I don’t think I am as articulate as Ed Cossette or Bob Ryan or Bill Simmons so I am not going to try and put into perspective what this all means. They have all done so wonderfully. Instead, I will try and figure out some tangible ways this season will affect the culture of the Red Sox going forward.

A central mainstream media theme amidst the Red Sox championship coverage has been to ask “what now”? While I think the suggestion that somehow we New Englanders have lost our collective identity is just mind-numbingly inane, I do not think that to simply ask “what now?” is so out of line. And so I have been giving some thought to what this all means for the Red Sox front office, for the current team and for fans.

Red Sox Front Office

I believe the World Series will have two effects on the Red Sox front office. First, there will be some personnel leaving. I think the two prime candidates are Josh Byrnes and Larry Lucchino. While this is blatant speculation on my part, I have to think that there will be some GM offers out there for Theo Epstein’s right-hand man. As far as Lucchino is concerned, he is not one to stay in one place and having achieved what he set ou tto do here, I think there is a possibility he will seek out other challenges.

The second effect will have a permanent and lasting impact on the way the Red Sox conduct their roster construction process. There is no longer the need to match the Yankees blow-for-blow in the free agent market or to win any sort of P.R. war. Now, the Red Sox will simply be able to conduct their affairs as they see fit. Maniacal obsession with another team can lead to knee-jerk decision-making. The Red Sox no longer have to worry about the Yanks beyond the fact that they represent competition. The Sox can simply try and field as good a team as they can. This can only be a good thing.

The Current Red Sox

It’s hard to say what the World Series title will do for the players that otherwise it would not have. Certainly many of these players will experience a new and likely permanent level of celebrity that they probably could not have fathomed. But I really do not think that Theo’s decision making process will be affected. There will be no contracts offered simply to reward an individual for his work. If the Sox believe a contract will make sense throughout the life of the deal, they will make the offer accordingly.

The Fans

Maybe folks can lighten up a bit. Don’t kill the manager for a particular decision. Don’t call for your second baseman’s job after a five game slump. Don’t label players unfairly. Manny’s dumb, Lowe’s a head-case, Pedro withers, yadda yadda yadda…just put an end to all of it. The chief byproduct for which I hope is that baseball becomes more of the focus. No more curse crap, no more waiting for the other shoe to drop, no more nonsense from the press about how Boston “choking” was a matter of when and not if. I would much rather talk about whether or not Bellhorn creates enough runs to justify playing over Pokey (he does) than I would discussing whether or not Pedro was tough enough to beat the Yankees. The peripheral storylines have vanished and baseball will become the focus. I hope.

The Red Sox are just another baseball team now, only they have deep pockets and a supremely competent front office. We might have to get used to this.

So the Boston Red Sox are World Champions.

Let that shit sink in for a second.

Derek Lowe won his third and final series-clincher of 2004 as the Boston Red Sox dusted the St. Louis Cardinals for a 4-0 World Serious victory. The Series was never a contest.

I have absolutely nothing to add. I do not want to be melodramatic since after all, it’s only been 24 years for me. And there will be plenty of places to get your no-more-curse fill. But I wonder how my grandfather might be taking this in down in Florida. He was born in 1930, endured Pesky holding onto the ball for too long, Boudreau’s Indians ruining a city’s hopes, Lonborg running out of gas, Bill Lee’s hanging curve to Tony Perez (or was it an eephus for crissakes), Bucky mofracky Dent, Buckner, Stanley and Gedman and perhaps worst of all, Aaron Boone. That’s a whole lotta heartache, stuff that, unless you experienced it yourself, you would not, hell could not, understand. As illogical as it may be, perfectly rational and intelligent individuals began to wonder if it would ever happen. It’s only human nature. Well it did.

I will have more to add when my head is, um, clearer. Like a Manny home run, the celebration went deep last night. But what I am so happy about, as a Boston guy that went to college in Philadelphia with a bunch of New Yorkers, is that I can stick my chest out now. If you ask me whom I root for and I tell you the Boston Red Sox, you will no longer chuckle or make a wise-ass remark.

Don’t pity me. I’m a Boston Red Sox fan.

Thank you Manny. Thank you Curt. Thank you Keith. Sweet heavens I have no idea what to say…..

