Well despite the best efforts of Major League baseball, and the help of the baseball gods, the Tampa Bay Rays will go back to St Pete’s empty handed.  The Phillies played great, they out-pitched and out hit the hapless Rays, and the Phillies have now earned thier first World Championship in 28 years.  Congrats to the Phillies and thier fans. 

  After a string of lucky breaks, the Rays head back to Tampa with thier tales between thier legs.  The Rays were embarassed in this World Series, and will have to examine if they really have what it takes to win bigtime baseball games.  The Rays were the clear favorites, make no mistake about, they had home field advantage throughout the playoffs, and they clearly were the superior team, except where it mattered…on the field.

  This all may sound like bitterness from a Sox fan, and in small part it is, however the facts are what they are.  The Rays did not play the same schedule the Red Sox did over the course of the season, thier schedule was by far one of the easiest in MLB.  With that great advantage, they still only barely won the American League East, in a year where the Yankees did not contend.  The Sox sustained massive injuires to every facet of thier game, and yet they still managed to finish two games back of the Rays for the season, and one game short in the ALCS.

  The Sox drew the best team in baseball in the ALDS, while the Rays drew a gassed White Sox team that had to exhaust every resource they had just to make the playoffs.  The White Sox had to use thier top three starters just to get to game one of the ALDS, where they faced a rested Tampa team.  Clearly this was advantage for the Rays, as they never faced the top of the White Sox rotation.  In the ALCS the Rays faced a Sox team that was sans Mike Lowell, and a healthy Josh Beckett, and an ailing JD Drew.  Despite all the Sox set-backs, they were still able to force a game seven, after being down 3-1.  The Sox won 2 out of four games in the Trop, or the house that Wade Boggs built.

Before everyone proclaims the Rays the next dynasty in waiting, lets take a breath and really look at what they have accomplished.  Not a lot in my book, they almost gagged an ALCS they clearly had against a team that was wounded.  Then they get destroyed in the World Series against a National League that boasted Jamie Moyer and American League cast-off Joe Blanton in thier rotation.  Whenever a team clearly better than the other fails to win it has to be considered a failure.  There are no points for second, no honorable mention, especially not for teams that gag away thier advantages.

So now that the electric feeling of watching the Red Sox win thier second World Championship in four years has soaked in, its reflection time.  For me the elation of watching the Sox win this year was unbelievable, however it was not quite as sweet as 2004.  By comparison it’s the difference between Christmas Day and Christmas Eve, so not much of a difference.  However the beauty of that year, was we got to stick to the Yankees, in historic fashion no less. That year had so many heroic moments, so much tension, it was almost too much too watch.  There were so many moments along the way that season, and in the post-season, it’s hard to name them all.  The two walk-off winners in Fenway on back-to-back nights in extra innings is a good place to start.

So many things had to go right for the Sox in the ALCS against the Yankees, it just seemed so mathmatically impossible for them all to happen in the same series.  I’m not quite sure what was more fun, watching the Beantown Bombers win those games, or watching the Yankee fan base squirm.  Watching the Sox clinch, and dance around like the idiots they were, in the house that Ruth built was to surreal for words to express.

No matter how many titles the Sox go on to win (it’s going to be alot), none will take the place of that first one in 86 years.  Nor will all the heroes from that team, that may be gone, but not forgotten. The Mark Belhorn’s, the Keith Foulke’s, Dave Roberts, or Bill Mueller and Kevin Millar.  Players who played far beyond their wildest expectations that fateful October. No matter how far we are from that World Series, it will never be forgotten, not by Red Sox fans, or Yankee fans.  It was the October that the Red Sox re-wrote baseball history, and turned the Yankees into one of the most disappointing franchises of the new century.  It was also the October that forever tagged the Yankees with the "greatest choke in the history of sport".   No matter what the Yanks go on to do, they can never take that back, nor can any Yankee fan escape the constant jokes at thier expense due to this historic collapse.  Oh yeah, and no matter how much time passes, I will never get tired of telling the tale of the 2004 Boston Red Sox !

