Good Gracious

It’s finally over. Not the Series; that couldn’t have concluded any faster. No, I’m speaking of The Curse. And not a moment too soon. Now we can move on from 1918, The Bambino and all the other nonsense. It’s all really very tiresome. Utter relief and utter disbelief are the two sides of this year’s World Series commemorative coin.

The Boston Red Sox have concluded one of the more remarkable runs in the history of post-season baseball, first winning a record-breaking four straight games from their hated rivals the New York Yankees to overcome a 3 – 0 deficit and then sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

The Series itself wasn’t noteworthy overall if for no other reason than the failure of the Cardinals to show up. The St. Louis faithful must be stunned their team, winners of 105 games during the regular season and eight more in the post season, couldn’t muster a single win against Boston, including two losses at home. The Cardinals’ explosive offense never got untracked, especially Scott Rolen, who went hitless for the Series. The players almost certainly realize some if not all of them may never get another chance to play in a Series. For those who mull this sort of thing the Cardinals’ untimely futility must be particularly painful. For manager Tony LaRussa this latest defeat must surely rank among his most bitter. Appearing in his fourth World Series (three straight with the Oakland A’s between 1988 – 1990) , LaRussa has now lost three of them. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him pick up his chips and retire to California.

Boston’s pitching was simply too much for the Cardinals. Except for the game one 11 – 9 slugfest, Red Sox pitchers allowed three runs in the final three games including last night’s shutout. Pedro Martinez lifted his own “curse” by coming through in a big game. Derek Lowe erased most of the memories of a difficult season by pitching masterfully in the clincher. And then, of course, there was Curt Schilling, everyman’s hero, who pitched his team to victory in game two despite a painful ankle injury.

If Curt had stopped there his legacy from this Series would have played as well in Philadelphia as in Boston, but Schilling, who usually opens his mouth to change feet, was true to form following last night’s victory, praising manager Terry Francona while excoriating everyone in Philadelphia for mistreating Francona when he managed here and for not knowing "crap about baseball" or anything else for that matter.

Schilling has never been gracious in defeat. He repeatedly placed a towel over the his head during a 1993 World Series defeat in a game between the Phillies and Blue Jays, refusing to watch and thereby simultaneously showing up and infuriating his teammates. It’s clear Curt isn’t particularly gracious in victory either.