Four short years ago, Red Sox nation was awash in misery. The Yankees had beaten us once again as Grady Little left Pedro in one inning too long.
Now, Red Sox fans expect to win it all. These are not your father's Red Sox. These Red Sox are winners. There is no more curse, there is no more morose self loathing.
Our team is going to win the World Series for the second time in my lifetime.
For the second time in three years!
In the most tightly played game of the post season so far, the Sox prevailed again. Schilling pitched crafty ball, Okajema was lights out in relief and Papelbon slammed the door, thanks in part to a baserunning brain fart by Matt Holiday.
"Hey Matt, wanna get away?"
Mike Lowell scored after he hustled to third on a JD (he doesn't suck anymore) Drew hit and scored on a sacrifice fly and also drove in the winning run with a sharp hit down the leaft field line.
Sox win, Rox lose.
SOX IN 4!!!!
Sox take 2-0 Series Lead
Red Sox March to Playoffs!
The Boston Red Sox will play the Cleveland Indians beginning Friday Night for the right to play in the World Series against either Colorado or Arizona. The barnstorming Yankees (who still suck) blew their load just getting to the post season and didn't have enough pitching to force another Yanks/Sox showdown.
The key to victory over the Indians will be whether Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling and Dice-K Matsusaka can out pitch Sabathia and Carmona. I wanted the Yankees to push the series to 5 games so Sabathia would be tired versus the Sox.
The hitters will have to hit too. Big Papi and Manny Ramirez are ON FIRE, let's hope they stay that way! It's about people playing big on the big stage-and there's no hitting duo bigger and badder than Manny and Papi.
I hate this long layoff between the ALDS and the ALCS. I'm too filled with anticipation. Once the series starts, I'll settle into a rhythm. A good baseball rhythm. In the meantime, I'll read up on the stats, the players and I'll take another look at the match ups from this season.
Friday can't get here soon enough.
The Big Schill gets a Blog
As of yesterday, Curt Schilling now has his own blog. There are only a couple of posts but he has over 100 comments on each one! If only I could get that kind of traffic! Check Curt out here.
The Big Schil
I am getting sick and tired of professional baseball players talking about "respect." We've heard the term used in free agent negotiations countless times, Pedro Martinez brought the term to new heights when he and his shoulder skipped town. Now another Red Sox ace is using the "R" word: Curt Schilling.
Curt we love you, but shut the bleep up. Curt will be earning a tad north of $13 million this year and is adored by fans for his heroics in 2004. And he complains about a lack of respect? I wish I had that kind of "no respect!" Whenever you negotiate and make ultimatums publicly you are going to create a charged atmosphere.
For those of you who don't know, Schilling let it be known on the Dennis and Callahan Show a few weeks ago that he didn't want to retire after all. When I first heard the words, I was excited-the guy is a gamer-unfortunately he also has a big mouth. He stated he wanted a deal done before Spring Training was done or else. In this case or else was filing for Free Agency after the season. When Theo conveyed ownership's desire to take a "wait and see" approach, Curt had a hissy fit and once again publicly painted the Red Sox into a corner, creating a maelstrom of commentary from Red Sox nation and many Boston scribes.
The media in this town in relation to the Red Sox is bad enough: the lot of them kowtow to the organization and feed Red Sox Nation with a load of "news" that makes some of these daytime soap operas look downright legitimate. The Boston Sports media, particularly when it comes to the Red Sox, has a self importance about them bordering on demagoguery. And Schilling fuels their flame. The media loves this guy because he likes to shoot his mouth off-which is precisely why the Red Sox want to take a wait and see approach.
Schilling came to camp fat and bitchy and lashing out at the Sox (and the media he has such a love/hate relationship with) about the lack of respect he was shown. If he wins 15-20 games on a team that contends for a World Series, the Big Schil will get his dough and his respect. He'll probably still be on the Red Sox too. As a fan, I'd like him to shut up and pitch and please stop whining about a lack of respect.
