Three Years Ago Today

"Ground ball to second, Pokey Reese has it. He throws to first and the Red Sox have won the American League pennant. The greatest victory in team history." --Joe Castiglione

"We shocked the world! We shocked the world today!" --Kevin Millar

"I told you! I told you!" --David Ortiz, moments after the last out

The greatest postseason comeback in MLB history happened three years ago today. It will forever be sweet, and it will never, ever get old.

Game 6: A Red Sox History

Tonight the Red Sox and Indians meet in Game 6 of the 2007 ALCS at Fenway Park. They have been involved in some of the more famous Game 6s in baseball history, and it got me to thinking about all the previous games they'd been involved in.

Courtesy of Baseball Reference, I found some surprising results. This will be their 11th Game 6 in team history, and they have a winning record in the previous 10, going 7-3. And a real surprise is that the Sox have never lost a Game 6 at home in Fenway Park, going 4-0.

Here is a breakdown of the ten previous Game 6s the Sox have played.

1903 World Series at PIT: In the first World Series, the Americans (before they were known as the Red Sox) were down 3-2 when they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3, behind Bill Dinneen. They would win the next two games (it was a best of nine series) and the first World Series championship.
1912 World Series at NYG: The Red Sox were up 3-1 in the series (Game 2 ended in a tie), when the Giants won Game 6 in New York, 5-2, as they scored five runs in the first and never looked back. The series returned to Fenway where the Giants won Game 7, and forced a Game 8 that the Red Sox won in dramatic style, 3-2, in 10 innings.
1918 World Series vs. CHC: The Red Sox won Game 6 at Fenway over the Cubs, 2-1, behind Carl Mays. It was the only Game 6 that the Red Sox won a World Series on, and it was also won on September 11, as the regular season ended on Labor Day due to restrictions imposed by World War I.
1946 World Series at STL: The Red Sox were up 3-2 as the World Series returned to St. Louis, and the Cardinals won, 4-1, behind Harry Brecheen. It forced a Game 7, and Brecheen would come out of the pen in the eighth to get the win as Enos Slaughter did his "mad dash" from first on a single to score the Series-winning run.
1967 World Series vs. STL: The Impossible Dream Red Sox were down 3-1 in the Series against the Cardinals when they won Game 5 and forced it back to Fenway. The Red Sox exploded for four home runs, two by Rico Petrocelli, and won 8-4, and forced Game 7 the next day. But Bob Gibson was simply the best pitcher on the planet and beat Jim Lonborg on short rest as St. Louis won, 7-2.
1975 World Series vs. CIN: An epic game for the ages. Reds led 6-3 in the eighth as the Sox rallied for three when pinch-hitter Bernie Carbo hit a home run in the center field bleachers. It continued on to the eleventh when Carlton Fisk hit Pat Darcy's second pitch off the left field foul pole to force Game 7 the next day, which Cincinnati won. It has been called the greatest World Series game of all-time and put a slumping sport back on the map. Pudge's "waving" the ball fair is still one of the game's most enduring images.
1986 ALCS vs. CAL: The Red Sox were down 3-1 when they rallied from three down in the ninth, capped by Dave Henderson's dramatic home run, and they eventually won in extra innings. The Angels were completely demoralized, and the Red Sox bashed them back at Fenway in Game 6, 10-4, behind Oil Can Boyd. The Sox would win the pennant the next day, 8-1, as Jim Rice and Dwight Evans hit home runs. It would be Roger Clemens' only postseason win in a Red Sox uniform. This series was one of the greatest comebacks in postseason history, but it would be overshadowed by what happened next.
1986 World Series at NYM: This has been rehashed ten million times, so I'll spare you all the details.
2003 ALCS at NYY: The Red Sox were down 3-2 in the ALCS at Yankee Stadium with John Burkett pitching for the Sox. The Red Sox came from behind twice, and scored three runs in the seventh, and a two-run home run by Trot Nixon gave the Red Sox a 9-6 win and forced a Game 7 the next day. And you know the gory details of what happened that night.
2004 ALCS at NYY: One of the most legendary postseason series of all time. The Red Sox come from 0-3 down to win Game 4 and 5 on David Ortiz' heroics. Game 6 features Curt Schilling pitching with a bum right ankle and a sock that's blood stained from a pre-game surgical procedure. It also has Mark Bellhorn blasting a three-run homer and Alex Rodriguez gaining a new nickname: "Slappy." The 4-2 win forces a Game 7 the next day, as the Sox made history as the first team to get to Game 7 after losing the first three. And they humiliate New York on their own home turf, blasting them 10-3 and going to their first World Series in 18 years. They would win that in four straight and reward all their long-suffering fans with a World Series win that cap off one of the most historic postseason rides in history.

So the Red Sox Game 6 history certainly has been interesting. We'll see if tonight's game enters Red Sox lore as another memorable event. I wouldn't bet against it being one.

Commander Kicks Tribe Ass

Josh Beckett's reputation as a big-game pitcher took a giant leap forward last night as he put the Red Sox on his back and pitched eight sensational innings as the Red Sox won, 7-1 and forced the ALCS back to Boston for a Game 6.

Commander Kick Ass allowed a run in the first on two base hits and a double play. But that was all he would allow. Cleveland put two men on in the fifth with two outs, but he struck out Asdrubal Cabrera to end the threat.

Earlier in that inning, Beckett got into a shouting match with Kenny Lofton after Lofton dropped his bat thinking he had gotten ball four. He flied out on the next pitch as Beckett yelled at him. Lofton cursed back at him, and started walking toward him after he touched first base. Benches emptied but no punched were thrown. (Good job by Fox after the game showing the history between them. In 2005, Beckett was shown jawing with Lofton after he did that ridiculous bat flip after walking in a game between the Marlins and Phillies.) It was at that point that Beckett drew a line in the sand, and basically told the Indians, "You ain't getting s**t off me now!"

(The Indians even tried to pull a Yankee-like stunt by bringing in Danielle Peck, a country singer and former girlfriend of Beckett's, to sing the National Anthem. They claim to know nothing about their relationship, and it was just a coincidence. Yeah, right. The Commander was not amused, and not at all rattled.)

Kevin Youkilis hit a home run in the first to get it going, and I had a feeling this was going to be the Red Sox night. (My buddy Eric was also wearing his lucky 2003 Syracuse NCAA Champions shirt, one he wore throughout the Red Sox historic eight-straight win postseason as well. So I knew that Game 6 was going to be a reality.)

The umps blew yet another big call when a ball Manny Ramirez hit bounced off the top of the right field wall and back on the field and was ruled in play. it drove in David Ortiz but it should have been a home run because hit went passed the yellow line on the wall. I know it's like beating a dead horse, but MLB umpiring continues to be incredibly awful. That call cost the Sox a run, but fortunately not the game.

The Red Sox tacked on two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth to put the game away. But the story was Beckett, who continues to be "The Anti-Clemens." (Josh now has three times as many postseason wins than Clemens had in his Red Sox postseason career, and in just three starts.)

There will now be a Game 6 at Fenway Park on Saturday night, with Fausto Carmona facing Curt Schilling. There have been four Game 6s at Fenway in its history, and the Red Sox have won them all: the 1918 World Series against the Cubs (and the Sox won the Series with that game), 1967 World Series against St. Louis, the 1975 World Series that featured Pudge Fisk's blast and the 1986 ALCS blow out over the Angels.

