"It's a Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Matchup"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/23/AR2007...302513.

It's a Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Matchup
Red Sox Are Favored, But the Rockies Enter On a Historic High

By Dave Sheinin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 24, 2007; E01

BOSTON, Oct. 23 -- Win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win,
win, loss. Win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win.

Go back, read it again -- out loud this time, and s-l-o-w-l-y -- and
perhaps you can begin to appreciate the magnitude of what the Colorado
Rockies accomplished during the last two weeks of September and the
first two weeks of this month.

The Rockies, champions of the National League, enter the 103rd World
Series against the American League-champion Boston Red Sox, beginning
Wednesday night at Fenway Park, as the hottest team in postseason
history, having won 21 of their previous 22 games, including all seven
in the playoffs. Of the 14 regular season wins that made up that
historic run, had even one of them turned into a loss, the Rockies
would not have made the playoffs.

But what sort of run would the Rockies have needed to make in order to
convince people -- such as those who set the betting lines in Las
Vegas, where the Rockies opened as 2-to-1 underdogs -- that they have
a chance against the mighty Red Sox in the World Series? Thirty of 31?
Forty-nine of 50? One hundred sixty-one of 162?

"How are we the favorites," asked Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon,
making a good point while not quite nailing the math, "when . . .
we're playing a team that's won twenty-something freaking games in a
row?"

One reason, as Papelbon surely knows, is that while the Red Sox were
pulverizing the Cleveland Indians in Games 5, 6 and 7 of the AL
Championship Series by an aggregate score of 30-5 -- perhaps the Red
Sox' most inspired 27 innings all season -- the Rockies, who completed
a four-game sweep of the NLCS over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Oct.
15, were trying to remain sharp by playing simulated games (while
dodging snowflakes) and killing time by going on group duck-hunting
trips during eight full days between actual games.

"For some of us [veterans], it's a good thing," Rockies first baseman
Todd Helton said. "I think we need to do this every year -- you know,
take a little break, go to the lake."

"We will not apologize," Rockies Manager Clint Hurdle said, "for
winning quickly."

So, which is the hot team, and which is the cold one?

No team in history has entered the World Series with a longer layoff
than the Rockies -- although a year ago, the Detroit Tigers had six
days off following a sweep of Oakland in the ALCS. And, well, things
didn't turn out so well for them. The Tigers, particularly their
pitchers, looked sloppy in getting swept by the St. Louis Cardinals,
who, unlike the Tigers, had to grind through seven games in beating
the New York Mets in the NLCS.

"I did watch it," Helton said, when asked if he recalled last year's
World Series. "The Tigers didn't play very good. [But] we're not the
Tigers. . . . Look, we've done all we could do [to stay sharp] without
going to the Dominican Summer League. You've just got to throw it out
there, and hopefully we'll play like we've been playing."

Helton had played nine full seasons in the majors without getting so
much as a sniff of the postseason, so when the Rockies, after their
mini-vacation, flew east to Boston on Monday, Helton told his
teammates: "Boys, do y'all know where we're going? We're going to the
World Series."

"It feels good saying it," Helton said Tuesday afternoon, before the
Rockies worked out at Fenway Park. Then, realizing he might sound too
wide-eyed, he added: "It's not a vacation we're going on. There's
still a lot of work to do."

The first real, live pitches the Rockies will see Wednesday night
beginning at 8:35 p.m. will be thrown by Red Sox ace Josh Beckett --
which is the real reason (as opposed to the long layoff) the Rockies
may struggle to extend their historic stretch of winning baseball.

Beckett is literally the most unhittable pitcher in postseason history
-- among pitchers who have thrown at least 50 playoff innings, his
opponents' batting average of .150 ranks first, just ahead of such
luminaries as Mariano Rivera (.176), Sandy Koufax (.180), Nolan Ryan (.
188) and Bob Gibson (.190). In three starts this postseason, he is 3-0
with a 1.17 ERA.

"It seems like every game," said Red Sox Manager Terry Francona of
Beckett, "he wants to make more of a name for himself."

Of course, should the Rockies manage to beat Beckett and take Game 1,
suddenly the Red Sox' perceived advantage gets a lot slimmer, or
disappears entirely -- as they will have to rely on 40-year-old Curt
Schilling, inconsistent Japanese rookie Daisuke Matsuzaka and most
likely rookie left-hander Jon Lester in Games 2, 3 and 4. Lester is
expected to replace veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, whose
persistent back and shoulder injuries forced the Red Sox to leave him
off the roster.

It is worth noting that the Rockies beat Beckett soundly on June 14 at
Fenway, handing him his first loss of the season and capping a two-out-
of-three series win in which the Rockies outscored the Red Sox by an
aggregate 20-5. It was an experience that has helped the Rockies
demystify both Beckett and storied Fenway Park itself, where the Red
Sox typically enjoy a decided home-field advantage (56-31, regular
season and postseason combined).

"We got to see [Fenway] for the first time, and take it all in," said
Rockies left-hander Jeff Francis, who, on 12 days' rest, opposes
Beckett in Game 1. "Now I think we can come in here and concentrate on
the game. We're not in awe of the stadium. We're not blown away."

Las Vegas, and undoubtedly many of those who patronize it, apparently
believe the Rockies will, in fact, be blown away. Blown away by
Beckett, blown away by the David Ortiz-Manny Ramirez left-right combo
to the jaw, blown away by the pageantry and aura of Fenway Park.

But if you still think that's going to happen, go back and reread the
first paragraph out loud -- this time with feeling.