Thursday, October 21, 2004
Not so much an "upset" as the greatest comeback in baseball
If you've got a pair of eyes and ears, then you're already well aware of how collossally amazing it is for the Red Sox to be getting ready to host game 1 of the World Series on Saturday. Last night... just... the stud performances from Johnny Damon (2 homeruns including a grand slam) and Derek Lowe (6 innings pitched allowing only 1 hit) were incredible. I can't for the life of me understand why Francona opted to pull Lowe in the 7th in favor of Pedro "The Yankees are my daddy" Martinez. As soon as Pedro got in the game, you could sense a change in mood. Boston was up 8-1 at that point, but it didn't matter. Pedro was awful and immediately it crept into everyone's heads that Boston would blow it. Fortunately for them, the Yanks could only hang 2 runs on Martinez before he was replaced.
This series is monumental for several reasons.
1. Boston actually beat New York. It's the most heated rivalry in sports, but NY dominates the Red Sox regularly.
2. Role reversal of chokers. "Choking" or collapsing might be a myth, but its what Boston is known for. Aaron Boone in '03, Bill Buckner in '86, Bucky Dent in '78, etc, etc. Teams like the New York Yankees -- teams with that impecable record of winning with poise -- don't choke. Yet, in this series, the bats disappeared in games 4 thru 7. Kevin Brown's abysmal 1 1/3 innings pitched last night (before getting pulled for allowing 6 runs) proved definitively that his lousy performance when he played in LA was no fluke. The Yankees didn't learn from that and instead made the costly error of signing a pitcher no more valuable than a bowl of dog meat. New York had no game plan for game 7. It was evident when Joe Torre didn't know who would be the starting pitcher after Boston won game 6. Then they trot out Brown and he gets absolutely torched in no time flat.
3. This is, without question, the greatest comeback in baseball -- perhaps in all of sports. The Red Sox had just been tagged for 19 runs in game three. I'll say it again. Nineteen runs. That is just so demoralizing to be embarrassed like that in a game they just had to win. So to come back and win four straight after that is just incredible. Everyone and their mother left this team for dead, but they had hallmark moments in their comeback. David Ortiz homering and knocking in the winning runs in the extra inning battles of game 4 and 5. Certainly Damon and Lowe last night. Still most impressive is Curt Schilling's game 6. The guy had blood bleeding through his sock (a red sock at that point) because the sutures on his torn ligaments had popped! And he pitched perhaps the game of his life. It's a performance that ranks with the legends, right up their with Willis Reed.
What of the Yankees, now? You have to imagine that heads will roll at the feet of George Steinbrenner. He's axed millions of people for less. I'm betting on a giant overhaul, especially with the pitching staff. Turns out they really did need Clemens and Pettite, didn't they? Suckers.
Lastly, though, in reference to the title of this post, this is not an upset. It was hugely improbable, yes, but these teams were evenly matched and most people before the series were picking Boston to win. When Fox flashed a list of greatest upsets in sports last night like the '67 Jets, the '69 Mets, Villanova in '85, Team USA in '80 it irked me because Boston and New York were level competitors. Just so happened that Boston winning four in a row after being down 0-3 had never happened before in baseball.
Wow. We get to do game 7 all over again. Tonight! Cardinals vs. Astros! I'm loving these playoffs. Reading "Moneyball," right now, I'm just loving baseball.
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This series is monumental for several reasons.
1. Boston actually beat New York. It's the most heated rivalry in sports, but NY dominates the Red Sox regularly.
2. Role reversal of chokers. "Choking" or collapsing might be a myth, but its what Boston is known for. Aaron Boone in '03, Bill Buckner in '86, Bucky Dent in '78, etc, etc. Teams like the New York Yankees -- teams with that impecable record of winning with poise -- don't choke. Yet, in this series, the bats disappeared in games 4 thru 7. Kevin Brown's abysmal 1 1/3 innings pitched last night (before getting pulled for allowing 6 runs) proved definitively that his lousy performance when he played in LA was no fluke. The Yankees didn't learn from that and instead made the costly error of signing a pitcher no more valuable than a bowl of dog meat. New York had no game plan for game 7. It was evident when Joe Torre didn't know who would be the starting pitcher after Boston won game 6. Then they trot out Brown and he gets absolutely torched in no time flat.
3. This is, without question, the greatest comeback in baseball -- perhaps in all of sports. The Red Sox had just been tagged for 19 runs in game three. I'll say it again. Nineteen runs. That is just so demoralizing to be embarrassed like that in a game they just had to win. So to come back and win four straight after that is just incredible. Everyone and their mother left this team for dead, but they had hallmark moments in their comeback. David Ortiz homering and knocking in the winning runs in the extra inning battles of game 4 and 5. Certainly Damon and Lowe last night. Still most impressive is Curt Schilling's game 6. The guy had blood bleeding through his sock (a red sock at that point) because the sutures on his torn ligaments had popped! And he pitched perhaps the game of his life. It's a performance that ranks with the legends, right up their with Willis Reed.
What of the Yankees, now? You have to imagine that heads will roll at the feet of George Steinbrenner. He's axed millions of people for less. I'm betting on a giant overhaul, especially with the pitching staff. Turns out they really did need Clemens and Pettite, didn't they? Suckers.
Lastly, though, in reference to the title of this post, this is not an upset. It was hugely improbable, yes, but these teams were evenly matched and most people before the series were picking Boston to win. When Fox flashed a list of greatest upsets in sports last night like the '67 Jets, the '69 Mets, Villanova in '85, Team USA in '80 it irked me because Boston and New York were level competitors. Just so happened that Boston winning four in a row after being down 0-3 had never happened before in baseball.
Wow. We get to do game 7 all over again. Tonight! Cardinals vs. Astros! I'm loving these playoffs. Reading "Moneyball," right now, I'm just loving baseball.
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