THE BOSTON RED SOX WIN THEIR SEVENTH WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP, AND SECOND IN FOUR YEARS.

When it happened 4 years ago, it seemed like an odd dream. This time around? It feels like it actually happened.

Still, it’s difficult to shake that cold, nagging feeling that we are stuck in the Twilight Zone. These are not your fathers’ Red Sox. This is not the team that is known for failing in incredibly theatric fashion. This team, our team, the team that we have lived and died with since we were brought into this world…they are the premier team of the 21st Century.

Are we witnessing a dynasty in progress? Maybe. One thing is for certain: we should never take this for granted, and remember that those before us were not so lucky. There is much more to say, but right now I cannot compose a cogent thought. It’s time to soak this in. Hug your friends and loved ones. Sip some champagne. Reflect on it. Savor it.

Congratulations to the 2007 Boston Red Sox.

I’ll let you analyze this data any way you see fit, but never in the 104 year history of the World Series has a team lost a 3-0 game lead.

The one downside to Boston’s current situation: the bullpen is rather drained, and we have a pitcher who isn’t known for going deep into games tonight.  This, factored in with the “cornered animal” effect, leads me to believe Game 4 is in Colorado’s favor.  Luckily, the Sox now have a whole lot of leeway to work with.

Tonight, at 8 PM (sigh…), it’s Jon Lester (4-0, 104 ERA+) against Aaron Cook (8-7, 116 ERA+).

Much was made of the Rockies extended layoff heading into the World Series. I don’t want to hear any excuses. They shrugged it off, as most professional athletes would. It turns out playing with yourself for a while isn’t the best way to prepare for a big date.

If you told me that Beckett would strike out the side in the first, and Pedroia would follow with a lead off home run, I wouldn’t have been surprised. The Sox continued right where they left off, an unstoppable offensive force. The final cog was the two out RBI (J Drew 2, D Ortiz 2, J Varitek 2, K Youkilis, M Ramirez, J Lugo, J Ellsbury, D Pedroia.) My only note from the first few innings preparing for this post: “Sox look awesome.”

I’m sick of the Tulowitzki vs. Braun NY ROY debate. Braun hit 34 bombs in 451 ABs, while Tulowitzki hit 24 in 609 ABs. Braun carried his team offensively during Prince Fielder’s cold June/July/August. Yeah, Tulowitzki has a cannon, but the impact Braun had on his team was greater. This is a nice problem to have. Two (maybe three) over-qualified candidates is better than the “Ah, I guess we’ll give it to Carlos Febles” years.

Not only did the Red Sox come away with a win, they prevailed in the battle of bullpen management. While Clint Hurdle ran through Matt Herges, Jeremy Affeldt, and LaTroy Hawkins late in the game; Tito gave the ball to Timlin and Gagne and said “Do your worst.”

The Curious Case of Curt Schilling

Hallelujah! The second coming of Bono, Curt Schilling himself, is starting game two for the Red Sox. He’s been there when it counts, especially for his 2008 contract. When he tosses a perfect game tonight, I’ll happily partake in whatever he’s offering, but until then I’ll maintain my irrational dislike. Amen.

Let’s talk about perception. In this case, how we perceive Curt Schilling, and how he wants us to. Some see him as a over-exposed attention whore, and some as an old school ambassador for hard nosed baseball. Clearly, there is a great divide in Red Sox Nation. If you’re new to Dewey’s House, or I haven’t made it clear, I subscribe to the drama queen school of thought. If you’re drinkin’ the Schill-ade and like his vocal moral stance, you may want to shield your eyes. That’s it, I’m through apologizing.

He goes to extreme lengths for us to notice him. We have heard his tireless campaigning for support: he conducts frequent interviews on WEEI while driving, showering, and shopping for pleated slacks. Between blogging and pitching he finds the time to post on a certain message board, of which I am not popular enough to belong. He has delivered babies and scored touchdowns. He is everywhere, all the time.