What a perfect night. Now, in addition to laying claim to the very best peak of any pitcher in the rich history of Major League Baseball, Pedro Martinez has now notched his signature World Series performance. The guy has caught a raw deal at times over the years here and I have always had the sense that there were not many around Red Sox Nation that amply appreciated what we had every fifth day or so for the last seven years. Those people probably ought to consider this, this, this, this and this. He was as dominant as any pitcher ever – and that’s before environment adjustment. When one adjusts for environment, I just don’t see any way one wouldn’t have to conclude that he had the very best peak of any pitcher ever. Even though I have little doubt that Pedro Martinez has some very good years remaining, he could retire tomorrow and I am not sure that it would be hyperbolic to call him the greatest pitcher that ever lived. I am not sure I believe it and in fact I don’t think I do but there is certainly a case there. Regardless, I was ecstatic and at times emotionally overwhelmed to see Pedro pitch as he did. It was a remarkable and appropriate way for my favorite Boston athlete of all time to pitch on the biggest stage in the biggest game of his life. And if that was in fact the end (pardon me…lump in my throat), thanks for everything, Pedro. I will never, ever forget you.

As for the game itself, it sort of went as expected. Let’s face it. Pedro on seven days rest pitching for a contract, his legacy and a World Series title was a pretty good bet. And Jeff Suppan, as was noted yesterday, represented a juicy match-up for Sox batters. With two outs and nobody on in the top of the first, Manny Ramirez, on the fifth consecutive fastball he saw from Suppan, blasted a solo home run well into the Busch Stadium left field stands. I am not sure if Dave Duncan implemented that strategy or if the gritty Mike Matheny thought that was the best plan of attack or if Suppan himself wanted to tackle Manny in such a fashion but I will say here with full confidence that Jeff Suppan will never beat Manny Ramirez by throwing five consecutive fastballs. Never. The Cardinals threatened in the bottom half of the first but ironically in light of Game One’s events, Manny Ramirez bailed the Sox out by becoming the only player in World Series history to homer and throw out a runner at the plate in the same inning. With the bases loaded and just one out in the bottom of the first, Larry Walker tested Manny’s arm on a shallow pop fly to left off the bat of Jim Edmonds and paid for it. St. Louis would threaten again in the third. The Cards put men on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out but failed to push a run across. The key play came on a Larry Walker ground ball when, with Boston’s infield playing back so as to concede the run, Jeff Suppan, who had reached by virtue of an infield single and was on 3rd base, froze in the middle of the base line. Boston recorded the out at first and nailed Suppan scurrying back to 3rd base for a double play. Albert Pujols grounded out to end the threat and Pedro Martinez would not allow another base runner.

Displaying its lineup depth, something St. Louis cannot boast, the Sox tacked on one in the fourth on Bill Mueller and Trot Nixon’s back-to-back doubles and another two in the fifth on RBI singles by Ramirez and Mueller. It was a memorable game for Bill Mueller, who was playing in a World Series at the very ballpark he used to visit to root on his beloved Cardinals. I have been saying that I did not think it possible for St. Louis to hold Boston to less than five runs. But the Sox failed to reach that mark because Tony LaRussa wisely turned the game over to his pen early and then his relief arms performed tremendously. Four-and-one-third scoreless innings against this Sox offense, clicking as it is, is nothing to sneeze at.

Now the Red Sox stand on the brink of winning their first World Series title in 86 years. I am overcome with anticipation, giddy at the mere prospect and totally disinterested in delving further into the topic. St. Louis has to beat Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield at home to turn this thing right back into a Series. Sound impossible to you?

Didn’t think so.

1) After consecutive games of favorable home plate umpiring, the Sox are getting rooked tonight. Pedro has not received a close call yet while Bellhorn, Cabrera and Manny have all had questionnable at best calls on them.

2) Was Manny’s first inning the best in Sox Series history? A solo job and an outfield assist at home plate.

Shit. Three things I guess because Jeff Suppan just got an infield hit. Bill Mueller is 100%, absolutely, proactively killing the Sox with his defense.

Sigh.

Edit: With Julian Tavarez on in the ninth, let me just say that since I made this post, the plate umpiring has become worse, and largely to Boston’s benefit.

Pedro Martinez and the Boston Red Sox head out to Busch Stadium for Game 3 of the World Series tonight where former Sox bust Jeff Suppan will be greeting them. Sure Suppan has pitched some nice games this postseason but he has done so against a rather pedestrian lineup in the Los Angeles Dodgers and a better lineup in the Houston Astros, albeit one with serious holes. Pedro Martinez will represent Suppan’s only break tonight, as he will bat ninth in the National League Park. For Suppan however, there will be no Brad Ausmus, no Brent Mayne, no Jose Vizcaino.

Jeff Suppan is another St. Louis righthander that relies heavily upon the batted ball being converted into an out. I found this interesting. It’s a compilation of individual pitchers’ numbers against Boston sorted by innings pitched. Look up and down it and there literally is not one on there who has even somewhat contained the Sox that is not either a lefty or at least a 7 K/9 righty. As I said yesterday, St. Louis is going to have to start hitting if they want to hang around this series because I just don’t see any way this Sox offense lets up.

