Standing on the shoulders of Giants

Sunday, October 31

Redsox Celebrate, Nation Mourns

Out of the Park, with Neale Fenn



The defenses were largely as billed: The Cardinals, one error in four games; the Redsox, eight in two. Yet St. Louis made the biggest blunder of all in game three, when Jeff Suppan inexplicably stopped on a routine play between third and home. He claimed he heard "No! No!" instead of "Go! Go!". A bad time to lose your hearing -- as well as your command.

As far as clutch perfomers go, there were none better than Johnny Damon, who set the tone of the entire series with its first at bat -- an eleven pitch affair that ended with a base hit to right. After leading the majors this year in two-strike hits, Damon delivered three more in the
Fall Classic, scored four runs, and slugged a jolly 0.524. His home run in the first at bat of game four was as timely blow as any struck in the series.

So for those of us who hadn't figured it out from the Yankee Series, the curse is broken. Indeed, it suddenly seems that the Sox have a monopoly on good fortune. The assault on Tony Womack's clavicle in game one must have been the decisive moment in the field, and evidence that the worm was turning, before the Redbirds had risen. The wicked bounce that preceded what should have been Womack's 7th inning-ending double play turned a 9-9 game into an 11-9 one instead. It was the closest the Cardinals would come to a lead in the series.

If you're not a Bostonian however, the most telling outcome of this year's season were the actions of Curt Schilling, who boomed from an Ohio stage:

"I'm proud to be on a team with a more important mission -- the team that's going to get George Bush re-elected."

Nothing could be more foul than listening to a red-meat eating half-wit -- albeit a supremely talented one -- talking politics. Schilling may have impressed a number of toothless diaper-wearing Alabamans with his We need a President who supports our troops baloney, but in civilized America, he ain't foolin' anyone -- no matter how many times he beats the Yankees while bleeding profusely. Perhaps Patrick Hruby, sports writer for the Washington Post, summed up the incident best, observing:

"When it comes to political campaigns, celebrities are better off staying out entirely -- unless, of course, they're running for Governor of California."

In the meantime, shut your mouth Curt. Everyone outside of Beantown has seen, let alone heard, more than enough from you for a while. Furthermore, Schilling might well have shut-up 50,000 New Yorkers as he promised, but in their place he has aroused an army of enemies, whose respect he -- like John Kerry -- will never earn.