Game 1: Sox Deliver Early Knockout Punch
Whether it was the Colorado Rockies eight-day layoff, making it look too easy sweeping their way through the first two rounds of the playoffs; or whether it was Josh Beckett, holding opponents to a .160 batting average and a .235 slugging percentage during this playoff run, it’s pretty clear that unless Colorado snaps out their slumber in a hurry, this series might be over before it really began.
The 36,733 Sox fans packed into Fenway on a cloudy drizzly night, saw the American League champs begin where they left off just three nights ago, pounding their opposing pitching into the ground, as Game 1 of the 103rd World Series ended in a 13-1 shellacking of the Colorado Rockies.
From the opening bell, Boston came out swinging, delivering the knockout punch in the first, when Becket set a World Series record, striking out the sides; the punching continued in the bottom of the inning, when rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia drove Jeff Francis’s second offering of the night-high and deep over the left field wall; two more runs would cross the plate, giving the pride of Vancouver, British Columbia, an early indication he was in for a short bruising night of work. Five Rockie pitchers would follow Francis to the mound before this curtain raiser mercifully came to an end after three hours and thirty minutes of Red Sox batting practice.
By the time it was over, Boston had pushed across 13 runs, banged out 17 hits, including six doubles; and who knows, if Coco Crisp and Alex Cora didn’t come in off the bench, this game might still be in progress.
It’s hard to imagine after watching the explosion ricocheting off the Boston bats, from a team who have now outscored their opponents 43-6 in the last four games, they’ll have to exert much effort winning their second World Series in four years, but in Game One drubbings, looks can be deceiving, as the 1996 Atlanta Braves and 1959 Chicago White Sox teams can tell you.
The 1996 New York Yankees refused to use their layoff from over a week in-between the playoffs and World Series, as an excuse for being embarrassed by the Braves in Game One's 12-1 pounding.
The Chicago White Sox blanked the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-0 in Game one of the 1959 World Series
Both the Yankees and Dodgers stormed back to win the 59’ and 96’ World Series’ in six games, so it’s not over yet for the overachieving Rockies, they’re only down a game.
You sort of get the feeling, though, that Boston feels like they dodged a fatal bullet against the Indians in the ALCS, when they found themselves down three-games- to-one, and on the brink of elimination, before mounting another historic comeback.
Letting the Rockies steal one Thursday night before heading to the Silver State doesn’t seem to be in the Sox plans, but that all rides on the shoulders of their 40 year-old blogger and big game pitcher Curt Shilling, who will take to the mound against Ubaldo Jimenez, a rookie from the Dominican Republic in Game Two.
However this series ends, Beckett has clearly established himself as one of the true greats of the game, right along Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. The Boston right-hander came into Game One with a 5-2 postseason record , and a 1.78 ERA, including three shutouts in eight starts, just one shy of Christy Mathewson's record.
After striking out five of the first six Colorado batters, Beckett looked as if he was on the verge of passing Bob Gibson’s 17 strike-out performance in Game One of the 1968 World Series, but he settled for nine whiffs, surrendering only a run through seven innings of work.
So while the Rockies attempt to regroup from Game One’s hammering, they probably don’t want to know that history hasn’t been kind to losers in the opening game.
The winner of the 1st game of the World Series has gone on to win the fall classic 62 times, including nine of the last ten World Series, beginning in 1997, with the 2002 San Francisco Giants defeating Anaheim in Game One, but dropping the series, being the lone exception.
-Bill Lucey
billlucey@bellsouth.net
The 36,733 Sox fans packed into Fenway on a cloudy drizzly night, saw the American League champs begin where they left off just three nights ago, pounding their opposing pitching into the ground, as Game 1 of the 103rd World Series ended in a 13-1 shellacking of the Colorado Rockies.
From the opening bell, Boston came out swinging, delivering the knockout punch in the first, when Becket set a World Series record, striking out the sides; the punching continued in the bottom of the inning, when rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia drove Jeff Francis’s second offering of the night-high and deep over the left field wall; two more runs would cross the plate, giving the pride of Vancouver, British Columbia, an early indication he was in for a short bruising night of work. Five Rockie pitchers would follow Francis to the mound before this curtain raiser mercifully came to an end after three hours and thirty minutes of Red Sox batting practice.
By the time it was over, Boston had pushed across 13 runs, banged out 17 hits, including six doubles; and who knows, if Coco Crisp and Alex Cora didn’t come in off the bench, this game might still be in progress.
It’s hard to imagine after watching the explosion ricocheting off the Boston bats, from a team who have now outscored their opponents 43-6 in the last four games, they’ll have to exert much effort winning their second World Series in four years, but in Game One drubbings, looks can be deceiving, as the 1996 Atlanta Braves and 1959 Chicago White Sox teams can tell you.
The 1996 New York Yankees refused to use their layoff from over a week in-between the playoffs and World Series, as an excuse for being embarrassed by the Braves in Game One's 12-1 pounding.
The Chicago White Sox blanked the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-0 in Game one of the 1959 World Series
Both the Yankees and Dodgers stormed back to win the 59’ and 96’ World Series’ in six games, so it’s not over yet for the overachieving Rockies, they’re only down a game.
You sort of get the feeling, though, that Boston feels like they dodged a fatal bullet against the Indians in the ALCS, when they found themselves down three-games- to-one, and on the brink of elimination, before mounting another historic comeback.
Letting the Rockies steal one Thursday night before heading to the Silver State doesn’t seem to be in the Sox plans, but that all rides on the shoulders of their 40 year-old blogger and big game pitcher Curt Shilling, who will take to the mound against Ubaldo Jimenez, a rookie from the Dominican Republic in Game Two.
However this series ends, Beckett has clearly established himself as one of the true greats of the game, right along Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. The Boston right-hander came into Game One with a 5-2 postseason record , and a 1.78 ERA, including three shutouts in eight starts, just one shy of Christy Mathewson's record.
After striking out five of the first six Colorado batters, Beckett looked as if he was on the verge of passing Bob Gibson’s 17 strike-out performance in Game One of the 1968 World Series, but he settled for nine whiffs, surrendering only a run through seven innings of work.
So while the Rockies attempt to regroup from Game One’s hammering, they probably don’t want to know that history hasn’t been kind to losers in the opening game.
The winner of the 1st game of the World Series has gone on to win the fall classic 62 times, including nine of the last ten World Series, beginning in 1997, with the 2002 San Francisco Giants defeating Anaheim in Game One, but dropping the series, being the lone exception.
-Bill Lucey
billlucey@bellsouth.net
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