October 18, 2003 [LINK]
No joy in Beantown, either
It's been one of the most thrilling and dramatic baseball postseasons ever, with record-setting television viewership ratings, and the World Series hasn't even begun yet. The fact that most of the playoff series have gone to the maximum number of games (five or seven) proves just how competitive baseball is these days. It has certainly boosted the profit margins of the Fox network as well. Too bad both the AL and NL championship series had to end on such a melancholy note. Both the Cubs and the Red Sox were exactly five outs away from a trip to the World Series when things started to turn rotten. I found myself rooting for Boston Thursday night, but feared that their early four-run wouldn't end up being enough. Indeed, it wasn't. Aaron Boone's game-winning homer sparked huge cheers in the Bronx, but not in my living room, I'm afraid. Major league kudos to the Red Sox, who pulled themselves together and played like true champions, just barely falling short in that 11-inning epic struggle.
I refuse to take curses and jinxes seriously, but no one can deny the immense psychological pressure on teams who have not been treated kindly by history. Whereas the Red Sox maintained their composure (aside from that brawl), the Cubs showed their brittle side on Tuesday night, letting themselves get totally unnerved by a couple goofs -- one by the vilified, clueless fan Steve Bartman, and one by the usually reliable shorstop Alex Gonzalez. The rest was history.
Now instead of watching the Fall Classic unfold in the two remaining honest-to-goodness classic "green cathedrals," we'll be seeing it take place in the stark, oversized Pro Player Stadium, and the sadly modernized and homogenized Yankee Stadium. Wouldn't it be cool to see line drives hit into the left-center gap bouncing for another fifty feet or so? Mr. Steinbrenner, tear down that wall! Bring back "Death Valley" and give the bleacher fans something special to see!
Do the Marlins stand a chance against the Yankees? It's a long shot. New York has gone two years without a World Series crown, and its players seem hungry to restore their dynasty. And indeed, why not? No other expansion team has ever won TWO World Series in their first decade of existence, and it's high time for those Florida upstarts to get a reality check. In the Marlins' favor is the fact that they have had more time to rest than the Yankees, who therefore really need to get an early lead at home in Game 1. In contrast to 1997, this year's Marlins team is not just a temporary band of mercenaries. As for the Yankees, their recent acquisitions are a little baffling to me, certainly not fitting the pattern of mega-bucks superstars. So who the heck is Juan Rivera? Or David Delucci? Or Karim Garcia? For his part, Nick Johnson (second year) bears an eerie resemblance to Babe Ruth, keeping the pinstripes identity intact.