The Biggest Baseball Game in 100 Years Will Be Played Tonight

[WilliamPitt]

Seven wonders

Resurgent Sox defy the odds, force showdown
By Bob Hohler, Globe Staff, 10/16/2003

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2003/10/16/seven_wonders/

NEW YORK -- Wake up the Bambino. Heck, wake up all of Western civilization.

This is it, destiny's gift. The Red Sox and Yankees in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, Pedro Martinez against Roger Clemens. The biggest game in the history of one of sport's greatest rivalries, with the last team standing advancing to Game 1 of the World Series on Saturday.

"We've been on a collision course for a hundred years," Sox general manager Theo Epstein said after his Comeback Cowboys roped and tied the Yankees, 9-6, before 56,277 in the House That Ruth Built to force the mother of all showdowns tonight in the Bronx.

"It definitely seems appropriate, definitely meant to be, and certainly poetic. It's special for both teams and both franchises, regardless of the result."

...more...

Now, I am sure there are a lot of DUers who couldn't give a diddly-poo about baseball. I understand completely...and yet this game tonight is the peak moment in the most storied rivalry in all of sport. If you are one to appreciate dominant and deserved excellence, then behold the Yankees tonight. If you are one to appreciate a long-suffering underdog on the cusp of redemption, then behold the Red Sox tonight.

Sometimes, sport is transcendant.

On Edit: A toast to the Yankee fans. After all the old-man-tossing and groundskeeper-stomping, these teams managed to sling together one of the best series of games I've ever even heard about. It's a testament to both clubs.

:toast:

[HornBuckler]

1. Will Be A Good Game For Sure!

But The Biggest Game In A Long While Was Played Yesterday, And The Cubs Lost


Shit!


Go Cubbies - Well Maybe Next Year!

Go Sox!

[birdman]

2. Could be a classic

Pennant on the line.
Pedro and Roger (Clemens last game if he loses ?)

Winner will be decided Series favorite.

Sox came back from the dead yesterday. Need to continue that momentum.

Just hope there are no poor Steve Bartmans in this game.

[tsakshaug]

3. How many times can I have a broken heart........

Sox will get blown out or lose in the 9th on some dumb ass play. Or the Yankees will bring the kid back that caught the "home run" agianst the Braves.
But I have to remember the Pats won the super bowl a few years ago...........
Is there such a thing as a Marlins fan?

[WilliamPitt]

4. There are a few here

Watch for the avatar.

As for your potential broken heart, a few words:

====

At The Turning Of The Tide

By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Thursday 1 May 2003

http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/050203A.shtml

One of my earliest memories of childhood is of sitting in front of the television watching a baseball game with my mother in our apartment outside Boston. The year was 1975, and the Cincinnati Reds were playing the Red Sox in what has gone down in history as one of the most remarkable World Series matchups ever. The Reds were winning the game I was watching that day, and I turned to my mother and told her I was rooting for them. I wanted to be on the winning side, and even at that tender age I could sense the aura of inevitable doom that cloaked our hometown team.

You can’t do that, she said. The Red Sox are your team. It is wrong to bail out on them because they are losing. You stand with your team no matter what. Besides, she finished, some day they will actually win this thing, and you’ll miss out on the celebration if you discarded them before that happens.

I’ve been a die-hard Red Sox fan ever since. I remember Bucky Dent the way some people remember Sirhan Sirhan. I was watching the World Series in a basement in Newton in 1986 when that ball skipped nimbly through the legs of Bill Buckner, and my friend was so outraged that he punched the low-hanging ceiling hard enough to dent the linoleum floor of the kitchen above us. I just sat there, numb and dumb, with ceiling tile dust in my hair and a sinking feeling in my gut. Later that night we were walking back from the store when we were accosted by an abysmally inebriated Sox fan whose whole world had been destroyed. He made us do pushups on the greasy blacktop of a gas station to offer some sort of atonement to a universe that had, once again, reached out to crush us. We were young and small, he was huge and drunk, and as my nose lifted and fell off that oil-soaked pavement I thought, somehow, that it all made sense.

(snip)

This is serious stuff, as serious as anything this nation has faced in its history. With all of this happening, and with no apparent way to reverse or blunt this course, wouldn’t it just be easier to give up? Where do I get off making trite sports analogies in such a situation?

I do it because it is instructive when considering the next step. The issue here is a simple matter of volume, and of hope. The list above is abridged, and grows exponentially longer by the hour. People of good conscience cannot surrender the struggle against this rising tide with all that is at stake.

You have to capture the mentality of the Red Sox fan, as I have. You start every season and every game almost completely sure that you will be beaten soundly. You lick your wounds and dust yourself off and maybe cry a little into your pillow. But you always, always think to yourself - even after the Bucky Dents and the Bill Bukners and the missed calls and the fact that you are being outspent by your arch-rivals and the umpires are not doing their jobs - you always think to yourself, “This could be it. This could be the year.”

