And so, at last, it comes down to this. It always comes down to this. The Red Sox never do things easily.
ESPN’s Jim Caple had a lovely passage in his column on tonight’s deciding game:
Clemens and Pedro may be facing off against each other on the mound, but they won’t be alone. It’s never just the players on the field when these two teams meet. It’s also all the players who have ever played in the rivalry.
Joe DiMaggio will be taking batting practice with Ted Williams. Billy Martin will be challenging Jimmy Piersall to a fight in the stadium tunnel. Carlton Fisk and Thurman Munson will be wrestling in the dirt behind home plate. Bucky Dent will be going yard, Reggie Jackson will be admiring his home runs and Carl Yastrzemski will be raising his bat high as he squints at the pitcher.
Will this be the year the Red Sox finally go all the way and defeat the Curse of the Bambino? If so, what better place from which to step onto the World Series stage than the House that Ruth Built? And what better pitcher to overcome than former Sox superstar Roger Clemmens?
Tonight’s the night. One game. Nine innings. Backs against the wall. One team goes to Florida to fight for the championship, the other goes to Florida to play golf.
Cowboy up!
billroper
Here’s hoping the Red Sox win. If it’s the Marlins against the Yankees, I’m going to have to root for a meteor.
(No offense to the Marlins players. It’s just that they’re owned by Jeff Loria, the fellow who destroyed baseball in Montreal.)
Rob Wynne
I agree. I was desperately hoping for a Red Sox/Cubs world series, and was very disappointed when I woke up this morning and saw the score.
Still, the Cubs have a good foundation for a team, and I think they’ll be making noise for the next few years, if the front office is smart about filling the holes and keeping that young pitching staff happy.
Better luck next year.
snowy
All the offense to the Marlins players
I forever hate the Marlins for buying their way to a title in 1997 vs my beloved Cleveland team.
I seriously wont watch an inning if it’s NYY-Florida. I’d rather watch C-SPAN.
sdelmonte
Re: All the offense to the Marlins players
I feel like I am in the minority in that I will try to watch at least some of the World Series no matter who is playing. (As Batya doesn’t like any sports, I rarely get to watch much in its entirety beyond the Super Bowl and some Sunday sports when we’re just loafing about.) I will admit that I can’t bear to watch the Yankees winning, but I am a fan of baseball, not just of the Mets. (OK, I guess if you root for the Mets, you get used to watching other teams in the playoffs.)
What’s interesting to me is that no ne evenr seems to say they won’t watch the Super Bowl because of who’s playing. I disliked both the Raiders and the Buccaneers last January, but there I was. I suspect that the Super Bowl is not at all about the game anymore, while all the other championships are.
snowy
Yeah, the Super Bowl is an “event”
It’s really a quasi-holiday that just happens to fall on a Sunday. More Super Bowls than not have been blowouts or boring games, but it doesn’t matter. People get together, plan parties around it, you watch for the new commercials even, etc etc.
I’ve yet to find the person who plans a party around the World Series. It’s not an “event”, except for the 2 cities involved in it, and even then, it’s strung out over a week, not one Sunday night.
noghri
Would someone explain to me what this inane ‘Cowboy Up’ thing is?
At least the apocalypse is averted… Now we just need the Yankees to win, like they should.
GO YANKS!
Rob Wynne
Rallying Cry Spurs Sox To Finish Ride
You’re a good friend, Nog, but I’m hoping your disappointed this year. Sorry.
Go Sox!
sdelmonte
This is onw reason why the Marlins won. They have no real history to contend with. Indeed, look how many expansion clubs with little history to speak of have been winning of late. The Braves and Giants are the only original NL teams to go to the World Series since 1995. Sometimes, it’s easier to be a relative upstart.