Matt Red Sox Blog

2007 World Champions! October 29, 2007

It’s all over now.  Not without some adventure in the last 2 innings, but Papelbon did a wonderful job closing the door.  4-3 was the final.  Mike Lowell is the series MVP.

 Totally different feeling for this fan as it was 3 years ago.  Once we got by Cleveland I really had no doubt that it would happen.  There was no waiting for the shoe to drop.  3 years ago it was a euphoria that can never be repeated.  Now it’s winning a championship with a first class team that may yet win a few more.

A Few Innings Away October 29, 2007

Here we are in the 7th inning of game 4 with the Sox up 3-0.  We’ve got 9 outs to go before we celebrate another World Series win.  I know a lot can happen in 9 outs, but you really have the feeling that the Rockies are overmatched.

 So where have we been in the last month.  I’m not really good at this blogging thing otherwise I’d have a blow by blow report of how it all happened in 2007.  My entries look like the typical Red Sox fan before we won it all.  The expectation that we’d lose.  Something would always go wrong.  Something has changed since 2004.  Now our team wins those games that really count.  We swept the Angels with ease in the division series, then won a very exciting 7 game series with the Indians after being down 3 games to 1.

Now it’s the Rockies.  Game 1 was a laugher, 13-1.  Game 2 a close game 2-1 where our bullpen just overwhelmed them.  Game 3 we got a 6-0 lead only to have them come back to 6-5.  But some clutch hitting from the top of the lineup Ellsbury and Pedrioa gave us the winning margin 10-5. 

Game 4 looked like an easy win, but now it’s 3-1 and they’ve got a runner on.  Will it happen tonight?  Stay tuned.

AL East Champs! September 29, 2007

This was a night to remember.  For the last week, a spot in the playoffs has been clinched but there was no joy in Sox-ville.  We had to have that division title.  We had to finally beat out the Yankees after leading all year.  So tonight we beat the Twins on a great performance by Dice-K and some great hitting by Ortiz (the guy is in the ’67 Yaz zone). 

Then, with the magic number down to one we watch the Yankees take their 9-6 lead into the 9th inning against the hapless Orioles with Rivera.  Thousands of Fenway fans hang around to watch the Yankees hopefully lose on the Jumbo-tron at Fenway, while thousands more tune into Sox Extra Innings on NESN while checking out the Yankees game on MLB gameday.  The Orioles load the bases with 2 outs, and old friend/whiner Jay Payton drills a bases clearing triple to tie the game.  Old friend Chad Bradford wiggles out of a bases loaded jam in the 10th, and it’s perfectly set up for old friend Kevin Millar to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.  He strikes out, but Melvin Mora lays down a perfect bunt to push across the winning run.  It was a surreal scene at Fenway with the players running out on the field spraying champagne on the fans celebrating in the stands.

Another Excruciating Loss September 19, 2007

I, like most other Sox fans, take every loss hard.  Tough losses harder.  And games we should have won but lose in excruciating fashion – it’s the lowest point imaginable.  Tonight with a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th, Tito puts in Gagne.  Sort of a test, to see if he can handle 8th inning chores in a close game.  He gets the first two outs.  No problem.  Then walk, single, walk, and the mother of all chokes, he walks in the tying run.  Goes to 3-2 on the next batter, and in fear of walking in the go-ahead run, he gives up a shot to right field that just goes over JD Drew’s glove for a two-run hit.  4-2 Blue Jays.  Lugo hits a home run in the 9th just to tease us and it’s another loss.   

Two losses in 5 days where we blew 8th inning leads in excruciating fashion.  This team is going nowhere in the playoffs playing like this.

The lead is now down to 2 1/2, or will be as the Yankees are winning 12-0 tonight.  Everyone is calculating magic numbers with oh, the Yankees can’t win every game.  Against Baltimore, Toronto, and Tampa Bay the Yankees could easily run the table.  It really feels like ’78 – the first team ever to be in first place and be mathematically eliminated.  Ok, the injuries have made our lineup impotent lately, with Manny, Youk, and Crisp out tonight.  At least the wild card is still there, and maybe we get our act together before the playoffs.

Lead Is Dwindling September 18, 2007

Tonight we’re on our way to losing to the Blue Jays with a listless, forgetable game.  The famous Dustin McGowan – who is this guy?  Well the Sox could not do anything with him.  And just now, Frank Thomas has just put his 3rd big hurt on the the Sox.  3 homers, 5 RBI.  With the Yankees winning, the lead will be down to 3 1/2.  With the lead all year, now with 2 weeks left in the season we’re about to give up the division and limp into the playoffs as a wildcard. 

This is after losing 2 of 3 to the Evil Empire.  The Sox rolled, 10-1 on Saturday, but lost a heartbreaker on Sunday with Schilling going into the 8th inning with a 1-1 tie and giving up a 3 run dinger to Jeter.  Then with 2 out they bring it back to 4-3 against Rivera with Big Papi up and the bases loaded.  What happens?  Our usual hero this time pops it up.  The magic just isn’t there.

Evil Empire Strikes Again September 15, 2007

Well, it’s not over yet.  But tonight couldn’t be more depressing.  The Yankees have our number right now.  We had a 7-2 lead going into the 8th inning with Okajima and Papelbon available.  Suddenly, it’s 8-7 Yankees against our best relievers.  Can anyone stop these guys?  Right now we’re pinning our hopes on the bottom of the order to do something against Rivera. 

Sox do nothing against Rivera.  Now the lead is 4 1/2 with 14 games to play.  Ok we’ll probably make the playoffs.  We’ll even probably win the division after all this.  But we aren’t going anywhere in the playoffs playing like this.  With a 7-2 lead we just can’t let games get away like this.  Or maybe the Yankees are on one of those rolls that no one can beat them right now.

The First Entry August 22, 2007

Well, here we are.  My first blog entry.  It’s been a while as I had a blog going about 3 years ago on the Red Sox with my own homegrown technology.  Then, voila!  We won the World Series.  And I got tired of maintaining it.  Now there are easy to use blogging tools, so I’m trying one out.  Blogging has taken over since the last time I was writing, and since there’s no reason for me to do all the work – this is free and they’ve done all the work.  So here we go.

The Sox are 5 1/2 games in front of the Yankees here on August 21, after playing the triple A Devil Rays 2 times while the Yankees are playing a real contender in the Angels out west.  We can only hope for the Angels, since we’ve finished with them until the playoffs.