As much as this pains me to say, there is no way the Colorado Rockies are winning the World Series.
The Rockies have momentum right now, but the funny thing about momentum is that it can shift in a second, and everything about Game 1 of the 2007 World Series screams momentum shift.
First it’s at Fenway Park, where the rabid Red Sox Nation already seems to have forgotten that they won the World Series three years ago, and are thirsty for blood. The Rockies negated Arizona’s home-field advantage, but let’s face it: the difference in baseball between Phoenix and Boston is like the difference between an art walk in Binghamton and Paris.
Perhaps even more important than the home-field advantage will be the starting pitchers. Jeff Francis is a really nice story, to win 17 games despite the obvious handicap of being Canadian is an inspirational story worthy of its own sports movie.
But let’s not forget who will be on the mound for the Sawx in this game, Josh ‘Big Game’ Beckett. I’m pretty sure Game 1 of the World Series qualifies as a big game. He’s the 2003 World Series MVP, the 2007 ALCS MVP, and now he will be the guy who sucks the life out of the Colorado Rockies.
And then what about the likely Game 2 showdown? Who would you go with? Twenty-three-year-old Obaldo Jimenez or Mr. Bloody Sock himself, two-time World Series champion Curt Schilling?
That’s what I thought.
And it’s not like these guys are going to be alone. The bats are there for Boston as much as they are for Colorado: the teams finished just .001 apart during the regular season. And as good as Matt Holliday and company have been this season, with your life on the line are you going to send up Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe, or David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez?
Again, that’s what I thought.
And people will try to play up Colorado’s momentum, despite the fact that the eight-day layoff probably killed any that they had. In fact, right now the momentum screams Boston.
Right now the Bosox are riding their own streak, rallying from the brink of elimination to win three straight and knock off Cleveland.
Does anyone remember the last time the Boston Red Sox entered the World Series with this much momentum? Every Yankee fan is solemnly nodding their heads right now. In 2004 the World Series was a mere formality for the Red Sox. This year it might be a little harder, but not much.
With all this stacked up in Boston’s favor, a 2-0 lead before the series shifts to Coors seems very likely, and by then the Rockies will likely have no magic left.
Is a Red Sox champion what anyone outside of New England wants? Of course not, but it’s inevitable. The last thing American sports need is to see Jonathan Papelbon pump his fist and Jason Varitek running into his arms, signaling the start of a coming Boston sports apocalypse.
And believe me, it’s coming.
The Patriots are incapable of losing; they are the first team in NFL history it seems to actively try to cover the spread each week. If the three-headed Celtic monster of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen does not make the NBA championship, it will be a huge let down. Boston College has perhaps the most legitimate chance of any NCAA football team of going unbeaten. Oh yeah, and the Bruins beat the Rangers in a shoot out the other night.
Fans should be rallying behind this Colorado team, it represents a chance to keep the insufferable New England fans at bay, at least until the Patriots beat the Colts.
But it’s not happening. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the United States of Boston.