The best seat in the house is the view from the couch

Well, I certainly picked a good week to start writing. The Boston sports scene is in hyperdrive right now, so I'm only going to focus on one major story. The question is, which one?

Perhaps I'll write about the Patriots trying to win their fourth-straight game against a subpar Cleveland Browns team. Or maybe about the Boston Bruins fast start to the young NHL season (first team to get 10 points...). Or the biggest new news story, the Celtics trading Antoine Walker to the Mavs for two stiffs, an unproven second-year Euroballer, and a draft pick.

But no, being the hardcore diehard Red Sox fan that I am, let's talk about GAME 7. (The Celtics will be next)

The only way I can think to express my feelings after the game ended is this: Why?

Not "Why did Grady Little leave Pedro Martinez in the game for the 8th inning?", or "Why was TimWakefield pitching the 11th?" But just: Why?

I've lived and died with this team for two decades now. Yes, I realize that I'm not quite 22 yet, but trust me, I watched the Sox when I was 2. I remember watching Bily Buck in '86. I remember feeling sorry for the horse that Mo Vaughn rode around Fenway after the Sox clinched in '95. I remember jumping up and down at work when Troy O'Leary launched two rockets and when I saw Pedro come out of the bullpen in '99. And this year just plain hurts.

Let me set the scene a little. I drove into Boston to celebrate or mourn with my friends, regardless of the outcome. I was packed like a sardine into Beckett's Pub on Packard's Corner with about 250 of my closest friends, only 4 of which I knew before the night started. After each Red Sox put-out, the bar erupted with cheers, or boos from the scant few Yankees fans daring enough to open their mouths. Every time Pedro got another K, we all lifted out mugs in respect. And then a funny thing happened. Up 5-1 with one out in the bottom of the 8th inning, a guy i had just met about 3 hours earlier, a friend of a friend, turned to me and said "Only five more outs to go!"

"Yeah, but the Cubs only had 5 more to go too, and look where they are now." That was the only response I could muster. Not joy, not happiness, not even remote anticipation of the first World Series berth for the Sox since 1986. I've watched them for too long; I'm just too damned cynical. "When I see that fifth out, then I'll celebrate." Oops.

I had already spent the past five minutes berating Grady via the television above teh bar for sending Pedro back out in the 8th. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe this was my one chance to see a World Series title. It's not like the Yankees had enough left to come back from a 5-2 deficit...

Pop. The bubble burst. Jeter doubles to right. Williams singled him home. 5-3. Matsui hit a ground rule double, sending Williams to third. "Thank God, we got a big break there..." "Not yet we didn't". Posada snaps his bat and still manages to bloop in the tying runs. But if that bat hadn't broken, there's no doubt in my mind that Posada would have knocked the pitch out of the yard and given the Yanks the lead.

So here is my next question: why did the Sox warm up Alan Embree if they weren't going to let him face Matsui? There are only two lefties in the bullpen (Embree and Scot Sauerbeck), both of whom were acquired over the past two seasons explicitly to face big-time left handed hitters, namely Jason Giambi and Hideki Matsui. So if you trade for a player for only one purpose, and then don't use that player in the situation he was acquired for, what was the point of the trade? Just to say you that you made moves at the trading deadline? Please.

As you can tell by now, I'm still not fully recovered from the shell shock of that game. I don't really remember the rest of the eigth, ninth, tenth or eleventh innings. I think Mariano Rivera pitched, I know I watched every pitch of the game, yet I don't remember seeing it. I didn't even watch Boone's walkoff; I didn't have to. I saw the pitch leave Wakefield's hand, and I turned away, saying my goodbyes and congratulating the Yankees' fans on my way out.

This one hurt.

But there is a silver lining to every cloud. And here is the only one I can get from this massive cumulus thunderhead currently stuck over most of New England is this: Grady Little will probably be fired. And whether or not he deserves to be I'm not going to speculate about, I'm still too angry. But when he is let go, the Red Sox should. and hopefully will, sign either Mike Hargrove or Bobby Valentine, or Kevin Kennedy. Any one of them would be a great fit.

Bobby V has the personality to keep a clubhouse loose over 162 games, and he can certainly deal with the Boston media. But he's never won anything. In fact, the only time he even had a halfway decent team, in 2000, he had a pitching staff of career-year guys. So I don't like him here.

Kevin Kennedy already coached the Sox once, and he actually managed them the last time they beat the Yankees in the A.L. East. But he was fired for a reason after that season; he couldn't win the big games. The Red Sox were embarassed in the '95 playoffs by the Hargrove coached Indians.

So that leaves Mike Hargrove. When given even a modicum of talent, he shines (see Cleveland Indians 1994-1997). When given no payroll and mediocre talent, he still keeps the team hovering around .500 (see Baltimore Orioles 1998-2003). He's been to the World Series, and he came within a Jose Mesa blue glove of winning it. He's got a good repore with the Red Sox' best hitter, Manny Ramirez, whom he coached for many years in Cleveland. So why doesn't he fit? The only reason could be the media. He's always struck me as a mild mannered guy, a lot like Grady "I have a bullpen?" Little or Jimy "5-inning start" Williams.

My money's on Hargrove to get the job. As for the personnel he'll be dealing with, it should be the same basic principle, with a few notable exclusions. There's no question Byung-Hyun Kim is gone. He'd be booed at home and cheered on the road. That's not a good sign for a pitcher. John Burkett will probably retire. Lou Merloni, as much as he is good for the team, will probably be gone. Casey Fossum, who is aparently doomed to long-relief for the rest of his Boston career, may be traded. Although I don't see them getting Javier Vasquez straight up anymore. Shrewd GM'ing there, passing on a "Fossum & Hillenbrand for Colon OR Vasquez OR Millwood" deal. One of the only problems I have with Theo Epstein so far.

Free agency moves that are possible, and that should be made: Sign another big-game starter (Colon, Millwood, Loaiza, Maddux, Pettite). Sign a closer. Shop, but don't ship Nomar. At least not yet. Last year the hot rumor in May was Eric Gagne and Adrian Beltre for Nomar and Hillenbrand. Again, good move there, it's not like the Sox could have used a dominant closer and more speed on the bases last year. Ugh.

So, there's always next year. But man, this is gonna be one hell of a cold winter. Just 5 more outs...

posted by Big D @ 12:00 AM