So I didn't actually watch Game 4. Seriously - I did not watch the Red Sox win the World Series. I read about it the next morning at 9am in Helsinki, a couple hours after it was over. It bums me out, but it was just impossible - no TV, internet was spotty, plus I was suffering from serious sleep deprivation - I'd watched the previous 8+ games at 2-3am; they ended at between 6 and 7:30, and I had to be at work by 8. So by Game 4 it just didn't happen.
Some people I tell this to just can't believe it. As if it makes me a bad Red Sox fan. Yes, it was a great, close game, and I would've loved to see the on-field celebration. But really: was there any doubt? Did anyone seriously think the Rockies were going to pull it off after Game 3? Hell, even after Game 2, or Game 1? After Game 3 - their best offensive game of the series - they were batting a miserable .222 in the Series (OPS was around .650). Despite bringing out their number 1-3 starters, they gave up ten or more runs, twice. While Game 2 was great, even then they looked completely and totally outmatched. There was simply no way they were going to win four in a row. Now, I've been told that one team actually has come back from a 0-3 deficit to win a 7-game postseason series (the name of the team escapes me at the moment), but there's just no comparison - after 3 games they were batting .289, and showed some signs of life throughout all three of those games.
I'm sure I'm hardly the first to note this, but the World Series has been sort of...uh, lame lately. In the last 4 years the losing team has won exactly one game (and pine tar may have had something to do with that...). Before that, the 2003 Series (Yanks-Marlins) didn't feel nearly as close as it really was, and the 2002 Series (Giants-Angels) was big on drama (7 games!) but not so big on good baseball. You have to go back 6 years, to 2001 (Yankees-Diamondbacks) to find a truly great World Series.
Which is weird since during this time of boring World Series the LCS's have been absolutely epic.
2003: Marlins-Cubs (7 games, Bartman play), Yanks-Sox (7 games, Little/Boone)
2004: Astros-Cards (7 games, Edmonds 12th inning HR, Pujols/Beltran HR-fest), Yanks-Sox (7 games, the Steal, Foulke, etc etc etc)
2005: Astros-Cards (only 6 games, but that blast by Pujols off Lidge...yow.)
2006: Mets-Cards (7 games, the Catch)
2007: Indians-Sox (7 games, most of which were insanely close through 5+ innings)
Not sure if it means anything, but it's pretty weird that I can recount many more events from the last five years of LCS's than I can of the (non-Red Sox) World Series.
The LCS's have been very entertaining and seem to have captured more of the drama and agree more drama has come in the LCS (you are even forgetting the Doug Eddings call/non call). But don't discount that 2003 series - that was doozy. Like you said it was closer than people remember. Beckett was the stud, but that was controversial to start him in game 6. The Yanks had the last two games at home. And game 4 was an absolute classic. Alex Gonazalez (our Alex Gonzalez) with the game winning HR vs. Jeff Weaver in the 11th inning, while Rivera looked on (one of Torre's biggest blunders ever).
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, we have not had a barn burner in a while.
I wonder if any of this would change if the NL won the home field through the All-Star game.
ReplyDeleteThe AL team would have to face the 1-2 of the NL winner without their DH and in an away ball park.
Now, I know in 03 and 06 the NL won the World Series, and that last year's wasn't even close. But taking the big bat out of the AL lineup (or taking a glove out of the field) AND having to face the numbers 1 and 2 starters might make the initial games closer.
On the flip-side...the NL doesn't usually carry a masher/DH-type, so getting to add an extra bat (as opposed to the pitcher hitting) doesn't help them nearly as much. You are putting in a .260-.280 guy with a little pop, who usually doesn't play against the AL's 1-2 starters.
This WS was boring. It was great to see the Sox win again. There weren't too many nerve-wracking moments as a Sox fan, though. Even when the Rockies came back and made it 6-5, you sort of had the feeling that the Sox would rally back...