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(Check back on a regular basis for Scott Miller's latest postseason thoughts)
In the World Series aftermath
Oct. 28, 11:29 a.m.
It's not rerun season quite yet, but in case you missed one of the best quotes from the post-Game 4 Red Sox clubhouse last night, here's Boston general manager Theo Epstein again, discussing how big Boston's first World Series win in 86 years is and acknowledging that a lot of people's lives have changed as a result:
"The emotional boost so many people around New England and around the world got from this ... I hope they enjoy it. I hope they will do something good with it. Go vote Tuesday and make the world a better place."
Polls open early in the morning. Don't forget.
Oct. 28, 11:06 a.m.
Boston general manager Theo Epstein wants it known that if he sounded all corny after the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the AL Championship Series, literature is the reason. He read The Teammates last August -- David Halberstam's excellent book chronicling the friendship of Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio and Ted Williams and the baseball times they went through in Boston -- and his mind kept drifting back to the book during last year's ALCS against New York.
"I'm sure I sounded really cheesy after we beat the Yankees," said Epstein, who not only is Boston's GM, but who grew up a Red Sox fan in Brookline, Mass., just a few miles from Fenway Park. "But last year, I read The Teammates and these guys kept popping into my mind. So many great players never got to compete (in a World Series) because of the Yankees. You think of guys who did so much for the Red Sox but never got to win a World Series.
"The '78 team was probably a better club than the Yankees. Ted's teams were ridiculous offensive juggernauts who probably should have won a world championship."
Oct. 28, 10:35 a.m.
The day after ...
I left Busch Stadium in St. Louis last night/this morning at about 3 a.m., and walking out, first thing I saw was ... a group of about six obvious baseball fans walking down the street, one of them wearing a Boston Curt Schilling T-shirt.
Ongoing thoughts from World Series Game 4
Oct. 27, 10:52 p.m.
Red Sox batting in the eighth and loud chants now of "Let's go Red Sox!" in Busch Stadium ... and with Sox runners on second and third and nobody out, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa summons closer Jason Isringhausen in another telling sign. This is Isringhausen's first appearance in the series.
Oct. 27, 10:45 p.m.
Scott Rolen just popped to center field to make the second out in St. Louis' seventh inning. If things don't change in a hurry for St. Louis, that will be Rolen's final at-bat ... and he's 0-for-14 in this World Series. That's one very large reason why St. Louis is on the verge of getting swept.
Jim Edmonds is another. He's 1-for-14 in the Series. And Reggie Sanders, benched tonight, is 0-for-9. St. Louis led the NL in runs scored this season but Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe have made them look sick at the plate. The Red Sox are up 3-0 after seven innings, and the countdown is on in Boston ...
Oct. 27, 9:52 p.m.
Here's a World Series hint: When the games are this lopsided, you've got plenty of time on your hands.
And here are the latest numbers: From the third inning in Game 3 through the end of the fourth today in Game 4, 32 of the past 34 St. Louis hitters have gone down.
Oct. 27, 9:43 p.m.
No word on how Boston general manager Theo Epstein is making out tonight down in the stands -- he sits in the scouts' section -- but he was pretty entertaining before tonight's game talking about the St. Louis fans.
In describing them, he invoked the name of popular Boston third baseman Bill Mueller, a St. Louis native.
"It's a city full of Bill Muellers," Epstein said. "They're real nice people. I even tried to get their goat a little but I can't. They're too nice -- except for one obnoxious fan who was sitting behind me last night and said he wanted to see Pedro (Martinez) get hit in the head. I turned around and told him to shut up."
Oct. 27, 9:24 p.m.
Check that last comment on the next item, that St. Louis manager Tony La Russa is doing everything he can. He's doing most things he can, but Jason Marquis has been left alone an extraordinary amount of time. He has been in trouble in each of the first three innings, he has obtained just nine outs in 72 pitches, yet it wasn't until Marquis' 70th pitch, in the third inning, that the Cardinals' bullpen stirred. Not including Mark Bellhorn's intentional walk with two out in the third, Marquis has gone ball one in the count to 10 of the past 12 Boston hitters.
Meanwhile, don't look now, but the Cardinals' bullpen is quiet again and Marquis is coming to the plate to hit for himself in the third with the Cards down 2-0.
Boston starter Derek Lowe, meanwhile, has needed only 29 pitches to get through the first three innings.
Oct. 27, 8:58 p.m.
For the fourth consecutive game in this series, the early indicators favor Boston. And not just because Johnny Damon slammed the fourth pitch of the game over the right-field fence to deliver a 1-0 lead to the Red Sox. Rather, St. Louis starter Jason Marquis has been in trouble in each of the first two innings, allowing five baserunners (if you count Damon as a baserunner, as he circled the bases without stopping anywhere). Worse, Marquis went ball one to every one of Boston's five hitters in the second inning. He got out of it without allowing a run, but Boston is going to be into St. Louis' bullpen early at this rate.
Meanwhile, trailing in the first inning for the fourth game in a row, Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa has decided early to play small ball. When Tony Womack stroked a one-out single, Larry Walker followed with a sacrifice bunt. Unusual? Heck, yeah. It was Walker's first sacrifice bunt since May 4, 1991.
And even though it was successful, it didn't amount to anything. Womack moved over to third on Albert Pujols' ground ball to second base, but Scott Rolen bounced harmlessly down the first-base line to end the inning.
La Russa is doing everything he can early. Not only did Walker bunt, but the Cardinals have made two lineup changes tonight: John Mabry is playing left field and batting seventh, replacing the slumping Reggie Sanders (0-for-9 in the World Series) and Yadier Molina is catching and batting eighth, replacing Mike Matheny (2-for-8 with two RBI).
Oct. 27, 8:21 p.m.
Can Boston actually break the Curse of the Bambino? For real? Even ahead three games to none?
Here are the numbers, and they're looking good for the Sox: There have been 21 previous times in baseball history that a team has taken a 3-0 lead in the World Series, and that team has won every single time. On 17 of those occasions, the Series has ended in a sweep -- including five in a row (1976, 1989, 1990, 1998 and 1999). On three occasions it has gone five games, and no team facing a three-game deficit has ever forced Game 6 in World Series play.
Oct. 27, 8:14 p.m.
National anthem rating: I'll take Martina McBride, last night's singer, over Gretchen Wilson, who did the honors tonight before Game 4.
Oct. 27, 8:10 p.m.
Boooo! That's the sound of Barry Bonds being introduced pregame as the NL winner of the Hank Aaron Award.
Oct. 27, 6:55 p.m.
St. Louis pitcher Woody Williams on the Red Sox: "What's impressed me most is they play the game. They play a lot like we do. You can't tell for the first three games, but it just seems that they never go away. You can see what they did to New York. Down 3-0 and to be in that atmosphere and that kind of competition to come back, it says a lot for the ballclub's character. And I believe that. It's hard to say down 3-0, but we are definitely the same type of ballclub."
Oct. 27, 6:25 p.m.
You knew it would be dramatic if the Red Sox ever were on the verge of clinching a World Series title, and here we are. John Henry, one of the principal owners, is in the dugout answering questions during batting practice and someone asks what people in Boston have been telling him regarding how big it will be if the Red Sox ever do win.
"Some people have told me it will be the biggest (win) since the Revolutionary War," Henry said.
But not bigger than the Revolutionary War.
"We wouldn't be here if not for the Revolutionary War," Boston GM Theo Epstein said. "I can state without equivocation that if the Red Sox win the World Series, it will not be bigger than the Revolutionary War."
Oct. 27, 4 p.m.
I think Jim Leyland is the most attractive candidate to hit the prospective managers' list in a long while, and the Philadelphia Phillies would be smart to snap him up quickly. They've already interviewed Charlie Manuel, Don Baylor, Grady Little, Jim Fregosi and Buddy Bell, among others, and now comes word that they will speak with Leyland next week.
Phillies' GM Ed Wade received permission from St. Louis GM Walt Jocketty to speak with him -- Leyland has been working as a scout for the Cardinals for the past few seasons - and Leyland says he is interested. It would be a perfect fit -- he still lives in Pennsylvania, and if the spark is back, few men are better managers than Leyland. He got burned out after stints in Florida, where he guided the Marlins to a World Series title in 1997, and an ill-fated stop in Colorado.
Several other clubs have checked with Leyland over the past few seasons, but this seems to be the right place at the right time. Leyland should immediately become the favorite to get the job.
Oct. 27, 3:43 p.m.
So the one open general manager's job looks like it's about to be filled -- sources say Bob Watson, baseball's discipline czar, is close to being named as the new GM for the Washington franchise. He will replace Omar Minaya, who left the Montreal Expos to take charge of the New York Mets. Watson was the Yankees' GM in his other life, and many forget he had at least a small hand in building the Yankees' dynasty in the mid-to-late 1990s. Watson left the club after the 1996 season -- and after a few too many George Steinbrenner tongue lashings.
Oct. 27, 2:21 p.m.
What you have to do if you come to St. Louis for a baseball game is have a late lunch or early dinner at Charlie Gitto's downtown first. It's an Italian joint just three blocks or so from the ballpark, they've got framed pictures of just about every athlete who ever played anything (that's the way it seems, at least) and, best of all, the food is outstanding. I can personally attest to the chicken parmigiana, and Tommy Lasorda can personally attest to the eggplant parmagiana. That's what he was telling us yesterday when he stopped by our table after he finished lunch -- best eggplant parmagiana he's had. Oh, yeah, Gitto's is a great people watching spot, too. Lasorda has been coming in here for 30 years, and several other baseball executives have been in here in the past couple of days, including Anaheim general manager Bill Stoneman and San Francisco assistant GM Ned Colletti.
Oct. 27, 1:02 p.m.
Want to know the mood in St. Louis today? Let's just say this: I went out for a run today around Jefferson Memorial Park (where the Arch is), then looped around Busch Stadium ... and the number of folks walking around wearing Boston caps and Boston T-shirts and Red Sox jerseys was incredible. If you didn't hear those late inning chants of "Let's go Red Sox" in Game 3 here Tuesday night, you weren't paying attention. Today, even if you weren't paying attention, you could not miss all of the Red Sox fans downtown.
Ongoing thoughts from World Series Game 3
Oct. 26, 10:41 p.m.
Into the seventh inning and, still, the only inning in which Boston failed to get at least one baserunner was the second. Boston's lineup is too good, and a 4-0 lead looks even more insurmountable for St. Louis because, as predicted several innings ago, Pedro Martinez has only gotten stronger.
Manager Terry Francona and statistical evidence say that Martinez is most vulnerable in the first inning and, sure enough, that's what tonight looks like. Since Jeff Suppan's fatal baserunning mistake in the third, Martinez has retired 11 consecutive Cardinals heading into the bottom of the seventh.
The Redbirds have become more and more meek at the hands of Pedro. The only ball to even reach the outfield since the third was Jim Edmonds' fly to center in the fourth. Martinez has whiffed three of the 11 batters he's set down, and his pitch count is only at 84.
At this pace, Martinez should be able to easily pitch into the eighth. This is set up perfectly for eight innings from Pedro, with closer Keith Foulke pitching the ninth.
It's also set up for Boston to come to the park Wednesday with a chance to finish off the sweep.
Oct. 26, 10:14 p.m.
What is becoming crystal clear in this series, with Boston leading 4-0 and St. Louis making a pitching change (Al Reyes for Jeff Suppan) in the fifth, is that the Cardinals do not have any starting pitchers who can finish off any of Boston's hitters.
So far, through 21 innings (Boston did not bat in the bottom of the ninth in either of the first two games), Boston hitters have swung and missed at only 22 pitches (not including foul balls). Nearly every strike Cardinals pitchers throw, the Red Sox are getting a piece of -- either to redirect the pitch into fair territory or to foul it off.
Boston swung and missed at only 18 pitches total in the first two games -- nine times in Game 1, nine times in Game 2.
Tonight, through five innings, the Red Sox have swung and missed at only four of Suppan's pitches. And one of those was by pitcher Pedro Martinez.
Aside from Suppan's 1-2-3 second, Boston has had baserunners in every inning. That's four innings out of five.
The Red Sox continue to dominate this series, and it is looking more and more bleak for the Redbirds.
Oct. 26, 9:39 p.m.
Here comes Pedro, and you have to seriously wonder about St. Louis.
Third inning, runners on second and third, and the Cardinals commit another baserunning gaffe. Larry Walker bounced to second, and after David Ortiz received the throw, he saw pitcher Jeff Suppan in no-man's land between third and home. Suppan didn't break hard for the plate, and now he was hung up. But as he scrambled back to third, Edgar Renteria had nearly made it there from second. Renteria scrambled back to second but Suppan was doubled off of third.
It was a terrible baserunning mistake. Boston's defense wasn't even playing in for a play at the plate -- the Red Sox were back. And Suppan still was nailed.
How bad was it? The almost-always-friendly Busch Stadium crowd booed loudly after Albert Pujols grounded to third to end the inning.
Martinez, meanwhile, amped up his fastball to 93, 94 in the third.
Things don't change soon, the Cardinals are going to look back to missed opportunities in both the first and third innings as the times they should have gotten to Martinez before he heated up for good.
Oct. 26, 9:02 p.m.
Let's see how this plays out, but Pedro Martinez is either off tonight or simply off to a slow start. His radar gun readings are down noticeably. It took him 26 pitches to get through the first inning as the Cardinals pieced together what looked like a rally -- until Manny Ramirez's perfect throw home nailed Larry Walker on Jim Edmonds' fly ball.
The Cardinals had loaded the bases with one out, and what was most noticeable during the inning was Martinez mostly was clocked at 88, 89 mph. His fastball hit 92 on the radar gun a couple of times and he reached back and hiked it up to 93 on strike two to Edmonds.
Either Martinez is still warming up, or the Boston bullpen is going to be employed early tonight.
Oct. 26, 7:32 p.m.
That tarp is off the field. The groundskeepers are adding drying agents to the infield, they're raking the dirt ... this is the best things have looked all day.
Oct. 26, 7:27 p.m.
Sadly, there was no update on Mary Ellen Rogers from Francona.
Oct. 26, 7:25 p.m.
... And Jerry Mathers as the Beaver:
The test period for Boston manager Terry Francona is finished -- he's won a permanent place in our hearts now. I mean, have you ever heard another manager not only refer to Leave It To Beaver, but invoke the name of one of the characters, Larry Mondello?
The background: Boston motormouth Kevin Millar is giving way to David Ortiz at first base tonight, which gives Boston added depth on the bench -- but also keeps Millar's non-stop chatter in the dugout all evening.
"He's such a smart aleck," Francona said.
How will Millar pass the time?
"He'll have a bag of snacks," Francona said. "I mean, the couple of games in interleague this summer when he didn't play in Atlanta, he looked like, remember Leave It To Beaver? He looked like Larry Mondello. I thought about putting him in, but he had a stomach ache.
"When he doesn't play, he said things that made me laugh when I didn't want to laugh. You'll hear that voice down at the end of the dugout and it's hard not to laugh. He's a character. He's good for the ballclub."
Oct. 26, 7:19 p.m.
First loud cheer of the evening: Predictably, for the St. Louis grounds crew as it emerges from behind the right-field fence and trots toward the infield to remove the tarp. Excellent sight.
Oct. 26, 7:13 p.m.
Free taco alert:
Normally, we avoid helping sponsors sell their wares. But since YOU could directly benefit from this -- and I mean YOU, the person actually reading this right now -- it is my sworn duty to notify you of this.
If a player from either the Red Sox or Cardinals hits a temporary Taco Bell sign they've posted in the Homer's Landing section far behind the bullpens in left field, everyone in the United States is eligible for a free crunchy beef taco. Seriously. All you do is go to Taco Bell. Of course, while you're there, you'll probably want to buy a drink, several other tacos and a few burritos ... hey, I bet that's the point!
Anyway, if you exercise self control, you can get one free taco and blow on out of there, feeling like you've gotten something for nothing.
Of course, as I sit here writing, my estimate is that the Free Taco Here sign with the Taco Bell logo is probably 450 feet from the plate. It's going to take a monstrous poke to hit it.
Oct. 26, 7:10 p.m.
From the looks of it, St. Louis, down two games to none, is in trouble.
Here are the numbers: Of the previous teams that have taken a 2-0 World Series lead, 37 have gone on to win the title. That also is exactly what happened in each of the past four times that a team has taken a 2-0 lead -- the New York Yankees in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and Arizona in 2001 -- and in 10 of the last 11 times.
The last time a team lost the first two games on the road (as St. Louis has) and come back to win the Series: 1981, when Los Angeles came back to beat the Yankees.
Oct. 26, 7:01 p.m.
Assuming this game starts tonight on what is a very soggy field (though the surface at Busch Stadium drains real well), Tony La Russa has come full circle as St. Louis manager. Pedro Martinez is Boston's scheduled starter, and it was Martinez who pitched for Montreal in the first home game La Russa managed as Cardinals skipper in 1996.
"So I saw him those years before he left the league," La Russa said this afternoon. "I saw him when we played last year. I saw him in spring training last year. I haven't really seen him much. ... Depending on how many fastballs you say he has, he has four outstanding ways to get hitters out. He's a Hall of Famer."
Oct. 26, 6:59 p.m.
The lineup cards are in and, as expected Boston's David Ortiz remains batting fourth in the Red Sox lineup, at, ugh, first base.
No real surprises for either team. For Boston, it's Johnny Damon, Orlando Cabrera, Manny Ramirez, Ortiz, Jason Varitek, Bill Mueller, Trot Nixon, Mark Bellhorn and Pedro Martinez.
For St. Louis, it is Edgar Renteria, Larry Walker, Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, Reggie Sanders, Tony Womack, Mike Matheny and Jeff Suppan.
Oct. 26, 6:14 p.m.
Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo on the enigma that is Pedro Martinez: "Some days you come to the park and you don't even know Pedro is here. Other days he's sitting around naked, yelling and screaming."
Oct. 26, 6:10 p.m.
There is one rumor making the rounds that Game 3 will not start until at least 9 p.m. CT.
If so, baseball officials are not letting on. Rich Levin, vice-president for public relations, remains confident that St. Louis' Jeff Suppan will take the mound if not right at the scheduled start time, then shortly thereafter.
"I think it looks pretty good," Levin said. "Last I heard, the heavy rain is supposed to stop around 6:30 (local time) and then a light drizzle until about 8. I think there's a good chance we'll start on time."
Oct. 26, 4 p.m.
Too bad Game 3 wasn't played yesterday -- Monday -- in St. Louis. Upon arrival from Boston, it could not have been more pleasant. It's a good 20 degrees warmer in St. Louis than in Boston, and Monday was a classic fall day, gorgeous, lots of sun, trees tinted with orange and yellow. Today, though, it has rained. It has rained soft and it has rained hard. Lots of folks asking for weather reports.
Oct. 26, 1:31 p.m.
Meet me in St. Louis? How about rainy St. Louis? Six guys walk into my elevator in a hotel across the street from Busch Stadium. Between them, they're carrying five cases of beer and wearing various pieces of Cardinals garb.
A guy who looks like a businessman eyes them and asks, "They gonna get the game in?"
"They'd better," one of the guys answers. "We drove all this way for one game. They'd better play it."
Where did they drive all this way from?
West Virginia, one of them says.
"You guys gonna tailgate?" asks the businessman.
"No, we're gonna room-gate," one of the guys answers.
Revisiting Sanders' snafu
Oct. 25, 3:03 a.m.
Yeah, yeah, it's getting late. Yeah, yeah, we're getting tired.
But we simply cannot sleep until we figure this one out: How in the world did St. Louis outfielder Reggie Sanders miss second base on that crazy play in the second inning of Game 2 of the World Series?
You may recall: One out, Sanders on first, Boston leading 2-0, Tony Womack smacks a single to right.
Sanders, running on the pitch, chugs around second and takes several steps toward third before U-turning -- and frantically waving Womack back to first. Womack was halfway to second and probably could have had a double.
"It was a hit-and-run, and when I looked to see where the ball was going, I didn't realize the base was as close as it was," Sanders said. "So I ended up not touching second and I ended up having to go back because I was afraid if I got to third, they probably would have called me out.
"Better safe than sorry."
So that left Sanders on second and Womack on first, but a potential rally was killed when Mike Matheny lined to third baseman Bill Mueller a couple of pitches later and Mueller doubled Sanders off of second.
Again, the Cardinals were trying to make things happen and it didn't quite go their way.
"Double steal, and when he hit a line drive to third, I was dead as a duck," Sanders said.
Or, dead as the Cardinals have been in these first two games.
Ongoing thoughts from World Series Game 2
Oct. 24, 11:01 p.m.
While Boston's pitching staff is fresh, St. Louis' no doubt can use Monday's day off. After manager Tony La Russa burned through six pitchers in Game 1, Jason Marquis becomes the fourth Cardinals' hurler tonight -- he's starting the seventh inning.
What's newsworthy about that: Marquis is St. Louis' scheduled Game 4 starter for Wednesday. Depends how long he goes tonight, but St. Louis may have to scrap that plan and go to Plan B ... or C.
"We've got Jason Marquis listed and I think he'll pitch Game 4," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said before the game. "The only thing is that we also have Marquis listed in our right-handed relief side today because we used up Danny (Haren) and Matt (Morris) is going on three days' rest. If we need some innings, Marquis can pitch. But I think Marquis can pitch a little bit today and still start Game 4."
Oct. 24, 10:58 p.m.
Former disco diva Donna Summer, also a Boston native, just sang God Bless America during the seventh-inning break.
It would have been much more entertaining had she used some of those moans that made her famous in her hit Love to Love You Baby.
Oct. 24, 10:46 p.m.
The pulse of Fenway Park right about now? Here's a conversation overheard between a couple of Boston fans in one of the stadium restrooms (the lengths we go to to give you full-scale reporting):
"How about Schilling?"
"He's hot."
"He's a trooper. He's one of us."
Pitch with a dislocated tendon in your ankle, four stitches holding it down, countless pain killers, win a key playoff game against the New York Yankees, put your team in terrific position to win Game 2 of the World Series ... and you, too, can become an instant folk hero.
Oct. 24, 10:39 p.m.
That's it for Curt Schilling. As predicted several dispatches ago, Schilling wasn't going to go much more than six innings tonight -- thanks in no small part to the 24-pitch first inning. Still, wow: Six innings, no earned runs, and Boston is within nine outs of victory.
Schilling threw 94 pitches, 61 strikes. St. Louis saw more than enough of him. His cutter was phenomenal and the ankle did not seem to bother him -- not outwardly, at least.
Alan Embree works the seventh and fans all three Cards he faces. Best thing about tonight from Boston's perspective so far: It looks like the Red Sox will not have to overextend any of their relief pitchers -- as they did so often in the Yankees' series -- and, with a day of travel Monday, Boston's pitching staff should be fresh for Game 3 on Tuesday.
Oct. 24, 10:12 p.m.
The mist is back and the wind is getting colder. Conditions cleared up nicely just after the game started and, though the field was somewhat wet, at least the air was dry.
No more. Albert Pujols just launched a fly ball to right field that the stiff breeze appeared to slow just as it reached the peak of its arc. The mist falls, Curt Schilling is dealing -- his cutter is biting hard tonight, continually diving under Cardinals' bats -- and Boston has gotten every break since Game 4 of the ALCS. The Sox are on pace to win their sixth consecutive postseason game.
Oct. 24, 10:03 p.m.
Boston leads 4-1 in the sixth, and it could be a whole lot worse for St. Louis. David Ortiz just ripped a Cal Eldred pitch deep into the night with Orlando Cabrera on first, just to the wrong side of Pesky's Pole in right field. Ortiz is waving that the ball passed the pole in fair territory, but after the umpires huddle and discuss it, they rule that the original call stands.
And television replays show that it was the correct call, despite the boos.
Oct. 24, 9:59 p.m.
Far too many pitches out of the strike zone for Matt Morris, and Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan finally see enough with one out and one on in the fifth.
Lots of people try to make baseball far more complicated than it is, and this game so far has come down in no small part to this: Morris walked four batters and hit another in 4 1/3 innings. Of those, three scored.
Boston's lineup is dangerous enough without giving the Red Sox extra baserunners.
Oct. 24, 9:11 p.m.
You often hear about pitchers who are good at "finishing batters off" -- that is, putting them away when they get to a two-strike count. St. Louis starter Matt Morris is having difficulty with that tonight. He walked both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz on full counts in the first inning, and it cost him when Jason Varitek ripped a two-run triple.
Boston hitters, as they did in Game 1, are fouling an awful lot of pitches off. One big question that is popping up early is this: Everybody knows that St. Louis does not have an ace on its staff, but do the Cardinals have the starting pitching to slow the only offense in the majors that scored more than 900 runs? Against six different St. Louis pitchers in Game 1, Boston hitters swung and missed a grand total of only nine times. Other than those nine swings, Red Sox hitters made contact every time they swung -- by either re-directing the pitch toward the Cardinal defense or by fouling it off.
When your defense is as good as the Cardinals' is, that sometimes isn't all bad. But when it is Boston's big, burly lineup swinging, and the drives bounce off of the Green Monster or rattle off of the outfield walls, it sometimes is all bad.
Oct. 24, 8:33 p.m.
Curt Schilling wasn't even past the first batter of the night before he had to work hard -- harder than in the first few innings against the Yankees in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. Edgar Renteria worked Schilling over for a 12-pitch at-bat. It ended harmlessly enough, with a ground ball to shortstop, but Renteria still did exactly what a leadoff hitter is supposed to do -- he ran Schilling's pitch count up.
By the end of the first, Schilling has thrown 24 pitches. So far, so good on his bad ankle. His fastball is crackling at 94, 95 m.ph. and, aside from Albert Pujols' double, he has no problems in the first inning.
But even after getting through the second inning at a reasonable 16 pitches, thanks to that one at-bat, Schilling already is at 40 pitches. Even after Jason Varitek's two-run triple gives the Red Sox an early 2-0 lead, Schilling isn't out of trouble. Chances are good that St. Louis is going to be into Boston's bullpen by the sixth inning at this current rate, seventh at the latest, and that's where Boston's 7-2 Game 1 lead melted down to 7-7 ... and where the Red Sox's 9-7 lead melted to 9-9.
You'd better believe Mike Timlin, Alan Embree, Keith Foulke and Co. are on call.
Oct. 24, 8:03 p.m.
Another musical strike: New England's James Taylor sings the national anthem, with only that classic voice and an acoustic guitar. I'm not a big J.T. fan, but this is pretty good.
Oct. 24, 7:51 p.m.
Another rock and roll reunion, courtesy of the Red Sox: The Standells take a makeshift stage on the warning track in center field to perform their hit Dirty Water ("I love that dirty water ... oh, Boston, you're my home").
Oct. 24, 7:48 p.m.
The second loud roar of the evening from a packed Fenway Park as Curt Schilling comes out of the bullpen onto the right-field grass to begin stretching.
Oct. 24, 7:37 p.m.
The first loud roar of the evening from a packed Fenway Park as Red Sox starter Curt Schilling emerges from the Boston dugout for the short walk to the bullpen behind the right-field fence to begin warming up. Flashbulbs pop, and the ovation rises several more decibels when Schilling touches the bill of his cap and nods as he nears the pen.
Oct. 24, 6:20 p.m.
Bad news for St. Louis: The team winning Game 1 has gone on to win six of the past seven World Series. The only exception was in 2002 when San Francisco defeated Anaheim in Game 1.
Womack doesn't need grounds for apology
Oct. 24, 5:49 p.m.
About that apology Tony Womack received from one of the Boston groundskeepers after David Ortiz's wicked grounder nearly separated his left collarbone from his shoulder?
"Well, could they erase that score that gave up that run, too?" Womack asked. "That happens. That's baseball. We had the plate, if he doesn't hit the ball hard we have to try to kill the guy at the plate. If not, we can turn two. Just unfortunately, it took a bad hop. That's how the ball bounces, off my collarbone and everything."
Though Womack is in the lineup tonight, it isn't like he had an easy day. How did he feel this morning?
"I felt like I had been hit by a truck twice over this morning," Womack said. "I was really stiff.
"I'm playing. I've got all of next week to rest. After it's all said and done, I've got all winter to heal. There's not many chances you get to play in the World Series, so I'm not going to let this slow me down. I'm going to be ready tonight."
Oh, and one other thing: Womack said he is not blaming the Fenway Park grounds crew.
"Like I said, that's how the ball bounces," Womack said. "When you get a bad hop, first thing you do, you can blame the grounds crew and all that, but that's baseball. Could have been the topspin off the ball or the backspin.
"I don't blame anybody. It happened. I was just more disappointed that they scored a run off of it than anything else. That's baseball. I don't take too many things personally."
Ongoing thoughts from World Series Game 2
Oct. 24, 5:35 p.m.
Second baseman Tony Womack is in the St. Louis lineup tonight, batting seventh and playing second base. Womack took a hard David Ortiz ground ball off of his left collarbone and was forced to leave Game 1 early, and manager Tony La Russa didn't figure he was a given for Game 2 until he got to the ballpark.
"It was close enough that I got a call from Barry (Weinberg, St. Louis trainer) in the morning that Tony felt ready to go, but I didn't want to have t make the lineup and have to change it," La Russa said. "So I kept it open until I saw Tony and talked to him. He said he can go, so he goes. If he had not, then (Marlon) Anderson was going to play second and we would have chosen somebody else.
"Anderson, he's played behind Schilling, he's had 10 at-bats, and I think he's got the kind of legs and handle of the bat that maybe he can do something special if we want to try to manufacture."
La Russa also said that one of the Boston groundskeepers apologized to Womack for the ball taking a bad hop on the field.
Oct. 24, 5:02 p.m.
Mist, mist go away....
No outdoor batting practice for either team today. The batting cage was set up a couple of hours ago, but the steady mist caused the groundskeepers to eventually take the cage away and place the tarp on the field to keep it dry.
Oct. 24, 4:27 p.m.
For probably the 3,067th time in the past 10 days, Boston manager Terry Francona is asked about his team's hair.
"If this was Cub Scout Troop 1410 I'd ask these guys to cut their hair," Francona said. "It's not ... the fact that they came together is what's important."
Oct. 24, 4:24 p.m.
Before Game 1, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa spoke about how he roomed with Boston skipper Terry Francona's father during his days in the minors and said that in his early days as a skipper, he lobbied once or twice to acquire Terry Francona.
Francona says he's unaware of any of that.
"If he tried to acquire me he's not nearly as good a manager as I thought he was," Francona said, chuckling. "He's gone down, in my estimation."
Oct. 24, 4:19 p.m.
Boston manager Terry Francona on the Red Sox's four errors last night: "We hate giving extra outs. We don't want to run into outs. We gave up a lot of extra outs last night. We were fortunate to win the game, but we also are fortunate that when things like that happen, we continue to play. You can feel sorry for yourself, but Foulkie (Keith Foulke) got (Jim) Edmonds (on a strikeout to end the eighth with the bases loaded and the score 9-9."
Oct. 24, 3:39 p.m.
Tonight's game may depend on which team has the better mudders. It's cold and breezy again at Fenway Park, but the gusting winds of Saturday night have been exchanged for thick, gray clouds and a steady, fine mist. It is damp and it is chilly. Temperatures again should be in the 40s.
Not that it's dampening spirits here in Boston. Oh, no. At breakfast in the hotel today in the heart of Boston, a middle-aged woman was sitting with her elderly mother at the table next to me. As I read through the morning papers, I couldn't help but overhear snippets of their conversation, which took a hard turn at the point where the woman asked her mother what time she finally turned out the lights last night.
"Midnight or so," the mother said.
"Mama, what?!" the woman said.
"Well I wanted to know what was going to happen in the game," the mother said. "I couldn't go to sleep without knowing."
Within five minutes after they left, a couple of more women were seated at the same table. And before one had even sat down, apparently spying my newspapers, she looked over and said, "Who won the game last night?"
Told her the Red Sox had, the woman smiled, nodded her head and sat down to an omelet.
Ongoing thoughts from World Series Game 1
Oct. 23, 10:33 p.m.
Check that, what you're going to read in the next item. While Bronson Arroyo's curve is solid, it isn't perfect. Back-to-back doubles in the sixth by Edgar Renteria and Larry Walker tie the game at 7-7. With these two potent offenses, those five-hour ALCS games could be in jeopardy.
Oct. 23, 10:29 p.m.
Bronson Arroyo has retired six consecutive Cardinals to bail out Tim Wakefield and slow St. Louis. The kid may have wilted under the pressure of his Game 3 start against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, but his curve is sharp tonight.
Oct. 23, 9:59 p.m.
One problem with the ol' knuckleball is that you never know where it's going to go. And so it went for Tim Wakefield with Boston leading 7-2. Wakefield walked the first three batters in the fourth inning to cause immediate trouble. Seven batters later Bronson Arroyo came in to save the day, but not before the Cardinals scored three times to pull to within 7-5.
You've got to anticipate that with Wakefield. It's the nature of a knuckleball. It can change from good to flat in a matter of minutes. Plus, it's cold outside and Wakefield sat in the Red Sox dugout for long periods in the first, second and third innings. That's why, with Derek Lowe starting Game 4, Boston manager Terry Francona has Arroyo on call tonight.
Oct. 23, 9:11 p.m.
If the Boston fans get any more clever, we just might have to hand over our laptops