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October 24, 2004
LOUSY FIELDING MOJO IS ON!
The Red Sox continue to baffle me. They are playing atrocious, hideous, unspeakable defense -- setting a World Series record with 8 errors in the first two games -- but they don't give up any runs as a result in game 2. Terry Francona continues to make decisions that stop my heart (for example, taking Alan Embree out of the game after he'd just struck out the side in the 7th inning)... but they keep working out inexplicably. Curt Schilling's right ankle is held together with spackle, some duct tape and a wad of bubble gum... and yet he keeps delivering pitching performances for the ages.
And so it is that my beloved Red Sox have taken a 2-0 lead in the 2004 World Series. If this year's post-season teaches us anything, it's that nothing means anything until the 27th out is in the scorecard... so while I'm thrilled that we took the first two in Fenway, I am not thinking any further ahead than the next game. And for that, we have to go to the Cardinals' house -- where they have not lost a game in the post-season this year.
The Sox are lucky to be up 2-0; they should by all rights be down 0-2 given the 5-year-old-at-tee-ball defense they've been playing. And Pedro Martinez has looked more like the #4 starter for the Tigers lately than Pedro Martinez. So I do not feel overconfidence as the Series heads to St. Louis.
Other thoughts:
1) We had no IM mojo going on tonight, nor Hawaiian shirt mojo. But Tim had a great excuse... as those of you who read his site know, he had the chance to take his 83 year old grandfather to the game tonight -- the grandfather who is responsible for Tim being a Sox fan. It was a little piece of family magic, and I can only imagine what a moment it must have been for Tim and his Gramps to be there.
2) Curt Schilling continues to inspire me as perhaps the gutsiest man ever to play for the Red Sox (although Ted Williams still wins that title for being a fighter pilot in WWII and Korea and losing five years off his career). What he has done in the last week transcends greatness and extends into legend. Having a surgical procedure done just so he can play? And then doing it a second time five days later? The man is beyond gutsy.
I saw an interesting stat on ESPN.com tonight... one that made me wonder if we can call Schilling the greatest post-season pitcher in baseball history. Now, before you angrily accuse me of homerism, check this out:
Counting this start, Schilling now has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 12 of his 14 career postseason starts. In the division-play era, according to Elias, only four other pitchers have matched or beaten that: Tom Glavine (15 of 32); John Smoltz (14 of 26); Greg Maddux (14 of 29); Andy Pettitte (12 of 30); Schilling (12 of 14).
In the years from 1903 to 1968, when the World Series was the only level of postseason play, just Whitey Ford (12 of 22) had that many starts of two earned runs or fewer.
So since 1969, not only has Schilling pitched better in the postseason than almost any other pitcher, but he's done it in virtually half the time. And if you go all the way back to the first World Series, only one pitcher has matched Schilling's feat. For perspective, that means Schilling could pitch about 8 more post-season games, give up 3 or more earned runs in each, and he'd still be tied with Whitey Ford. Wow. This guy's got sack.
3) I couldn't help but notice this news today, and I had to share it with you.
Cardinal James Aloysius Hickey, 84, a champion of orthodoxy in church dogma and passionate provider of services to the poor during his 20 years as head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, died yesterday at a Northeast nursing home after several years of declining health.
Why does this matter? Well, it must mean something... on the day of Game 2, we're reading news stories about dead cardinals.
4) Only one thing left to say, really. And that's simply this...
We'll see you Tuesday night, folks.