His motivation for this unprecedented exposure is currently unknown, but it’s not accidental. The attention strokes his ego, but does he realize the damage it has done? Why take the chance? What does he want us to believe? Why make such an effort to fit in? My contention is simple. His straightforward “honesty,” constant reminders of charitable work, political leanings and sock-stigmata point to one thing: he wants to be our Savior. He wants to be all things to all of Red Sox Nation. A bastion of morality, a hero on the field, and our buddy from a message board. It isn’t enough for us to simply like him, we must adore him, worship him. Curt Schilling is campaigning to be Jesus.

It’s possible that this is unconscious, and I don’t particularly care that he’s got a schoolboy crush on me and every fan. I like the amount of information he supplies us, but its the way he supplies it that irks me. As if we owe him something for his effort.

I’m thankful he’s here, because he’s the most interesting character on this team. I really just want to ask him one question: What is your agenda, Curt? I’m sure the answer would be “I don’t have an agenda, I’m just here to win a championship.” Which annoys the hell out of me. As soon as the questions get tough, he reverts to sports-speak cliches. Just Curt being curt.

Ugueth’s Long Lost Cousin

The twenty-three year old Ubaldo Jimenez represents the second installment of the Colorado Young Starter Transition (CYST). He stepped in midseason and solidified the rotation after an underwhelming AAA campaign. If a 5.85 ERA and 1.67 WHIP in 19 AAA starts is any indication of his talent, Ubaldo had better make sure his neck is stretched out before Thursday’s contest. At the time of his call-up, the Rockies were looking up at four teams in the NL West, a game under .500, so they had the luxury of easing him in. As it happened, there was nothing to be tentative about. His consistency was unexpected and a major reason for their resurgence. Excuse me while I indulge in some cherry-picking, but in 14 of 17 starts he allowed three runs or less. He’s a fastball-curve guy, topping out in the high 90s. The Red Sox need to lay off the high heat and make him throw his curve for strikes.

Winning game one is important. Going to Colorado up 2-0 would be awesome. The DH disadvantage shouldn’t be overlooked, the way Youkilis is swinging the bat I can’t make a case for him sitting. I’ve gone from being staunchly “Ortiz at first no matter what” to “infield defense is important” after imagining Manny chasing balls into the gaps in Coors. The look on Ortiz’s face rounding second base in the fourth inning was agony. The outfield defense will be challenged enough. There is no room for error on the infield.

RED SOX TO REPRESENT AMERICAN LEAGUE IN WORLD SERIES AFTER DEFEATING THE CLEVELAND INDIANS

The Sox cap off their comeback by winning a very tense Game 7, a game I found very painful to watch until the eighth inning offensive explosion.  Throughout the first 6 innings, I had a terrible feeling about this game given the squanders in the first few innings.  The Indians proved to be insanely tough adversaries, and this entire series was extremely well-fought.

Daisuke Matsuzaka came up huge in the poise department, having zero walks and coming through in the rough situations that he had been struggling in prior to last night.  And of course, Dustin Pedroia really should be benched in favor of Alex Cora immediately.

Kudos to Red Sox fans for not rioting last night. (Or, at least I don’t think you rioted; I haven’t had a chance to check CNN.com yet).

Wednesday night: World Series Game 1.  ALCS MVP Josh Beckett vs Jeff Francis. 

This is familiar territory. This game is no different than the last two. This is no different than years past.

As game six progressed from “sure thing” to “laughable” it became frustrating. Not because the outcome was in doubt, but because Eric Wedge would finally get a chance to really bury himself in sh*t, and he blew it. The Indians pen was not burnt to a crisp, merely roasted to a nice golden brown. If only we saw Betancourt — the Moby Dick to our Captain Ahab. Touche, Monsiuer Wedge. We’ll see you in hell.

The Red Sox are, once again, the best team in baseball. They’re back on the doorstep of the ultimate goal, one win away from the biggest of dances. It’ll take a solid performance from Diasuke Matsuzaka, and the offense to show up again.

