10/26/04 WS Game3 at Cardinals W 4-1

With rain throughout the day, it really looked as if they wouldn't get this one in, but as magical as this post-season has been for the Sox, the sky cleared just at the right time, and the game was not even delayed. Save for the rather large puddles in right field, one of which sent Trot Nixon down onto his butt, the wet field did not seem to play into the game. It was a pretty nasty fall for Trot, on a quick stop his feet went out from under him and he came down squarely on his backside. Hopefully there won't be an repercussions for his back.

For most of the day the talk on sports radio was "Which Pedro will we see tonight". My consistent thought was that if you've been watching the Red Sox all along, you'd expect the same Pedro we've seen all season. It amazes me how a career high ERA (3.90) - and that's not so bad folks; you can probably count on both hands how many AL starters with 200 IP had sub-four ERA's this season - makes people think that somehow he's lost his stuff. For the true Sox fans, everyone knows that other than losing some of his velocity, he's essentially the same pitcher we've been watching for the past seven seasons. While he's no longer blowing hitters away, he's never been a high innings pitcher, never even been a high pitch count pitcher. The difference is the strikeouts; when you're getting 10-12 per game, you're typically throwing less pitches than if you're only getting 6-9. And this season, he's been outstanding from pitch 20 to pitch 100. It's been the first and the seventh innings that he's had most of his trouble. It would have been no different tonight had it not been some outstanding fielding plays (and some poor base running for the Cards).

Then the talk shifts to the defensive liability that is David Ortiz. Now let's get a few things straigt here. This guy IS a first baseman, it just so happens that there are two guys on the roster that are better fielders than he is. If he was playing for an NL team, this guy would be playing in the field everyday - guaranteed. And then we saw how big a liability he is when he made an excellent throw over to third to get Suppan, something that a first baseman does not typically do, by the way...

The chips continue to fall our way. I can only say I'm cautiously optimistic at this point. I've seen enough of these to know "it ain't over till it's over". This post season has seemed different for some reason. I can't seem to put my finger on it, but since the blow out in Fenway that was game 3 of the ALCS, this team has played with a different attitude, almost a flair. For once, the other team is making the mistakes that cost the game, not us. It's a pretty good feeling.