You do it because you want to be there at the turning of the tide. The Boston Red Sox have not won a championship in 85 years, and there is no sense today that they have a prayer of winning one any time soon. Yet the stands in Fenway Park are filled, night after night, to capacity. The crowd cheers and hoots and prays and comes back again and again. In its own small way, this is the very definition of hope. When that day does dawn, when some October night in a time to come absorbs the victory roar of people who have watched great-grandfathers and grandfathers and fathers live entire lives and die unfulfilled, when the Boston Red Sox finally win that championship, it will have been worth every moment of pain and disappointment.

...more...

[MaineDem]

9. I felt every word you wrote

My initiation to the Sox Nation goes back to 1964 and Tony Conigliaro. I was going to marry him. Yep, I was going to be the one. He didn't know me from Adam, or Eve even. I did meet one of the nuns who taught him in high school, though.

Then I was in the hospital with a broken clavicle and I got a picture in the mail from my hero. An autographed picture of Tony C! Who cares about broken bones at a time like that! Man, I was in heaven. I actually did meet him at Fenway one day and he signed a ball for me but somehow a high school girl and this baseball hero never found that undying love and subsequent marriage. SIGH...

But from then on I was hooked. I still have a strong dislike (hatred is a word I try not to use in basbeall - I'll save that for the whistle ass) for Jack Hamilton and the Angels because of that game in August of '67. The fact that the Sox went on to the World Series that year without my Tony was bittersweet. If he had been playing...yada yada yada.

My heart broke over the way his short life played out. I remember the day he died. Practically forgotten by the world but not by me and the legions of Sox fans.

I love this team for some genetic reason. It has to be embedded in my DNA or something. How else can this loyalty be defined?

Wait til next year? Sure, we do that ALL the time. But win or lose, tonight's game could be an instant classic and one team will either continue a long line of World Series appearances or will give its long-loyal fans another shot at blowing away whatever perceived curse they've bought into.

It should be a great one! Enjoy it.

[kanrok]

12. Tony C was a great player

Once he got hit, he never really was the same. What a shame. I'll be pulling for the Sox tonight. Good luck.

[baby_bear]

11. Will, do you remember Game Six?

October 21, 1975, after 3 days of rain-outs in Boston...I saw this game just this week- Monday I believe - on Classic ESPN! It was great. What a line-up on both sides! Fisk, Yastrzemski, Rose, Griffey, Bench, Perez, and on and on. Boston pulled it out in the 12th, to win 7-6. What a great memory that must be for you. (Too bad they lost in game 7).

Myself, I grew up in the Dodgers-Giants rivalry that had carried through to California in the 60s. And of course there were always those damn Yankees.

I cherish my baseball memories and can't wait for the game tonight!

s_m

[birdman]

24. My favorite Sox team was 1967

Although I'm a lifelong Phillies fan.

I was 18 when they played in the series that year.

They came out of nowhere (9th place in '66) to beat the
Twins and Tigers on the last day of the season. Yaz had
the year of his life winning the triple crown. They had
some terrific young players who were to play many years in
the majors (Rico Petrocelli, Reggie Smith, Boomer Scott,
the tragic Tony C., Jim Lonborg, rookie manager Dick Williams).

They took the far superior Cardinals seven games before losing.

Have always had a affinity for the Sox since then.

Wish them luck tonight.

[KamaAina]

122. George Will, eat your heart out!

At last, a sensible political commentator who can write about baseball! And one who's named Will, too! :-)

Seriusly, though, no pressure, but if you guys get it done tonight, you HAVE TO finish the deal in the Series. You CANNOT be responsible for that crappy expansion team winning it all AGAIN. Capeesh?

[Throckmorton]

6. Paging Bucky Dent, Paging Mr. Dent,

your needed to break my heart again. They will lose Will, they just will. They need to thaw out Ted Willian's head, its their only hope.

[FlaGranny]

113. Sure there are!

:-)

[KamaAina]

121. Wasn't Jeffrey Maier's catch made against the Orioles?

I believe it was, in a playoff game...

[Crewleader]

5. One Down One To Go!

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/10-03/10-16-03/b01sp407.htm

Let's Go Red Sox!

Pedro The Man!~ ;-)

on edit...well-written William...
us underdogs never ever give up HOPE! :-)

[oxycontinrush]

7. It's a big game, but not THAT big.

Lemme see...

Jackie Robinson's first game in the majors.

Lou Gehrig's final appearance and speech at Yankee Stadium.

Don Larsen's World Series Perfect game.

Willie Mays' over the shoulder catch.

The shot heard round the world... "The Giants win the Pennant! The Giants win the Pennant!..."

Reggie Jackson hitting the transformer on the Tiger Stadium lights in the All Star Game.