So how did Schilling do in his last "Game 6?"

Only two words will answer that question: bloody sock.

Torre Rejects Yankees' Offer

It's all over the New York and national news today, and it's even upstaged last night's exciting Red Sox win. The Yankees' brass attempted to save face by offering Joe Torre a one-year deal with incentives to remain as manager. It was a 33% pay cut over his previous deal at the base, but he could only make it back if the Yankees went to the World Series.

It was a cheap, petty set-up to try and not fire him. They knew he wanted a multi-year deal and knew he would reject it. They treated him shabbily the last ten days. Torre showed enough class to meet with the Yankee boneheads to reject the offer in person.

By saying no to the Yankees yesterday, Joe Torre got his dignity back. Good for him.

And I think that Vito Spatafore, onetime Sopranos henchman, says it best for Torre here. (My thanks to Joe Gannascoli and his web site for the photo.)

Four Times in 21 Years

The Red Sox are currently in a 3-1 hole in the ALCS against the Indians, so to boost the morale of the troops out there, I thought this would be a good time to review those times when the Red Sox have been down by at least two games or more in a postseason series and have staged miraculous comebacks.

It's happened four times in the last 21 years, and no other team in MLB can make that claim. So please don't pull the shroud over the Sox just yet.

1986 ALCS vs. California Angels (down 1-3): It looked all but over as the Red Sox were down 5-2 in the ninth against Angels starter Mike Witt. Bill Buckner led off the rally (everyone forgets that) and singled, and Don Baylor hit a two-run homer to make it 5-4. Then manager Gene Mauch pulls Witt for Gary Lucas with two outs, and he hits Rich Gedman with his only pitch. He then brings in Donnie Moore to face Dave Henderson. On 2 and 2, Henderson hits one of the most dramatic homers in Red Sox history to give the Red Sox the lead (pictured). California ties it in the ninth, but Hendu's sac fly in the 11th is the game-winner. The Red Sox return home and demolish the Angels and win the AL pennant. It is still one of the greatest and most underappeciated comebacks in MLB history, and only eclipsed by the same Sox team 18 years later.

1999 ALDS vs. Cleveland Indians (down 0-2): After getting pummeled in Game 2 in Cleveland, the Red Sox return home and do some pummelling of their own. They win Game 3 9-3, and in Game 4 set an MLB record by beating the Indians, 23-7 to force the series back to Cleveland. The first few innings are a slugfest, which included a grand slam by Troy O'Leary. With the game tied 8-8 in the fourth, Pedro Martinez comes out of the bullpen and pitches six no-hit innings and place in Red Sox and MLB lore and the Red Sox go on to win, 12-8 and face the Yankees in the ALCS.

2003 ALDS vs. Oakland A's (down 0-2): The Sox drop the first two games in Oakland, and return to Fenway and the A's make a number of base running blunders that keep the Sox in the game. It's tied at 1 until the bottom of the 11th when Trot Nixon hits a two run homer into the centerfield bleachers to send the Fenway Faithful into a frenzy. The next day, the Red Sox come from behind twice, the winner being a two-run double in the eighth by David Ortiz off future Red Sox hero Keith Foulke. Game 5 features all kinds of excitement, from a Manny Ramirez bomb, Pedro Martinez pitching seven gritty innings, a scary collision involving Johnny Damon and Damian Jackson, and Derek Lowe coming out of the pen to strike out Terrence Long with a 3-2 curve with the bases loaded and two outs and a one-run lead. It would set up the latest "War to End All Wars" with the Evil Empire in the ALCS.

2004 ALCS vs. New York Yankees (down 0-3): The stuff of legends. It will told and retold down through the years. 100 years from now, it will still be "The Greatest Comeback in the History of American Sports." You know the events. Dave Roberts steals second and scores the tying run in the ninth on Bill Mueller's single. David Ortiz wins it with a blast. He also wins Game 5 with a single to short center. Curt Schilling and The Bloody Sock gets the Red Sox to Game 7. The Red Sox come out firing in the first inning of Game 7 and embarrass the Yankees and the fans on their own home turf and win their first AL pennant in 18 years and go on to win their first World Series since 1918, and end all of that media-driven "curse" nonsense.

So my friends, recent history has shown that when the Sox have their backs to the wall, they've played some of their best postseason baseball in the last generation. We'll find out what happens tonight, as Josh Beckett gets the ball against C.C. Sabathia. Beckett's been in this same exact position before, as a member of the Florida Marlins, he shutout the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of the 2003 NLCS, as the Marlins were down 3-1 in that series and came all the way back to win the NL pennant (and then the World Series as well).

65 teams in MLB postseason history have been down 3-1, and 10 have come all the way back to win the series, including the Red Sox, on two of those occasions. The last time any team has come back from 3-1 in the postseason? Did you have to ask? The 2004 Red Sox.

It's in their hands now. They have to score some runs for Beckett tonight, and get the ALCS back to Fenway. A loud and raucous crowd will be at Professor Thom's tonight to root them on.

Go for it, guys. The time is now.

Trivia Q&A: October 17

On the off-night in-between games of the ALCS, we had an understandably lighter crowd in Professor Thom's on Wednesday night for Trivia. At first it looked like we might have to cancel it for this week, but fortunately we had enough teams by 9 PM to get going, and we eventually had 10 teams take part.

This may have been one of the best nights ever in terms of teams rolling up points. You can say the questions may have been easier (which I really don't think was true) or the players were much brighter than the usual crowd we get (that's debatable). The toughest category was the Name That Year one, but all the scores were still pretty respectable.

I thought IQ Trivia would be the toughest one overall, as I thought I came up with some really hard questions. But seven of the ten teams got at least 3 of the 5 questions correct. And the team called If You Haven't Heard, Our Teammate Was On WNYC Today won by three points, and they actually led the contest from start to finish. Nice job, guys.

Trivia Night will return to its usual day and time next Tuesday, October 23 at 9 PM.

Current Events
1. President Bush awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama today, and angered this country by doing so.
2. This rap mogul was involved in a fistfight in a Manhattan nightclub last Saturday night, but there is a chance that no charges maybe filed in the case.
3. This TV personality announced yesterday that he is a candidate for President of the United States, and he made the announcement on his own TV show.
4. The LAPD are investigating whether a car crash involving this actor last Friday night was actually a hit-and-run he was involved in.
5. The wife of Vice-President Cheney says that her husband and this presidential candidate are actually distant eighth cousins.
6. Leonid Hurwicz, Eric Maskin, and Roger Myerson all won the Nobel Prize in this field it was announced today.
7. This country recalled its ambassador to the US after the House Committee on Foriegn Affairs passed a resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide.
8. A live-action TV series spinoff is currently in the works based on this extremely successful movie franchise, it was announced yesterday.
9. Oil prices surged to this record price per barrel today.
10. This comedy film, which was just released last Friday, was the number one film in America at the box office for the week.

Answers: 1. China; 2. Sean (Diddy) Combs; 3. Stephen Colbert; 4. Orlando Bloom; 5. Barack Obama; 6. economics; 7. Turkey; 8. "Star Wars;" 9. $89; 10. "Why Did I Get Married."

