The Student Becomes the Teacher
http://www.atomicsportsmedia.com/articles/942/1/The-Student-Becomes-the-Teacher/The-Student-Becomes-the-Teacher.html
Jake Duhaime
Jake Duhaime covered the 2006 Olympic Winter Games and 2006 Women's Final Four for Atomic Sports Media. His work has been featured on Boston Dirt Dogs, The Sporting News Online and U.S. Figure Skating Online. Born in Massachusetts, Jake spends most of his free time and money traveling to major sporting events across the country. If you want to reach Jake, email him: jake.duhaime@
atomicsportsmedia.com.
atomicsportsmedia.com.
By Jake Duhaime
Published on 11/24/2007
With a second World Series title in hand, a payroll to rival any in baseball, and fans as arrogant and cocky as those jerks in the Bronx, it's safe to say the times are changing in Boston. As Atomic Sports columnist Jake Duhaime writes, the Red Sox have become what they once despised.
With a second World Series title in hand, a payroll to rival any in baseball, and fans as arrogant and cocky as those jerks in the Bronx, it's safe to say the times are changing in Boston. As Atomic Sports columnist Jake Duhaime writes, the Red Sox have become what they once despised.
The Student Becomes the Teacher
Something is definitely amiss when Nancy (J.D.) Drew picks Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, with the bases loaded no less, to swing at the first 3-1 pitch he’s hacked at all season, and it somehow ends up in the center field bleachers.
It’s taken nearly a month to comprehend such a stunning turn of events. Keyword: comprehend. The brief burst of emotion from the stoic $70-million man is still extremely suspicious. Maybe David Ortiz rubbed off on him. Or maybe he took Manny Ramirez’s advice to heart and realized that losing wasn’t the end of the World. Life does go on.
Ironically enough, Drew’s granny came seconds after I turned to the guy seated above me and predicted the exact opposite to happen.
“Watch him! He won’t swing here,” I stated not-so-boldly. “He’s a human statue up there.”
So I was wrong. Shoot me. And don’t expect me to fork over $19.95 for the pink J.D. Drew player tee anytime soon.
People will overlook what the Boston Red Sox accomplished during the 2007 ALCS, simply because of what transpired three-years earlier. I actually find it more impressive. History notwithstanding.
The biggest difference between the two series was the front-line starting pitching. In 2004, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte were in Houston, and the Yankees were left with a combination of rejects and rethreads for a starting rotation. Jon Leiber started two games as did Kevin Brown, including Game 7. Javy Vazquez gave up Johnny Damon’s grand slam that essentially sealed the deal. And Esteban Loaiza was the losing pitcher in Game 5, giving up a bloop single to David Ortiz that sent the series back to New York.
When the Sox fell behind 3-games-to-1 in Cleveland, they had to beat two of the best pitchers in the game to force a seventh game. Both A.L. Cy Young Winner C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona won 19 games during the regular season and were among the league leaders in ERA.
And then there’s the momentum factor. In 2004, the Red Sox avoided elimination in their own ballpark, built momentum with two victories at home and carried it into the Bronx. The Mets did the same thing before Kenny Rogers walked home the winning run of the 1999 NLCS, or else who knows what might have happened there.
Riding a wave of momentum, the Indians had a chance to seal the deal at home in Game 5. It’s one thing to have the hammer. It’s another to have the hammer with somebody looking over your shoulder. And that’s why Josh Beckett’s performance on that Thursday night in Cleveland, with his ex-girlfriend singing the anthem, ranks right up there with his very best. Eight innings, one run, 11 strikeouts all with gusto and his team facing elimination.
Speaking of being wrong, in July, I wrote about the expanded postseason schedule and how it would be an advantage for a team front-loaded with starting pitching. Well, in the one series where the theory was put to the test, we saw the exact opposite, but it likely serves as the exception rather than the rule.
Carmona pitched his two ALCS games on seven and six days rest, respectively. Not the best situation for a guy with a hard, sinking fastball, as the ball tends to jump a bit more and out of the strike zone with increased velocity.
And with a lineup as patient as the Red Sox, it was a doomsday scenario. Carmona walked five over four innings in Game 2, leaving the game at the 100-pitch mark. He walked another four over two innings in Game 6, surrendering seven runs, all of them earned.
Paul Byrd and Jake Westbrook, the two Tribe starters with the most success in the series, both pounded the strike zone. Frequently.
And then there was the layoff the Colorado Rockies had between Game 4 of the NLCS and Game 1 of the World Series. After winning 21 of 22, Rocktober was delayed for eight days. An eternity as far as baseball is concerned.
We’ve already seen what such a layoff can do to a streaking club. The Tigers swept their way to the World Series 12 months earlier, only to lose to the far-inferior Cardinals, who squeaked by the Mets in seven games to advance.