Kirk Gibson's Home Run shot in the World Series for the Dodgers when he couldn't have even run to first base.

...now... if the Yankees start 72 year old Don Zimmer and he hits a homer after Pedro toroed him on the mound a few days ago, then I'll grant you it would be the biggest game in 100 years.

[markses]

8. For Red Sox fans, the biggest game in 100 years

For Yankee fans, just another ALCS...no biggee.

Ah, sport...:-)

[izzie]

10. Is this why the vote is coming up in Congress to night????????

:cry: :cry: :cry:

[Cheviot]

13. Bullshit

You people in the New York-New England corridor need to get over yourselves. Most important game in 100 years my ass. This isn't even a world series game. There have been many more important games than this, namely, any of the deciding World Series games over the years.

[WilliamPitt]

14. Yeah

It's only the two most revered teams in the sport playing in a situation that great-grandfathers and grandfathers and fathers and sons have lived entire lives and died waiting to see. It's only two of the most devoted fan bases in the country going head to head. It's only the culmination of 100 years worth of tension and taunting. The Northeast Corridor is the main population base for the country, friend. Look at a census. We will get over ourselves when the rest of the country fills up. :)

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

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[VelmaD]

17. Alright Will...

I know you know better than to leave out the great-grandmothers and grandmothers and mothers and daughters who happen to love baseball just as much as any guy.

Do I need to break out the paddle and whup your butt? :spank: Don't make me tell Raven on you. ;-)

[Red_Storm]

20. Well Said Will..................

[Cheviot]

30. You northeasterners are in your own little world

Most of the country doesn't give a shit about those two teams. I never understood how places with the rudest fans somehow believe they are the most important. Notice you don't have ugly episodes like what happened in Boston in places like St. Louis or Minnesota. These teams have very rabid, but also very polite well-behaved fans, as well as a very rich history. Perhaps you people can get over yourselves long enough to observe how REAL fans, real salt-of-the-earth people in the Midwest approach their baseball.

[HuckleB]

31. You're funny.

Go get 'em, tiger!

[Braden]

32. when UMinn won the NCAA Hockey Title in 2002

I suppose those were rude Northeasterners who set the bonfires and rioted in MSP last april?

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

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[Cheviot]

56. Not racist are we?

"Uh huh. I'll bet you think that only white christians are real Americans too"

I am wondering. Do you know how to read signature lines? As a Cuban American, particularly one of Jamaican ancestry as well, I assure I do not look like your racial sterotype.

[Name removed]

62. Deleted message

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[StopTheMorans]

63. lay it down Beetwasher!

or should I say, "I pity the fool who messes with Beetwasher" :)

[Cheviot]

68. A couple of questions for you......

"A Cuban in Miami"

Do you think it's unusual to find someone of Cuban descent living in Miami?

"...preaching about salt of the earth midwestern values"

So you think my heritage precludes a baseball fan like myself from noticing civilized behavior in other baseball cities?

I don't understand what is so difficult to comprehend here. Unless of course you are looking at things in a racist light.

[Name removed]

69. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

70. Deleted message

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[Kathy in Cambridge]

72. Florida is such a bastion of tolerance and Democratic values

how dare we argue with Cheviot! I mean, Florida is the bastion of education, tolerance, and civility. Us brutes in the Northeast should be thankful to breath the rarefied air of Florida in our retirement. :eyes:

BTW, in February we go to Mexico or the Caribbean. I'd rather give my tourist dollars to other countries than the banana republic called Florida.

[Cheviot]

75. You can always tell when you unveil the truth

I exposed the rudeness of these self-important northeasterners with some very pointed examples and they've allowed their true, bigoted self-importance to shine through. Imagine. A black hispanic girl who knows something about other regions of the country as well as sports and who dares not to accept the guff these people are so used to doling out. Doesn't much match up to your stereotypes, does it?

[Meowser]

77. Pardon me, ma'am, but didn't you start this brouhaha?

Sounds to me that you have quite the chip on your shoulder. I am new to DU, too, and many of the folks you insulted are good people. I have been lurking and reading their threads for months, and you come in and start playing the race card. I have not seen any evidence thus far that these folks are racist. As a Latina with a mix of African and Native American blood on my mom's side, you are out of line. Please refrain from inflammatory accusations.

[StopTheMorans]

78. welcome to DU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and remember, it's never too early to call out haters:)

[Meowser]

83. Thanks!

Unfortunately, she was pretty obvious!

:hi:

[Beetwasher]

85. Speaking of Racism

"I think if you look at the video clips of these riots, you would probably conclude that those people are not the hard-working salt-of-the earth baseball fans I was referring to."

That was posted by the same poster who claims they are a black-cuban in Miami. Now what do you think the poster meant by "those people are not the hard-working salt-of-the earth baseball fans I was referring to"? Why would we conclude that? If that's not a veiled racist statement I don't know what is.

