If you told me last Friday that the Red Sox would be able to force a game seven, I would have slapped you in your face. Hard and with impunity. Yet here we are, in a baseball fan’s nirvana: game six of the incredibly entertaining NLCS this afternoon and then the final showdown between the Yanks and BoSox serving as the nightcap. Looks like another evening with no studying is in my future.
The only downside to the ALCS going seven is the hype machine has been cranked into overdrive. “Red Sox. Yankees. Game Seven. Anything can happen!” By default, can’t anything happen in every baseball game? Even if we had Pedro circa 1999 and Kevin Brown circa 1998 on the mound tonight, it could just as easily be a 13-12 game as it could be a 1-0 15 inning epic. Calm down, folks. I know it’s exciting that we’re at this point, and so many crazy things have happened that it’s tough to gauge who has the advantage, but it goes without saying this is a big game. We don’t need Peter Gammons hyperventilating and telling us this is the most anticipated baseball game OF ALL TIME! (Said in Mohammed Ali voice.)
Go Cards, Go Sox.