Monumental Collapse

How could a team with the highest payroll in history of organized sports succumb to a team when they have a 3-0 lead in the ALCS? Easy, the Red Sox have a lot of heart to go with a talented team. They just flat out looked liked they wanted it more. Johnny Damon saved every single hit and RBI for last night because he exploded with a grand slam and a two run homer. The Sox did not give up and scrapped out a series that will be regarded as one of the best ever. This was not exactly David vs. Goliath being that the Red Sox have a $130,000,000 payroll, but they were still about $50,000,000 less than the Yankees. They suffered a thwarting defeat and we can finally stop listening to Yankee fans spew things like the curse lives and hopefully 1918 if the Red Sox can pull out a World Series victory. One negative to everything is that I am now forced to listen to smug Yankee fans talk about how they want to Beltran, Pedro, Pavano, etc. and be sore losers about the loss. I’m not sure what is worse, a Yankee fan winning and being annoying about it or them telling everyone how great the Yankees are in spite of the defeat. Some are actually ripping Met fans in my office because they are relishing in the joy of the Yankees getting downed and asking when the Mets last played in October. It was actually this year since the regular season goes into October, but who can be tied down with measly details. You can bet that Steinbrenner is going to crack the $200,000,000 mark next year and is fuming over this meltdown. They built the most expensive team in the history of sports and forgot to put together a decent starting rotation. Javier Vazquez was regarded as one of the best young pitchers in the league and now he was relegated to mop up roles in the playoffs. One has to wonder if he is at all too happy that he signed a contract extension with them. Derek Lowe came up huge last night and with only two days rest and pitched an economical game throwing 69 pitches in six innings giving up only one hit. What Lowe did was just renew interest in him and the word in the papers is that Baltimore is eyeing him up for their 2005 rotation. It would be tough to pick an MVP between D-Lowe and Big Papi, so the reality is, they should be co-MVPs. Both of there were tremendous and were the definition of clutch. It is also somewhat satisfying after listening to the talk radio people speak of how the Yankees were God's gift to the world after being up 3-0 and saying there was no chance the Red Sox could come back and Boston were a bunch of chokers. There were optimistic fans calling up and saying Boston had a shot, and they were torn down. I have a renewed faith in miracles after watching the Yankees choke more than the star of Deepthroat and I'm thinking that maybe I can actually somehow get Anna Kournikova to marry me. Just a great finish to the ALCS and now we move on to the NLCS game seven after another great extra inning game won on a 12th inning Jim Edmunds homerun. So far the playoffs have been entertaining and Mr. Selig has to be happy about it. The prospect of two Wild Card teams meeting in the World Series speaks volumes on the importance of one of the best changes ever to the game in adding Wild Cards. I'm too lazy to look it up, but I do not believe two Wild Card teams every met in the World Series and I am certainly pulling for it. I think it would be a great to see it because Houston's miracle run just to make the playoffs is certainly a great story and they have never been in World Series while the Red Sox are a great story for obvious reasons.

Anyone care to wonder what Nomar is thinking right about now?

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FINALLY!! Willie Randolph will interview with Omar Minaya to be skipper of the other NY team. We can stop reading on how he is the front runner despite not interviewing and have some credence behind the things we actually read and hear. Newsday still says that the job is his for the taking with a good interview. The curious thing about that is the fact that they were not enamored with him the first time, and he is somehow a slam dunk if he is mildly competent?

XM Satellite Radio has signed a deal that will bring every single Major League radio broadcast right to everyone's home. I already have XM so I'm pretty excited about this. I think it is a great thing and people that are Mets fans in other states will have the pleasure of listening to WFAN's broadcast of the game.

If Javier Vazquez is made available and the Yankees are willing to eat some of that contract, do you think the Mets should jump on him? After his performance this year and in the post season the Boss may just be looking to get rid of him so he will not have to look at him. Shit, I’ll take the entire damn salary if they take Stanton’s entire four million. They need left handed reliever anyway, right?