The lineups are a wash (and I am not even sure that’s true but for discussion’s sake…) but Boston is trotting out the guy with the 10th best K/BB ratio in Major League Baseball and the 7th best K/9. St. Louis counters with the guy that ranks 60th and 63rd in those respective categories.

Plus, and don’t underestimate this, I firmly believe that a World Series title without a vintage contribution from Pedro will not sit as well with the future hall-of-famer. The knocks on Pedro are that he has not come up big in his biggest games (selective memory, for sure) and that he has not won a World Series title. Well he can take care of both of those things tonight and absolutely cement his status as one of the very best pitchers ever to take to a mound. My biggest hope is that he goes right at the mediocre sect of the Cards lineup. How infuriating was it watching him nibble and repeatedly throw off-speed stuff to the bottom third of the Yankees’ lineup? It’s ok if you don’t strike Mike Matheny out and in fact, a couple of two-pitch ground outs will be more beneficial. If Pedro forgets about the strikeout to the non 2-5 Cards hitters, he will be around in the 7th or 8th.

The Red Sox have a big edge tonight but that guarantees them nothing. Still, I am more than pleased to place my trust in the greatest pitcher I have ever seen.

One more time with feeling, Petey.

I forget when exactly the exchange took place but Jeff and I went back and forth in the comments section here about the job Theo did in this past off-season. I was largely complimentary, noting that Foulke and Schilling were major scores and that the Red Sox mediocrity to that point (I think it was about mid-June or so) could largely be attributed to injury and general misfortune. Jeff disagreed, noting that anybody could have known that Keith Foulke and Curt Schilling would be major contributors. Acquiring them were no-brainers. Jeff contended that the mark of a good GM was his ability to get the little things done - fill out the roster. See at that point, defense at first base and right field were a joke, Kevin Millar wasn’t hitting, Dave McCarty was playing a prominent role, Gabe Kapler was playing WAY too much and it even appeared for a time as though Andy Dominique may have to be heavily relied upon. But as the trade deadline approached and the injuries started to heal, Theo knew he was a deal or two away from being a better club. Theo pulled off the Nomar deal, a move that I contended made little baseball sense but did so without considering two factors. First, I think the Sox brass made the determination that Cabrera had a real shot at reverting to 2003 offensive form. After all, he had hit in 9 of his last 10 games as an Expo in late July. Second, the Sox obviously had more insight into the severity of Nomar’s injury and figured Cabrera’s defense would far exceed the offensive downgrade from Nomar that he represented. Furthermore, Theo patched up the first base defense problem by netting Doug Mientkiewicz in the deal as well. And finally, the Sox also acquired speedster Dave Roberts from the Los Angeles Dodgers. I note this today because the Red Sox, throughout this postseason, have received contributions up and down the roster. Boston’s six runs last night were driven in by Jason Varitek, Mark Bellhorn and Orlando Cabrera. The Red Sox won the ALCS without a win from Pedro Martinez or an RBI from Manny Ramirez. This is relevant today because of how much dead weight even the very best teams have been carrying. But there is no room on the Red Sox roster for Ruben Sierra. Nor was there in fact room for Tony Womack. There is no room for a Tony Clark, or Mike Matheny, or Bubba Crosby, or So Taguchi, or Roger Cedeno. If you are on this roster, you offer something.

So there’s the macro story of these playoffs if you ask me. As far as last night’s game went, what can you say? It was another fantastic effort from Curt Schilling that highlighted the evening. Now, he might be done and that’s just fine. The suture procedure simply cannot be replicated over and over again. And you know what? Whether the Sox win or lose, he’s done his job. A part of me would almost encourage him to call it a 2004. I don’t really know why I feel this way but I just sorta think his work here is done for this season. Go on and fix yourself up so we can do this again next year.

As I said, the woodwork was taken care of by Varitek, Bellhorn and Cabrera. Varitek jumped all over a 1-2 Matt Morris offering in the first, tripling to the deepest portion of Fenway’s outfield, plating both Manny and David Ortiz who had both earned two-out walks. The Red Sox would score two more in the 4th on a Mark Bellhorn double to straight-away centerfield and two in the sixth as well when Orlando Cabrera hit a two-out wall-ball single to notch the last two runs the Sox would tally.

I think the Red Sox are just a brutal matchup for St. Louis’ pitching. Their four starters in this series are all guys with average stuff that rely on good control and getting guys to swing at pitches outside of the strike zone. The Red Sox just will not budge. They have seen 356 pitches in two games, or 22.25 an inning.

