Thursday, October 21, 2004

Best Night Ever

No, this can't be real. I'm not even excited yet. I'm just shocked. I can't believe this. Too good to be true.

During the game, my other favorite moments flashed before my eyes.

--'97, the Sandy Alomar HR. Not too great, because it was before the Yanks really killed baseball
--'01 Luis Gonzalez' bloop hit. Wow. Everyone thought it was over after Byun-Hyung Kim blew two saves in a row, a feat matched by Rivera in this series, oddly enough.
--'02 David Wells just not giving a damn anymore after Bernie screwed up catching a fly ball.
--'03 Beckett baffling the Yankees.

But '04 leaves all those in the dust. Wow.

I wrote "Game Over for the Sox." Gee, what the hell was I thinking? But that was so long ago. 4 incredible nights later, the tables have turned.

Game 7, aside from the Pedro inning, was heavenly. Kevin Leary getting his $17 million butt kicked. Javier Trout giving up the slam to Damon, followed by 5 walks. And encores of Esteban Loser and Felix Headcase. Flush Gordon giving up a few runs, and Rivera coming in just to leave the fans something to go home with.

And Damon and Bellhorn, how about those guys. Did nothing all series, and they provided the offense in games 6 & 7. Gotta give Francona credit for keeping those guys in the lineup.

And then there were Mo's two blown saves. How sweet! Especially after everyone made a big deal following his save in game 1.

Face it, Torre screwed up big-time in handling his bullpen. Rivera, Gordon and especially Quantrill were overused during the season and didn't have it. And Grand Tanyon, Headcase, etc. just weren't the answer.

David Ortiz is awesome. You gotta love the guy. But what the hell happened to Manny? The fact that the Sox won without him makes it all the more incredible.

And Derek Lowe. What a job the guy did tonight. Nobody saw this coming. He deserves a lot of credit, more than he'll probably get, especially being preceded by Schilling's incredible effort.

The amazing thing is, this happened so quickly. Saturday night, I felt like it was done. I was freaking depressed.

And then, Sunday night, the Yankees three outs away. Rivera on the mound. Okay, it's over. Sweep.

Monday night, 4-2 Yanks going into the 8th. Okay, we got teased, but the Yanks have beaten Pedro again. Or have they? Flush Gordon wears out his welcome, and the Sox tie it up.

And now, a few nights later, the Red Sox have finally beaten the Yankees.

I gotta see George's face. Worth a million bucks, that's for sure. Like seeing Michael Moore election night if Bush wins.

Cashman should be fired. Brown and Vazquez? Awful. Sierra and Tony Clark? Terrible.

But right now, with the ESPN-radio guy lamenting, it's starting to hit home. I'm going stop blogging now and enjoy the moment. Wow!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's one "r" in fired, two "r"s in Torre!

Zach said...

Second greatest sports moment of my life, only trailing Game 5 of the 1995 ALDS...born in Boston, moved to Seattle, watching both teams come from the brink of elimination to beat the Yankees and deny Mattingly a ring...amazing