Game 1 Tonight
Oct. 24th, 2007 02:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janradder The Rockies scare me. But then again they don't. I really know nothing about the Rockies except that Todd Helton has won some batting titles and that the Red Sox almost traded Mike Lowell for him (along with an assortment of pitchers). We don't have ESPN at home so I don't watch tons of SportsCenter highlights and I don't watch many baseball games that don't involve the Red Sox. When I do watch other teams' games it is invariably an American League game. I'm one of those people who still can't stand interleague play and kind of wish the two leagues still had separate presidents and umpires. Having grown up a Red Sox fan I've always had an affinity for the American League. I always pull for the AL entry in the World Series even when it's not the Sox (of the carmine hued variety) unless of course that entry has an NY on their caps. But even then it feels odd (alright, it really doesn't feel odd at all -- rooting against the Yankees is as natural for me as breathing, waking up and eating). Because of that, I've just never really cared about the National League. I have nothing against the teams (well maybe I'm a little biased against the Mets but that's purely for personal reasons that go well beyond 1986) or their fans (again, see Mets comment). They just seem like a foreign country like Canada -- a similar place to here, a place that's easy to visit, but that on a daily basis really has no effect on my regular life. So I really don't know anything about the Rockies which is why I feel conflicted about the Sox meeting them in this series.
On paper, nearly everything looks to be in Boston's paper. Position by position the Rockies only have an edge at short stop and center field (and CF because of experience). Comparing starting rotations, the Red Sox seem to come out ahead (you have to give an edge to Josh Beckett for both experience and pure numbers in the postseason and Schilling for his track record) and looking at the bullpens, Boston again comes out on top if only because of Papelbon at the back. The Red Sox have past postseason experience and have just pulled off a come from behind series victory from a 3-1 deficit. The American League is a much stronger league this year as evidenced simply by interleague record (not to mention All Star victories). And the Rockies are coming off an 8 lay-off from games. All of this points to the Red Sox winning this series. And if you listen to the experts and odds makers, that's who most of them are picking.
But then you look at the fact that Colorado has won 21 of their last 22. They've won their last ten in a row. They have a 7 game winning streak in the postseason (8 if you count the tie breaker against San Diego). Their team ERA this October is under 3. They have a ton of confidence heading into this series and the fact that very few people are giving them a chance to win it will provide further motivation. And when you think about those tings you also remember the 2003 Marlins who were thought to be overmatched by a Yankees team that had just finished an emotional and dramatic series in besting the Red Sox or last year's St. Louis Cardinals who nobody gave respect to and who then went out and beat up the Tigers. And that's why the Rockies scare me -- because I don't know much of anything about them as a team and so many people are picking the Red Sox to win it all.
I guess a lot of that goes back to my history as a Red Sox fan. Even though they won it all in such a dramatic way in 2004 it's still hard to forget the past. In 1986, for instance, I listened to game 6 on a bus ride back from a band competition. One of my band mates had a radio and we listened to the Red Sox verge upon winning the game and the series. When I got off the bus the Sox were one out away from winning it all. In the time it took to find my mother's car, get in and say "They finally won!" they'd lost. There are still few leads where I feel safe having seen so many of those "safe" leads simply disappear in a matter of minutes.
That said, it is different to be a Red Sox fan post-2004. This year for game 7 of the ALCS, even though I was tense, nervous and felt sick to my stomach because they could lose the game I don't think there was a single time where I knew they were going to lose it, the only question being in what heartbreaking manner this time. it was a strange feeling to have as a Red Sox fan.
That said, I like the Red Sox' chances this year. I won't come out and make a prediction though, because I know that if I do I'll just jinx the whole thing and hate myself for it afterwards.
On paper, nearly everything looks to be in Boston's paper. Position by position the Rockies only have an edge at short stop and center field (and CF because of experience). Comparing starting rotations, the Red Sox seem to come out ahead (you have to give an edge to Josh Beckett for both experience and pure numbers in the postseason and Schilling for his track record) and looking at the bullpens, Boston again comes out on top if only because of Papelbon at the back. The Red Sox have past postseason experience and have just pulled off a come from behind series victory from a 3-1 deficit. The American League is a much stronger league this year as evidenced simply by interleague record (not to mention All Star victories). And the Rockies are coming off an 8 lay-off from games. All of this points to the Red Sox winning this series. And if you listen to the experts and odds makers, that's who most of them are picking.
But then you look at the fact that Colorado has won 21 of their last 22. They've won their last ten in a row. They have a 7 game winning streak in the postseason (8 if you count the tie breaker against San Diego). Their team ERA this October is under 3. They have a ton of confidence heading into this series and the fact that very few people are giving them a chance to win it will provide further motivation. And when you think about those tings you also remember the 2003 Marlins who were thought to be overmatched by a Yankees team that had just finished an emotional and dramatic series in besting the Red Sox or last year's St. Louis Cardinals who nobody gave respect to and who then went out and beat up the Tigers. And that's why the Rockies scare me -- because I don't know much of anything about them as a team and so many people are picking the Red Sox to win it all.
I guess a lot of that goes back to my history as a Red Sox fan. Even though they won it all in such a dramatic way in 2004 it's still hard to forget the past. In 1986, for instance, I listened to game 6 on a bus ride back from a band competition. One of my band mates had a radio and we listened to the Red Sox verge upon winning the game and the series. When I got off the bus the Sox were one out away from winning it all. In the time it took to find my mother's car, get in and say "They finally won!" they'd lost. There are still few leads where I feel safe having seen so many of those "safe" leads simply disappear in a matter of minutes.
That said, it is different to be a Red Sox fan post-2004. This year for game 7 of the ALCS, even though I was tense, nervous and felt sick to my stomach because they could lose the game I don't think there was a single time where I knew they were going to lose it, the only question being in what heartbreaking manner this time. it was a strange feeling to have as a Red Sox fan.
That said, I like the Red Sox' chances this year. I won't come out and make a prediction though, because I know that if I do I'll just jinx the whole thing and hate myself for it afterwards.