Meanwhile, the Sox have been able to contain St. Louis’ batters, or at least inasmuch as the Sox hurlers have scattered their hits allowed and not let the Cards get them in bunches. It’s a light lineup outside of 2-5 and when Rolen and Edmonds are contributing nothing as they have in Games 1 and 2, it’s tough for that lineup to do much of anything.

Tomorrow night, another good-but-not-great-by-any-stretch righthander takes the hill for the Cardinals in Jeff Suppan. Pedro Martinez will oppose him. There is still a long way to go at this point and we all know that more than anybody. But the Sox are half way there with six shots to win two games. What a weekend.

Jumbled, but thoughts nonetheless…

* Damon doubles to lead off the game and to really get the offense cranking, Cabrera squares to bunt. Can you imagine Bill James’ angst watching that?

* I can’t believe LaRussa didn’t DH John Mabry. Just an awful error in judgment. I think LaRussa, just like plenty of others have, over-emphasized the import of left-field defense at Fenway. The notion that Fenway is a difficult place to play left field is one of the damn wackiest myths I have ever heard floating around. There is about 60% as much ground to cover as there is at the average park. So Larussa went with the .291/.337/.419 guy (So Taguchi) ahead of the .296/.363/.504 guy. Thanks, T. If I knew where you and your Redbirds were bunking up here in town, I’d send you a fruit basket or something.

* Buck’s Matheny-Varitek comparison was priceless. I mean, they’re both white, seem tough, likeable and all that but let’s be serious. Varitek is a borderline star and Matheny sucks. About that, let there be no confusion…
Varitek: .296/.390/.482
Matheny: .247/.292/.348

* I was surprised at Wakefield’s inclination to go to his fastball. I don’t have an opinion on the matter but I was just surprised.

* It was cool to see Dan Haren and Bronson Arroyo come in and pitch effectively, bridging the starter - high-leverage reliever gap for their clubs. Both clubs will rely heavily on these two next year.

All in all it was a sloppy affair. Yeah the Sox had too many walks and errors and still won. But St. Louis almost won without getting anything from their 3-5 punishers. And the Sox were lucky with respect to the umpiring. Keith Foulke’s bases loaded strikeout with two outs in the eighth was probably the biggest out of the night - and total crap I might add. It was a good 10 inches off the plate.

Schilling-Morris tonight.

For the third time, the Boston Red Sox will square off against the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. And for their fifth consecutive World Series appearance, the Sox find themselves confronted not with a Cinderella story or a team that slipped by with a fortunate LCS victory. Instead they are faced with another 100+ win juggernaut. Boston’s five World Series opponents since 1946 have averaged 104 wins.

This St. Louis team won 105 games and features a punishing lineup, solid starting pitching and a reliable bullpen. The two teams’ lineups are just about even while Boston appears to have the slight edge with respect to the hurlers.

St. Louis Hitting
OPS: .804
League OPS: .768
OPS+: 105

Boston Hitting
OPS: .832
League OPS: 792
OPS+: 105

St. Louis Pitching
ERA: 3.75
League ERA: 4.18
ERA+: 111

Boston Pitching
ERA: 4.18
League ERA: 4.87
ERA+: 117

It is important to note that St. Louis will probably not be hurt much by the DH rule. They will be able to start John Mabry, a veteran role player that has hit just about as well as Kevin Millar has this year. This comparison is apt because Millar, just as Mabry will when the Series shifts back to St. Louis, sits for the Sox as David Ortiz will play 1B when the DH is eliminated.

2004
Mabry: .296/.363/.504
Millar: .297/.383/.474

Boston’s lineup is more balanced than St. Louis’ but you could take your pick of Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen or Jim Edmonds, suit any one of them up for the Sox and any of the three would immediately become Boston’s best player. Conversely, you could take any of Damon, Bellhorn, Nixon, Varitek, Millar, or Mueller, put any of them on the Cards and they all would be better than anybody not batting in the 2-5 slots for St. Louis.

On the pitching side, Boston’s starters, especially with Chris Carpenter out, are considerably better than St. Louis’. The Game One matchup of Woody Williams and Tim Wakefield may be something of a mismatch but with St. Louis’ inexperience against Wake’s knuckler and Bronson Arroyo ready and able at the first sign of trouble, I am still confident. St. Louis’ starters in this series combined for a VORP of 103.3 this season. Boston’s, and remember they have replaced Arroyo with Lowe, have combined for a 122 VORP. That tally includes Derek Lowe’s -11.5 figure. Anybody think Lowe looked like an eleven-runs-below-replacement-level pitcher Wednesday night? The Sox have considerably better starters with Curt Schilling’s injury looming as the only factor that could potentially narrow the gap.