So it seems we are back to the business of baseball, wow it sure didn’t take long.  Between A-Rod opting out and the national drama that was the Yankees search for a manager, it seems the talk of the Sox 2nd title in four years was just another 24 hour news cycle story.  Today on WEEI Curt Schilling said he did not expect to be back in a Boston uniform, if that true, it is supremely disappointing.

  We all knew that Schilling was pitching for his job this year, but all he was looking for was a one year deal, at MLB wal-mart type pricing.  To me, Schilling earned this deal in spring training, but Red Sox brass saw it differently.  Schilling was hurt some this year, but when he pitched he was just as effective as every Red Sox pitcher not named Josh Beckett.  ****, have we forgotten it was Schilling that stopped a three game slide in Oakland by pitching 8 and 2/3 innings of perfect baseball.  A game, that at the time, ended a funk that the Sox had been in, and got them started again.

  The thing about Schilling is that he has that X-factor, that you can’t coach.  He has the ability to man up, when he and his team needs it most.  This post-season was a great example of that.  Schilling started four games for the Sox this postseason, going 3-0, with an e.r.a. right at 3.00.  Schilling again bailed the Sox out of a jam, by shutting down the Indians in a loser go home match in the ALCS.  Schill also pitched great in the World Series this year, in a crucial game two, where two runs of support was all he got.

  Of course we can’t forget what Schilling did for us against the Yankees in 2004 and 2005.  We all remember the bloody sox in the ALCS and the World Series, but alot of people forget it was Schilling who pitched the last regular season game of the 2005 season.  It was a game the Sox had to have to get into the wild-card that year.  It was a game against the Yanks, whom were fighting for home field advantage in the playoffs that year.  Theo Epstein has made alot of great moves as G.M. of the Red Sox, he has also made more bad ones.  His best move was 4 years ago, when he brought a brash pitcher back from the Arizona desert.  Funny thing, the Red Sox had not won a World Series in 86 years before the arrival of Curt Schilling, and they have won 2 in four years.  For once I hope a team rewards a player who has said and done the right things, and honored the game with his play everytime he takes the mound.

There have many points along the way this season that Dice-K has been called upon to be the 103 million man that he is.  For the most part Dice-K has not lived up to those expectations.  He has been real average this post-season, to go along with his helter-skelter season.  I know Dice-K won 15 games this season, however had he pitched for about 25 other teams in baseball, we would be looking at a guy that had a record of around 10-16 or something in that range.  There has been many starts that Dice-K could not offer much more than being a long reliever. This was never more evident than last Sunday in game seven of the ALCS, when the Sox were thrilled Dice-K had gone five innings.  His game seven victory last week was very much like most of his wins, the Sox won despite him, and the team pretty much had to do all the heavy lifting.

  Tonight Dice-K has a chance to be the man, show the Sox, and Red Sox Nation, that thier pitching tonight and for the future is secure in his unsure hands.  Dice-K could go a long way tonight to erasing the sting of his crappy and mediocre season, much like J.D. Drew did with one swing of the bat in game six of the ALCS.  I don’t expect much tonight from Dice-K, I hope he can go five or six and leave the Sox a chance to win.  The funny thing about Dice-K is, the word HOPE is used an awful lot about a guy the Sox spent a small fortune to attain.

If you are into drama, and high pressure events, then last night was your kind of game.  For me personally I love a 2-1 victory, of course I only love it after Jonathan Papelbon has recorded his third out, until then it is a pepto-bismal kind of night.  Curt Schilling was not Josh Beckett last night, but he was all the Sox could ask for, going and five and a third inning, and leaving with the Sox up. It seemed early on that it was going to be a long night, as Curt seemed to me to be laboring through the first few innings.  However part of make’s Curt great, is the fact that he can adapt on the fly, and make his stuff that night be very effective.  Schilling did what the Sox needed him to do last night.  If you dont’t think this guy is worth a one year extension, well I guess your crazier than Hank Steinbrenner.