Oh, and welcome to DU!

[Kathy in Cambridge]

87. Beetwasher, Thank You

the lack of consistency in her posts belies her true intent. She came here to cause trouble. Thankfully, we could smell a disruptor right off the bat. On the one hand she's saying that she's Cuban-African and playing the race card, on the other hand, she is making veiled racist statements. Seems that she could not keep up her ruse.

[Beetwasher]

88. Like shooting fish in a barrel!

;-) I love busting moronic liars, it's fun sport!

[greatauntoftriplets]

89. I think I recognize her.

[Cheviot]

90. Goodness, did I mention anything about the race of those rioters?

Nope. You inferred it on your own. This is the second time in a row you got caught. Doesn't take long to smoke the hypocritical racists out, does it?

[Name removed]

96. Deleted message

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[Meowser]

105. I follow the baseball threads

Unless you didn't notice my avatar.

My father played minor league baseball. We kids grew up as avid baseball fans. The Giants are my team.

I don't know why you feel the need to personally attack me. I think it's very sad.

[Old and In the Way]

82. You've exposed youself-

and it's not a pretty sight.......

[Old and In the Way]

80. Are you one of the 16,000 Marlin fans who made it to their

games? Bummer that Chicago didn't win it, baseball deserves to have real fans rewarded.

Regardless on who wins the ACLS, we will have more fans at the Marlin's home games than you'll have.....

[FlaGranny]

115. Oh dear, NO.

You are for the Marlins? Don't embarrass me by being obnoxious, please?

[Red_Storm]

37. Polite, Well Behaved , Midwest Fans.................

like the ones in Detroit and Chicago...who started riots and caused havoc on the streets when their basketball teams won NBA championships......

[Cheviot]

38. Did I mention Detroit or Chicago?

No. Besides, the people who perpetrated riots in those cities were likely not even fans, just hoodlums who took the opportunity to commit mayhem. I think if you look at the video clips of these riots, you would probably conclude that those people are not the hard-working salt-of-the earth baseball fans I was referring to.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

42. Have you even BEEN to Fenway or Yankee Stadium?

Have you ever been to the Northeast, for that matter...I go to ballparks all over the country, and often I see many Red Sox and Yankee fans at the games if their team is playing out of town. This is especially true for Red Sox fans-when they play the A's or Tampa Bay, the crowd is crowded with Sox fans.

Also, I have seasons tix to the Sox, and go to many home games. The crowd is by and large well-behaved. The same is true of the dozens of Yankee Stadium games I've been at. Sure, there are incidents once in a while. But it's the same all over.

So, since you've never been to NY or Boston, please don't condemn a whole region of fans based on pure conjecture.

BTW Welcome to DU-I hope you don't continue with this tone, or you'll be making a lot of enemies.

[StopTheMorans]

43. don't worry about Cheviot

he/she is one of those people who will also say "I hate everyone on the East and West Coasts because they don't think anything important happens in between them". Do I sense a little COAST ENVY Cheviot;)

on edit: fixed tense.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

47. I enjoy that the Northeast is a target of envy

by people who have NO CLUE how lucky we are to live in such a diverse, cultural, and beautiful region.

Their loss...

[Cheviot]

59. I know what you mean.

People can't wait to flock to Newark in February.

[Name removed]

67. Deleted message

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[Cheviot]

76. I am laughing SO hard now

"My guess is no. Perhaps you really aren't interested in culture, the arts, fine dining, beautiful architecture, stunning beaches, variety of thought and cultures."

Congrats. You have described Miami to a tee. And I am laughing so hard I am about to pee my pants over your bragging about the 'stunning beaches" of the northeast. Honey, we get MILLIONS of people coming to my state for its beaches. I can see it now. People flooding to sunbathe at Boston Harbor in December. LOLOLOLOLOLOL.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

79. Miami is a fun city

I never said it wasn't. But you have attacked a whole region as foul-mouthed morons. Since you have never met me or my fellow DUers Northeastern DUers before, how can you possibly make such sweeping judgements? We're all liberals-and I think we should reserve our anger for the neo-cons and BushCo.

Massachusetts-my state-consistently scores the best on literacy, infant mortality, access to healthcare, and quality of life, along with the other New England states. The caveat is the cost of living is exorbitant. Florida ranks among the highest in violent crime, infant mortality and illiteracy.

Here's a study of the most livable states. Enjoy!

http://www.morganquitno.com/sr03mlrnk.htm

[Meowser]

86. I lived in Florida for middle school/high school

Couldn't wait to leave! Lived in NYC, DC and ended up in CA.

I've been to Florida on business and am always happy when I get back to San Francisco!

[Name removed]

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[Meowser]

106. Paranoia

As I said previously, I don't know why you embarass yourself with personal attacks. I guess that's why we have the ignore and alert buttons.

