Took this photo yesterday. Even Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings have Red Sox fever!
If the Red Sox sweep the Cardinals…and I’m not saying they will (I’m also not saying they won’t)…they will do it on the 9th anniversary of the night they won the 2004 World Series…against the Cardinals. I can dig that. I can also dig an umpiring crew that had no problem getting together and making the right call when one of their own completely messed it up. Much like they did twice in the 2004 ALCS. I find it fascinating that there are so many little connections to that postseason. Heck, even Tim Wakefield, Keith Foulke and Kevin Millar have all said this 2013 team reminds them a lot of the 2004 “idiots”. And tonight, although Fox Sports will most likely not show it, members of that 2004 team will be throwing out the first pitch.
I’ll take the good karma anywhere I can get it.
Last night’s win was made even more special by the fact that it was pretty much stress-free. The umps reverse a bad call, the Red Sox start scoring and we get a non-nail biting, World Series win behind a masterful performance by Jon Lester*.
*Not even going to bother rehashing this morning’s whining about a possible substance on Lester’s glove. As many have said, what was or wasn’t in his glove didn’t cause the Cardinals to make 3 errors or force Cardinals pitching to give up 8 runs on 8 hits.
I will say this in support of Cardinals fans: Throughout the ALCS, Red Sox fans complained because it seemed like not only did the Fox crew want the Tigers to win, but they talked more about and with the Tigers than the Red Sox during EVERY game, in Detroit AND Boston. Last night, aside from a bit of focus on Carlos Beltran, it was pretty much all Red Sox all night long. If I was rooting for St. Louis I’d be more than a little annoyed this morning that Fox made it out like only one team was playing.
Okay…one more thing about Lester’s glove: Jeff Passan over at Yahoo Sports has an interesting piece up with this nugget:
Fact: Lester and his Red Sox teammates have used BullFrog sunscreen, which, when mixed with rosin, creates a tacky substance that enhances a pitcher’s grip on the ball. BullFrog was seen in the Red Sox’s dugout during the division series at Tropicana Field – a domed stadium.
Fact: Major League Baseball is well aware of this and does not consider it an issue despite rules about foreign substances because pitchers, hitters, coaches, managers and executives agree that a substance used to better a pitcher’s grip, as opposed to doctor a ball or make it dip and dive in unnatural directions, is within the confines of the rules.
So let’s move on to tonight, shall we? The Red Sox, with John Lackey on the mound, have a very good opportunity to go up 2-0 in the World Series. 2-0. Rookie right-hander Michael Wacha will try to make that difficult for them, and if anyone on the team can put the hurt on the Red Sox he can, but we were told to worry about Adam Wainwright and look how that worked out!
My hopes for this year were simple. I wanted them to win on Opening Day at Fenway and then give us an entertaining run that might include them flirting with first place for a while. When it became clear that they were a good team that was going to do more than flirt with first place, I wanted them to make the playoffs. When making the playoffs was a foregone conclusion, I wanted them to win the division. Once they ticked that off their to-do list, I wanted them to beat the Tampa Bay Rays.
From there it became really simple. The Detroit Tigers were a damn good team and if they lost to them there would be no shame in it. I was already thrilled with the way the season went and I could hunker down for the winter content in knowing the team had shed the ghosts of fried chicken, beer and Bobby Valentine. Then they went and won the damn pennant and they were bringing us a rematch of 2004. I still don’t know what to do with this. I won’t consider this season a loss or a waste if they can’t win the World Series but after last night they got me hungry for it in a way I didn’t expect. I want to see the Red Sox win…win the whole thing. And as much as I don’t look forward to there being no MLB until February, if they won it in four games it would be so very sweet.
But I can’t get too far ahead of myself. Let’s work this one at a time. Lackey v Wacha. A pitcher rehabilitating his reputation against a pitcher just starting to form his. Lackey turned 35 yesterday and Wacha is 22…none of these things will matter once the first pitch is thrown tonight. So in the spirit of brevity, which I’ve already thrown out the window: Just win.