I Got You, Babe.
Congratulations to the Red Sox. They finally brought a World Series title back to Yawkey Way. A few thoughts:
1) (Others have pointed this out, but:) it's entirely fitting ( Meta-ironic? Perhaps.) that the Red Sox' 86-year drought was finally ended by a man actually wearing a red sock.
2) For a washed-up former superstar and a flake who couldn't handle the pressure of a big situation, Pedro and Lowe sure pitched pretty well in the ALCS and World Series. That said, I think it would be a mistake to sign either of these guys to big-money long-term deals in the off-season. Pedro can still be Classic Pedro occasionally, but he's mostly New Pedro - a headcase who can't pitch in cold weather and who goes into mysterious four-game skids from time to time, while Lowe really is a flake. My predictions: Pedro to Anaheim, Lowe either stays in Boston or goes to St. Louis.
3) What're they going to do with all the "ESRUC: Reverse the Curse" merchandise in Boston? Apparently, keep selling it.
4) The better team won. Boston's lineup was at least the equal of St. Louis'. Neither Manny nor Ortiz are as dangerous a hitter as Pujols, but Boston sent nine good hitters to the plate (even Lowe was decent last night). In terms of pitching it was a laugher. The Sox worst starter, Wakefield, probably has better stuff than all but the Cardinals' best starter, Morris. When you're sending out Woody Williams, Matt Morris, Jeff Suppan and Jason Marquis to duel with Tim Wakefield, Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe, you should probably expect to be swept. (This is, by the way, a source of tremendous frustration to us Yankees fans. We also would have killed these guys. What the F*** is wrong with the National League, that this is the best they have to offer? Any of the AL playoff teams could have beaten these guys.)
5) You have to hand it to the Sox: they saw their window was closing, they saw an opportunity, and they took it. (Unlike, say, Cleveland.) This season was basically the last hurrah for this Boston team: they're about 35% free agents to be, most of whom the Sox are probably going to have to let walk. Boston may be able to put together a championship-caliber team next season, but they may not, and at any rate it'll be a very different look team. So they took some chances to Win Now: they signed Schilling even though he was old, had had some injury problems, and had never pitched in the American League. They pulled the trigger on the Nomar trade, sending away a former superstar and fan favorite to upgrade their defense and bring in an untested guy out of Montreal. When Schilling went down with an injury, they stapled his skin to his ankle bone, potentially risking the rest of his career, to keep his tendons in place and Curt on the mound.
6) Aren't the Sox glad they didn't include Lowe for Matt Clement in the trade that sent Nomah to Chicago and Cabrera to Boston?
7) I like that the Sox broke a "curse" that was reputedly caused by trading away their star player in the same season that they threaten to let their star outfielder go via waivers (and to New York!) and do trade their star infielder to another cursed franchise. Symmetry.
8) This is a classy move.
9) The Red Sox swept each team they faced this postseason. They just had their streak interrupted briefly by being almost swept by the Yankees.
1) (Others have pointed this out, but:) it's entirely fitting ( Meta-ironic? Perhaps.) that the Red Sox' 86-year drought was finally ended by a man actually wearing a red sock.
2) For a washed-up former superstar and a flake who couldn't handle the pressure of a big situation, Pedro and Lowe sure pitched pretty well in the ALCS and World Series. That said, I think it would be a mistake to sign either of these guys to big-money long-term deals in the off-season. Pedro can still be Classic Pedro occasionally, but he's mostly New Pedro - a headcase who can't pitch in cold weather and who goes into mysterious four-game skids from time to time, while Lowe really is a flake. My predictions: Pedro to Anaheim, Lowe either stays in Boston or goes to St. Louis.
3) What're they going to do with all the "ESRUC: Reverse the Curse" merchandise in Boston? Apparently, keep selling it.
4) The better team won. Boston's lineup was at least the equal of St. Louis'. Neither Manny nor Ortiz are as dangerous a hitter as Pujols, but Boston sent nine good hitters to the plate (even Lowe was decent last night). In terms of pitching it was a laugher. The Sox worst starter, Wakefield, probably has better stuff than all but the Cardinals' best starter, Morris. When you're sending out Woody Williams, Matt Morris, Jeff Suppan and Jason Marquis to duel with Tim Wakefield, Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe, you should probably expect to be swept. (This is, by the way, a source of tremendous frustration to us Yankees fans. We also would have killed these guys. What the F*** is wrong with the National League, that this is the best they have to offer? Any of the AL playoff teams could have beaten these guys.)
5) You have to hand it to the Sox: they saw their window was closing, they saw an opportunity, and they took it. (Unlike, say, Cleveland.) This season was basically the last hurrah for this Boston team: they're about 35% free agents to be, most of whom the Sox are probably going to have to let walk. Boston may be able to put together a championship-caliber team next season, but they may not, and at any rate it'll be a very different look team. So they took some chances to Win Now: they signed Schilling even though he was old, had had some injury problems, and had never pitched in the American League. They pulled the trigger on the Nomar trade, sending away a former superstar and fan favorite to upgrade their defense and bring in an untested guy out of Montreal. When Schilling went down with an injury, they stapled his skin to his ankle bone, potentially risking the rest of his career, to keep his tendons in place and Curt on the mound.
6) Aren't the Sox glad they didn't include Lowe for Matt Clement in the trade that sent Nomah to Chicago and Cabrera to Boston?
7) I like that the Sox broke a "curse" that was reputedly caused by trading away their star player in the same season that they threaten to let their star outfielder go via waivers (and to New York!) and do trade their star infielder to another cursed franchise. Symmetry.
8) This is a classy move.
9) The Red Sox swept each team they faced this postseason. They just had their streak interrupted briefly by being almost swept by the Yankees.
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