Way to Go

There’s a proper way to do things. One of the major disagreements that Theo Epstein had a couple years ago with Larry Lucchino was that Epstein found Lucchino’s public feuds with the Yankees unseemly, unprofessional and completely counter-productive. Beat them on the field, but don’t get into pissing matches with them over El Duque or anything else. There’s no need for it, and it makes you look boorish. Do your job and let them do theirs. During his entire career as both player and manager, Joe Torre always conducted himself with the utmost respect for the game, his opponents and the uniform he wore. Torre never showed up the competition, and he was a role model for Terry Francona. The two of them developed a profound respect for each other, and when Torre resigned, Francona was late for a post-season press conference because he was busy watching his colleague’s words on television. There is a way to behave, and that includes showing respect for the game and your opponents.

As the Red Sox are doing their best to win the right way these days, not everyone gets that. Enter Hank Steinbrenner and Alex Rodriguez. Hank is the son of the Boss. Clearly, the apple does not fall far from the tree. When Torre determined that the contract “offer” he was given included not just a pay cut but performance incentives that shouldn’t be necessary for someone of his experience and track record, he walked away. That was, of course, his right. Rather than saying “We’re sorry that Joe Torre did not find our contract offer acceptable. We’d like to thank him for his extraordinary performance as Yankee manager, including his 10 AL East division championships, 6 American League pennants and 4 World Series titles. He always handled himself and his team the with the utmost professionalism, and exemplified the Yankee Way. We wish Joe the best, and we know he’ll be a tough act to follow”, Baby Bluster instead said the following

“Where was Joe's career in '95 when my dad hired him? My dad was crucified for hiring him. Let's not forget what my dad did in giving him that opportunity -- and the great team he was handed”.

What a colossal shmuck.

Then, there’s Alex Rodriguez. It should not have been a shock that ARod was going to opt out of his contract and walk away to seek even greener pastures. Seriously, his agent is Scott Boras. Let’s just make it easier and call the pair Borod. Did you really believe that Borod would do anything other than seek the greatest possible remuneration on the open market? If you honestly did, you don’t understand either of them. It’s not about rings, it’s about the greenbacks. No more, no less. They had every right (and tens of millions of reasons) to walk away, but to do it during the clinching game of the World Series represents unconscionable egomania and arrogance. The next day, MLB was pissed.

"There was no reason to make an announcement last night other than to try to put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game. Last night and today belong to the Boston Red Sox, who should be celebrated for their achievement, and to the Colorado Rockies, who made such an unbelievable run to the World Series."

Correct. But selfish interests are all that matter to Borod, and all that have ever mattered. The timing of the announcement is further proof of the most damning sin of all: Alex Rodriguez doesn’t get it. He’s never been a team player, but worse than that, he doesn’t respect the game, nor does he even bother to pretend to anymore. He pissed all over the clinching game of the World Series because he felt that while he was standing above it, he might as well draw attention to himself. Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News put it best: ARod upstaged more World Series games than he actually played in. Alex Rodriguez is going to be elected to the Hall of Fame some day, but nobody should cheer for him. I wouldn’t want to be associated with the team who’s cap he wears. His next team is about to see up close what the Mariners, Rangers and Yankees know all too well: Not all statistics tell the complete story.

2007 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are the 2007 World Series champions. The series was over soon after the first pitch of game 1 in Boston, since neither the Sox pitching staff nor their bats allowed Colorado to participate. Going in, although the Rockies were white hot, they just weren’t in the same league with the Red Sox, literally or figuratively. They never had a chance.