In the bullpen, I think they are pretty equal, although St. Louis is more able to go long should a starter run into trouble. Kiko Calero, Ray King and Julian Tavarez do a better job of turning it over to their relief ace than do Alan Embree, Mike Timlin and Curt Leskanic/Ramiro Mendoza. I think most would agree Keith Foulke is a better relief ace than Jason Isringhausen, albeit not by a whole lot.

From a tactical standpoint, I think the fact that the length of the ALCS games necessitated creative bench involvement for the Sox will serve Terry Francona well in the Series. Also, I think the emergence of Derek Lowe and the move of Bronson Arroyo to the bullpen will allow Francona to be more inclined to pinch hit for a pitcher in a big spot in St. Louis. Arroyo can bridge the gap until the Sox can turn it over to their more trusted guns later in a ballgame. If Francona manages his personnel as well as he did in the ALCS, it will go a long way to securing a Boston title. Across the diamond, Tony LaRussa is perhaps the most notorious micromanager in the history of baseball. He bunts, steals, hits-and-runs and works lefty-lefty and vice versa matchups. There is a real philosophy rift between the two clubs. Save Francona’s Game 4 brainfarts, the Sox generally play station to station with a real premium on outs. Sporting a .360 team OBP, it would be crazy to play any other way. But alas St. Louis does play it that other way. I thought Brenneman and Lyons were going to have to excuse themselves last night they were gushing so badly over St. Louis’ ability to play “small-ball”. But make no mistake. St. Louis wins because of these three guys:

Pujols: .331/.415/.657
Rolen: .314/.408/.598
Edmonds: .301/.418/.643

It will be a fascinating matchup between two supremely talented clubs with major differences in their views on both how that club ought to be assembled and how that club ought to go about trying to win ball games. I don’t care to make a prediction but I will say the Red Sox certainly have no reason to fear St. Louis. They are every bit as good and perhaps a bit better.

For superb Cardinals coverage, check out Brian Gunn’s Redbird Nation.

When I was asked last night to predict the score, I said Sox 9, Yanks 6. My thinking was that the Red Sox would have little difficulty putting up big numbers on the Yankees’ Junior Varsity pitching squad and that, simply because the Bombers’ studs had hit something of a cold streak, the Sox’s second line of hurlers may have just a bit more success. But wouldn’t you know it, Derek Lowe, Derek Lowe for crissakes, turned in the start of his life. I sincerely hope that Lowe’s performance will not be lost in last night’s story. For me, and dedicated Sox fans everywhere, Lowe has doubtless and permanently etched himself into our collective catologue of wonderful Sox memories. Between the crotch-chop 2003 relief appearance in Oakland or the best start of his entire 2004 season coming in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Yankee Stadium’s mound, any fan worth his salt will recognize what Lowe has contributed. Bear in mind that last night’s performance took place on the very same mound where, on September 18, he had betrayed his organization’s confidence by laying as big an egg as you possibly could. Well here here Ol’ Boy, you are redeemed and then some.

Yesterday I wrote,

“And please, mainstream media, shut the Christ up about Bellhorn. If I can make a little comparison to equity markets, consider ballplayers like stocks. You need to look at their fundamentals (numbers over the long haul) in order to determine whether or not they are worth purchasing (or should be playing for you). Because just as it is nearly impossible to time the market on a short-term basis, you never know when a Bellhorn or Damon might breakout.”

Well Johnny broke out all right. And Bellhorn wasn’t so bad either. Combined, the two of them at the top of Boston’s order batted .444/.545/1.444 in the biggest game of either of their lives. And it wasn’t because of heart or any sort of lofty personal characteristic the hyperbole-prone will try and ascribe. It was because they happen to be talented individuals that New York was not going to be able to silence forever. If you chanted “Pokey” after Bellhorn’s misplay in Game 4, hang your head and if you even allowed something resembling a “boo” directed toward Johnny Damon, Christ, then I sure hope that wasn’t you I saw trying to make out with bartender last night. You don’t deserve to celebrate like that.

I know it will be one of the main storylines but people have to try and resist the Yankees-as-chokers crap. Baseball is weird. These two teams were evenly matched and yet Mariano Rivera had the ball in his hand with three outs to go in order to close out a sweep. So if the Yankees could get that close to winning four consecutive games against Boston and if you accept the premise that the two teams are just about evenly matched, wouldn’t it stand to reason then that it was certainly possible the Red Sox could turn around and win four straight against the Yankees? No team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit but some team was going to some day. This New York Yankees team, time and again, displayed courage and an unwillingness to give up all year long. They routinely won after trailing, they routinely won in dramatic fashion. Don’t mold recent events just to fit your storyline.

