Not Quite Like in '04

St. Louis took 2 of 3 from us over the weekend in a weekend where our only win came in extra innings after Paps blew a save. On Friday night we lost 5-4. Wake pitched well but we just could not ever get the lead. Everytime we got close, the Cards would score and add to their lead. Wake went 7 innings giving up 3 earned runs and took the loss.

On Saturday we were excited to see DiceK back on the mound. That didn't last long as he went just one inning and gave up 7 runs toward our 9-3 loss. We learned that Timlin is going on the DL now but it looks like Papi will be coming back soon as they have cleared him to start taking swings again while his wrist heals.

On Sunday, our game was blacked out here so I had to watch the game on the computer. We came back down 2-0 to take a 3-2 lead in the eighth. Paps came in and blew the save in the ninth and allowed the Cards to tie the game up. We went extra innings until the bottom of the 13th when Youk hit his second home run of the day to win it for us.

Tampa Bay lost so our lead in the East is back up to 1.5 games. The Yanks have now won 8 of their last 10 and are only 5 games back now. Next week is going to be very important as we have 7 games all on the road against Tampa Bay and New York. If we don't do well over those two series, we could be in third place by the end of next weekend. Hopefully, we will get Papi back by then, DiceK will find his groove, and all will be well.

Over the weekend we also learned that Schilling will have surgery and probably won't be back. He hinted that it looks like he may have thrown the last pitch of his career. If Schilling never pitches again, his last start will wind up being Game 2 of the 2007 World Series, when he led us to a 2-1 victory over the Rockies. He left open the possibility that if he recovers well enough, and there is no pain in his shoulder, he would like to pitch in 2009. He is a free agent this year and I don't see the Sox signing him for another season even if he does recover fully so I think his days with us are over.

I will always remember that night he was in the bullpen in New York getting ready for game 6 and the camera showed the blood coming through his sock. I looked over to my wife and told her, "We have to win this thing now...". With each inning, as he hobbled off the mound, I told her that he is giving up his career for us to win. I remember what he said the day we signed him in 2003. He said, "There is nothing he would like more than to make 55,000 fans from New York shut up." On that night, in game 6, he did just that. And those Yankee fans haven't said much since. I remember the blood coming through his sock again in the World Series, and in his post game interview talked about his drive to the ballpark, where he saw signs on every street corner from his house to the stadium telling him that he could do it. How he started to tear up in the interview because I think he knew that what was happening to him and to all of us who are Red Sox fans, will be remembered forever.



He was never as effective after that World Series game. He pitched well but he was never the old Curt Schilling he used to be. He really did give something of himself that he never quite regained. There was more than just blood on that sock. It was his heart. And it was the heart and tears of every Sox fan that ever cheered and dreamed of a World Series win. So, to Curt, I would like to say that with each pitch, I felt your pain, just like I imagine you felt the pain of all of us who were yearning so much to see just one championship in our lifetime. Because of what you did, you made that happen. I would like to say that you have no idea how important that win was for us, but I think though that you really do. You taught us to say, "Why Not Us" instead of, "Why Us" and if in fact you have thrown your last pitch in baseball, or at least your last pitch for us, I want to say thank you for what you have done for all of us in Red Sox Nation. We never could have done it without you. You will forever be the ultimate Red Sock.