World Series Champions

It is a sad day. No more baseball until March.

But, this 2004 season is the most satisfying for me in a number of years. The Boston Red Sox, in my opinion the most talented team in MLB, are World Series Champions. The best team in baseball is on top of the world. This Red Sox team had outstanding hitting and great pitching. It is unlike previous World Series winners.

2003 was unsatisfying. The Florida Marlins were a flawed team, but got hot at the right time and beat the Yankees in the Series. Though, that team will always hold a special place in my heart for knocking off the Cubs. 2002 was unsatisfying. The Anaheim Angels should have lost. The Giants were the better team, had Barry Bonds, the best player in baseball, and a 3-2 Series lead. But they blew it to a flukey Angels team. The 2001 Series, though quite exciting, also had a hollow feel to it. The Arizona Diamondbacks won because they had Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. It seemed as if those two guys pitched every game of the World Series. They had no pitching depth and merely a decent lineup. But they won.

This Red Sox team was a complete team. It was utterly dominant in the Series. The Sox sandwiched winning streaks of 3 games and 8 games around the 3 games they lost to the Yankees in the ALCS. Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and others hit the crap out of the ball. Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe were all outstanding on the mound. Keith Foulke, one of my favorite players, had a Mariano Rivera-esque postseason.

I hate to sound like sour grapes. But it was nice to see, for the first time in years, the best team in baseball actually win the World Series. I'm satisfied. At least until March.