And so now we look forward. Fortunately, Jim Edmonds hit a game-winning home run in the 12th yesterday to force a Game 7 and so both Houston and St. Louis will be in all-hands-on-deck mode just to advance.

I said last night that the end of Game 7 represented the very happiest moment of my life. I don’t think I take that back. I am not married (though I have been dating one helluva gal for 4 years or so now) and I haven’t really had one of those landmark life events that allegedly accounts for one’s happiest individual moments. So I’ll stand by it.

Four more.

I have to be at work in 6 hours…

But rest assured there will be a post.

For now, just as folks dear to me did, I want to say congrats to everybody that cares so deeply about this stuff. It’s weird that baseball can do this to you but this, literally, is the happiest moment of my life. Sheesh.

Thank you to Jeff for creating this place. Over the last few months it really has become special.

I will disect the game tomrrow. For now, let me just say what makes this special is what a great team the Sox defeated. I made a silly, obnoxious comment about two months ago about how much better the Sox were than New York. Larry Mahnken, appropriately, exposed me. What an awful remark, reaking of hubris, I made. The Sox may or may not be better than the Yanks. It’s just an absolute honor to get passed a quality, class organization.

Curt Schilling summed it up best for me when he said, “I am just so proud to be a part of this team.” Well I am damn proud to have the privilige to root for this team. Can we, once and for all, place a moratorium on any commentary that makes it seem anything but fantastic to be a Boston Red Sox fan? No more curse references, no more self-pity. Enough.

Last night, Curt Schilling was absolutely heroic, in a Homeric way. It’s hard to ignore the Achilles comparison, what with the ankle and all, but I thought it was more of an Odysseus type of performance. Polytropos. Resourceful, tough, versatile, wily. In baseball terms, as Terry Francona said in his postgame news conference, “he pitched his ass off”.

And please, mainstream media, shut the Christ up about Bellhorn. If I can make a little comparison to equity markets, consider ballplayers like stocks. You need to look at their fundamentals (numbers over the long haul) in order to determine whether or not they are worth purchasing (or should be playing for you). Because just as it is nearly impossible to time the market on a short-term basis, you never know when a Bellhorn or Damon might breakout. They are both very good players. You don’t sit a second baseman that hits at a .264/.373/.444 clip with a 39.1 VORP. Ever.

I can’t think of much else to say…Good for the umps…Interesting how there is no outrage over the Yankee fans…I really dislike Alex Rodriguez…Italian subs taste good…Derek Lowe…Is it 8 yet?

Just win a ballgame.

This is fun.

So it may have been a bit presumptuous of me to think I would be able to collect thoughts at this point…I think I will cut a corner and go bullet points. I’ll try and go chronologically.

* In the bottom of the first inning, after the first six batters in Boston’s lineup took the first pitch, why did Trot Nixon swing at Mike Mussina’s first offering? I was thrilled because it appeared Boston was going to wait Mussina out and make him throw a lot of pitches, a strategy that could have easily led to Tanyon Sturtze time an inning or two earlier than they saw him. New York’s pen, like Boston’s, was gassed and both starters needed to throw until they lost effectiveness. But there was Nixon, with the bases loaded and one out, swinging at the first pitch after four straight batters had reached base. He grounded out feebly to Tony Clark, who recorded the fielder’s choice by throwing home.

* By the same token, I was hoping that Pedro would try and go right at hitters - compromise his K numbers in the hopes of a 7-pitch inning here or there. Maybe it’s too much to ask of Pedro to deviate from his typical approach but I did not get the feeling he altered his strategy in order to be able to go a bit longer. I would have liked to see him try. How many off-speed pitches did Sierra, Clark and Cairo see anyway?

* I have never - literally never - seen a baserunner score from first on a ball that an outfielder was able to field in front of himself. I am sorry but that was pathetic. Jeter executed an awfully nice piece of hiiting, don’t get me wrong. He had been awful all night and seemed to know he was a bit overmatched but managed to just kind of stick his bat out on a Pedro slider and guided it down the right field line. Not hit very hard, Nixon was easily able to come up and play the ball in front of him but he really loafed after it and even misjudged the riccochet a bit. The hesitation and misjudgment were enough to allow Miguel Cairo to score all the way from first.

