Well, the Sox are the World Champs again. I may take a bunch of crap for this, but you know what, it’s really just not that exciting compared to 2004. I was at a concert Sunday night in Portland, got back to my buddy’s apartment late, watched Kielty hit the homerun, and you know what I did? Got in the car and started driving home. I was fine with listening to the Sox win the World Series on the radio, and not just because Miller and Morgan are like listening to angels sing compared to McCarver and Buck.And here’s why. For starters, the Sox pulled off the improbable comeback in the ALCS again. That was the exciting series. Young guys were coming up huge when they needed to and Beckett saved the season in game 5. I will say this, the Sox looked dead in the water in that series, then they started having fun again when they had nothing to lose, and the next thing you know Youk is sporting oven mitts in the dugout during the World Series.
Second, we didn’t have to go through the Yanks to get there. That’s the reality, the Yankees are the Darth Helmet to our Lonestar, or maybe it’s the other way around for now, and when you don’t have to go through the enemy to achieve victory, it’s just not as sweet.
Third, the National League sucks. The AL has won 11 of the last 17 World Series, and the NL has swept only one of those series. Also, with the exception Bonds, there really isn’t anybody to hate in the NL. Can anybody say that they hate the Rockies? I’ll bet even their fans aren’t that upset, that was pretty sweet run they went on, and it had to end sometime.
Last but not least, the Pats. This may be because I played football and not baseball in high school, but this is historic. They have a chance to be the most dominant team to play professional sports. And granted they were in the midst of going 14-2 in 2004 as well, but that was with half of the talent that they have this year. The Pats victories this year are like train wrecks; the carnage is so horrific you can’t even look away even though you want to change the channel.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm still amped up about this World Championship. Most of all for Mike Lowell, who my old man refers to simply as "a ball player." And that's what he is. He is the epitamy of baseball, and to have a career year and then win the World Series and the series MVP is exactly what he deserves. It will be a travesty if the Sox don't resign him. That's the diffence this time around for me, in 2004 I was overjoyed for the team and the fanbase, this year I feel more excited about the individuals on the team.
One other thing real quick here. Curt Schilling gets his balls broken about a lot of things, mostly stemming from his blogging and his love of whatever lame ass computer game it is that he plays, but I will say this, he looks like the Rock of Gibraltar in the playoffs. His lines from 2004 and 2007 are almost identical:
2004
3-1, 22.2 innings, 3.57 ERA, 13 Ks/ 5 BBs
2007
3-0, 24 innings, 3.00 ERA, 16 Ks/ 3 BBs
Now I don’t know what’s more impressive, the fact that he pitched that well in 2004 with his ankle disintegrating or the fact that 3 years later he pitched even better. His stats from this year would have been even more impressive if he didn’t get touched for 5 runs by Cleveland in the 2nd game of that series.
Stats courtesy of: MLB.com, ESPN.com
Pic: Tom Szczerbowski/US Presswire
Comments