Name That Year
1. World War I comes to an end.
2. Ronald Reagan is first inaugurated as president.
3. "The Godfather" is first released in theaters.
4. The Berlin Wall is officially torn down.
5. A strike cancels the World Series for the first and only time.
6. The Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sinks.
7. Elvis Presley dies in Memphis at the age of 42.
8. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King are both assassinated.
9. Alan Shepard is the first American in space.
10. Madonna released her first, self-titled album.

Answers: 1. 1918; 2. 1981; 3. 1972; 4. 1989; 5. 1994; 6. 1912; 7. 1977; 8. 1968; 9. 1961; 10. 1983.

True or False ("The Q Train")
1. A pimiento is a type of pepper.
2. According to Greek legend, Gordius, king of Phrygia, devised a famous knot.
3. For over 10 years, best-selling author John Irving also worked as a hotel owner.
4. A mortarboard is worn over the top of the head.
5. In Spanish, the word "pollo" means pork.
6. Paul McCartney never sang the title song for a James Bond film.
7. The Seattle Space Needle appears at the center of the "Starbucks" logo.
8. Pediatricians specialize in treating children.
9. The art of arranging and gluing images and objects to a surface is called collage.
10. Steve Rubell was an owner of a famous New York nightclub called The Copacabana.

Answers: 1. true; 2. true; 3. false, he was a wrestling coach; 4. true; 5. false, it means chicken; 6. false, he sang "Live and Let Die;" 7. false, it's a mermaid-like creature; 8. true; 9. true; 10. false, he owned Studio 54.

General Knowledge
1. What talk show personality appeared in the John Waters films "Hairspray" and "Cry Baby?"
2. Biologist Alfred Kinsey rose to fame in the 1940s for his studies in what field?
3. Joshua Bell is known as a virtuoso of what musical instrument?
4. On the 1980s TV series, "Hart to Hart," what are the first names of the lead characters, the Harts?
5. The Mensheviks were a political party during the revolution in what country?
6. The home movie camera of Abraham Zapruder captured what famous event?
7. In the 1999 animated film, "Tarzan," what actress supplied the voice for the character Jane?
8. What name was given to post-Civil War Northerners who moved South to get involved in politics or business?
9. A fogged-over bathroom mirror is an example of what phenomenon?
10. What kind of creature is a John Dory?

Answers: 1. Ricki Lake; 2. human sexuality; 3. violin; 4. Jonathan and Jennifer; 5. Russia; 6. JFK assassination; 7. Minnie Driver; 8. Carpetbaggers; 9. condensation; 10. fish.

IQ Trivia
1. In German legend, who is the beautiful siren of the Rhine River who lures boatmen to their death? (6 points)
2. Whose famous poem states that "Beauty is truth, truth beauty?" (5 points)
3. The North American Vexillological Association is concerned with what? (5 points)
4. Which US state is the home of the Olympic mountain range? (4 points)
5. In a common phrase about impending disaster, the sword of whom is said to be hanging over your head? (5 points)

Answers: 1. Lorelei; 2. John Keats; 3. flags; 4. Washington; 5. Damocles.

On the Verge of Winter

Well, no room for error now.

Tim Wakefield pitched four solid innings and got into a pitchers duel with Paul Byrd, but the wheels came off in the fifth as he allowed five runs including a Casey Blake home run, as the Indians went on to a 7-3 victory. They are now one win away from going to the World Series for the first time since 1997.

Wakefield was also the victim of some bad luck in that horrible fifth. Kevin Youkilis juggled a foul pop on a tough play that extended an at-bat by Asdrubal Cabrera, who lined a ball off Wakefield's glove. The ball was heading right for Dustin Pedroia, who might have had a shot at a double play. That drove in the second run, and Wakefield eventually departed with the score 3-0 and two on.

Manny Delcarmen didn't look good at all, and gave up a three-run shot to Jhonny Peralta to make it 6-0. One run later it was 7-0 and it looked all but over.

But the Sox finally came alive in the sixth, as Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz hit homers off Byrd, who was then finished for the night. Manny Ramirez then launched a long home run to center off Jensen Lewis. He then went into that stupid "pimping"at home plate, raising his arms in the air like he just won the game (like in Game 2 of the ALDS). As much as I love Manny as a ballplayer, that was a total bullshit thing to do, especially being down by five runs at the time. I am honestly surprised that the next time he was up, Rafael Betancourt didn't put one behind his ear.

Betancourt came on in the seventh and shut the Red Sox down the rest of the way, and now the Sox face elimination on Thursday night with Josh Beckett getting the ball. In many corners of Red Sox Nation, the second guessers are having a field day with Francona's decision to give Beckett more rest instead of going to him on short rest last night. If Wakefield had given the Sox innings and they had won, Francona's a genius. It didn't happen, so now he's probably being called "Francoma" by his critics. He took a calculated risk, and it didn't work.

But let's face the facts here. The starting pitchers have let the Sox down in this series. Neither Curt Schilling nor Daisuke Matsuzaka could give them five innings in their starts, and put the Red Sox into holes. Wakefield had not pitched in 17 days and was terrific for 4 innings. But he also couldn't get them to the sixth either. It is the first time all year that the Red Sox have had three straight games when the starter couldn't finish the fifth inning. Going to Beckett last night would have been seen as a panic move as well.

And the offense has to take some blame here too. Up until the sixth inning last night, they had gone the previous 20 innings and scored just 2 runs. The bottom of the order has not hit when it has counted, and it's also a tribute to the quality pitching of the Indians.

Cleveland has outplayed the Sox in just about every phase of the game in their three wins. It's no accident they are up 3-1 right now. This is a very good Indians team, a team that finished the regular season with the same record as the Red Sox.

But it's not over yet. The Red Sox have been in deep holes in the postseason in their recent history as we all know, so they're not dead yet. But they've got to pitch better and get hits when they really matter.

It won't be easy against this Cleveland team. But they've done it before.

Pick the cliche of your choice. But a loss on Thursday means the next game after that would be next April.

Trivia's On For Tonight

The Red Sox played Game 4 of the ALCS last night, so there is no game to be played tonight. That means that Trivia will be on tonight, and we'll get started at about 9 PM.

We will have the usual four categories, plus a return of "Name That Year." I will give you an event in history and you will tell me what year it occurred in.

Here is tonight's Sneak Peek question:

"A fogged-over bathroom mirror is an example of what phenomenon?"

Hope to see many of you tonight.

Trivia Reminder

Another reminder to all of you Trivia players out there. Trivia Night is scheduled for Wednesday night this week, October 17, due to tonight's Red Sox Game 4 ALCS game. The huge crowds would make it impossible to play tonight, so we moved it. It will return to its normal Tuesday night slot next week.

However, if the game gets rained out tonight, it will be made up tomorrow night, and that would undoubtedly cancel Trivia for this week. But hopefully they will get the game in (there is a chance of rain for Cleveland for tonight) and everything will fall into place.

I will have the Sneak Peek question up some time later tonight or early tomorrow, along with my next update.

21 Out of 22

The Colorado Rockies continued their Magic Carpet Ride last night at Coors Field as they won their first National League Championship with a 6-4 win over Arizona and a sweep of their series. Congratulations to them and their fans.

