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October 28, 2004

Prospectus Today

Finis

by Joe Sheehan

That, my friends, is a comeback.

Down to their final three outs just 11 days ago, facing their worst nemesis and a dominant relief pitcher, the Sox pulled out a win, and then another one, and six more after that. From that cold Sunday night in Boston, the Red Sox won eight consecutive games, and wake up today as the champions of the world.

This championship is one of the great baseball stories of my lifetime. Forget any and all stupid notions about a curse and just look at what the Red Sox did, winning after 85 straight seasons of not doing so. Winning after trading away the franchise icon in July. Winning after being down three games to nothing and in the ninth inning of the fourth game. Winning after seeing their best starting pitcher this year suffer an injury that should have ended his season.

The Sox swept away the Cardinals from the mound. While Tim Wakefield was battered in Saturday night's Game One, the next three Red Sox starters were simply amazing. Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe tossed 20 innings of 0.00 ERA ball at the Cardinals, coughing up just one unearned run in that time. Along with relief help, they allowed just six walks, striking out 23, over the last three games. They gave up one home run to a team that had blasted 19 in its first 13 postseason games. They pounded the strike zone like robots: 245 strikes out of 385 pitches over the last three games, a 63.6% rate.

Each of the three starters had his own story. Schilling, pitching on a torn tendon in his ankle, submitting to a risky surgery before games that allowed him to pitch, will be forever associated with this championship. Martinez, in perhaps his last start in gray and red, pitching out of early trouble and retiring the last 14 batters he faced.

Lowe, however, may be the best story of all. Dropped from the playoff rotation after a season in which he posted a 5.42 ERA, he won the clinching game of the Division Series in relief, started Game Four of the ALCS because Tim Wakefield had been overused in relief and threw 5 1/3 innings, keeping the Sox in the game. He came back on short rest to throw six innings of one-hit shutout ball in the game that sent the Sox to the World Series. Last night, he threw strikes and got ground balls, capping his October with seven shutout innings.