* I now just want to state the obvious before I get to the laundry list of Francona gaffes. What a friggin’ game. I have stated here before that what makes this rivalry so great is that it is baseball at its peak. With all due respect to the National League Championship Series participants, and they are both due a great deal of respect, Boston and New York are baseball’s best teams and it was on display last night. For all of the talk about each team’s lineup, how about the pitching last night? The Red Sox got EIGHT SHUTOUT INNINGS from their tattered bullpen. Read that last sentence again. These are talented teams in every respect of the game (ok, maybe not fielding) and the teams can engage in the most explosive of slugfests or nerve-racking pitching duels on any given day.

* OK - about Francona. Where to begin…
1) In the eighth, after Ortiz homered, Millar walked. Down a run, Francona quickly sent Dave Roberts out to pinch-run for him. This was a good decision because there was a more-than-suitable replacement for Millar in the visitor’s half in Doug Mientkiewicz. Trot Nixon then singled, sending Roberts to third and Torre came out and pulled Tom Gordon in favor of Mariano Rivera. This is where Francona made his biggest error of the night. You have to ask yourself at that point if you are the manager, “what are the odds of us scoring the runner from first with Varitek, Mueller and Bellhorn coming up against one of the very best relief pitchers of all time on the mound”? I would submit that the vast likelihood was that they score the tying run and strand the second runner, even with no outs and even if Carl Lewis is your pinch-runner. So in a game that had great potential to go long, and I said this at the time, Francona replaced a very good hitter with a very bad hitter. Gabe Kapler had two at-bats that should have been Nixon’s.
2) In the ninth, Johnny Damon led off the inning with an infield single. With Orlando Cabrera due up and the American League’s top 2 slugging percentage leaders to follow him, I think it is sufficient to say that outs were a valuable resource at that point. Francona sent Damon, who was caught stealing. Just an awful evaluation of the risk/reward logistics. Damon scores on just about any extra base hit from either Ramirez or Ortiz and given that they had a combined 178 of them on the season, the right play was not to risk the out, see what you can get out of Cabrera (who had two hits on the night) and let the great hitters try and bat Damon around.
3) Eleventh inning…Why, in game 170, do you deviate from company policy? Why was Bellhorn trying to bunt? And after he singled, the obvious problem of giving up an out smacking Francona square in the lips, why did he bunt Damon?
4) As long as I live, I will never believe he sent David Ortiz. Just unbelievable.

Some will credit Francona for his handling of the bullpen. That’s crap. He had no-brainer decisions all night because all hands were on deck. He had to go with what he had and that was it.

* Schilling tonight. Just go and win a ballgame.

I am really shitting on my own parade here, but I don’t see how the Red Sox can win the next two games.

I am only watching, and I’m exhusted beyond all belief. I mean, these last two games killed me. Absolutely killed me.

Of course now that its time to go back to New York, I have to say that although I don’t think the Red Sox will win this series, I doubt they will go quitely into that good night.

What a fantastic last two games.

I just arrived home after an unbelievable Sox win only to see Jeff Kent DROP A BOMB to give the ‘Stros a huge win of their own. I’ll have more tomorrow morning when I can actually organize thoughts.

After a record-setting beat-down at the hands of the Yanks on Saturday night, the Red Sox came back to win in dramatic fashion last night as they tied the game against Mariano Rivera in the 9th and then later won it against Paul Quantrill in the 12th. In Fenway Park’s history, there had been two walk-off home runs in the postseason prior to 2004: Carlton Fisk’s World Series home run in 1975 and Trot Nixon’s Division Series home run last season. David Ortiz has doubled that output this season alone.

I thought Bronson Arroyo’s start Saturday night was just terribly disappointing. He had been pitching reliably for a good 3 months and for him to turn in the sort of performance he did exemplifies just how exasperating playoff baseball can be. Like Curt Schilling in Game 1, Bronson Arroyo’s worst game of the year came in his biggest start of the year. The Red Sox lost 19-8 so I don’t want to be misinterpreted here and I am not going to say Terry Francona lost the Sox that game because he did not. But Francona just has to know his personnel better than he demonstrated on Saturday night. The Red Sox have a bullpen with a bunch of guys that come in and can give you a good inning or two - guys with explosive stuff but not built for any sort of role that would have them going for three, four innings at a time. The one individual in their bullpen with significant starting experience and who has the arm to take the ball for an extended outing is Ramiro Mendoza. So when Francona pulled Arroyo after two inning in favor of Mendoza, I was thrilled. I thought Mendoza was the guy that could give Boston a chance and bridge the gap until Francona could turn the ball over to Embree, Foulke et al. Twenty pitches later, he was out of the game. The two guys that subsequently entered the game before they eventually did turn it over to Embree, Curtis Leskanic and Tim Wakefield, gave up a combined eight runs on seven hits in just under four innings of work. I would have liked to have seen what Mendoza could have done.

