The Commish Online www.thecommishonline.com
HOT CORNER
Idiots Now Idols in Boston
October 28, 2004
Backs to the wall less than two weeks ago, the Boston Red Sox climbed out of their hole and went on to win eight straight games against the two winningest teams in baseball this year. The reward? Boston's first World Series Championship in 86 years and a city full of sighs of relief, tears of joy, and screams of excitement.
The self proclaimed "Idiots," for their scraggly looks, easy going demeanor, and failure to know any better when coming back from 0-3 to win the ALCS, the Boston Red Sox dominated this year's World Series, leaving the Cardinals and the rest of America wondering how St. Louis managed to win 105 games with the rotation it had. Heroes to New Englanders, Schilling, Pedro, Lowe, and the rest of the Red Sox staff silenced the Cardinals' biggest weapon: their bats.
Trailing the entire series except for two innings, St. Louis was forced to play "catch up" the whole time and pressed too hard as a result. LaRussa has been to the World Series several times, but it was Francona's "Idiots" who looked comfortable on the most prominent of stages. With Pedro laughing in the dugout and Johnny Damon's hair flapping in the breeze as he rounded the bases after his first inning home run in Game 4, it was obvious which team was in control of the series and which team was headed for a long winter of "what ifs."
With St. Louis laying an egg in the World Series, it made for an odd spectacle watching an 86 year drought end in such anticlimactic fashion. Truth be told, this World Series was a stinker of epic proportions. Game 1 had some mild drama, but the excitement ended there as each game got more boring and predictable than the previous one. While baseball fans were hoping for much more, especially after both LCS's set the stage for a hotly contested battle, Bostonians could care less about the ride, because the destination was one they'll never forget.
