Game Seven

In the end, I watched.

On principle, I refuse to watch playoff series with the New York Yankees in them. If the Yankees make the World Series, then the baseball season ends at that point as far as I'm concerned. Last year I made the mistake of turning on the TV when I realized the Sox were up 5-2 with two innings to go. Clearly the Sox would remove Pedro Martinez - who was out of gas - and use their two ace relievers to put it away. But Grady Little didn't do that, Pedro melted down, and Yankees won in extra innings, and Little was soon fired.

I'm not superstitious. I don't believe that watching the series will affect its outcome. I just hate watching the Yankees in the playoffs. I just want them to lose. It's no fun to watch games when all you want is for one team to lose.

This year, the Red Sox were on the brink of elimination, having lost the first 3 games of the best-of-seven series to the Yankees. And then, 3 outs away from losing Game 4, the Red Sox rallied, won two extra-inning games, and put away Game 6 without much difficulty. Tonight, "lost man" Derek Lowe started the game and mowed down Yankees hitters like they were wheat. Meanwhile, the Sox offense exploded in the first two innings. By the time I got him, it was 8-1 Red Sox in the 4th inning, and I decided that this lead was big enough that I could safely watch. Terry Francona is a solid if unspectacular manager - just what the Red Sox need, frankly - and the lead seemed safe.

I was a little worried about watching, not wanting to get crushed again. And I got the screaming willies when Francona brought in Pedro to pitch the 7th. If you're not going to use Ramiro Mendoza in the 7th inning with a 7-run lead, why is he on the playoff roster? Pedro gave up two runs, but then the Red Sox offense scored twice more, the bullpen finished the job, and the Red Sox accomplished the unprecedented, becoming the first team in baseball history (in 25 tries) to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series. (It's happened twice in hockey, never in basketball.)

It's been 18 years since the Sox last appeared in the World Series (the crushing "ball through Bill Buckner's legs" series loss to the Mets in 1986), and 86 (!) years since they last won (before my parents were born).

It won't be easy, as their World Series opponent will be the St. Louis Cardinals, who polished off the Astros tonight thus denying the nation the chance to see Massachusetts and Texas vying for the World Series and the White House in the same year (something else which has never happened before). The Cardinals are managed by "Tony LaRussa, Sooper Geenyus", who often seems to out-think himself and loves to have a bench of hitless wonders. The Sox and Cards have played each other in the World Series twice before, in 1946 and 1967, both times won by the Cards. The last 4 Sox World Series appearances have all gone 7 games, all Sox losses. And the Cardinals have a tremendous offense and had the best winning record in baseball in 2004.

Both series ended with victors who had just about been beaten bloody by the end: The Cards have a reliever with a bum hand and another with a broken one, while Sox' starter Curt Schilling is playing with a torn tendon and is probably doped up 9 ways to Tuesday. I expect plenty of offense next week.

But I will watch it.

Tuesday I had to leave work early to come home and let the phone guys in since my phone line was not working. No dial tone. My DSL worked fine, though. Go figure. It took them about 45 minutes, but they fixed it.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on annual performance reviews upstairs in my study. And I'll leave you with a picture of what I saw come and go during the afternoon as our first major rainstorm of the season left the Valley: