Thursday, October 28, 2004
THEY WON EIGHT IN A ROW AND WON THE WORLD SERIES
Amazing. A few years back Danny from Quincy called WEEI and promised the Sox would win 8 in a row and get right back into the race for the AL East. No 8 game win streak has ever been bigger. Let's look over Game 4.
Johnny Damon led off the game against fastball pitcher Jason Marquis. Damon took a 2-1 fastball and drove it into the right field bullpen. 1-0 Sox.
Scott Rolen made a good play on a Cabrera grounder to get the 1st out.
Ramirez walked and Ortiz flew out. Varitek then struck out to end the inning.
Derek Lowe took to the mound with a 1-0 lead. In his last start he began the game with a 2-0 lead against New York. Womack singled to left. For some reason, LaRusa had his hottest hitter bunt Womack to 2nd. D-Lowe made a pretty good play on the ball to retire Walker. Pujols once again failed to get a hit with runners in scoring position but he did ground out to the right to move Womack to 3rd. Not surprisingly, Rolen grounded out to end the inning.
Mueller grounded out to begin the 2nd. Nixon odubled and Bellhorn walked in front of D-Lowe. Derek laid down a nice sacrifice bunt and if it wasn't for another amazing play by Rolen, he would have reached to load the bases. Damon hit a hard grounder to Pujols to end the inning. Jason Marquis did not seem capable of keeping the Red Sox offense down. St. Louis went down in order in the 2nd.
Cabrera flew out to open up the 3rd and Manny followed with a single. Ortiz doubled, moving Manny to 3rd. Tek hit a hard ball to Pujols who threw home. Rookie Yadier Molina tagged out Manny. Mueller walked to load the bases. Trot Nixon hit a ball deep to right center and missed a Grand Slam. He did however, record a 2 run double. 3-0 Sox.
Bellhorn intentionally walked and D-Lowe struck out to end the inning. LaRusa still didn't have anyone warming up. If this had been AL ball, who knows how many runs the Sox would have scored inthe 3rd. Lowe had a 9 pitch, 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 3rd. Surprisingly LaRusa did not pinch hit for Marquis, deciding to leave him in the game to pitch. The Sox and Cards each went down in order in the 4th.
Ortiz walked in the 4th but was stranded. Lowe pitched around a double and a Wild Pitch which was obviously a cross-up between Lowe and Tek who did not have to work with a runner on 2nd for some time. Damon tripled in the 6th but was not brought home. Marlon Anderson led off the bottom of the 6th pinch hitting for Marquis. He tried bunting for a single but Lowe threw him out. Lowe pitched around a walk and the inning was over.
Danny Harden, perhaps St. Louis's best pitcher in the series, came in to replace Marquis on the mound. He retired the side in order. Since Ortiz had batted in the 7th, he was replaced in the field by Mientkiewicz in the bottom of the inning. Rolen and Edmonds each flew out to center. Renteria singled and Mabry struck out. D-Lowe had thrown 7 innings allowing 3 hits, no runs. He threw a mere 85 pitches. He got 8 groundouts and 4 strikeouts and walked only one.
The Red Sox threatend in the 8th. Mueller singled and Nixon got his third double of the night, moving Bill to 3rd. Gabe Kapler came in to replace Nixon who was still nursing a pair of injuries. Jason Isringhausen came into the game making his 04 World Series debut. The fact that his first appearance was in the 8th in Game 4 told a story of Red Sox dominance. To complete the double swich, Sanders replaced Mabry in left. Bellhorn walked in front of pinch hitter Kevin Millar. If this wasn't NL baseball, Lowe probably would have pitched the 8th and possibly the 9th. Reese pinch ran for Bellhorn and would play 2nd. The depth of the Sox was demonstrated immensely in this inning. Millar struck out. Damon hit a ball that 95% of the time would sneak in between the 1st and 2nd basemen for a single. This time though, Albert Pujols made the best play I've ever seen a 1st baseman make. Ranging to his right he snagged the ball with his glove going across his body. He then made an off balance throw that had the speed and accuracy to reach catcher Yadier Molina and record the force out at home keeping the game at 3-0.
Cabrera then ended the inning with a strikeout.
Arroyo replaced Lowe on the mound. Cedeno pinch hit for Molina. He popped out to Reese. Sanders walked. Embree came in to replace Arroyo. Luna pinch hit for Womack. Sanders took 2nd on defensive indifference. Luna then struck out. Walker popped out.
Isringhausen allowed a single in the 9th but that was all. Keith Foulke came in to pitch the bottom of the ending. Pujols singled up the middle in between the legs of Foulke. Rolen flew out to right into Kapler's glove. Edmonds struck out on 3 pitches. One out away. Edgar Renteria stepped into the batter's box. First pitch: Ball 1. Second pitch: ground ball up the middle "stabbed by Foulke, he tosses to first, the Boston Red Sox have won their first World Series in 86 years!"
Absolutely amazing. I don't know what to do with myself. I've told myself all my life, particularly after 2003, that I shouldn't get my hopes up because we will probably lose in heartbreaking fashion. This wasn't supposed to happen and I'm shocked. I go to Ithaca College in central New York, deep within The Empire but there is a substantial Red Sox contingent. About 700 of us gathered in the quad, bewildered. My friend yelled out "Let's go to the fountains!" and we all ran to the middle of the campus where the fountains are. We stayed there for about an hour, chanting, singing, screaming, and being amazingly happy and fulfilled. The croud slowly dispersed and I walked back to my dorm with my RA from Mass. I got to my room and decided, fuck it, I'm going to Boston. I purposely stayed sober for the game to keep this possibility open. At about 1:40, me and two other loyal citizens of The Nation decided to go. We crossed in The Commonwealth at about 5:00 AM. The sun rose over Boston. The time of darkness was over and a new day had dawned.