We’ll never know if the Rockies were simply outplayed or victims of the layover. What we do know is that these Red Sox can officially be called “The Baby Yanks,” or “Yankees Lite.” And by winning a second World Series title in four seasons, they’ve had more success than Big Brother recently.
The “Baby Yanks” own the two most expensive titles in the history of organized baseball. And if you throw in the $50-plus million spent just to talk with Dice-K and Scott Boras, the final payrolls are just about even.
Just don’t tell that to the locals who refuse to acknowledge they’ve become what they hated just five years ago. Arrogant. Cocky. Annoying. And with the titles to back it all up.
They’ve become the Yankees.
It’s taken nearly a month to comprehend such a stunning turn of events. Keyword: comprehend. The brief burst of emotion from the stoic $70-million man is still extremely suspicious. Maybe David Ortiz rubbed off on him. Or maybe he took Manny Ramirez’s advice to heart and realized that losing wasn’t the end of the World. Life does go on.
Ironically enough, Drew’s granny came seconds after I turned to the guy seated above me and predicted the exact opposite to happen.
“Watch him! He won’t swing here,” I stated not-so-boldly. “He’s a human statue up there.”
So I was wrong. Shoot me. And don’t expect me to fork over $19.95 for the pink J.D. Drew player tee anytime soon.
People will overlook what the Boston Red Sox accomplished during the 2007 ALCS, simply because of what transpired three-years earlier. I actually find it more impressive. History notwithstanding.
The biggest difference between the two series was the front-line starting pitching. In 2004, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte were in Houston, and the Yankees were left with a combination of rejects and rethreads for a starting rotation. Jon Leiber started two games as did Kevin Brown, including Game 7. Javy Vazquez gave up Johnny Damon’s grand slam that essentially sealed the deal. And Esteban Loaiza was the losing pitcher in Game 5, giving up a bloop single to David Ortiz that sent the series back to New York.
When the Sox fell behind 3-games-to-1 in Cleveland, they had to beat two of the best pitchers in the game to force a seventh game. Both A.L. Cy Young Winner C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona won 19 games during the regular season and were among the league leaders in ERA.
And then there’s the momentum factor. In 2004, the Red Sox avoided elimination in their own ballpark, built momentum with two victories at home and carried it into the Bronx. The Mets did the same thing before Kenny Rogers walked home the winning run of the 1999 NLCS, or else who knows what might have happened there.
Riding a wave of momentum, the Indians had a chance to seal the deal at home in Game 5. It’s one thing to have the hammer. It’s another to have the hammer with somebody looking over your shoulder. And that’s why Josh Beckett’s performance on that Thursday night in Cleveland, with his ex-girlfriend singing the anthem, ranks right up there with his very best. Eight innings, one run, 11 strikeouts all with gusto and his team facing elimination.
Speaking of being wrong, in July, I wrote about the expanded postseason schedule and how it would be an advantage for a team front-loaded with starting pitching. Well, in the one series where the theory was put to the test, we saw the exact opposite, but it likely serves as the exception rather than the rule.
Carmona pitched his two ALCS games on seven and six days rest, respectively. Not the best situation for a guy with a hard, sinking fastball, as the ball tends to jump a bit more and out of the strike zone with increased velocity.
And with a lineup as patient as the Red Sox, it was a doomsday scenario. Carmona walked five over four innings in Game 2, leaving the game at the 100-pitch mark. He walked another four over two innings in Game 6, surrendering seven runs, all of them earned.
Paul Byrd and Jake Westbrook, the two Tribe starters with the most success in the series, both pounded the strike zone. Frequently.
And then there was the layoff the Colorado Rockies had between Game 4 of the NLCS and Game 1 of the World Series. After winning 21 of 22, Rocktober was delayed for eight days. An eternity as far as baseball is concerned.
We’ve already seen what such a layoff can do to a streaking club. The Tigers swept their way to the World Series 12 months earlier, only to lose to the far-inferior Cardinals, who squeaked by the Mets in seven games to advance.
We’ll never know if the Rockies were simply outplayed or victims of the layover. What we do know is that these Red Sox can officially be called “The Baby Yanks,” or “Yankees Lite.” And by winning a second World Series title in four seasons, they’ve had more success than Big Brother recently.
The “Baby Yanks” own the two most expensive titles in the history of organized baseball. And if you throw in the $50-plus million spent just to talk with Dice-K and Scott Boras, the final payrolls are just about even.
Just don’t tell that to the locals who refuse to acknowledge they’ve become what they hated just five years ago. Arrogant. Cocky. Annoying. And with the titles to back it all up.
They’ve become the Yankees.