  Mike Lowell also showed last night why he is also worthy of an extension in Beantown, as he came up clutch again, this time driving in the game winning run with two outs in the fifth inning.  All in all, the Rockies pitching was very effective last night, and they showed why the had the best e.r.a in baseball over the last few months.  However thier hitting was another story, with Brad Hawpe, and Matt Holliday accouting for the only Rockies hits last night.  Holliday was four for four, getting a hit off every Boston pitcher, but what most Sox fans will remember was him falling asleep on the basepath last night and getting picked off in the 8th, with two outs, and Todd Helton at the plate.

  The series is shifting to Denver now, where I suspect the Rockies will play a little better.  I never feel good about Dice-K, but I am buoyed by the fact that the Rockies have not faced him live yet, and the Sox have faced the Rockies game five starter Josh Fogg.  The good thing about Dice-K, is he seems to fare better against teams for the first time, and only Kaz Matsui has ever faced Dice-K.  This series is far from over, but you have to love being up 2-0, and also the fact that your watching the Red Sox play late October baseball, while the Yankee fans await the news of who the new skipper will be for the Yanks.  As exciting as all that is, i’ll take watching my team in October!

One down, three to go, and if you feel good about this game one, just remember the Sox started the ALCS the same way.  Tonights game is just as big as last night, more so if you think about the next two turns in our rotation, which would be in Denver.  Game three would be started by the erratic Dice-K, and game four started by Jon Lester, no offense to either guy, buy neither pitcher instills me with very much confidence.

  The Sox need Schilling to be Schilling, vintage as fine wine.  Schilling and the Sox need to do what Elvis always said "take care of business or TCB!  This is a Colorado team that has faced and overcome adversity all season, however an 0-2 deficit in the World Series would be an Everest like challange for the Rockies.  I know this sounds very negative especially after last night’s beat down of the Rockies, but I’m being realistic.  You just don’t know what you are going to get from either Dice K or Jon Lester.

  With all that being said, HOLY **** what a game last night!!  Josh Beckett is the second coming of Curt Schilling in his prime, only better.  Beckett has a Clemens-esque fastball with pinpoint control.  The only difference between Clemens and Beckett, is that Beckett actually mans up and wins big time playoff games.  Somewhere I can still hear Clemens blaming this injury or that injury for his poor performance’s, something Sox, Astros and Yankees know all to well.

  Oh yeah, one other thing, it is 8 am EST, I just turned on Fox, and the Red Sox just scored again!!!!

The Red Sox have annouced thier rosters for the World Series, and other than no Tim Wakefield, ( Kyle Synder fills his slot) there are no changes.  It is disappointing that Wakefield is a no go, to a team like the Rockies, who have not seen many knuckleballers, Wakefield could have proved to be an effective pitcher for the Sox.

  Another surprise to me at least, was the fact that Eric Gag-me was still on the roster.  I guess the thinking here is the Sox will need an arm if they are up ten or down ten, because other than that, how can you run Gag-me out to the mound ?  I guess if the Sox brass left Gag-me off the roster, that would be admitting that they made a bad trade bringing in Gag-me to a bullpen that was doing fine.  Lets hope the ten run rule applies to Gag-me in this series.

Posted below is the Red Sox World Series roster, man that has a nice ring to it…

Pitchers (11): Josh Beckett, Manny Delcarmen, Eric Gagne, Jon Lester, Javier Lopez, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima, Jonathan Papelbon, Curt Schilling, Kyle Snyder, Mike Timlin.

Catchers (2): Doug Mirabelli, Jason Varitek.

Infielders (7): Alex Cora, Eric Hinske, Mike Lowell, Julio Lugo, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis.

Outfielders (5): Coco Crisp, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Bobby Kielty, Manny Ramirez.