I had the strangest feeling when Josh Beckett dominated the Indians in Game 5 of the ALCS. The Red Sox and Indians were going back to Boston with Cleveland still up 3 games to 2, but I honestly believed the series had just turned an irreversible corner. After game 4, I thought the Red Sox were cooked. After game 5, they were a different team, and I was suddenly sure they would take the ALCS and win the World Series. As far as I was concerned, the Indians were the only dangerous team left, and Boston had just exposed them. Fearing the Rockies never made much sense to me. What was there to fear? I felt their great streak masked a team with no depth, shallow pitching, and a lineup that could be controlled by a quality pitching staff. I thought that, in spite of the winning streak, the Rockies were the weakest league champion since the 1998 San Diego Padres. How could Colorado match up with the Indians, much less the Red Sox? Turns out they couldn’t. And for the second time in four years, the Red Sox sit on top of the baseball universe.

In the 7th inning of game 4, the last pitch thrown by Aaron Cook landed in the left field seats after it was launched off the bat of World Series MVP Mike Lowell. That pitch finished the Rockies once and for all. A solo homer by Brad Hawpe didn’t much matter, as Bobby Kielty (of all people) made up for it on the first pitch he saw, swatting it into the same spot where Lowell had homered an inning earlier. Even the homer by Garrett Atkins didn’t change anything. Meanwhile, Jon Lester turned in a performance that Josh Beckett and Curt Shilling could be proud of. Lester’s next stop will be the 2008 Red Sox starting rotation (after the Duck Boat parade, of course).

This Red Sox team led almost wire to wire, but didn’t really find its championship personality until very late in the year. Calling up Jacoby Ellsbury the final time from Pawtucket changed everything. The team already had the odds on choice for the league’s Cy Young award winner in Josh Beckett and the probable Rookie of the Year in Dustin Pedroia. Mike Lowell was acknowledged to be the team’s MVP, and everyone in baseball respects Captain Tek as one of the great on field leaders. Curt Schilling was gearing up for October, and Jonathan Papelbon was perfectly prepared by Francona and John Farrell for the pressure innings to come. Still, it was clearly Ellsbury, wearing Bob Stanley’s #46, that the Red Sox needed to be the final catalyst. He changed the lineup. He was the perfect fill in for Manny Ramirez in left, and he seemed to function like some kind of speedy left handed enzyme that the team had obviously lacked.

The chemistry experiment exploded all over Cleveland, then Colorado. In 2004, the Red Sox won as a veteran team. Schilling, Martinez, Lowe, Foulke, Millar, Bellhorn and Damon were the war horses. In no small part due to the new generation of talent exemplified by Beckett, Papelbon, Lester, Matsuzaka, Okajima, Pedroia and Ellsbury, the World Series championship banner will be raised once again over Fenway Park next April.

World Series Game 3: Lots of ways to win

The Red Sox have won three World Series games three different ways. Game 1 was an old fashioned ass kicking. Game 2 was a classic pitchers duel. Game 3, in the thin air, was a baby slugfest. We score 6, you score 5, we then come back and pound your vaunted former closer/current setup guy with another 4 runs to salt the game away. It bodes well for Boston’s future that all three of the linchpins of the Game 3 win are rookies: Daisuke Matsuzaka (5 1/3 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 5 strikeouts, plus a 2 out, 2 run single), Jacoby Ellsbury (4 for 5, 3 doubles, 2 RBI) and Dustin Pedroia (3 for 5, 2 RBI).

The 2007 Colorado Rockies are not the 2004 Boston Red Sox. They’re not coming back from a 3-0 deficit. This Rockies team doesn’t have the pitching, the hitting, or the ability to be anything other than what they are: a team that wouldn’t have even made it into the American League playoffs

Now, we’re one win away from finishing what’s been a lopsided series. Game 4’s starters are Jon Lester and Aaron Cook. It’s impossible to handicap this matchup, given that one (Lester) only made 11 regular season starts and hasn’t pitched since September, and the other one (Cook) hasn’t been seen on a mound since August 10. Anyone who tells you that they *know* what’s going to happen is frankly lying. It can’t be predicted, as there’s no data.

