A WONDERFUL NIGHT FOR BASEBALL
My how things can change...Less than a week ago we all "knew" that St. Louis and New York would be squaring off in this year's fall classic. Since then, the Red Sox and Astros have won three in a row...Unbelievable

I love Game 7's. I love the playoffs in general. How great is it to see a starter come back on two-days rest and throw out of the pen? The desperation of it all makes it so compelling.

I think people should give a lot of credit to TERRY FRANCONA for the way he has managed in this series. He began to treat the 7th inning like the 9th a lot of times and since then has put his team in a position to win. You can't manage in October like you do April-September. PHIL GARNER seems like he has finally figured that out after watching his middle relief blow a few leads earlier in the playoffs.

Back to the Boston/New York series...Just how unbelievable would that be if the time the Sox finally took down the Yanks it was after coming back from a 3-0 series deficit? Maybe this is just the baseball gods' way of further tormenting the Red Sox fans by making them believe in the improbable only to have their hearts ripped out yet again.

Before the umpires reversed the call last night, while that ball was trickling down the right field line and DEREK JETER was rounding third, I was thinking these things...
1) This could ONLY happen to the Red Sox (well, maybe the Cubs)
2) I wonder how Sox fans are reacting to this right now
3) Did the ghost of BABE RUTH knock that ball out of BRONSON ARROYO's glove?

Of course, the umpires discussed what had happened and got the call right, just as they had done early in the game when MARK BELLHORN's homerun was at first incorrectly ruled a ground rule double.
It is nice to see the umpires discuss close calls as a group. Many of you may remember in the 1995 World Series when OMAR VIZQUEL dropped a ball at second and everybody in the stadium saw it. BOBBY COX came out to ask the second base umpire just to ask for help and the umpire refused.

After the second reversed call Yankees fans began raining debris onto the field. A classless move by a usually respectible (although tough) group of fans. Why do you think they reacted that way? The obvious reason would be that they were drunk and frustrated...But fans are drunk and frustrated all the time over the course of a 162 game season, and even during the playoffs...The more exact answer I believe is that the fans are really feeling the pressure. Everybody in New York is. What do you think GEORGE STEINBRENNER has been doing during these past three games? He was probably the one who started throwing things onto the field.

Remember the celebration after AARON BOONE's walk-off homerun in Game 7 of the ALCS last year? People said that the celebration by the fans and players was more enthusiastic than any of the recent World Series or League Championship celebrations...Nobody wants to be part of the Yankees team that finally loses to the Red Sox...And imagine if that team was this year's $180 million squad, that had a 3-0 lead in the ALCS...Look out for the wrath of Big Stein.