Last night, the story of the game was Derek Lowe. The guy that has pitched terribly all season long took the ball last night with the season on the line and turned in one of his very best outings of the year. As far as I am concerned, Lowe’s performance offsets just how frustrating Lieber’s Game 2 performance was. Two hurlers of seemingly bygone glory have each given their respective clubs gutsy efforts. Lieber defeated the great Pedro while Lowe was able to tame a Yankee lineup that mercilessly hammered Sox pitching a night earlier. The comeback reinforced for me why nobody should wage character warfare on any of these Sox. They have proven themselves a resilient lot all year long and last night they extended their season by tallying a run against the best postseason reliever of all time.

So let’s take a look at where we are. The Red Sox have to win three consecutive games now, not four. What has already take place is irrelevant. The guy with the 3rd best win % in the history of baseball takes the hill today. If the Red Sox win that game, they will travel back down to the Bronx trailing by the same exact deficit they trailed by last season in which they led Game 7 by three runs with five outs remaining. If you think Pedro Martinez can win at home and you think Curt Schilling can bounce back and win a game in the Bronx and you think the Sox can muster another win against Kevin Brown then you think the Sox have a chance.

Keep the faith.

Today, in his Prospectus Today piece, Joe Sheehan simply stated what I have not been able to say. My failure to articulate this simple point has unfortunately painted me as out-of-touch and perhaps even in denial. But Sheehan said…

“As an analyst, it can be frustrating.
As a fan, it’s the reason we watch.”

Now, I don’t consider myself to have the expertise to call myself an analyst but I do fancy myself savvy enough to understand general sabermetric principles to the point where I may have something to offer the casual or traditional fan. Trying to figure out why Jon Lieber was able to utterly shut down Boston’s league-leading offensive attack in such a crucial game is excruciating. At the same time, from an unbiased perspective, it is fascinating. So please, readership, do not think of me as some number-crunching geek who can’t appreciate the drama baseball, and particularly postseason baseball, has to offer. It’s just that, as I understand the game, the Sox are better and so when they do not perform as they can, I am both mystified and frustrated.

Looking forward to the weekend…

Jon Lieber and John Olerud beat the Red Sox last night. Jon Lieber and John Olerud. It’s funny but around some of the Yankee blogs I enjoy reading, I have taken criticism for postulating that Boston is better than New York, despite their lower regular season win total. Folks drew contrary conclusions based upon Tuesday night’s meeting and I can only imagine how open-and-shut the case will be now that the Yanks have taken a 2-0 lead. But keep in mind how, not arbitrary, but fluctuable these games really are. The Red Sox are down 2-0 right now because Curt Schilling’s ankle flared up (you think 7 would have been enough for a healthy Schill?), Jon Lieber pitched the game of his life and uber-mediocrity John Olerud homered off of Pedro Martinez.

And none of this is to take away anything from what the Yanks have accomplished. They have been the better team for two consecutive nights now and are in total command of this series. The Sox must now win four of the next five games to take the Series.

I am shocked at how terrible Boston’s offense was last night. The whole team appeared as though they were swinging under water, or at the very least swinging 85-ounce bats. Trot Nixon, the guy Roger Clemens could not get a fastball by to save his life last year, now inside-outs Jon Lieber fastballs 275 feet the opposite way. Johnny Damon is a nightmare. Mark Bellhorn is super-patient until there is a full count - then it’s swing at anything time. Manny and Ortiz have been fine - I guess - but Kevin Millar is hitting like it’s April again. It’s maddening that such an offensive juggernaut can fail to show up for 15 out of the season’s 18 most crucial innings.

Pedro looked to me like a 16 year old who has just discovered he has a good arm. Seemingly out of the blue, Pedro has been able to once again summon the wicked stuff that allowed him to have the greatest peak of any pitcher in baseball history. It’s just that the command doesn’t match the stuff. Still, 3 runs ought to do the trick with the Sox offense against Jon Lieber. But it didn’t.

That’s about all I got for today. I do want to say however that there was no improvement whatsoever in the home plate umpiring. There have been two distinct strike zones - the wide one in the top half of the inning and the narrow one specially designed for the bottom half. It sucks, takes away from the games and should be addressed. And for the record, as much as the zone has hurt the Sox this time around, I believe a generous zone helped them against Anaheim.

I will have a forward looking note of optimism when I can muster one. I am pretty down right now that such a great team has not been able to put anything resembling its best foot forward.