And So It Begins...the LCS Edition of Barstool Friday

This is what it is all about, right? The Red Sox playing for the American League pennant (we still call it that, don't we?). The culmination of six months of watching, cheering, swearing, cheering, looking over our shoulders, cheering, blasting J.D. Drew, and more cheering. Scratch that, let's make that eleven months. This might have been the longest stretch of non-stop baseball talk in this history of The Nation. From the first rumblings over Daisuke Matsuzaka last November until today, there has been a continuous buzz around the Boston Red Sox. I can't remember anything quite like it. And tonight at 7 o'clock, it is Faith Rewarded. Our Red Sox take the field at Fenway to face the Cleveland Indians for the right to go to the World Series. And as such, I'm going to pass on talking football (Patriots over Cowboys, 38-24), basketball (Celtics looked good in EuroLive games, Midnight Madness at UMass tonight) or anything else today. Barstool Friday is all Red Sox this week, as it should be. But before I continue, I'd just like to point out the my predictions for the ALDS were exactly correct, although even I didn't foresee Beckett's complete game. That was masterful. I didn't do so well with the NL, but since I might have seen one or two NL games all season, I was working from a disadvantage. Oh well.

Let's get on to this series. First of all, this is once again the real World Series. Both Cleveland and Boston have the pitching to dominate whoever comes out of the National League. Don't dwell on this, just accept it. Josh Beckett takes the mound tonight agains CC Sabathia. It should be a pitchers' duel. It should go down as a fantastic battle between two Cy Young candidates. Don't count on it though. These things never go as scripted. I'm thinking 9-6 Red Sox victory with neither starter going more than 5, maybe 6 innings. The game will be decided with bats and bullpens, both of which go in favor of the Sox.

Tomorrow night's game will be really interesting. Curt Schilling, 9-2 lifetime in October, faces Fausto Carmona, the young stud. Schill looked brilliant against the Angels. He's an amazing story, the aging ace who re-invents himself, mid-season no less, and comes back to give his team a boost when it matters most. I had been calling this game a coin toss up until last night, and then I got a feeling. I was stacking wood in the rain, you know, getting it done despite the challenges, just because it HAS to be done. That's Schilling. When you have to win, he does it. It doesn't matter what stacks up against him, when it is win or go home, Curt wins. So there you have it, Red Sox lead 2-0 by Sunday. I'm not even going to argue the point.

Of course, I'm also going to stop making predictions on the games now. Look, Boston is not sweeping this series. The Indians are too strong of a club, but they can't stay with the Sox over a 7 game series. Even if they battle valiantly, they cannot win this series. There are many reasons, but ultimately, there are only two words that need to be said so you can understand why a Red Sox trip to the World Series is inevitable. Those two words?

Joe Borowski.


This guy SUCKS. Look at the Boston line-up. Manny. Papi. Mikey Lowell. Captain 'Tek (yeah, he may not have the best batting average, but look at his late game with runners on numbers...unbelievable). The speed of Coco, Lugo and Ellsbury. Tell me what you see when you look at all that and then look at a closer with an ERA over 5. Destination, as Manny would say. Destination. Seriously, even if you consider the Red Sox and Indians dead even in every other category (which, by the way, I do not), there is simply no way you can look at this guy and think he presents a chance for an Indians victory. And his counter part on the Red Sox staff? Jonathan Papelbon. Need I say more?

Well that's my take on it all heading into the weekend. Colorado will win the NL, whatever that's worth, setting up Manny & Papi for something like a combined 200 home runs before the series is over. Enjoy it all folks, this is what we've been waiting eleven months for, and it will have been worth every minute. Remember, always have a pint for me...I'll be enjoying mine on Cape Cod this weekend. Adios!