Ellsbury in; Crisp out

Loyal Puppy Francona has benched Coco Crisp for Jacoby Ellsbury in the biggest game of the season. His tendency to stick with the Vets is well documented (see Millar, Kevin), which makes me wonder if this decision came from above. I’d give a digit (well, a toe) to know the details of the Front Office-Tito relationship.

The media has been pining for this since the Sox started losing — not entirely incorrectly, as Coco has limped to a 3-21, 0 BB line in the ALCS. What did you expect?

I’m excited to see what the kid can do. No pressure. Just an elimination game. Let’s see if he’s got the stones.

In what is undoubtedly the biggest game he has pitched since the two “bloody sock” contests of the 2004 ALCS and World Series, Curt Schilling looks to save the Red Sox from the precipice of elimination and force a Game 7 at Fenway Park.

If Curt does manage to lead the Sox to victory, it will be just another brick in a fortress of October success in which he has tallied a 2.21 ERA in 121 playoff innings, and another bullet point on a possible Hall of Fame resume.

If things take a turn for the unfortunate, and the Red Sox lose this game Saturday night, it will likely be the last game Curt Schilling pitches in a Red Sox uniform.

Either way, it will be a Game 6 to remember.

Saturday, 8 pm.  Schilling vs. Carmona @ Fenway Park.

Josh Beckett’s career numbers in the playoffs:

65.2 innings
34 hits
73 strikeouts
13 walks
0.71 WHIP
1.78 ERA
17 liters of water transfrormed into wine
12 insanely hot female country singers penetrated
4 lepers healed
472 slaves led out of Egypt
32 kittens removed from trees

…and counting.

Manny Ramirez hits a ball to right-center field at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio. The ball hits above the wall, possibly grazing yellow paint on the top of the wall, possibly grazing nothing but concrete. The ball bounces at a 45 degree angle upward from the top of the wall, therefore (according to the laws of physics and junk) hitting above the wall.

Seems like a HR, right? Wrong.

Why does the yellow line exist? Several ballparks have “the yellow line”, and some ballparks don’t. Why is it there? In the case described above, the baseball would have hit yellow paint above the wall. Is this portion of the wall in play? If so, it’s a revelation to this sports fan. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver aren’t exactly a fountain of groundbreaking baseball analysis, and they felt it more important to bleat about Manny “disgracing the game” anyway, so they weren’t much help.

Anyway, this isn’t an isolated incident; I’ve seen some confusing home runs calls (and non-calls) in several games this season.  It seems to have happened more this season than years past, for whatever reason.
MLB, Bud Selig, and the umps need to have a winter pow-wow and straighten this shit out.

When Jake Westbrook blew Dustin Pedroia away on 3 pitches to start the game, I was afraid it was afraid it bad sign.

When he loaded the bases in the second inning and managed to escape with no runs allowed, I started to become a little suspicious.

When he managed to get Manny Ramirez to hit David Ortiz with a hard ground ball on the base-paths, I was certain he had done it: Jake Westbrook has sold his soul to the devil.

In all seriousness, he did pitch quite well, but baseball is a funny game, is it not? This Boston lineup scores a combined 12 runs against C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, 2 legitimate AL Cy Young candidates, and is completely baffled by the likes of Jake Westbrook while only striking out twice. This is a guy who gave up 10 hits in 6 innings in his only regular season game against Boston. I guess a tip of the cap goes to a veteran pitcher who probably had the game of his career last night.

Daisuke Matsuzaka came up short once again. Aside from giving up a 2-run HR to Kenny Lofton (who had one of the more animated HR trots I’ve seen, especially from a 50-year-old man), he was fine up until the 5th inning, when the wheels started to come off the wagon train. However, on a night where the offense is completely flummoxed by a pitcher who is the definition of “league average”, he only gets a meager fraction of the blame pie.

Hats off to the bullpen, who pitched as well as they could have (3 hitless innings).

With the recently injured Tim Wakefield listed as the Game 4 starter (8.76 ERA in his last 5 starts), there appears to be a cluster of dark clouds forming over Lake Erie.

In case anyone was interested, here is the latest update to the official list of things that should not be relied upon to get left-handed hitters out in tough situations.

The Official List of Things That Are Not Left-Handed Specialists.

• Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen
• A burlap sack containing jasmine rice
• The Canadian province of Nunavut
• Spider crabs (Libinia emarginata)
• A blue 2003 Dodge Stratus
• Boston Red Sox pitcher Javier Lopez
• The IKEA furniture superstore in Stoughton, MA
• Grape soda
• Confederate Army general Stonewall Jackson
• The color orange

That is all.

During the ALCS Game 1 broadcast on FOX, announcers Tim McCarver and Joe Buck had a very civil, professional disagreement on which Red Sox pitcher would start in Game 4, Josh Beckett or Tim Wakefield. At least…it sounded civil. Let’s compare what the announcers said with what they were actually thinking.

Joe said: “The Sox are starting to run away with this game. Do you think they would eventually ‘pull the quarterback’ and rest Beckett up for Game 4?”
(Joe thought: “You know, I like John Cougar Mellencamp, I don’t care what anyone says. ‘This is our country‘ Yeahhhh…that never gets old.”)

Tim said: “Well, in today’s game, with today’ strategies, I don’t think Beckett would pitch on 3 days rest. I think Terry Francona would pitch Wakefield.”
(Tim thought: “This prick has no idea what he’s talking about. Newsflash, asshole: ballplayers are human. We are not X-Men characters, you spoon-fed maggot.”)

Joe said: “Hmmm…, well, if Josh pitched Game 4, he would then be able to pitch Game 7 on regular rest. So, I think it might be a good idea.”
(Joe thought: “Did…did you just contradict me on national TV? You miserable old bastard, how dare you. This isn’t the Bill Maher show, f*ckface. You just nod in agreement when I speak, and speak when spoken to. Pathetic old relic.”)

Tim said: “Well, 15 years ago, maybe that would happen. But, in today’s game, with a pitcher of Josh’s age and importance, I don’t think Francona would do that.
(Tim thought: “You aren’t half the man your daddy was. As soon as this game is over, I’m calling Rupert Murdoch and having a “No Mongoloids In the Booth” policy enforced. If you argue this point with me any more…well…I just might lose my temper. And that would be a bad thing for you, Joe. A very bad thing.”)

Joe said: “Well, Josh Beckett pitched on 3 days rest before…and won Game 6 of the 2003 World Series against the Yankees in a shutout. So, he’s done it before, and he could probably do it again.”
(Joe thought: “You slobbering, pants-shitting, senile old f*ck! Die already! Just f*cking DIE! I’ve been wanting to get Cal Ripken in here for FIVE F*CKING YEARS, but no, Tim’s heart just won’t give out after 45 years of wanton tobacco abuse. WHAT THE F*CK! Oh, and Tim? Don Slaught has pieces of you in his stool.”)

Tim said: “Well, that was back when Trader Jack McKeon managed the Marlins, and, you know, he was old school. So, I think Francona’s a bit more progressive, and will probably be conservative and pitch Wakefield instead of Beckett. But, time will tell I suppose.”
(Tim thought: “YOU SON OF A BITCH!!! YOU F*CKING SON OF A BITCH!!! I’M GOING TO STRANGLE YOU WITH THIS MICROPHONE CORD!” I’M GOING TO TEAR YOUR HEART OUT AND PLANT BEGONIAS IN YOUR CHEST CAVITY!!! I PLAYED PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL FOR THIRTY YEARS!! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I’M TIM MCCARVER! I WAS CATCHING BOB GIBSON WHILE YOU WERE BEING HAZED BY THE F*CKING CHESS CLUB!! AAAAHHHHHH!!!! YOUR ASS IS MINE!!!”)

Hats of to these two men for their amazing display of restraint, as they managed to not assault each other in the booth during this 12 minute discussion.

Here we are again. It’s Thursday night, and tomorrow there’s a Red Sox playoff game. I’ll be the guy pacing around the office, checking his watch incessantly. The last few days I’ve been psyching myself up so much I don’t know if I can handle any adversity. The moment when I can finish all my thinking, make all my phone calls to loved ones, and rendezvous with some hambone-buddies to celebrate a Game One victory into the wee hours is nigh.

I just heard, “it doesn’t get much better than Brandon Webb versus Jeff Francis” on the TBS NLCS pregame show. Yes, it does. Have you looked at the probables for tomorrow? Are you high?! Oh, the Rockies and the D-Backs are playing in the NLCS? One team is thankful for the return of Willy Tavares, the other has Augie Ojeda at second. Right, no one cares.

Eric Byrnes just said “we’ve defied all the Nostradamuses.” As awkward as that was to write, it was worse to hear. If I’d been able to watch anything in the realm of reputable sports over the last few days there’s no way I’d be watching this game. Sabres-Thrashers on HDNet was cool for about fifteen minutes, but I need to satisfy the baseball craving somehow. Holy shit, I wish the Mets/Phillies/Cubs were in this series: the Diamondbacks just scored in the bottom of the first, and I’ve completely lost interest. Is it wrong of me to wonder if there are more wheelchair accessible seats in Pheonix? Yes.

So, I’ll turn to tomorrow. Bobby Kielty will get the start over J.D. Drew in right, I guess a 1.030 OPS in 29 ABs should get the nod over the 0-3 Drew. It’s not Kielty Carsten Charles should fear, its Manny. The new media darling has a mere four homers and three doubles (1.894 OPS) against the Dumptruck. In very limited action, Travis Hafner, Jason Michaels and Kenny Lofton have aggregates over 1.000 against Beckett. Whatever.

The pitching matchups are square in Games One and Two, but advantage Sox in Three and Four. Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd give up hits and runs, and when this lineup clicks, it eats up middle of the rotation guys. A split at Fenway is fine with me. Under what conditions does Beckett get the start over Wake in Game Four? I don’t agree with it, but I think it’s going to be Wake unless, god forbid, its 0-3. At that point, every game is a must win and the Cy Young needs as many starts as he can get. In two previous career appearances on three days rest, he’s been awesome (1.12 ERA, 9 Ks) but it’s only 8 IP. I like Beckett in One, Four and Seven more than I like Daisuke in Three and Seven. There are only two days between Five and Seven, if Beckett doesn’t start Four, he’ll only get two. Now repeat that back to me.

Did I mention that I can’t wait for Joe Borowski to crash and burn? His time is up.

Clearly small market teams can be competitive in any single year, and I’m sure we’ll see a few in the playoffs every season. If the alternative was true, if every big budget team was automatically a contender, this sport would be boring and dead. With two uber-rich teams, and no, I don’t make a big distinction between the Sox and Yankees’ payroll, we’ll see one of them and a few of the other guys in every postseason. This year, none of the $80-110 million squads got lucky enough to win a series. We’re lucky that John Henry sees the value in winning every year, and the Yawkey Trust did their due diligence in selecting a buyer back in 2001. Go Sox.

Hopefully, when he calls his wife to ask if he can play in 2008, the phone will have better reception this time.

Game 1 of the ALCS on Friday @ Fenway Park: Josh Beckett (20-7, 3.27) vs. C.C. Sabathia (19-7, 3.21), in what looks to be a tense pitching matchup.

Boston 9
Anaheim 1

In a quick and painless series where Boston never really lost momentum, the Red Sox swept the Angels with strong performances by their superstars: David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Josh Beckett, and Curt Schilling. Ramirez, in particular, appears to be in prime mashing mode, as he hit 900 feet of home runs in 2 days, harkening back to the days where he was considered the most feared hitter in baseball.

The Angels fans apparently outgrew the gimmicky “Thundersticks” from 2002; this year they decided to break out the more refined and sophisticated “Rally Paddles“.

The most satisfying part of the series was watching Jered Weaver give up gargantuan home runs to both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, and being forced to watch the two sluggers stop and admire their blasts days after the long-haired hurler complained about that very thing. Weaver is quickly becoming my least favorite non-Yankee player.

