2008 Woodie Awards
Only one October
Deuces Wild
Harold McIlvain II
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Sports
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If you haven't gotten the memo yet, the World Series is starting tonight at 8 p.m. on FOX. The Red Sox will have home-field advantage and will try to slow down the red hot Colorado Rockies, who have won 21 of their last 22 games dating back to the regular season.
How is that even possible? They swept both the Cubs and Arizona in the playoffs and had to beat the Padres in a one-game playoff to make it into the postseason. They've also beaten some of the best pitchers in the NL in this stretch of games, including Jake Peavy and Brandon Webb.
This kind of streak is unheard of in baseball history.
Because the Rockies finished off Arizona so quickly, Colorado has had a nine-day layoff from playing significant baseball. They have kept themselves ready by playing inter-squad games. Considering the fact that the team as a whole seems unable to lose, I would not be surprised for both inter-squad teams to somehow find a way to win.
The Red Sox, on the other hand, are showing signs of the 2004 championship team by rallying down 3-1 in the Cleveland Indian series to advance to the series. Josh Beckett came up big for Red Sox again against Cleveland, and he is making a case to be the best pitcher to ever pitch in the post season.
Beckett pitched brilliantly in 2003 and even won the World Series MVP with the Marlins, and he has been pitching lights out so far in the postseason in three starts. In 23 innings, he has allowed only 13 hits, three earned runs, struck out 26, walked just one and has won all three games.
If anything can slow down the bats of the Rockies right now it might just be Beckett. After that, Colorado has a chance to open offensively things up against Schilling, Dice-K and Wakefield if they swing the bat like they have the last month.
The Rockies are not your average NL team offensively speaking with Holliday, Hawpe, Helton and Atkins in the lineup. When a team's ace is Jeff Francis, who is a very solid pitcher despite not being recognized, and is followed in the rotation by Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Fogg and Franklin Morales, the team must be able to hit to get this far in the postseason.
How is that even possible? They swept both the Cubs and Arizona in the playoffs and had to beat the Padres in a one-game playoff to make it into the postseason. They've also beaten some of the best pitchers in the NL in this stretch of games, including Jake Peavy and Brandon Webb.
This kind of streak is unheard of in baseball history.
Because the Rockies finished off Arizona so quickly, Colorado has had a nine-day layoff from playing significant baseball. They have kept themselves ready by playing inter-squad games. Considering the fact that the team as a whole seems unable to lose, I would not be surprised for both inter-squad teams to somehow find a way to win.
The Red Sox, on the other hand, are showing signs of the 2004 championship team by rallying down 3-1 in the Cleveland Indian series to advance to the series. Josh Beckett came up big for Red Sox again against Cleveland, and he is making a case to be the best pitcher to ever pitch in the post season.
Beckett pitched brilliantly in 2003 and even won the World Series MVP with the Marlins, and he has been pitching lights out so far in the postseason in three starts. In 23 innings, he has allowed only 13 hits, three earned runs, struck out 26, walked just one and has won all three games.
If anything can slow down the bats of the Rockies right now it might just be Beckett. After that, Colorado has a chance to open offensively things up against Schilling, Dice-K and Wakefield if they swing the bat like they have the last month.
The Rockies are not your average NL team offensively speaking with Holliday, Hawpe, Helton and Atkins in the lineup. When a team's ace is Jeff Francis, who is a very solid pitcher despite not being recognized, and is followed in the rotation by Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Fogg and Franklin Morales, the team must be able to hit to get this far in the postseason.
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Brian
posted 10/25/07 @ 2:45 PM CST
Wakefield is out for the series. Becket was dominant and will be again for game 5. Boston has good pitching, but the weather is cold now, I think that favors hitters. (Continued…)
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