What we do know is that Boston is hitting reliably and Colorado isn’t. Boston has outscored Colorado 25-7 in three games. In the 6th inning of game 3, the Rockies scored two runs. That was the first time in 29 innings that they’d strung together more than 1 run in the same inning. The last time they’d done it was the bottom of the 4th of NLCS Game 4 against the pathetic Diamondbacks. The Red Sox have scored two or more runs 24 times in the 2007 postseason. 24 different innings of multiple runs.

Sit back and enjoy game 4, because a Red Sox loss would only set up another appearance by Josh Beckett.

World Series Game 2 Thoughts

• What exactly do you think Matt Holliday was doing when he was caught leaning the wrong way off first in the top of the 8th inning? Was he contemplating stealing second, with Todd Helton at the plate? Very strange play. If Clint Hurdle was calling for a steal with the #4 hitter up and two outs, shame on him. Dumb call that essentially ended the game. If that was just Holliday napping, even weirder.

• Mike Lowell, Mr. Clutch RBI Guy for 2007, just keeps chugging along. He’s had at least 1 hit and 1 RBI for four straight games now, dating back to game 6 of the ALCS. Last night’s RBI double, of course, knocked in the winning run.

• The litany of Curt Schilling’s October numbers make you shake your head:
  1) He’s the only pitcher to win a postseason game in his 20’s, 30’s and 40’s.
  2) He has a lifetime postseason winning percentage of .846. That’s the best there’s ever been, when counting pitchers with 10 decisions or more.
  3) Over 19 appearances, his lifetime postseason ERA is 2.23

• Quick, who’s more valuable, Hideki Okajima or Jonathan Papelbon? Tough question, isn’t it?

• J.D. Drew is looking forward to seeing Denver this weekend. His career numbers at Coors Field are comforting indeed:
  25 games, 87 at bats, .368 batting average, 6 doubles, 2 HR, 18 RBI, .467 on base percentage, 1.065 OPS

• The current parlor game in Boston is guessing who gets stuck on the bench in Denver. You didn’t ask me, but here’s my opinion:
  1) Defense is incredibly important in that cavernous outfield, and for that reason I’d play Coco Crisp in center over Jacoby Ellsbury. Remember, Manny has to play left, so Crisp’s bat becomes much less important than his glove and defensive instincts. Ellsbury’s fast, but Coco’s a gold glove.
  2) However, Coors Field’s infield dimensions are exactly the same as Fenway’s (and everywhere else in the majors). With or without the humidor, if the ball’s going to fly farther, I’d rather it be coming off Big Papi’s bat. For that reason, (assuming he’s healthy) I’d start David Ortiz at first, and bring in Kevin Youkilis in the late innings if there’s a need for a defensive replacement. While Ortiz isn’t Youkilis or Todd Helton or Keith Hernandez with the glove, he’s no Kevin Millar or Jason Giambi, either. Of course, if Ortiz is more hurt than we know, the equation changes a bit.
  3) Leave Mike Lowell right where he is, period, full stop. The lineup loses its center of gravity without him. He only gets taken out if we’re up by 12 runs again, and even then I’m not so sure.

• For the third time this month, we’re all wondering which Daisuke Matsuzaka will be showing up tomorrow night. I’m hoping that Colorado’s never having seen him will help.

• Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki is quoted as saying “We’re going to make a series out of this.” I’m assuming he then added “Honest, we are!”, sounding just like Ron Howard’s Richie Cunningham from Happy Days.

• If you want my free taco, you’re welcome to it. I’m waiting for the free lobster.

World Series Game 1 quiz

1) In October, it’s all about:
A) Eve
B) Pitching
C) The Great Pumpkin
D) Free tacos

2) David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are to clutch post-season hitting as:
A) Fish are to bicycles
B) Julia Child was to French cooking
C) Britney Spears is to good parenting
D) Kazoos are to symphony orchestras

3) Hitting against Josh Beckett these days is akin to:
A) Shooting billiards with a rope
B) Expecting relatives of the Nigerian president to make you fabulously wealthy
C) Waiting for Barry Bonds to admit “Ok, you got me. I’ve been using steroids for the past decade”
D) All of the above

4) The Colorado Rockies need the following to happen before game 2:
A) The Arizona Diamondbacks to switch places with the Red Sox
B) The World Series to be suspended until the Rockies can find better pitching
C) The World Series to be decided based on who has the uglier uniforms
D) All of the above

5) 197, 94.5 and 4:
A) What three numbers add up to 295.5?
B) What are the IQ’s of Albert Einstein, George W. Bush and Paris Hilton?
C) What are the number of pitches thrown by the Rockies in game 1, Franklin Morales’ current World Series ERA and the total number of runs allowed by Josh Beckett in the 2007 postseason?
D) What is the number of times TBS showed promos for FrankTV during each playoff game, the frequency of an FM station and 2+2?

Boston's newest banner

The 2007 American League Championship banner, flying atop the old Hancock Tower

2007 World Series Prediction

In 2004, the St. Louis Cardinals were a juggernaut. They had great pitching, the most frightening lineup in the game, a solid bullpen, and one of baseball’s smartest managers. Before that series started, predicting a Red Sox sweep over that Cardinals team would have been damn foolish. The Cardinals were just too good to simply roll over. Ironically, the one thing that the Cardinals lacked was a rock solid belief that they not only could beat the Red Sox, but that of course they WOULD beat the Red Sox. Confidence is self-perpetuating, and once the Red Sox started winning, they just kept winning, all the way through Game 4 in St. Louis.

Confidence matters on this stage. The Larry Bird -Kevin McHale-Robert Parish Boston Celtics walked into the gym knowing they were going to win, not just hoping. Same for the Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers and the current New England Patriots. I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe in the Colorado Rockies because I honestly think that they’re just thrilled to be in the World Series. On this stage, I look for the team that has an absolute confidence in themselves. Josh Beckett uttered the following quote after the ALCS ended, “When I’m out there, I feel like the guys are all behind me, and I just feel like we’re better than everybody else”. That’s called swagger, and it ain’t bragging if you can back it up. Beckett and the Red Sox have been backing it up. They overcame injuries to Curt Schilling, Kevin Youkilis, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, and still led the American League all season. They earned home field advantage, and used it to dispose of the Angels and outlast the Indians, who may well have been the second-best team in all of baseball.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but in October, it’s all about pitching. The Red Sox pitching staff is far superior to anything Colorado saw in the playoffs. Colorado has decent pitching, but only 1 true ace, and Jeff Francis is going up against Josh Beckett in game 1. Again, they’ve never faced a team that’s as disciplined and patient as the Red Sox. The Rockies are undeniably hot, but they’re just not that *good*. Their defense is stellar, but their lineup showed surprisingly little power during the playoffs. Colorado has good speed at the top of the lineup in Willy Tavaras and Kaz Matsui. However, as was shown in the ALDS with the Angels, if you keep the speed merchants off the bases, they can’t do very much harm. They’ve probably got the NL MVP in outfielder Matt Holliday. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki could very well be the Rookie of the Year. Still, there aren’t enough weapons to keep up with the Red Sox’ shut down pitching.

Tim Wakefield will not be starting game 4 for Boston, which is going to set up a decidedly odd World Series matchup: It’s probably going to be Jon Lester, who hasn’t started a post-season game, against Aaron Cook, who was Colorado’s Opening Day starter, but hasn’t been on a major league mound since August 10 (strained abdominal muscle). I’m not quite so worried about game 4 in any case, since the Red Sox game 5 starter will be Josh Beckett.

I think that once the series shifts to Denver for game 3, it’s not coming back to Boston. The Rockies may well win one game, but that might be stretching it. I don’t see this World Series being very close, but I’ll be conservative. Red Sox win the 2007 World Series in 5 games.