Amazing. A few years back Danny from Quincy called WEEI and promised the Sox would win 8 in a row and get right back into the race for the AL East. No 8 game win streak has ever been bigger. Let's look over Game 4.
Johnny Damon led off the game against fastball pitcher Jason Marquis. Damon took a 2-1 fastball and drove it into the right field bullpen. 1-0 Sox.
Scott Rolen made a good play on a Cabrera grounder to get the 1st out.
Ramirez walked and Ortiz flew out. Varitek then struck out to end the inning.
Derek Lowe took to the mound with a 1-0 lead. In his last start he began the game with a 2-0 lead against New York. Womack singled to left. For some reason, LaRusa had his hottest hitter bunt Womack to 2nd. D-Lowe made a pretty good play on the ball to retire Walker. Pujols once again failed to get a hit with runners in scoring position but he did ground out to the right to move Womack to 3rd. Not surprisingly, Rolen grounded out to end the inning.
Mueller grounded out to begin the 2nd. Nixon odubled and Bellhorn walked in front of D-Lowe. Derek laid down a nice sacrifice bunt and if it wasn't for another amazing play by Rolen, he would have reached to load the bases. Damon hit a hard grounder to Pujols to end the inning. Jason Marquis did not seem capable of keeping the Red Sox offense down. St. Louis went down in order in the 2nd.
Cabrera flew out to open up the 3rd and Manny followed with a single. Ortiz doubled, moving Manny to 3rd. Tek hit a hard ball to Pujols who threw home. Rookie Yadier Molina tagged out Manny. Mueller walked to load the bases. Trot Nixon hit a ball deep to right center and missed a Grand Slam. He did however, record a 2 run double. 3-0 Sox.
Bellhorn intentionally walked and D-Lowe struck out to end the inning. LaRusa still didn't have anyone warming up. If this had been AL ball, who knows how many runs the Sox would have scored inthe 3rd. Lowe had a 9 pitch, 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 3rd. Surprisingly LaRusa did not pinch hit for Marquis, deciding to leave him in the game to pitch. The Sox and Cards each went down in order in the 4th.
Ortiz walked in the 4th but was stranded. Lowe pitched around a double and a Wild Pitch which was obviously a cross-up between Lowe and Tek who did not have to work with a runner on 2nd for some time. Damon tripled in the 6th but was not brought home. Marlon Anderson led off the bottom of the 6th pinch hitting for Marquis. He tried bunting for a single but Lowe threw him out. Lowe pitched around a walk and the inning was over.
Danny Harden, perhaps St. Louis's best pitcher in the series, came in to replace Marquis on the mound. He retired the side in order. Since Ortiz had batted in the 7th, he was replaced in the field by Mientkiewicz in the bottom of the inning. Rolen and Edmonds each flew out to center. Renteria singled and Mabry struck out. D-Lowe had thrown 7 innings allowing 3 hits, no runs. He threw a mere 85 pitches. He got 8 groundouts and 4 strikeouts and walked only one.
The Red Sox threatend in the 8th. Mueller singled and Nixon got his third double of the night, moving Bill to 3rd. Gabe Kapler came in to replace Nixon who was still nursing a pair of injuries. Jason Isringhausen came into the game making his 04 World Series debut. The fact that his first appearance was in the 8th in Game 4 told a story of Red Sox dominance. To complete the double swich, Sanders replaced Mabry in left. Bellhorn walked in front of pinch hitter Kevin Millar. If this wasn't NL baseball, Lowe probably would have pitched the 8th and possibly the 9th. Reese pinch ran for Bellhorn and would play 2nd. The depth of the Sox was demonstrated immensely in this inning. Millar struck out. Damon hit a ball that 95% of the time would sneak in between the 1st and 2nd basemen for a single. This time though, Albert Pujols made the best play I've ever seen a 1st baseman make. Ranging to his right he snagged the ball with his glove going across his body. He then made an off balance throw that had the speed and accuracy to reach catcher Yadier Molina and record the force out at home keeping the game at 3-0.
Cabrera then ended the inning with a strikeout.
Arroyo replaced Lowe on the mound. Cedeno pinch hit for Molina. He popped out to Reese. Sanders walked. Embree came in to replace Arroyo. Luna pinch hit for Womack. Sanders took 2nd on defensive indifference. Luna then struck out. Walker popped out.
Isringhausen allowed a single in the 9th but that was all. Keith Foulke came in to pitch the bottom of the ending. Pujols singled up the middle in between the legs of Foulke. Rolen flew out to right into Kapler's glove. Edmonds struck out on 3 pitches. One out away. Edgar Renteria stepped into the batter's box. First pitch: Ball 1. Second pitch: ground ball up the middle "stabbed by Foulke, he tosses to first, the Boston Red Sox have won their first World Series in 86 years!"
Absolutely amazing. I don't know what to do with myself. I've told myself all my life, particularly after 2003, that I shouldn't get my hopes up because we will probably lose in heartbreaking fashion. This wasn't supposed to happen and I'm shocked. I go to Ithaca College in central New York, deep within The Empire but there is a substantial Red Sox contingent. About 700 of us gathered in the quad, bewildered. My friend yelled out "Let's go to the fountains!" and we all ran to the middle of the campus where the fountains are. We stayed there for about an hour, chanting, singing, screaming, and being amazingly happy and fulfilled. The croud slowly dispersed and I walked back to my dorm with my RA from Mass. I got to my room and decided, fuck it, I'm going to Boston. I purposely stayed sober for the game to keep this possibility open. At about 1:40, me and two other loyal citizens of The Nation decided to go. We crossed in The Commonwealth at about 5:00 AM. The sun rose over Boston. The time of darkness was over and a new day had dawned.
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