I am still too giddy to post in complete sentences, so I'll just make a list:
1. I figured the most likely outcome was a lopsided Yankee victory, followed by a slugfest where they traded the lead every two innings, followed by a pitching duel that stretched into extra innings and became a question of whose relievers' arms stayed attached to their bodies longer. A decisive Red Sox win never really occurred to me.
2. I owe Derek Lowe a big apology for my lack of faith.
3. I knew Johnny Damon had something in him, but not that.
4. I owe Mark Bellhorn my sanity. I Did Not Like the decision to bring in Pedro Martinez after Lowe threw 69 pitches and gave up one run. If you're playing for tonight, you leave Lowe in; if you're playing for next week you go for Timlin. I was cursing after Matsui's double and a total wreck by the end. Too much like last year, and too many Yankee fans cheering too loudly. Even after Pedro kicked it up a notch and the inning ended, I was pacing around like an idiot. Five runs is not too large a lead to blow--not the Red Sox, not the Yankees, not a game they were never supposed to reach, let alone win.
I still don't like the decision--it seemed driven mainly by Martinez' ego or competitive desire to pitch one more time in Yankee stadium, not by the team's interest. But all's well that ends well, and this shouldn't tire him out too much.
5. I think I just saw the best comeback in baseball history.
6. And the best win in Red Sox history.
7. And the worst loss in Yankee history.
8. And maybe the best series in baseball history.
9. The cars on my street have finally stopped honking, and I think the crowds from the bars have dissipated. Of course, I realized recently that what I took to be the crowds from the nearest bar is actually one extremely loud guy who lives across the street from me, who comes out and yells "Red Sawx!!!" at the top of his lungs for ten minutes or so after every victory. It was twenty minutes tonight, but he's finally decided to call it a night. For now.
UPDATE: no he hasn't. Or he has an identical twin. Hard to say.
10. As a Mets fan this has upsides and downsides. I am avenged for the 2000 world series. (That's good). But my 1999 Mets no longer have the record for the longest game in postseason history, and their comeback that fell short pales in comparison to this one. (That's bad.) I no longer have to feel even a little guilty about 1986. (That's good.)
11. Going into this series, I figured the Red Sox would beat the Yankees in 6 or 7, and go on to lose the world series. I stand by that prediction. I think they will need Schilling to win this, and I think there is a limit to how often you can sew your skin around your tendons to hold them in place and pitch seven innings.
But this team has proven me wrong before--and deep down I think they can do it.
"8. And maybe the best series in baseball history."
It was a very good series, but for drama, it doesn't even touch the Yankees-Diamondbacks World Series from a few years ago - the one with the multiple last-second Yankees comebacks followed by the last-second Arizona win over Mariano. As a New Yorker, that was a disturbing ending, but what a series. This was real good too (being a 3-0 comeback), but it can't match that for the game-by-game drama. 19-8 and 10-3 laughers don't quite do it for me...
Posted by: hmm | October 21, 2004 at 08:56 AM
This series has finally dissolved the last gritty bits of bitterness from that playoff game in 1977(78? I'm getting old)... And frees me to follow my preference for rooting for the AL team in any series. Go Sox!
Posted by: Nell Lancaster | October 21, 2004 at 10:16 AM
A funny thing happened on the way to the dustpan, eh?
Posted by: mike p | October 21, 2004 at 10:50 AM