[greatauntoftriplets]

92. Ever read a novel called Florida Roadkill by Tim Dorsey???

A Tampa-based guy who paints a real pretty picture of Florida. Similar to a Miami newscast, murder, mayhem and drugs.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

117. Beaches...guess you've never been to Cape Cod

Florida has beautiful beaches...but they don't have 17th-century fishing villages attached to them.

[greatauntoftriplets]

118. Ever been to Cape Cod in the summer???

Miami in July is a hot, humid buggy steambath. I have been in Miami in July.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

57. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

58. Deleted message

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[Cheviot]

54. Yep. I've been to both places

I never heard the word 'fuck' used in such a high percentage of sentences, even in everyday unemotional conversation...right in front of their own kids. These people reek of class.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

65. Deleted message

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[DS1]

71. ok, what's a good replacement for fuck? Puta?

:shrug:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

73. Minchia!

Mr. RR uses that regularly during the playoffs. I guess it's a bad Italian word, because he can't say it in front of his mother.

[SiobhanClancy]

45. I think I see what you're doing...

You are trying to be a UNITER rather than a DIVIDER,just like *. You are trying to unite Red Sox fans and Yankee fans in defense of the northeast(the best region in the country,btw). That's really very sweet of you..thanks!:)

[HuckleB]

48. I like the northeast.

But the northwest is IT, hands down.

:)

[SiobhanClancy]

51. I love the Northwest,too

it's absolutely beautiful:) But I have to stand up for my home.

[HuckleB]

50. Anyway...

what did the fans in Fenway have to do with the game three shenanigans? And isn't "salt of the earth" some sort of Bushian propaganda phrase, and thus, now meaningless?

Dude, just chill. It's a ballgame. Folks are having fun. That's what they're supposed to be doing. Why can't you do the same?

[Cheviot]

64. Sorry, ace

These people are the ones attaching so much importance to a silly ballgame, calling it 'the most important in 100 years'.

As for your salt of the earth thing, I resent your implication that Bush and the GOP have that market cornered. They don't.

As for fun, I'm having a great time. Other people are the ones getting their drawers in a knot though.

[StopTheMorans]

66. Schizophrenic much?

"As for fun, I'm having a great time. Other people are the ones getting their drawers in a knot though" yeaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh right buddy:)

[Old and In the Way]

84. The ultimate slam.

From my perspective, if the Sox beat the Yanks, The WS will be anti-climatic....

[Cheviot]

91. You are correct

Should the Sox pull the upset today, the Marlins will know then and there they have the series won.

[SiobhanClancy]

94. ROFL....

Hopefully,the Marlins won't share your overconfidence(to put it mildly). Should the Sox make it to the WS,they will be very hard to beat...as will the Marlins. Any team that's good enough to get there is good enough to win.

[Name removed]

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[Shakespeare]

124. Here's what you don't get, Cheviot

Your dislike of the northeast and of those two teams is evident, and something to which you're certainly entitled.

However, that dislike doesn't--and can't--invalidate the fact that this is indeed a storied rivalry, and tonight's game is a huge game. The fact that you feel the need to smear those who live in that area is sad indeed.

Yes, the Sox/Yankees is an incredible, intense, historic rivalry. And there are others like it, and showdown games between those rivals would be just as big as tonight's game. I'll even give you a few what-ifs.

If the Texas Longhorns and the Texas Aggies were battling for the conference championship with one of them in the running for the national title, that would be a huge, historic, game, even if you hate Texas and hate both of those teams.

If the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins were in a playoff battle for the NFC title, that would be a huge, historic game, even if you hate both of those teams.

Even going to individual athletes, you see those types of rivalries, and love the players or hate them, that doesn't invalidate their historic significance. Borg/McEnroe, anyone?

So, Cheviot, I am sorry that you cannot look past your own sad bit of hate for this area and see an amazing part of the country with their loyal, diehard fans, who are just enjoying the hell out of this series, as are so many people in other parts of the country with no previous vested interest in either team. You can make all the jokes you want about Newark in February, but there's also DC in March, with cherry blossoms filling the mall with their pale pink froth...an early summer day on Cape Code that is as lonely and beautiful as anything the imagination can conjure....Vermont maples ablaze in early October...a late night at the top of the Empire State Building, looking down on the incredible signature of progress and invention filling that impossibly small island....and yes, any of those great cities cloaked in snow is something so pretty it'll take your breath away (especially in DC). I've even been to Miami, and found it quite lovely. I've been fortunate enough to witness all of those things, and better than that--I've been fortunate enough to get to know the citizens of each of those areas, and appreciate the variety they bring to our country. I love the rough-talking Bronx baseball fan every bit as much as I love the Texas farmer with his slow, dry drawl. Don't focus so much on the negative about people--you miss so much when you do.

