Rock Bottom

I put two and two together and I came up with four
You are forever, forgot, forbid, shouldn't have to say much more…

As I was leaving Game Four of the World Series last night, a young man was hawking Rockies’ NL Champs shirts for $5. Sounded about right, I’m sure back in Boston the Sox shirts were going for triple that.

The Rockies ran into a team that triple their payroll, triples their playoff experience, and basically tripled their talent level in this short series.

Up and down the Red Sox roster are proven playoff and World Series vets. From Manny and his pajama bottoms, Bib Papi and his Batman logo shaped beard, to Mike Lowell, uber-stud Josh Beckett. Sprinkle in some rookies who’ve had to play in the AL all year, and this BoSox team looks like a better version of their last series’ winner.

Meanwhile, the Rockies are flush with young talent, a few journeymen, and were still patchworking a rotation even in October.

The Rox just plain got beat by the better team. There were no series defining moment, no series changing event. Basically, when Dustin Pedroia hit a leadoff home run in Game One, one could argue that was the series changer.

The staples that got the Rockies this far had dried up. The clutch hits disappeared. The timely double plays went byebye. The key strikeouts were replaced by walks. More importantly, the dregs that were the Phillies and DBacks were replaced by the Sox.

Like the Denver media and their fans, I’ll say that this loss doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t sting like old Super Bowl losses, like the Stars squeaking by the Avs. The boys of summer took us all the way into October, unheard of in these parts. A few of the players will be gone next year, and the young rookies will be a year older, the injuries healed and a fresh bunch of bandwagon fans back onboard.

Thanks to this strange trip, it’s almost November, pitchers and catchers report in three months. And NL Champs' gear, half to 75% in the meantime.