a game all day, live and die with every at bat, pitch and ball put in play … only to stay up until 1:15am and see them self-destruct. You know what? It comes with the territory. Honestly, if being a fan ALWAYS meant winning, where would the drama be? It would be nonexistent. That being said, when I watch the Sox I want them to win every game – I just know they’re not, but it’s the journey that is more fun than anything.

That is why I remember saying to Kim last year that the 2003 heartbreaking ALCS loss was better than watching the Sox implode last year in AUGUST! The journey ended way too soon.

NEVERTHELESS – back to Game 2. As soon as I saw #83 prepare to enter the game I almost considered going to bed because I couldn’t dare to watch what Mr. Eric Gagne pitch again this year. So I didn’t go to bed, I just put on a movie and kept track of the game on ESPN.com (it was better than watching). Before I knew it, the computer showed runners on 1st and 2nd with one out and we know what happened from there. The Indians collection of ‘Dregs of Society’ relief pitchers (this night, only consisting of one – Tom Mastny) retired the Sox 3-4-5 hitters in order in the bottom of the 10th. Our ‘Dregs of Society’ relief pitchers allowed seven runs in the top of the 11th. And by D.O.S I mean, the guys you don’t normally trust in tight, crucial game but due to the circumstances, you’re given no choice. Personally, I would’ve preferred to see Jon Lester emerge from the bullpen – I know he wound up giving up a homerun too in the 11th, but what must have been going through Gagne’s mind as he entered the game? There are 37,000+ people in Fenway and millions of Sox fans watching on TV EXPECTING him to fail, and he did just that. We’re running out of season left for Francona to say, “Hey, we’re going to need this guy at some point – we need to get him right.” I could accept that answer in August, maybe even early September, but you know what, it ain’t gonna happen.

Eric Gagne used to be ‘must watch relief pitching.’ With the baseball package, anytime I was watching baseball lying in bed late night, I always checked out the Dodger game because when he came into a game, it was an event. He was so good, so efficient, so dominating that he truly was on another level. I know Rivera is probably the best ever, and Eck was as good as anyone, but regular season wise, I don’t know if anyone has ever been as good as Gagne was from ’02 – ’04. Now I knew we weren’t getting that guy, I don’t think any Sox fan expected that … but I didn’t expect a Canadian version of Ricky Vaughn.

I know teams normally make July 31st deadline deals to shore up the team and ensure a postseason birth, but the Gagne deal almost worked completely opposite. I remember four games specifically (two in Baltimore, one at home vs. Anaheim and one in Toronto) that he blew – the Sox could’ve clinched a week earlier if they HADN’T dealt for Gagne … it’s not supposed to work that way! It’s hard for me to recall a deal that blew up this badly for a team at the trade deadline. I remember watching Gagne’s first game with the Sox at my Uncle’s house in CT – I was really excited; he came against the O’s (I think they had a four run lead or so) and he got banged around for a few hits and a run, but I wasn’t very concerned. Then I saw him pitch again in Seattle over the weekend – same idea … way too many baserunners. Thankfully he didn’t cost the Sox either game, but that would change very soon.

In 21 innings with Boston, Gagne has a 7.29 ERA and 1.95 WHIP – absolutely abominable numbers. There’s no way to survive in Boston with numbers like that, where a Nation is expecting failure. I don’t envy his emotional turmoil right now, but I also don’t want to see him pitch again. I’m sure he’s a great guy, has a lot of people who love him … I’m not here to bash the person, only the pitcher – and as a pitcher, I look forward to never having to see him pitch for my Sox again.