Since you've made an issue of geography and ethnicity, I'll give you mine. I'm white, southern, and female, and I live on the west coast after stints in Texas, Florida, DC, and many other places. I have no idea what that qualifies me to say--or disqualifies me to say--in your eyes. Two of my favorite teams are hated by a lot of other sports fans, one for its chronic tendency to lose, the other for its tendency to beat the living daylights out of its opponents. You can't win--somebody's always going to hate your team. But, again, that hatred doesn't diminish the power and the history of the rivalry. And your contempt for the Yankees/Sox rivalry certainly doesn't diminish the importance or the fun of the game so many of us (even fans of other teams) are looking forward to tonight.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

126. It's not her contempt for the Yankees/Red Sox Rivalry

it's her blind hatred for a whole region that has colored an otherwise fun baseball discussion. Once again, Shakespeare, you express yourself eloquently.

It has gotten ugly here a few times on DU lately between Red Sox and Yankee fans, but nothing reaches both fandoms like painting a whole area with a broad brush.

I'm thinking because she hasn't responded in a while that perhaps she is rethinking her approach and is a little ashamed of her behavior. One can only hope...

[WilliamPitt]

132. She hasn't responded in a while because

Oh the humanity.

Jack my thread, will you? :)

[Kathy in Cambridge]

133. You know I'm a THREADJACKAH -I give Catwoman a run for her $$

;-)

I just had to expose our Cheviot for the DISRUPTAH she was-imagine infiltrating a baseball thread and deflect attention away from the Sox/Yankee rivalry! The NERVE!

[StopTheMorans]

134. oh the humanity:)

gotta love that tombstone, that was one of the most obvious disruptors I've ever seen. Thanks for starting the thread Will:)

[theemu]

23. Ouch

Y0U g0t 0\/\/N3D by P!tt, d00d!!!!1!!111one

[Drifter]

16. Blah Blah Blah ...

and the curse will continue. Media hype has set up the biggest dissapointments in MLB history (until it happens again). The Cubs are gone, and the Sox will follow.

Too much hype about the cursed series, It would be most satisfying to see neither team even make it to the game (with Game 7 losses).

I will gladly pick the Yankees to lose to ... uh .. who was that other team ? aaah, who cares.

Cheers
Drifter

[StopTheMorans]

34. again, Drifter, you are the king of Sour Grapes

Where are the A's now? Where are the whiniest bunch of losers and their whiny GM right now?

[DarkPhenyx]

18. Had the Cubs pulled it out maybe it would be.

As it is the whole thing is going to be just another grand waste of money and energy no matter who wins it. The potential for a Cobs/Sox World Series was the only thing that made any of this worth paying attention to.

[VelmaD]

21. The whole potential Cubs/Sox Series...

had a whole lot of people watching for the same reason they watch NASCAR - they wanted to see the car wreck. :-)

I too was rooting for a Cubs/Sox Series, but on the bright side at least we've managed to stave off Armageddon for another year. Just not sure the planet could have survived the Cubs and Red Sox playing each other in the Series.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

40. LOL! CAR WRECK IS RIGHT!

Too bad. It really would have been a great thing for a lot of people everywhere.

[Lexingtonian]

19. Well, I dunno....

We've already gotten a surprising lot out of the Sox this year- it's under a year since the root of the problem, the Yawkeys, got fixed and their tendency to get crotchety men way past their prime into the organization ended. That was the real reason at bottom that they fell short every year- old men wearing out and fighting with each other every August and September. They weren't going to have enough pitching this year and got a lot more hitting out of the team than anyone thought at the beginning of the season. So, if it ends tonight, it promises a better next year without a doubt. Theo Epstein deserves Manager Of The Year one way or another, and Grady Little is in the top five coaches.

That being said, most Game 7s aren't all the drama and excellent play that everyone hopes. (The best I recall was Krupp's goal winning it for the Avalanche in '96 or '97 in triple OT.) Hopefully this one will be memorable. But this series is nonetheless probably going to be remembered more for the Game 3 brawl than the quality of play. I do hope the Sox show up with Pedro in 94 mph fastball health and the lineup sharp enough to put Clemens's fastballs into the bullpen a couple of times.

[underpants]

22. I hope no one does any stupid pre-bragging here

The last two games we have seen lots of bragging about who is going to win the next game and whoever did the most bragging ended up LOSING.

On Tuesday all the Red Sox fans were SURE that their team was going to win.

Yesterday it was the Yankee fans.

Where did you people grow up?

[WilliamPitt]

25. "Where did you people grow up?"

Um...New York and Boston. :)

[Red_Storm]

26. i'm gonna be a nervous wreck ALL DAY .........

why do I have to love baseball so much....FUCK !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kathy in Cambridge]

39. I couldn't sleep last night

nerves, too. I wish I weren't such a huge baseball fan too!

[Braden]

41. I had to have a couple of pints of ale last night

I never drink during the week but I knew I wouldnt get to sleep without some sedation last night.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

44. I drank on Tuesday

two nights in a row and I would have been useless for days.

