October 26, 2004
3-0 Lead
A 4-1 victory for the Red Sox in game 3 gives Boston a 3-0 lead in the series. Pedro pitched great, the bullpen pitched great, and the offense supplied the power once again.
Rolen and Edmonds continue to be silent at the plate. Both were 0 for 3 today and Edmonds has the only hit between the two. Walker and Pujols cannot carry the team by themselves.
Of course, it used to be impossible to come back from an 0-3 deficit. How ironic would it be for the Red Sox to go from the greatest comeback in baseball history to the greatest choke in a week and a half? It's difficult to believe it could happen the way Boston is hitting and pitching, but I thought after the 19-8 drubbing that the Red Sox had nothing left. If there is a curse, this would be the cruelest incarnation of all.
Gimme a break with this curse thing!
The Red Sox are winning because their starting pitchers/relievers are performing up to their stats, and their batters are performing as well as should be expected from the team that scored more runs than anybody in baseball for the last two years.
The Red Sox are a damn good baseball team. Why is that so hard to accept?
It's not that it's hard to accept that the Sox are a great baseball team...it's just that the Curse is a story that has so much play and has supposedly manifest itself in so many incarnations that people refuse to let it die. I mean, the Sox teams that have supposedly fallen prey to the Curse were damn good teams, too. Of course the Curse is ridiculous, but folks dig the story, and when you piece it together, especially with the way this year is going, it's a great read. This couldn't be a more poetic banishment of the Curse, could it? I think of my Sox fan friends, three outs from being swept by the Yanks...how many of them were certain that this time that their broken heart would never heal? And then, their incredible comeback, their fight through two of the most grueling postseason games ever played, becoming the first team to climb out of an 0-3 hole. Now they're on the verge of sweeping another team that has stood in their way in World Series past. Just amazing.
I'm a huge Yankee fan, and I have no problem facing the fact that the Sox are an incredible team. They're well constructed top to bottom, pitching, power, speed and defense, and their players approach each game with joy and faith in each other. But why not enjoy the story of the Curse, as these current Sox positively kick it in the dust? Have a good laugh at all the Yankee fans who dressed up as Ruth's ghost, and held his picture on high.
