Secret

I hate the Yankees too... I really thought we were going to make it.

I hate the Yankees for more personal reasons. I'm going to New York City on Sunday. Now that the Yankees won their series, game 2 will be in New York on that day. This could be fun.

you may hate the yanks, but blame the sox manager for blowing the game.

go fish!

"He asked me if I had enough ... in my tank to get him out, and I said 'Yes.' I would never say no. There's no reason to blame Grady. Grady doesn't play the game, I do. If you want to judge me or criticize me or curse me or whatever, I will swallow that, because I am responsible."

-Pedro Martinez

I wish I said things like that.

Damnit Bob, I've gotta disagree with you for a numbe of reasons. But here's my general argument:

Winning isn't everything. Example: the nation loves the Cubs & the Sox, not just because they won some this season, but because they perennially loose.'

So since it isn't about just winning, that it isn't pure performance, Evil is like the Yankees where they play the game purely by buying the best players and doing the statistically BEST things. This is a soul-less, un-American way to do things. Johnny Cash would not be proud.

What does this have to do with Pedro being left in the 8th? Well, it's 'cause Pedro had the chance to be a hero. It defied "reason" to some extent, but it embrace "heart." Damn that sounds cheesey, but leaving Pedro in made completely sense. He was our boy, our leader, the best damn picture in the game today. Scrappy, angry, and imperfect. He pitched in your face games with all the heart he could muster.

Last night he was playing hurt, so it was even more spectacular. He didn't just deserve the chance to take the Sox all the way, it would have been wrong to cave to statistically rational lameness like the Yankees to start putting in a new picture every inning. There ought to be a cap on the number of pitchers you're allowed to have in a game.

Blaugh. I could go on and on. I should probably put this down in a post. But leaving Pedro in was everything that is good and great about our American underdog thing; even the loosing.

Wish I could've joined y'all last night - even in defeat.

Great last comment, Josiah.

And if you say "loosing" or "picture" one more time....

I think you nailed it, Josiah. In fact, Grady's going with his heart over the stats and staying with Martinez is exactly the sort of reason people love the Red Sox and hate the Yankees. I mean, sure, the Yanks have been pretty darn good these past few years, but who cares? Their success is the success of assembly lines, mechanization, and monopolization. We resonate with the Sox because they are still human. And playing from heart doesn't always result in failure to the gears of the machine. Remember game 1 of the '88 series, when the A's were up 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth and sure to win behind their ace reliever Eckersley. Lasorda sent the injured Kirk Gibson limping to the plate to pinch hit--definitely not a rational choice. But Gibson hit a two-run homer for a Dodger's victory.

Paul, I absolutely feel ya. And I remember that '88 series game. I loved Kirk Gibson, although I was really really sad he left the Tigers for the Dodgers (not his fault, though they did win the series together in '84).

You know, some might think we're just being weenie communists about this whole things, pushing some kindof athletic class struggle. I dunno, there just seems to be something more... "good" American 'bout the Sox. 'Cause I think the best that America has to offer has always been wrapped up in some sense of loss and failure, I can't help but feel that as much as the Sox loosing was a tragedy, the beauty of the whole thing continues. "We'll do it next year."

In my mind, there is no reason to watch the world series.