It's a team just refuses to lose and finds a way to win every time out. They have now won 21 of their last 22 games, the last loss was ironically at home to Arizona on September 28 that gave the Diamondbacks the NL West title (and it was the same night the Red Sox wrapped up the AL East).

And if the Rockies do win the whole schebang, they should vote a special full share to Tony Gwynn, Jr. He had the hit that kept the Rockies playoff hopes alive on September 29, as he tied a game for the Brewers that day against his dad's old team, the Padres, with two outs in the ninth, and Milwaukee went on to win that contest in extra innings. They won again the next day and that set up the one-game playoff in Colorado and set the Rockies on their way.

The Rockies are getting that cliched term "Team of Destiny" put on them. But wrapping the NLCS so quickly might actually be to their disadvantage, as they will now get 9 days off before the World Series begins, which is a week from tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if the long layoff hurts a red-hot team such as them.

The Diamondbacks had a great season, and like the Rockies are a young and talented team that should be in the hunt for the NL title for years to come. But they could not overcome the Colorado steamroller.

And the Red Sox 2004 historic comeback from 0-3 remains unchallenged.

Rain Wouldn't Be a Bad Thing

Daisuke Matsuzaka came up lemons again in his second straight postseason start last night, going 4 2/3 innings and gave up 4 earned runs as the Red Sox find themselves in a 2-1 hole in the ALCS as the Indians prevailed, 4-2.

The Red Sox sleepwalked through this one against Jake Westbrook, who the Sox had hit better than .380 against in 2007. Kudos to Westbrook, who pitched a terrific game as his sinker was working beautifully. But the Red Sox had a golden chance to put the hurt on him early, but like too many times in 2007, they let a great opportunity go to waste. They wound up hitting into three DPs, and Jason Varitek's two-run shot in the seventh got the score back to 4-2, but they did absolutely nothing after that.

With bases loaded and no outs in the second, Jason Varitek hit a short fly to left that Manny Ramirez could not score on. And then Coco Crisp rapped into a double play to kill the inning. Kenny Lofton hit a two-run homer off Matsuzaka to make the second inning that much more painful.

But one of the bigger stories of the night was the absolutely absymal home plate umpiring on the part of Brian Gorman. The guy's strike zone was about 10 feet across the plate. He called strikes on both teams that were clearly balls, and the most memorable one was a 3-0 inside fastball on Manny Ramirez with a man on in the sixth. Manny eventually hit into a double play to kill yet another inning. But it might have been a far different inning had Gorman called that pitch ball four.

I've said this before and I'll keep on saying it. The umpiring is in the worst shape I have ever seen in my entire life as a baseball fan, and MLB really needs to do something about it. I have never seen more blown calls than in 2007. They have to weed out incompetents like Gorman and get the standard back up again. Being an umpire shouldn't be a lifetime position, like being pope or a Supreme Court justice. Gorman should be ashamed of the game he called last night. It was beyond putrid.

Now the Red Sox HAVE to win tonight in Cleveland. Terry Francona is giving the ball to Tim Wakefield, who has not pitched since September 29. Tito has earned my trust as a manager, especially in the postseason. He showing faith in Wake, who's always been a team guy. But he's passing on Josh Beckett on three days rest. Tonight in Cleveland, the forecast is for rain and possible thunderstorms. So right now, a rainout today may not be the worst thing for the Red Sox, as Game 4 would be played tomorrow night, and Beckett could be brought back on normal rest, and be available on three days rest for a Game 7 on Sunday.

But if they do play tonight, they have to hit Paul Byrd, Cleveland's starter, early and get some runs for Wakefield and take the pressure off him. Otherwise, they could find themselves in big trouble. They need a much better effort tonight, assuming Mother Nature does cooperate.

A Superstar in the Making

In just his fifth professional football game, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson had one of the greatest days any professional football player has ever had yesterday. And I went to a friend's house on Long Island and missed the whole thing.

He set a Vikings record with 224 yards rushing, breaking Chuck Foreman's 1976 team record of 200 yards against the Eagles. He scored three TDs of runs of 67, 73 and 35 yards. He also had the third greatest game in terms of all-purpose yards, and it was the most rushing yards any back has ever had against the Chicago Bears in any game in their history. Peterson now has the second most yards in history for a running back after his first five pro games, with only Eric Dickerson gaining more in that short a time.

Despite all of Peterson's heroics, the Vikings needed a 55-yard field goal from Ryan Longwell with 4 seconds left to win it, 34-31. The defense got torched for two Chicago TDs in the final minutes to tie the game at 31. But Peterson took the kickoff after the last TD and returned it 55 yards and that set up Longwell's game-winner. The Vikings are now 2-3, and play the Cowboys in Dallas next Sunday. (And I will be watching!)

It was nothing short of a spectacular game. Every score on the day, either TD or FG, was at least 30 yards or more. Tavaris Jackson passed for just 133 yards, but he threw a 60-yard TD pass to Troy Williamson for the first Vikings score in the first quarter.

But it was a day for the ages for Peterson, who has clearly taken the number one running back position away from Chester Taylor. They have to be careful with Peterson, but he looks like a lock for Rookie of the Year right now.

It Never, Ever Gets Old

In the ninth inning of last night's Game 3 of the NLCS, the Colorado Rockies were one out away from a victory (which they got, 4-1) over the Arizona Diamondbacks. A graphic popped up on the screen.

It is the everlasting legacy of three Octobers ago.

"Only once in 29 postseason series has a team come back from being 0-3 down to win. (Bos vs. NYY 2004 ALCS)"

However, in today's NY Post, I think writer Mark Hale's a little confused. He wrote:

"Barring a Mets-like collapse, the Rockies will play Game 1 in Cleveland or Boston next Wednesday night."

You're confusing your New York teams, aren't you Mark? I think it was the Yankees who collapsed in spectacular (postseason) style three years ago, no?

Anyway, it just never gets old. Good luck to the D-Backs. They're going to need it.

Someone might want to show them a copy of the 2004 World Series video today.

When Bullpen Arsonists Strike

OK, it won't be a sweep.

An epic postseason game turned really ugly in the wee hours this morning, as the old friend Trot Nixon broke a 6-6 tie in the eleventh inning as the Cleveland Indians scored seven runs in the inning and knotted the ALCS at one with a 13-6 win.

It was a night when the starting pitchers didn't last until the fifth, and it would be a battle of the bullpens. Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell both hit homers for the Sox in back-to-back fashion, and Grady Sizemore and Jhonny Peralta both connected for Cleveland.

At first the Red Sox pen did a fine job. Manny Delcarmen gave up a run in the sixth that tied it, but Hideki Okajima, Mike Timlin and Jonathan Papelbon shut Cleveland down through the tenth inning. Then, Terry Francona had a tough decision to make. At the time I thought it was the right one.

At Professor Thom's, the overflow crowd generally moaned at the sight of Eric Gagne coming in for the 11th. He started off strong by fanning Casey Blake. But Sizemore singled and he walked Asdrubal Cabrera on four pitches. This left Francona no choice but to go to Javier Lopez to face pinch-hitter Trot Nixon. As everyone knows, Trot has a tough time with lefties (his lifetime average versus southpaws is .218), but jumped on the first pitch and singled in Sizemore.

