Ortiz to Yankees?.... oh why not?

It just keeps getting worse for a Red Sox fan.
Each day I wake up there is another factor to throw on to the "Winning 2 World Series should buffer the pain of this" pile.

You have the great collapse.
You have that agonizing last day.
You have the dismissal of Francona.
You have Theo jumping ship.
You have the disgusting character assassination of Francona.
You have the realization that the players remaining were gutless down the stretch.
You have to fear that the corporate stooges are going to turn the Red Sox into the Mets... expensive, old and non contending.

And today?
Ortiz says he might jump ship to the Yankees.

It's not going to happen. Not because of some team loyalty but because it makes sense for the Yankees to make Alex Rodriguez their full time DH.

But can anyone be stunned anymore?
Can anything else even rile us Red Sox fans up?

Right now, I am in full Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump mode, screaming at the rain and wind. "You Call This A Storm!"

I can take anything.

Phillies season ends with a metaphor

I picked the Phillies to win the World Series.
Chances are you did too.

Chances are you thought the Cardinals were a punching bag for the Phillies on their way to at the very least the National League pennant.

This was a Phillies team that won more games than any team in franchise history.
This was the team that kept Cliff Lee from the Yankees.
This was the team that had Halladay, Lee, Oswalt and Hamels in the best rotation since the Braves of the 1990s.

This was the team that was going to solidify itself as the greatest team in Philadelphia sports history.

The Cardinals were the nice story of a team that stumbled into the playoffs. But even that had as much to do with the Phillies beating the Braves at the end of the season.

So it came down to Ryan Howard at the plate. And I STILL didn't think the Phillies were losing. I thought he was going to park one.

And alas not only did he not park one, he collapsed out of the batters box.

This has to be one of the great upsets in Division Series history.
Right up there with the dual shockers in 2002 (the invincible Yankees and the winning streak A's getting knocked off by the Angels and Twins.)

This might even be bigger. This Phillies team was suppose to have no peer.
Now they have 2 big ones: The Red Sox and the Yankees.

The three big East Coast giants have been slain (not the mention the defending champion Giants).

If you can't win a playoff series where you start Halladay twice and Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt then there is something wrong.

There is no longer a prohibitive favorite to win the World Series.
They collapsed... figuratively and literally.

New Sully Baseball Video "It Wasn't Bill Buckner's Fault"

Maybe it is appropriate that I bring up the Bill Buckner play the day after the Red Sox did the Great Faceplant of 2011.

In the latest Sully Baseball video, I am starting a new series.

"Baseball Myths and Facts." And it turns out there are so many of them that I will do a few videos on this topic.

I tackle the Buckner error first because even really good baseball people get that one wrong.

Enjoy the video.

And as always, you can see all the videos at my ShortForm TV page.

The Red Sox look like the 1927 Yankees...

... in the current condition of the 1927 Yankees.

Keep in mind the last member of the 1927 Yankees, Mark Koenig, died in 1993.

The Red Sox look dead from the neck up but hey! At least they have John Lackey pitching tonight.

(Oh boy.)

A Nation Tested

There are all sorts of tests going on regarding the Red Sox.

The Red Sox themselves are having their resolve tested. They stumbled out of the gate, cruised through the summer and are now seeing what they are made of to make it into the October dance. I am positive that if they can make it into October, that this sucky September will be a positive thing for the team. A "Wow... we made it in. Now let's kick some butt moment" that helped the Cardinals and White Sox win the World Series last decade.

And as bad as last night was, I'd STILL rather be up 3 games even stumbling than down 3 games and charging with 13 left.

Let's say the Red Sox win just one game in the series.
They'd be up 2 games with 10 to play.
6 of those games are against Baltimore.

I'll take my chances with those odds.

As for us Red Sox fans, this is the latest test to see if our lives really have changed.

Since 2004 and 2007 we've seen the Red Sox lose an agonizing 7 game series in 2008, choke in the 2009 playoffs and watch the Yankees win it all and miss the playoffs altogether.

And now they have a chance for an all time collapse.

IF THAT HAPPENS, we'll see how the 2004 and 2007 blanket will protect us.

And IF THAT HAPPENS we can look and think about what our lives would be like had Dave Roberts not stolen a base... and had the Indians not collapsed in 2007.

We'd be losing our minds.
Let's see if we can keep them, dear Nation.