The Belicheck Republic

THE NATION REACTS
From Obey Pedro:
Boston needs to remove the Jimmy Fund sign from the Green Monster and paint "2004 World Champions" across it in the largest font possible with all of the players on the 40-man roster listed below it.

I never believed in curses and neither did most of you. But after witnessing the first championship in 86 years, it made me realize how wonderful the new Boston brass is compared to the Yawkeys. So let's rename Yawkey Way to LuWernry Way.

The folks at Boston Dirt Dogs came up with this drawing:


Bambino's Curse said this:
Tie up your steed Galahad, the Grail Cup is in hand!…
I wonder if he'll change the name of his blog.

El Guapo's Ghost had this to say:
As I said this morning at the St. Louis airport to the Boston Red Sox Organization, "I just want to say thank you."

The Joy of Sox thanked each of the Red Sox players from Terry Adams to Kevin Youkilis. He then thanked the coaches and executives. His initial reaction to the Game 4 win was:
At 11:40 pm, the Boston Red Sox were crowned Champions of Baseball for the first time since 1918. ... I just cna;lksafj'vkv'ain lkaevn'f ndbal;KSwr[gioWN

Sox Therapy posted an MP3 of "Hallelujah"

This was said at The House that Dewey Built:
But what I am so happy about, as a Boston guy that went to college in Philadelphia with a bunch of New Yorkers, is that I can stick my chest out now. If you ask me whom I root for and I tell you the Boston Red Sox, you will no longer chuckle or make a wise-ass remark.

Don’t pity me. I’m a Boston Red Sox fan.

Misery Loves Company suggested a new name for their blog:
We're Gonna Need a New Title for This Blog - I'm Thinking 'Ecstacy Loves Everyone'

Yanks fan vs. Sox fan has a very nice piece about the lifelong commitment of being a Sox fan.

Here are some pictures of celebrations I got from Yahoo.com:

Mitt Romney removes a sign from Storrow Drive


Welcoming the conquering heroes


Pedro greets the fans


Sox fans in St. Louis


Outside Fenway



UMass-Amherst


UConn


A bar in Amherst, MA


A bar in Boston


Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Parade on Saturday at 10 beginning in The Fens or even further from downtown and ending in City Hall Plaza

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.

HAPPY PEDROMAS!
33 years ago today in Manoguayabo in the Dominican Republic, Pedro Jaime Martinez was born. Tomorrow is the biggest game of his life.

GAME TWO

After three of the four "Teammates" threw out the firist pitch. Game 2 began. Curt Schilling took the mound for the first time since his epic Game 6 performance in the ALCS.

Renteria started the game with a groundout. Larry Walker, who was one of the few Cardinals to hit the ball well in Game 1, flew out. Pujols, who had been helt hitless the night before, doubled deep to center. Rolen then hit a hard shot right at Mueller who caught it to end the inning.

Damon and Cabrera each grounded out. Ramirez was down in the count 0-2 but worked a walk. Ortiz also had 2 strikes but Morris, who was on short rest, walked him as well. The unofficial Captain Jason Varitek then crushed a triple to deep center. 2-0 Boston.

Millar walked and Nixon grounded out to end the inning.

Bill Mueller had an interesting night at third base. He had an error on a foul pop that was not caught when he and Varitek collided. Schilling induced the batter, Edmonds, to ground out. Sanders walked and Womack singled. Matheny then hit a hard line drive to Mueller who was able to tag out Sanders who was running on the play.

Mueller led off the 2nd with a single but Bellhorn grounded into a double play. Damon then struck out.

Schilling retired the side in the 3rd as did Morris. Pujols doubled to lead off the 4th and advanced to third on a Scott Rolen flyout. Schilling struck out Edmonds. Bill Mueller then bobbled a ball which allowed Sanders to reach and Pujols to score. 2-1 Boston.


Womack ended the inning with a groundout.

The Red Sox responded in the 4th. After Tek grounded out, Millar was hit by a pitch. Nixon struck out and Mueller hit a double. With two runners in scoring position, Bellhorn hit another extra base hit, this one a double to center. 4-1 Boston.

Damon ended the inning with a groundout.

The Cardinals went 1-2-3 in the 5th. The Red Sox threatened in the 5th but did not score. They did get Morris out of the game though. In the 6th Walker struck out. Pujols flew out. Schilling pitched around two errors in a row and induced Sanders to ground out.

The struggling Nixon led off the 6th with a basehit. Mueller flew out and Bellhorn popped out. Damon hit a single to left. Cabrera hit a shot off the wall in left scoring Nixon and Damon. 6-2 Boston.