Tonight I may have to stir up a batch o' tinis.

[Braden]

46. sounds good. I forgot what day of the week it was anyway.

I think more Long Trail Ale will get me through.

The sox started hitting while I was standing up, so being a nutcase I stood from the 3rd inning on. I almost wore a hole in the floor.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

49. Too funny! You didn't want to jinx them!

Mr. RR is superstitous like that too. He said that the Sports Illustrated covers were the JINX-obviously, it was for the Cubs!

[donotpassgo]

81. I couldn't sleep either

I got to work an Hour early, so I could take a 30 minute lunch so I could leave at 4 to get home in time for the game....

[underpants]

28. That explains it

I wasn't sure how to end that post so I went with that.

I have jinxed myself and my teams so many times I am a little gun shy of bragging. Don't you know that what you and I do affects what happens on the field?

Yesterday on my way home from work the Sox were in the middle of their 4 run 3rd (I think it was) I actually sat in my car in front of my apartment listening on the radio until the Sox at bat was over. I found that me not watching seemed to help so I emptied the litter box and did laundry at the laundramat down at the corner. Years of watching UVa football and especially basketball and watching Braves baseball has fried my nerves and created several maddening habits while watching games. Not that I'm psycho but it gets me through.

[Walt Starr]

27. I hate to admit it Will, but I'm rooting for the Yankees

I want to see the Marlins trounced but good.

[HuckleB]

29. Nah, that was last night.

If the Marlins win the WS -- a very likely outcome -- no one outside of the northeast will remember much about the ALCS, outside of the game three brouha, if that.

Go Sox, anyway. Maybe, just maybe, they can get the monkey off their backs. Besides, I think the Cubs need to see it done to believe that it really can happen.

[Beetwasher]

33. I Am SOOOO Psyched For This Game!!

What a friggin' series! Holy cow!! Win or lose, it's been some of the best ball I've ever seen!

[underpants]

36. The funny thing is this isn't '"for the championship"

As you know quite often one series (or conference title) is seen as the championship, the other league or conference simply isn't up to beating either one of the teams. From what I have seen the last couple of weeks I think the Marlins ARE the best team out there right now. The furry that the Yankees, Cubs,Red Sox,Giants, and Braves create has let the Marlins sort of slide through with little attention paid to them. Being such a low payroll team in many people's minds makes them outgunned but just like last year with the Angels this is a team that is coming together at just the right time. IMHO.

[Red_Storm]

52. It's not for a Championship but .................

1. it's Yankees - Red Sox
2. it's Yankees - Red Sox ALCS
3. it's Yankees - Red Sox ALCS Game 7


needless to say, Yankees and Red Sox fans understand ........

[underpants]

53. Oh I understand fully

I'm a nervous wreck and all wound up too. See my "that explains it" post above.

[Corgigal]

60. If my team doesn't win

then my baseball season is over. No Jeter for months....alas.

[pmbryant]

61. This isn't even the World Series!

Biggest game in 100 years?!

That doesn't make any sense.

:crazy:

--Peter

[returnable]

74. Considering the Marlins are the NL representative this year...

...this Yanks-Sox Game 7 is bigger than the World Series :)

Seriously, I bet it draws bigger ratings than any Series game this year.

[Red_Storm]

95. So.......Ummmm......

How about Game 7 tonight....anyone looking forward to it ....

[ArkDem]

97. The Bobby Thompson home run in the NL playoff in 1951

is an example of a playoff game being bigger than the World Series and the game 7 today may be in somewhat the same catagory but I don't think it is the biggest game in 100 years unless you are a long suffering Sox fan, i guess.

[ArkDem]

93. To the Yankees and most of the country

it's just another ALCS. I don't think the Red Sox have anywhere near the kind of national following the Yankees, Braves and Cubs have. Not even close.

I just wish my Pirates could contend again. It's almost like rooting for an AAA club.

[SiobhanClancy]

99. You'd be surprised

I've seen the Sox play all over the country and there is always good fan representation for them. I even went to an exhibition game a few years ago right before the start of the season at BOB(Phoenix)and the place was full of Sox fans. IMHO,national support for the Braves may be wide but is shallow,compared to that for the Red Sox. Again,this is just what my own observations have led me to believe.:)

[Kathy in Cambridge]

100. Beg to differ

I've been to Red Sox games all over the country, and fans show up in droves. To the point where in Tampa, there are more vocal Sox fans than the home team's followers.

[SonofMass]

102. You see what you want to see.

.

[WilliamPitt]

123. I've seen it too

All over the place. Sox fans are everywhere.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

130. I was at Network Associates Colisseum in Aug. 2001

Our whole section was wearing Red Sox caps. It was uncanny. The A's fans weren't too happy about it!