And it got truly ugly from there. Lopez wound up giving up three runs and Jon Lester gave up a mammoth three-run shot to Franklin Gutierrez to complete the carnage, and send the series back to Cleveland.

And at the bar, as it got ugly in Boston, it nearly got ugly at Thom's too. Two obnoxious Yankee fans (or anti-Red Sox fans) nearly started two fights, as the Red Sox throng was pretty pissed off at the turn of events. They got a "We're Still Playing" chant from us. (I'll never get these idiotic fans. They have their choice of 5,000 bars in Manhattan to watch games like this and not have to worry about Sox fans, and yet some can't resist coming in and making trouble with Red Sox fans, many of whom have had more than a few adult beverages. Fortunately, no punches were thrown in either incident, just some pushing and shoving, and the staff acted quickly to diffuse the trouble.)

I'd also like anyone to give me one good reason why Eric Gagne should be on the World Series roster should the Sox advance. He couldn't resist doing his tightrope act in Game 1, as the Sox led by 7 in the ninth on Friday and he struggled, and last night he began the inferno that led to a full scale five-alarm fire that wound up evening the series. It was clear last night Tito has no faith in him and only went to him in desperation. I only hope we don't see him with a ball in his hand in any kind of close situation in this postseason again.

They Can't Let the Yankees Go

I saw an article today in the New York Daily News today by John Harper, who is another of the New York sportswriters I really have no use for. And of course, being based here in NYC, he's got to write something in regard to the Yankees not being in the ALCS.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2007/10/13/2007-10-13_indians_cant_bring_that_yankee_buzz_to_f.html

In"The Feeling at Fenway Fails to Rival Buzz that Bombers Bring," Harper seems to think that somehow we are all thanking our lucky stars as Red Sox fans that the Big, Bad Evil Empire isn't playing the Red Sox in the ALCS, as "our fatalism" would kick in and we'd expect the Sox just to roll over and die.

Am I glad the Yankees aren't playing now? Yes I am. But for reasons that drive fans crazy, like the endless hype and crap from hack writers like Harper and all the nonsense that Fox would roll out about it (you know, all the history between the two teams, always mentioning those guys with middle initial "F", blah, blah, blah). Listen, I'm sure there's a sense of relief from many Red Sox fans that the Yankees are history, but this is a damn good Cleveland Indians team and they aren't to be taken lightly. And like many in Red Sox Nation, those two ALCS showdowns earlier this decade were incredibly exciting, especially in 2004. But I'd rather not have to go through that again. Right now I'm glad to see the Sox in a series with the Indians, so we can concentrate on baseball, and not the endless sidebar palaver that comes with playing the Yankees.

It's a pleasure to watch baseball right now, especially since the Red Sox are winning, and not have to deal with all the Yankees nonsense. Especially from sportswriters.

I know that not having the Yankees around in this series gives writers less of an angle to their stories, but frankly, that's their problem. Too damn bad that the Red Sox-Indians series isn't "sexy" enough for these so-called writers. The Sox and Tribe are only the two best teams in baseball for the entire 2007 season.

And a newsflash to those writers like Harper: the Yankees weren't good enough to beat the Indians, and weren't good enough when it counted. They are home playing golf right now. Get over it.

Romp

I predicted before the start of last night's Red Sox-Indians ALCS opener at Fenway that it would be a close contest, a 2-1 or 3-2 game. After all it was a matchup of the two best pitchers in the AL this year, Josh Beckett and C.C. Sabathia.

So much for that pitchers duel.

It turned out to be no contest, as the Red Sox whacked Sabathia for 8 runs in 4+ innings and coasted into a 10-3 win. Beckett was terrific, allowing just two runs in six innings while striking out eight. He allowed a home run to Travis Hafner in the first, but also struck out the side in the inning. That's when I knew he was going to be fine.

And Commander Kick Ass has passed Roger Clemens on the all-time list of Red Sox postseason wins, with two. And in just his first two Red Sox starts. (So which of these two has more heart and guts when the Red Sox have a big game in the postseason? I think that answer is obvious.)

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez have just been superb in the postseason so far, and last night was no exception. They both reached base all five times each of them were up. Manny has reached base in 11 of his last 12 plate appearances, and Papi 16 of his last 18, and he is hitting .778 in this postseason. Talk about smoking hot.

Mike Lowell drove in three runs, and Bobby Kielty and Jason Varitek each had two RBIs, to add to the Manny/Papi attack. Just about everyone in the Red Sox lineup is hitting right now, and at the right time. (Dustin Pedroia and Coco Crisp are struggling a bit, but have done things to help the offense as well as the defense.)

It was a noisy night at Professor Thom's watching the game with a crowd of wall-to-wall Red Sox supporters. And it figures to be another one tonight, as Curt Schilling goes for his 10th career postseason win against Fausto Carmona, the Indians 19-game winner this season.

In Today's Daily News

A couple of days ago, I left a question on this site to that former Mets fan/traitor, Adam Sommers, who decided to become a Yankee fan after the Mets collapsed coming down the stretch. On a lark, I also emailed it to the New York Daily News' "Voice of the People" letters column. And guess what? It is in today's paper, the second letter in the first column. (My media empire continues to expand!)

Here it is:

Just asking
Brooklyn: To editor/writer/Yankee convert Adam Sommers: Have you become a Red Sox fan now?

John Quinn

My thanks to the Daily News for printing my letter word-for-word.

Bowling With Beckett

Here's another Boston.tv video, sent to me by Joe of Boston.tv. This one is of Josh Beckett and a recent bowling event he had back on September 13. It was done in support of the Josh Beckett Foundation, which benefits children's charities.

It's a cool video, and a number of celebrities are there, and my friend Bill Lee makes an appearance too.

Questions For Clay

I got an interesting email from Aaron, the webmaster of Clay Buchholz' blog yesterday, "BuchWild." I was asked by Aaron to ask my readers out there on the 'Net to please send me questions for Clay, as they will be doing a live interview with him in the near future. The interview will be recorded, and will be available on many outlets, including YouTube.

So if any of you have a question for the Red Sox phenom, either leave it in my comments section, or leave me an email at: jbq1462@hotmail.com, and I will forward it on to Aaron. I will include the questioner's name and location along with their query.

Just Curious

To NY Daily News Editor/Writer/Yankee convert Adam Sommers, who abandoned the Mets (and made a really big deal about it in his paper afterwards) after their stunning fall a couple of weeks ago:

Have you become a Red Sox fan by now?
http://quinnmedia.blogspot.com/2007/10/good-riddance-turncoat.html

And by the way, I wonder what happened to that woman, an author if I remember, who basically "divorced" the Yankees back when they were under .500 in May and seemingly going nowhere? It was another "big deal" sidebar story in one of the papers when New York was going bad. I have to believe she took them back when they started beating up on lousy pitching and winning games, and probably used the "temporary insanity" defense when she returned to the fold. (I wonder what she's thinking of them now?)

Some people will do anything for publicity.

Trivia Q&A: October 9

We had 9 teams in for Trivia Night on Tuesday. It was a rather slow night due to the rain and the fact there were no baseball or football games to bring more patrons in. But we still had an enjoyable round of Trivia nevertheless.