King came in to face Ortiz and struck him out.

Embree came in to the game in the 7th. Reese replaced Bellhorn at 2nd. I think Reese came in somewhat early as Bellhorn was only 5 batters from hitting next. It would have been nice to give Mark another at-bat considering how well he is hitting. Embree impressively struck out the side.

For some reason LaRusa put Marquis into the game even though he is scheduled to start on Wednesday. He threw 25 pitches. Varitek flew out and Millar walked. Mienktkiewicz pinch ran for Millar. Nixon flew out and Mueller walked. Pokey popped out to end the inning and the scoring threat. Who knows what Bellhorn would have done.

The sounds of "Black Betty" signaled Mike Timlin's entrance to the game. Renteria walked and advanced to 2nd on Walker's groundout. Pujols singled and Renteria advanced to third. Rolen hit a fly ball to center that scored Renteria. 6-2 Boston. "Mother" by Danzig signaled that Foulke was coming in and that the game was over. Edmonds struck out to end the inning.

The Sox went down in order in the 8th as did the Cardinals in the 9th. 6-2 Boston. Final.

The Red Sox are up 2-0 in the World Series. They were up 2-0 in the 86 Series which they lost. But they were also up 2-0 in the 1916 Series and won that one. 77% of teams that go up 2-0 win the World Series. It will be interesting to see how the Red Sox play with NL rules in St. Louis. I think some consideration should be given to playing Millar in right as Nixon is not hitting all that well. Francona also needs to be willing to use Mirabelli as a pinch hitter. It isn't over yet though. We still need to play .400 ball and against a St. Louis team at Busch Stadium and their backs against the wall, that won't be easy.

Martinez vs. Suppan in a pitching mismatch on Tuesday. Remember though, it is cold and Suppan has been the Cards best pitcher this postseason.

WHOSE YOUR BRADY?

21! BLACK JACK! Brady was 20/29 with 230 yards, a TD, and 0 INT. Vinaterri kicked a pair of field goals and an extra point. Pennington had a short TD run. Patten caught Brady's TD pass after a Jets roughing the passer penalty gave the Pats an automatic 1st and goal with mere seconds left in the 1st half. The TD would be the last scoring of the game as the defenses battled in the 2nd half. They key to winning this game was the running of Corey Dillon. He ran for 115 yards and was the first man to get 100+ off the Jets defense. He got 1st downs and kept the clock running which kept the Jets, who do not have quick strike capability, from scoring in the 2nd half.

I gotta give the Man of the Game to my man Brady. He had a really nice drive to end the 1st half. Without Brown, Branch, and Sam, he found Givens 5 times for 107 yards, backup RB Faulk an impressive 6 times for 44 yards, Patten thrice for 33 yards, Graham twice for 21 yards, Johnson twice for 18 yards, and Klecko twice for 7 yards.

ARSENAL STREAK COMES TO AN END

A 2-0 loss to Manchester United ended Arsenal's historic 49 game unbeaten streak in the English League. They host Manchester City on Wednesday night also in Manchester in a Carling Cup match which means nothing.

IN DEPTH GAME 1 SUMMARY
These two teams have much less connections as the Sox and Yanks did but I have a feeling the storyline of this series will be just as interesting as the last one. After the player introductions and Steven Tyler's rendition of the national anthem, Tim Wakefield took the mound for the first time in the World Series. His first inning was marred only by a Larry Walker double that came after a borderline 2-2 call that should have retired the Canadian right fielder.

Woody Williams took the mound against Johnny Damon, a goat through Games 1-6 of the LCS and then a hero in Game 7. He took a pitch the oppositte way and led off the game with a double after 10 pitches. After failing with two bunt attempts, Orlando Cabrera was hit by a pitch on his upper arm. He was just able to bring his shoulder up to prevent the ball from striking his face. Manny hit a fly ball deep to right field but Walker ranged over and made a basket catch on the run. Damon tagged up and went to third. As Ortiz batted, the croud chanted "Who's Your Papi?" The chant must have made New Yorkers feel even worse about their team's massive choke. On a 1-0 pitch in his first World Series at-bat, Ortiz crushed a ball to right field and hooked it around Peskey's Pole.


It was Johny Peskey who was the goat in the 1946 WS against St. Louis. His pole would come into play later in the game. 3-0 Boston. Millar followed with a double off the top of the monster. Nixon crushed a ball deep to right but he hit it to the deep part of the field. Walker caught it and Millar advanced. Bill Mueller, from St. Louis, scorched a ball down the left field line singling in millar. 4-0 Boston. Mirabelli ended the inning with a stirkeout.