[Red_Storm]

108. Anyone that says.............

it's just another ALCS for the Yankees:

1. Is not a Yankees fan
2. Has little understanding of Yankees-Red Sox history


Not trying to insult anyone.....just making a point........

[JackDragna]

98. Sorry, but this is overblown hyperbole

This isn't the biggest game in 100 years. It probably isn't even the biggest game this year, considering the Cubs-Marlins game seven. The Boston Red Sox have been to the World Series since the inception of flight, the building of the pyramids, the Hundred Years War..none of the Chicago teams have. The rest of the baseball fans in America enjoy the Boston-New York rivalry, but you folk overblow its importance to the extreme.

[Seneca]

110. I love your exaggerations

But the Cubs made it during the Atomic Age - barely, lol, in October 1945, and the White Sox in 1959. Both lost, of course.

Otherwise, I agree about the overblown importance of it.

It does have the potential of a great game, but after suffering through the highs and lows of the NLCS (which was a far better series), I can sit it out. :-)

That being said, I hope Boston wins. The Yankees are every thing that is wrong about, well, everything. :evilgrin:

[JackDragna]

112. Boston's not much better, unfortunately.

They're trying to win doing the exact same thing the Yankees do. I wish I could think of Boston as "the little guy", but when you put out huge amounts of cash to get the best pitcher, the best hitter and several talented free agents, I'm not going to believe your team is so downtrodden. :P

[Faygo Kid]

104. ABSURD!

Not even a World Series game. One hundred years is a long time, folks, and there was a time when the game was played by players not on steroids or human growth hormones. This column cheapens what was once a great game. Looking forward to it, but talk about overblown - this is truly ridiculous. (Long suffering Tigers fan here).

[JackDragna]

107. Even more than that..

The Red Sox fans want to paint themselves as the long-suffering Davids finally putting the slingstone to baseball's Goliath. That's why this game is made to seem so important. Actually, both teams are wealthy, but the Yankees just have more cash to burn. The Red Sox are trying to get into the World Series doing the exact same things the Yankees do: buying up high-priced free agents. That's why I'm not exactly blown away with the importance of this game. Whoever wins will simply be another example of the "you must be this high to get on this ride" environment in baseball.

[Red_Storm]

109. Long Suffering Tigers fan............

Were you not around in 1984 ?

[Faygo Kid]

111. Hell, I was a senior in '68

In high school, one of the greatest World Series of all time. What, worst record in the major leagues since 1990 isn't long suffering enough? 1984 was a long time ago (not as long as some others). Sorry about the Cubs. We beat them in 1945; they beat us in 1908. The Red Sox? They have had their chances in the Series. Hope they get there this year. By the way, try being a Lions fan, too - now THERE is some suffering.

[Red_Storm]

114. Well............

I meant in comparison to Red Sox and Cubs fans, Tiger fans fall a little behind, that's all ..........

[Faygo Kid]

116. And you are right

Didn't mean to come off as a curmudgeon, even though I am working toward that goal, every day as I get older. Rooted for both the Cubs and Red Sox; bad feeling about tonight. Damn Yankees! (Spoken like a true Tigers fan - can still give you the lineup and stats for the 1961 team, and I was only 9 turning 10).

[Red_Storm]

120. What do you think the Tigers are going to do.....

Are they going to stick with the kids or are they going to try to make a some big moves in the off season ?

[dreissig]

125. Sox Go Quietly

Yanks will quickly score 2 runs, then scratch out a few more over the remaining innings. Sox will homer in the 4th or 5th, but won't be in contention. The Sox will realize early in the game that they're not going to win. Nomar will go 0-for-4. It won't be close.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

127. Don't count on it, pal

it will be close. Two of history's best pitchers in a do-or-die situation.

In case you didn't notice, Nomars bat woke up last night. So did David Ortiz's and Trot Nixon's.

"The Sox will realize early in the game that they're not going to win"

Spoken like a delusional Yankee fan, when the Sox have had a ton of come-back-from-behind wins, including three in a row in the ALDS. No baseball professional would EVER give up early in the game, and certainly not the hard-hitting Red Sox.

[StopTheMorans]

128. keep wishing buddy

and maybe reggie jackson will come out of the homefield bleachers and hit a home run for the yanks too? Hell, why don't you just dig up ol' George Herman Ruth while you're at it, maybe he'd make some good plays too :eyes:

[WilliamPitt]

131. Bookmarking this comment

[GumboYaYa]

129. Normally I can't stand AL baseball,

but this is a can't miss game.

Biggest game in 100 years is quite a claim and probably not true for fans of other teams who have had their own big games. Nevertheless, this is an historic baseball game on several levels.

Not being a fan of either team, but loving good pitching, I am most excited about the Pedro v. Clemens matchup. This is a pitchers dream matchup in a giant game. I really hope Pedro takes Clemens 1-0 with no more that three or four hits for both teams combined.