Presidential Nicknames Trivia actually went down rather well, as most teams did pretty respectably, and one had a perfect score. We were finally able to have a full five round contest, after two weeks of having to cut the games short. It was close going into the final round, but previous winners I Wish This Microphone... came from three points down and wound up winning by two points.

Once again a reminder about next week. Because there will be a Game 4 of the ALCS next Tuesday night (and a huge throng of Red Sox fans will be in attendance at Thom's), Trivia Night will be moved to Wednesday, October 17, at 9 PM. It will once again go back to Tuesday again the following week.

Current Events
1. One person died and over 200 people were treated for exhaustion during the running of a marathon in this American city on Sunday.
2. British PM Gordon Brown announced that the UK troop numbers in Iraq will be cut in half to this number by next spring.
3. On Monday, Mario Capecchi, Martin Evans and Oliver Smithies were all awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in this field.
4. Pervez Musharraf won elections to remain president of this Asian country, but the legality of his candidacy is still to be determined.
5. A sheriff's deputy killed six people in this Midwestern state on Sunday before killing himself after a manhunt.
6. This blonde bombshell got married for the third time this past weekend in Las Vegas to man who once made a sex videotape with Paris Hilton.
7. Vandals punched a four inch hole in a Claude Monet painting in a museum in this European city last week.
8. This college football team, a 40-point favorite, were upset by Stanford, 24-23 at home last Saturday night.
9. This Disney comedy was the number one film in the US again this past week, taking in over $16 million.
10. A new book written about this famous late comic-strip writer has painted him as a depressed, cold and bitter man despite his worldwide fame.

Answers: 1. Chicago; 2. 2,500; 3. medicine; 4. Pakistan; 5. Wisconsin; 6. Pamela Anderson; 7. Paris; 8. USC Trojans; 9. "The Game Plan;" 10. Charles Schulz.

Presidential Nicknames
1."The Rough Rider"
2. "The Accidental President"
3. "The Sage of Mt. Vernon"
4. "Old Hickory"
5. "The New Dealer"
6. "The Rail Splitter"
7. "Bubba"
8. "Old Tippecanoe"
9. "Unconditional Surrender"
10. "The Great Communicator"

Answers: 1. Teddy Roosevelt; 2. Gerald Ford; 3. George Washington; 4. Andrew Jackson; 5. Franklin D. Roosevelt; 6. Abraham Lincoln; 7. Bill Clinton; 8. William Henry Harrison; 9. Ulysses S. Grant; 10. Ronald Reagan.

True or False ("The Q Train")
1. The part of an orange known as the "zest" is the peel.
2. The filaments of most incandescent light bulbs are made of titanium.
3. The grooves on the top of a Phillips head screw form a cross.
4. The US Air Force Academy is located in Biloxi, Mississippi.
5. Naan is a traditional bread of India.
6. Robert Ludlum created the fictional detective Mike Hammer.
7. The Declaration of Independence begins with the words, "We the People."
8. Lake Powell, Lake Mead, and Lake Havasu are all reservoirs along the Colorado River.
9. Only 12 men ever set foot on the moon.
10. The Brooklyn Bridge took over 14 years to complete.

Answers: 1. true; 2. false, tungsten; 3. true; 4. false, it's in Colorado Springs, CO; 5. true; 6. false, Mickey Spillane did; 7. false, it's the start of the US Constitution; 8. true; 9. true; 10. true.

General Knowledge
1. A popular series of inspirational books offers up what food "For the Soul?"
2. Someone performing a "sun salutation" or a "downward facing dog" is engaged in what activity?
3. Where is the so-called "Borscht Belt?"
4. What sketch comedy TV show featured the catch phrase "two snaps up?"
5. American Eric Heiden won Olympic Gold medals in what sport?
6. The music video for what Madonna song mimics a scene from the 1953 film, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes?"
7. Pieces of what US space station crashed to Earth in 1979?
8. What three-digit exchange is most commonly used for fake telephone numbers mentioned on TV?
9. Who was president of the United States during World War I?
10. What fruit contains an enzyme that is used as a meat tenderizer?

Answers: 1. Chicken soup; 2. yoga; 3. The Catskills; 4. "In Living Color;" 5. speed skating; 6. "Material Girl;" 7. Skylab; 8. 555; 9. Woodrow Wilson; 10. papaya.

IQ Trivia
1. What is the word for "a ring of coral islands that surrounds a lagoon?"(5 points)
2. In the book and the movie, "The Talented Mr. Ripley," what is Mr. Ripley's first name? (5 points)
3. Of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin, which one signed both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution? (4 points)
4. A statue of what Hans Christian Andersen character sits along Copenhagen's harbor? (6 points)
5. Which rock star was born Brian Warner? (5 points)

Answers: 1. atoll; 2. Thomas; 3. Ben Franklin; 4. The Little Mermaid; 5. Marilyn Manson.

Since October 17, 2004

The numbers don't lie.

Since Dave Roberts stole second base in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the ALCS on October 17, 2004 (pictured), here are the overall numbers regarding the Red Sox and Yankees in the postseason.

Red Sox: 11 wins, 3 losses, 3 series wins, 1 American League pennant, 1 World Series championship.

Yankees: 4 wins, 13 losses, no series wins, no American League pennants, no World Series championships.

You may also have noticed that in three of the last five years, three visiting teams (2003 Marlins, 2004 Red Sox and 2007 Indians) have all won postseason series on the "hallowed turf" that is Yankee Stadium. (And Jorge Posada has made the final out in two of them.)

Happy Birthday John

Today would have been John Lennon's 67th birthday.

He was a great man, a man of love and peace. He will forever be missed by those who loved not only his music, but the man himself.

I never got to meet him, but I feel like I always knew him. His music will live forever.

There are places I remember all my life,
Though some have changed,
Some forever, not for better,
Some have gone and some remain.

All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall.
Some are dead and some are living.
In my life I've loved them all.

But of all these friends and lovers,
There is no one compares with you,
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new.

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before,
I know I'll often stop and think about them,
In my life I'll love you more.

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before,
I know I'll often stop and think about them,
In my life I'll love you more.
In my life I'll love you more.

We all hope you have a wonderful birthday, John. Wherever you might be.

Presidential Nicknames Tonight

Trivia Night returns tonight at 9 PM at Professor Thom's. The Red Sox open their ALCS series against the Indians on Friday night, so there will be no baseball to contend with. We will be having the usual four categories, plus a special category called "Presidential Nicknames." I will give you the nickname of a famous U.S. president and you have to tell me who it is.

Here is the Sneak Peek question for tonight's Trivia:
"What three digit exchange is most commonly used for fake telephone numbers mentioned on TV?"

Next week we will be having a change in the Trivia schedule. Because next Tuesday, October 16, is Game 4 of the ALCS, we will be having Trivia Night the next night, Wednesday, October 17. (That is scheduled to be an off-day if the series is still going.) So please mark your calendars, and I hope to see many of you tonight!

Bring On the Tribe!

The Cleveland Indians, the AL Central winners, advanced to the American League Championship Series tonight, as they beat the Yankees, 6-4 at Yankee Stadium. They will meet the Red Sox in a best-of-seven for the right to go to the World Series starting on Friday night at Fenway Park.