It was a raucous celebration scene in the clubhouse. Manny Ramirez was playing the role of “champagne hitman” amidst nervous suit-wearing media members and booze-drenched players. They’ll have a few days to recover, and should be well rested when they play their opponent in the ALCS.

Game 1: Josh Beckett vs. ?????????

Anaheim 3
Boston 6

In this case, the picture says it all.

Manny Ramirez, addressing the crowd like Cyrus addressing the council of gangs in The Warriors.

Can you dig it?

Happy Friday! It gets better. There’s a Red Sox playoff game tonight. Amazingly, the Sox got the primetime slot over the Yankees and face off against Kelvim Escobar and the Angels at 8:37 EDT. The Indians send Fausto Carmona (1.71 ERA last 21 IP) to the hill against Andy Pettitte (5.79 ERA last 18.2 IP) at 5pm. But you already knew this, let’s get on with it.

Traitor?
I’m rooting for the Yankees. I know, the Indians rotation is a different animal in a longer series. The same can be said for the Yankees, and while they clearly have a better lineup, I can’t predict who will be the tougher opponent. Every series is different and season numbers are thrown out the window with bullpen management. Facing the Yankees offers one guarantee: the opportunity to beat the Yankees. Clearly, objective numero uno is advancing from the ALDS and then the ALCS, so yes, I’m getting ahead of myself and should take it one game at a time and other manager-speak cliches, but going through the Yankees would be more exciting. I guess it’s the romantic in me.

Back to Earth
There’s a game to win tonight. Daisuke Matsuzaka comes in on five days of rest, no small detail. His last three starts have been laborious, throwing 119, 117, and 120 pitches. In his most recent bout of ineffectiveness, September 3 and 8, he averaged 110 pitches in the six previous starts. Going further back, his July 8th performance (5IP, 10 H, 6 ER) was preceded by a string of six where he threw an average of 120 pitches. The extra day of rest will prove invaluable. 7IP, 5H, 2BB, 10K.

Kelvim Escobar has been slowed in September by shoulder inflammation. Back-to-back 6ER performances got him skipped in the rotation, only to come back with a vengeance on the 29th. He’s had David Ortiz’s number (.551 OPS in 24 ABs), but Coco and Lugo are a combined 9-21 with 5 BB.

I see another low scoring game, decided by the middle of the bullpens. Each team is strong in the eighth and ninth, but the outs in the sixth and seventh should be treated with just as much care. Tito, there’s no game tomorrow, don’t be afraid to trot Okajima and Papelbon out before their traditional assignments.

Today, we get an odd hybrid of regular season baseball and playoff baseball…the One Game Playoff!

In Denver, Colorado, two teams meet to determine the 8th playoff spot in this years MLB tournament…the San Diego Padres, who have made the playoffs the last two seasons, against the Colorado Rockies, who have made the playoffs once in their existence (1995). To show you just how long ago ‘95 was (in baseball terms), the Rockies best hitter was Larry Walker, and their best two pitchers were Kevin Ritz and Billy Swift.

So tonight at 7:30, on TBS (not in high def, Cox Communications customers!!!) Rockies’ manager will send Pirate castoff Josh Fogg to toe the rubber against Cy Young favorite Jake Peavy. Given the option to start Peavy yesterday in the season finale, Bud Black opted to hold him out for a possible WC playoff/Game 1 against the Phillies.

The only real thing to note about this game, other than the obvious implications, is that your garden-variety analyst over the course of the year has been saying how awful the Padres offense is. In spite of that, the Padres have the 4th best road offense in the NL, with only the Phillies, Mets and Braves out pacing them. Even though the Rockies lead the Senior Circuit in runs at home that advantage is mitigated by the Padres starting Peavy. Fogg is having a decent enough year, considering he hasn’t been much of a pitcher in his career, and his team still plays their home games in Colorado.

When in doubt, in a single game, go with the better pitcher. The nature of baseball is that anything really can happen in a single game, but in foresight, the Padres pitching Peavy just puts them in a better situation to win the game.

Padres 6-4