The Calm Before the Storm; The Red Noreaster Meets the Mountain Blizzard
Who are the Colorado Rockies? Barely more than a fledgling team, this young club of near unknowns are as I type, exploring the hallowed halls of Fenway Park. This is new to them, their first World Series. I imagine their players are filled with excitement and no small amount of trepidation. Their fans are ecstatic, as well they should be. To achieve any pennant is no small victory and I say that as a loyal supporter of the American League. It is said that the Rockies are "White Hot" and that they carry quite a bit of "Mountain Magic." They are new, they are young, they are unknown and they are clearly the underdogs. But they're coming to Fenway.
Few Red Sox fans know what to do with our new found success. And let’s not be too hasty here. We've not won the series yet. But we did win 2004 and it's all to clear that our most hated arch-nemesis’, the New York Yankees are not what they once were. The question before us is whether the Curse truly is over. By all outward appearances it would seem to be so. In addition this small time upstart mountain team should not by any accounts be able to take on the Lords of New England. But all of Red Sox Nation, players and fans would do well to remember the 2001 series between the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks in which the Pinstripe Empire was defeated by an upstart team out of the West. Certainly we can attribute that to some degree to the pitching prowess of Randy "The Big Unit" Johnson. However, the Yankees lost the Championships to the Angels the following year, the Series to Florida the year after that, and in 2004, the embarrassing defeat at the hands of the current top-dogs, the Boston Red Sox. Since then New York has grown more and more lackluster.
The word out among the 'Sports media' is that Boston is the new, New York. They are the big bullies on the baseball block. They are a new club of powerhouses; strong, hungry, unstoppable. They are a phoenix risen from the ashes of eighty-six years of humiliation and defeat. And as such they are ripe for the picking for some determined underdog.
But this is not the case. With the exception of the typically belligerent and shrill New York Yankees fans, everyone else still seems to root for Boston. I mean of course Colorado wants to win but I've no doubt that if Arizona had nabbed the National, Colorado would be supporting the Sox. Everyone loves the Red Sox...except the Pinstriped Pinheads.
The difference between the Red Sox and the Yankees is that they know that power and success is not guaranteed. They know this from bitter, cruel experience. The Red Sox these days play like the other team has all the advantages and is always the clear favorite. The Red Sox play the post season like they're three games down against New York and a loss means another near century of cursed defeat. So it's not just big money and big talent. The Yankees have both those things - more even than the Sox - and look where it's gotten them. The Red Sox have in addition to that, committed dedication to the sport. Their players are good, and they know it but they play to play and they play as if everyone else were statistically better. The Red Sox have a legendary, bitter-sweet history that flavors each and every game and makes the club, the game and the park something more than just an ordinary outfit. The Red Sox have humility. They are good, damn good but the big dogs like David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez admit, and play as if could all be over at any second. This is humility that I've never yet seen out of Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez. But most of all the Red Sox have an army, a nation of ever loyal supporters who will stick by them, win or lose and whose support is part and parcel the success of the team. These elements make the Red Sox not on par with the Yankees, but better than them.
I wish the Colorado Rockies the best of luck - needed or not. They have proven themselves a magnificent club. They deserve to take on the Red Sox. Statistically speaking, the Rockies are the underdogs in this series. But win or lose the Red Sox will always be the underdogs in everyone's heart.
Few Red Sox fans know what to do with our new found success. And let’s not be too hasty here. We've not won the series yet. But we did win 2004 and it's all to clear that our most hated arch-nemesis’, the New York Yankees are not what they once were. The question before us is whether the Curse truly is over. By all outward appearances it would seem to be so. In addition this small time upstart mountain team should not by any accounts be able to take on the Lords of New England. But all of Red Sox Nation, players and fans would do well to remember the 2001 series between the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks in which the Pinstripe Empire was defeated by an upstart team out of the West. Certainly we can attribute that to some degree to the pitching prowess of Randy "The Big Unit" Johnson. However, the Yankees lost the Championships to the Angels the following year, the Series to Florida the year after that, and in 2004, the embarrassing defeat at the hands of the current top-dogs, the Boston Red Sox. Since then New York has grown more and more lackluster.
The word out among the 'Sports media' is that Boston is the new, New York. They are the big bullies on the baseball block. They are a new club of powerhouses; strong, hungry, unstoppable. They are a phoenix risen from the ashes of eighty-six years of humiliation and defeat. And as such they are ripe for the picking for some determined underdog.
But this is not the case. With the exception of the typically belligerent and shrill New York Yankees fans, everyone else still seems to root for Boston. I mean of course Colorado wants to win but I've no doubt that if Arizona had nabbed the National, Colorado would be supporting the Sox. Everyone loves the Red Sox...except the Pinstriped Pinheads.
The difference between the Red Sox and the Yankees is that they know that power and success is not guaranteed. They know this from bitter, cruel experience. The Red Sox these days play like the other team has all the advantages and is always the clear favorite. The Red Sox play the post season like they're three games down against New York and a loss means another near century of cursed defeat. So it's not just big money and big talent. The Yankees have both those things - more even than the Sox - and look where it's gotten them. The Red Sox have in addition to that, committed dedication to the sport. Their players are good, and they know it but they play to play and they play as if everyone else were statistically better. The Red Sox have a legendary, bitter-sweet history that flavors each and every game and makes the club, the game and the park something more than just an ordinary outfit. The Red Sox have humility. They are good, damn good but the big dogs like David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez admit, and play as if could all be over at any second. This is humility that I've never yet seen out of Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez. But most of all the Red Sox have an army, a nation of ever loyal supporters who will stick by them, win or lose and whose support is part and parcel the success of the team. These elements make the Red Sox not on par with the Yankees, but better than them.
I wish the Colorado Rockies the best of luck - needed or not. They have proven themselves a magnificent club. They deserve to take on the Red Sox. Statistically speaking, the Rockies are the underdogs in this series. But win or lose the Red Sox will always be the underdogs in everyone's heart.