This series was a classic example of what I have been saying all year: the team with best pitching wins in the postseason. Chien-Ming Wang, who was pitching on three days rest for the first time in his career, couldn't get out of the second inning, giving up four runs and was gone. He was supposed to be the Yankees best pitcher, but gave them two miserable starts. (So you can't blame all of this on Alex Rodriguez, even though he didn't exactly light up the scoreboard in this series.) Paul Byrd pitched five good innings for Cleveland, allowing two runs and getting the win.

It's now seven years and counting that the boys in The Bronx have not won a championship.

Grady Sizemore led off the game with a home run, and the Indians were off to the races. The Indians clearly had superior pitching to New York, in both the bullpen and rotation. You can put an All-Star at every position, but if you don't pitch, you don't win. It's as simple as that.

The Yankees have now gone out in the Division Series for the third consecutive season, so once again, a team with a $200 million+ payroll comes up short. (For those of you scoring at home, the Yankees, since the 19-8 win over the Red Sox in Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS, are now 4-13 in the postseason.) Changes are on the horizon for them. All the speculation will be on the futures of Joe Torre, Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens. I bet you see a very different team there next year.

So now, it's the Indians and Red Sox, starting on Friday night. It should be a great series, and I'll really enjoy watching this one. Congratulations to the Indians and their fans.

See you at the Fens on Friday.

So What Really Happened?

The story that made news last week about the Red Sox fan who was brutally attacked by two Yankee fans last week took an interesting twist yesterday.

A Yonkers detective says that the man, Carlos Ortez, was NOT attacked because he was Red Sox fan. He said that Ortez confronted one of the men arrested, Duane Somers, outside the hotel after the game and they got into an argument and a fight ensued. Somers claims that Ortez threw the first punch. Somers wouldn't say exactly what the argument was about. Ortez got the worst of it, and is still in the hospital with multiple facial injuries.

Somers claims he's not a Yankee fan, or even a baseball fan, in a phone interview yesterday.

I'm sure there's more to this story that will come out soon.

Two More Celebrations to Go

It was a scene of jubilation at the visitors clubhouse at Angel Stadium, as well as Professor Thom's pub yesterday, as the Red Sox rolled the LA Angels, 9-1, and booked a spot, as well as home field advantage, in the 2007 American League Championship Series.

It was the ninth straight win by the Red Sox over the Angels in the postseason, tying a current record. The streak began in Game 5 of the 1986 ALCS, when Dave Henderson hit his memorable ninth inning home run to start the Red Sox amazing comeback in that series.

Curt Schilling once again proved what a big time money pitcher he is as he pitched seven strong innings, as the Red Sox blew the game open in the eighth with seven runs. They will open the ALCS on Friday at Fenway.

It was a scoreless game until the fourth when both David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez hit mammoth home runs off Jered Weaver to put the Red Sox on their way. Incredibly, it was the first time they had gone back-to-back this season. It remained that score until Schilling struck out Jeff Mathis to end the seventh and his day.

Schilling allowed just six hits to an Angels team that was really banged up and could barely put up any kind of a fight. They clearly need another big bat in the middle of their order (Alex Rodriguez?), as the Red Sox pitching just dominated them this entire series, as they hit just .192 in the ALDS.

I did my own kind of celebrating as well, as I got a little "overserved" last night. Heck, it was time to let our hair down and enjoy the day. For the second time in three days, there was some wild celebrating at the bar. (Photos of me celebrating maybe coming here soon.) This is a terrific Red Sox team that is clicking on all cylinders right now, in all phases of the game. Bring on the Indians or (heaven forbid) the Yankees!

Texas Con Man Wimps Out Again

This was a big shock, huh?

Once again, Roger Clemens comes up small when it counts: in big, postseason games. I said before last night's game that he was on a very short lease, as the Yankees' season was on the line. By the third inning last night, Joe Torre had no choice but to yank his starter, as not only their season, but Torre's job was on the line. Allegedly, his hamstring was acting up again when he left the game. But he sure looked like he had nothing.

Compare his start with that of Curt Schilling's yesterday. Now there is a true money pitcher, in every sense of the word.

The Yankees rallied to win and bailed Clemens' ass out yet again. Boy, he really has been worth that pro-rated $28 million, eh? Talk about stealing a team's money with both hands. But it was New York's money, and they were desperate enough to give into his demands.

I really hope this pathetic dog-and-pony show with The Traitor is finally over, and he has the decency to finally, for once and for all, retire. But of course, Clemens is all about one thing: money. But I seriously can't imagine they would give him anything close to the type of money he'd probably want, if the Yankees have any interest at all in bringing him back.

It will be interesting to see if The Texas Con Man can sucker some other team out there with his BS demands. He had his chance to have his career go full circle, to return to Boston, but obviously his legacy means nothing to him. (And thank God he didn't go back to the Red Sox.)

Just whichever sucker he can swindle a huge paycheck he clearly doesn't deserve.

Hallelujah

If I had told you that Notre Dame, a 22-point underdog at UCLA, would win tonight, while USC, a 40-point favorite at home against Stanford, would lose, would you have had me committed?

Final scores:
Notre Dame 20, UCLA 6
Stanford 24, USC 23

Praise Touchdown Jesus, the long national nightmare is over. Notre Dame will not go winless in 2007. I didn't see the game tonight, as ABC didn't broadcast the game in NYC, but instead showed Ohio State-Purdue. I'm just glad ND is in the win column, finally.

This has been one wacky college football season.

Manny Brings Back Fond Memories

It was a truly exciting night at not only Fenway Park, but at Professor Thom's pub, as the Red Sox won a thrilling 6-3 game over the Los Angeles Angels and now have a commanding 2-0 lead in the ALDS.

Manny Ramirez hit a three-run home run, a bomb over everything in left to give the Sox the win and send the bar into an absolute frenzy. It was Manny's first "walkoff" home run since September 1996. (Boy that is so hard to believe.)

It was a tough night for Daisuke Matsuzaka, as he struggled early. He allowed three runs in the second (his usual "tough" one inning), and Terry Francona rightly pulled him in the fifth and turned it over to his bullpen. The pen was simply superb, not allowing the Angels a hit the rest of the game.

In the fifth, the Sox got an assist from the stands. With two on and one out and down 3-2, Manny Ramirez hit a foul pop that was landing just inside the first base temporary boxes. Catcher Jeff Mathis reached in, but Red Sox fan Danny Vinik snatched the ball away from him to keep Manny's at-bat alive. (In today's papers, I've been reading comparisons to Jeffrey Maier, that kid who helped the Yankees win that ALDS game in 1996. Ridiculous. Maier blatantly interfered and the Yankees got away with it, the young fan last night had every right to that ball, and didn't reach out on to the field and interfere.) The fan got a huge ovation (both at Fenway and at Thom's) and Manny walked, and the Sox tied it on Mike Lowell's sac fly.

(BTW, the Sox were lucky this was a postseason game, as had the temporary seats not been there that Mathis reached into which were only there because it was the postseason, he would have easily caught that ball.)