Jim Edmonds began the 2nd with a bunt single after the Red Sox shifted Mueller over near short. It was a classic Cardinal/Larusa/NL move. Ironically, it was the Cardinals that conceived of dramatically shifting infielders in an effort to keep pull hitter Ted Williams from hitting. It worked. In the 46 Series Ted batted .200 and didn't get an extra basehit. A passed ball nearly allowed Edmonds to advance but Mirabelli, Wake's personal catcher, was able to pounce on the ball and threw a bullett to second to keep Edmonds at 1st. Reggie Sanders, the DH, walked. Womack squared to bunt on the first pitch, then again, then again, then finally got it down. Mueller bare handed the perfectly placed bunt and threw Womack out. The runners advanced. Matheny lifted the ball into center and Damon caught it. Edmonds scored. It was an NL inning if there ever was one. 4-1 Boston. Wakefield got Taguchi to strike out to end the inning.

Bellhorn led off the 2nd with a single to left. Damon lined out hard to short. Cabrera drove one to deep left but it was caught. Ramirez then pulled a single to left. Ortiz walked on 4 pitches to load the bases for Millar. Kevin had an opportunity to blow the game wide open grounded out to Rolen. It was still 4-1.

In the third Wakefield got Renteria to ground out before giving up a homer to Walker. 4-2 Boston. The shot was wrapped around the pole, not as deep as Ortiz's but a homer nonetheless.

Wake then hit Pujols with a pitch on a 3-2 count. Wake then got Rolen to ground into an inning ending double play.

Trot Nixon grounded out to begin the bottom of the 3rd. Mueller walked and advanced to third on a Mirabelli wall-ball single to left that was feet away from a homerun. Mark hit a ball up the first base line that might have been called fair but it was foul. He wound up walking to load the bases for Damon. Johnny pulled a basehit into right field knocking in Mueller. 5-2 Boston. The slow Doug Mirabelli had to hold up. Williams was pulled and Danny Haren came in. Cabrera pulled the first pitch he saw into left advancing each runner one base. 6-2 Sox. The bases were still loaded for Manny Ramirez with 1 out and a PCL pitcher on the mound. Manny hit a fielder's choice that knocked in a run. 7-2 Sox Ortiz was once again walked on 4 pitches. Millar once again had the bases loaded with 2 outs. Once again, he pulled a groundball and hit it right at an infielder, this time it was Renteria at short and this time Millar broke his bat.

The Sox had a 5 run advantage and had gotten Williams out of the game. All Wakefield had to do was throw strikes, get outs, and prevent a big inning. He was not able to do this. Here are what Wake's pitches looked like against the first three men he faced in the 4th:
1. Ball
2. Strike
3. Ball
4. Ball
5. Ball
6. Ball
7. Ball
8. Ball
9. Ball
10. Ball
11. Ball
12. Ball
13. Strike
14. Ball
Edmonds walked, Sanders walked, Womack walked. The Red Sox got Arroyo up in the bullpen. Suddenly the game had the potential to be close once again. Matheny hit a fly ball to right, Nixon caught it and threw in as Edmonds tagged up. The throw was cut off by Millar as Sanders tried taking third. A good throw would have retired Sanders at third. Millar, however, threw the ball away. Not only was Sanders safe, he scored as the ball found its way into an elated Cardinals dugout. 7-4 Boston. Taguchi then hit a ground ball up the first base line. Mueller fielded it on a hop. He could have thrown home but Womack was running very much in fair territory. Bill's only play was to first as Womack scored. 7-5 Boston. Wake then walked Renteria and was yanked by Francona. Arroyo gave up a hit to Walker but retired Pujols to end the inning. The game was now a battle between bullpens and two high powered offenses.

The Sox squandered back-to-back walks in the 4th. The Cards went down in order in the 5th. Manny singled in the bottom of the inning but was stranded. Womack led off the 6th with a deep fly ball that nearly got by Trot Nixon. Matheny then struck out. Arroyo was cruising until the fearsome So Taguchi came to the plate. So hit a ball that wasn't so well hit but it was so well placed that it was an infield single. Furthermore, Arroyo was so stupid to try to get So out and his throw was so offline it went into the dugout. Also, Millar did not make any major effort to come off the bag to stop the ball from going into the dugout.

Renteria knocked in Taguchi with a double in the gap in left. 7-6 Boston. Larry Walker hit a ball up the first base line and past the futile dive of Kevin Millar. The ball just got by his glove. 7-7 tie. The Cardinals continued to score most of their runs with 2 outs. Pujols once again came up in an important spot and once again he failed, striking out to end the inning.

The only notable thing in the bottom of the 6th inning was a managerial move. Varitek pinch hit for Mirabelli with no-one on and 2 outs. The move did not make too much sense, if you ask me. In that particular hitting situation, Mirabelli is just as likely to score or get into scoring positionas Varitek is. Defensively, the difference is not that great. Why not keep Varitek's bat on the bench in case a situation arose later in the game in which a pinch hitter could be used, a double switch made, and a replacement at catcher completed. Tek struck out.

The playing of Black Betty when the commercial break ended signified that Mike Timlin had come into the game. Varitek would catch. Timlin easily retired the side. Kelly Clarkson, not the State Police guy, came out to sing God Bless America which meant I went outside for a much needed cigarette break.

Kiko Calero came into the game in the 7th. Bellhorn led off with a walk. Damon, in an obvious bunting situation, grounded out with a weak grounder that acocmplished the same thing as a sacrifice bunt as Bellhorn advanced into scoring position. Cabrera was walked. Manny stepped in with 2 on and 1 out. He hit a single into center. Edmonds threw to home but the throw was off lign. Ramirez had taken a wide turn at first and would have been caught in a run down had Calero or anyone else been covering first. From the replays, Ramirez seemed to not run at full speed until he hit 1st base. Had he been running hard all the way, he might have gotten to second. 8-7 Red Sox


LaRusa brought in lefty specialist Ray King to face Ortiz. David hit a hard shot off Womack's chest for an RBI infield single. 9-7 Red Sox. Womack had to leave the game and was replaced by Marlon Anderson.


With Nixon on deck, King stayed in to face Millar. Millar fouled out to the catcher. The way Nixon was swinging and the lefty on the mound made the decision easy for Francona to pinch hit for him. However, if Varitek were still on the bench, Francona could have pulled a double switch. Varitek would replace Nixon in the lineup at 5th and then catch. Kapler could come into play right field and bat in Mirabelli's 8th spot. Since Tek was already in the game, Francona had no choice but to pinch hit Kapler for Nixon. This move forced LaRusa to go to Eldred. Again, the switch-hitting Varitek could face either Eldred or King easier than Kapler facing a righty or Nixon facing a lefty. Gabe struck out.

Timlin remained in the 8th. Mike got Anderson to groundout. Matheney, who had 2 RBI, got a basehit, his first WS hit. Jason Marquis, a pitcher, came in to pinch run. Even though the game was at Fenway, it was a very NL type of game. Embree came in to releive Timlin. In about 15 seconds, three changes were made. Four if you count Mientkiewicz's entering into the game to play first. Cedeno blooped a single into right as Marquis stumbled on his way to second. Embree was pulled and Foulke came in to the sounds of Danzig's "Mother." Marquis' embarrassing stumble further strengthened my opinion that pitchers are pitchers and should not hit or run the bases. There are rules that make other positions in other sports special, why not in all of baseball?

Foulke gave up a basehit to Renteria and Marquis initially held up at 3rd. However, Manny fumbled with the ball which allowed Marquis to make a break for the plate. He scored just a fraction of a second ahead of Varitek controlling the ball. 9-8 Boston.


Larry Walker came up and hit a ball off the end of his bat that tailed away and had a danger of falling in. Ramirez went into a slide but his knee stuck in the grass.




Cedeno scored and there were runners on 2nd and 3rd. 9-9 tie. Pujols was intentionally walked to load the bases. Rolen popped out and Edmonds struck out on a borderline call. The Red Sox blew their 2nd lead of the game.

Mueller began the 8th with a groundout against Julian "Kevin Brown Wanna Be" Tavarez. Varitek reached on a Renteria error. In stepped Mark Bellhorn. Villian to those who love Pokey Reese's defense and speed, hero to those who like scoring runs. Bellhorn had hit a homer in each of his previous two games. The last one he hit struck the foul pole at Yankee Stadium. Bellhorn drove a ball deep to right but the ball was pushed very foul by the strong wind which was blowing left to right. Bellhorn took the 1-2 pitch and slammed it off Peskey's Pole. 11-9 Boston.







Damon popped out to short. Damon grounded out. We went to the 9th.

Foulke remained. Reese replaced Bellhorn at 2nd. Sanders struck out. Anderson, who replaced the injured Womack, doubled to left. The tying run was now at the plate. Yadier Molina popped out. Cedeno ended the game with a strikeout.



11-9 Boston. Final. Schilling vs. Morriss Sunday at 8.