It then turned into a battle of the bullpens. At Thom's there seemed to be a feeling of confidence among the patrons. The bar was once again jammed, and just as crowded, if not more than Wednesday night. I just had that feeling when David Ortiz was walked intentionally for the second time in the ninth. You can tempt fate just so many times. Manny unloaded on Francisco Rodriguez' second pitch, one that caught too much of the plate, and the bar went absolutely stir crazy. My friends and I were high-fiving and hugging, and for a good five minutes it was sheer bedlam. It brought back wonderful memories of the glorious 2004 postseason.

The Red Sox are now in the driver's seat, and Curt Schilling will attempt to complete the sweep in Anaheim on Sunday afternoon.

Bug House

Bughouse:
–noun

1.	an insane asylum.

–adjective

2.	insane; crazy

---Dictionary.com

It was an incredibly surreal and crazy scene at Jacobs Field on Friday night as a swarm of gnats made their way to the field during the eighth inning of Game 2 of the ALDS. Yankee players were shown trying to combat the invasion by spraying themselves with Off! and other kinds of bug spray.

The bugs may have assisted, but Joba Chamberlain issued a wild pitch that scored Grady Sizemore with the tying run in that inning to knot the game at 1. (Both teams had to play in that swarm.) The Indians had been leaving runners in scoring position all game, and it finally took a wild pitch to get them on the board.

It was a great pitchers' duel between Fausto Carmona and Andy Pettitte. Carmona pitched nine fabulous innings, and left with a no-decision. I'm sure it will escape no one's notice that Alex Rodriguez has gone 0-for-6 with two walks in the first two games, and since hit home run off Derek Lowe in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, he is 4-for-50. But of course, he is not the only Yankee not hitting now, as the Indians pitching has been sensational the first two games. Rodriguez also struck out three times last night. (I bet the Yankee Stadium boo-birds will be out in full force if things continue to go wrong with him tomorrow. The MVP-type season he's had will be quickly a memory.)

The Indians finally pulled it out in the eleventh, as Travis Hafner singled with the bases loaded to win it, 2-1. They are now up 2-0 in the series and can sweep the series on Sunday night. The Yankees now have to rely on Roger Clemens, who has not pitched in three weeks.

I couldn't help noting the irony of what happened at Jacobs Field on Friday.
The Mets were done in by the Nats last week.
The Yankees were done in by the gnats last night.

Red Sox Fan Attacked in Yonkers

I saw a story in the New York Post this morning (but curiously not in the Daily News), a rather disturbing story about an encounter between some Red Sox and Yankee fans in Yonkers on Wednesday night.

A man from Massachusetts named Carlos Ortez was in a bar at a Ramada Hotel with a friend when two Yankee fans from Pennsylvania started in on Ortez, who was wearing a Red Sox hat and shirt. They asked him if he any "pride in Boston." They ignored the Yankee fans, and eventually left the bar after midnight.

The two taunters went after Ortez after he left the bar and attacked him, and he was severely injured and is in the hospital. The two thugs were arrested shortly after the attack, and are being charged with second degree assault.

Unbelievable. I hope they toss the book at these two assholes. This brought back memories for me of an incident last year, when a friend of mine and I were in a restaurant and encountered a drunk Yankee fan who was pissed off and looking for a fight. He saw the Sox shirt I was wearing and hassled my friend and I. He knocked my friend down and cut him, and clipped me across the face before he ran off. He was a complete asshole, and like these two morons in Yonkers, reinforces every negative stereotype of Yankee fans. I'm sure all the good Yankee fans are thoroughly disgusted and embarrassed by this incident.

All the best to Carlos Ortez. Get well soon. You're in the prayers of all Red Sox fans.

Small Consolation For Mets Fans

Yesterday's Division Series results had to bring some small comfort to fans of the New York Mets, who are still trying to get over the horrid late-season collapse they suffered.

The Phillies put themselves in an 0-2 hole in their series with the Colorado Rockies, as they were trounced, 10-5, at Citizens Bank Park. Ex-Met Kaz Matsui had a double, triple and a home run in pacing the Colorado attack. Matsui became just the second player in history to turn that trick in the postseason. (Lou Brock was the other.)

The Rockies can now book a place in the NLCS with a win on Saturday night at Coors Field.

The Yankees got plastered at Jacobs Field last night by the Indians, 12-3. Their best pitcher, Chien-Ming Wang didn't last five innings, and put the Yankees in a hole they could not crawl out of. (Some difference between him and Josh Beckett's sterling performance of Wednesday night. Anyone who puts Wang in the same breath with Beckett as far as the Cy Young Award has absolutely no idea what they are talking about.)

The New York 2-3-4-5 hitters were absent last night, going 0-for-14. And yes, Alex Rodriguez went hitless again, but I don't think you can blame this loss on him. C.C. Sabathia was rather shaky last night, but survived five innings and got the win. The Indians hit 4 home runs, and coasted to an easy Game 1 win.

As for the Cubs, they are in the same boat as the Phillies, but now they head home down 0-2 to the Arizona Diamondbacks, after losing 8-4 in Phoenix last night. No room for error now. One more loss in this series and it will be 99 consecutive seasons without a World Series championship.

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

It was announced today that Jerry Remy has been elected President of Red Sox Nation, and it wasn't even close. The Interim President received over 39,000 votes out of 70,000 cast and far outdistanced second place Rob Crawford by over 26,000 votes.

All hail the new Prez!

And what will the RemDawg be like on telecasts next season??

Beckett Matches Clemens

Josh Beckett was simply sensational on Wednesday night in opening the ALDS at Fenway Park against the Los Angeles Angels. He allowed just four hits in pitching a complete game shutout as the Red Sox won, 4-0.

There was a massive throng of folks at Professor Thom's to root on their heroes. It was as crowded as I have ever seen it at the bar for the first Red Sox postseason game at the New York City Red Sox fan haven.

Beckett pitched a better game than the one he pitched in 2003 to give the Florida Marlins the World Series title in 2003, the Game 6 shutout victory over the Yankees. He was never in trouble the entire night, as the Angels only got a man to third once, in the first inning.

Kevin Youkilis hit a homer in the first, and David Ortiz added a two-run shot in the third to pace the Red Sox attack against John Lackey, who lost at Fenway for the third time this year.

The win puts the Red Sox into the driver's seat as far as the series goes, and Daisuke Matsuzaka will try to put the Sox up 2-0 on Friday night. And I would guess there will be an even bigger crowd at the bar once again. (So get there early by all means!)

And oh yes, how did Beckett match Roger Clemens on Wednesday night? He tied him on the all-time Red Sox list of victories in the postseason by a pitcher. Yes, tied him with one. Clemens, the so-called "greatest pitcher of all-time" by some pundits, won a grand total of ONE game in five postseason series with the Red Sox.

And it took Josh Beckett, aka "Commander Kick Ass," just one postseason start to match him.

A Two-Time Champion

I didn't get a chance to write about it earlier, but my fantasy baseball teams completed their seasons on Sunday. I was in three leagues, two with ESPN and one with Yahoo.

I made the playoffs in my Yahoo league, and I just missed getting a first-round bye, as I finished in third, instead of first or second. I had a bad week in the first round playoff, as three key players went down, and I got knocked out. Crap happens.

But I fared far better in my ESPN leagues. I was in a 12-team league and for most of the year, I was languishing in eighth or ninth place. By August, it didn't look like I had any shot at a playoff berth, as I had to finish at least in fourth. But my team, the Hoboken Zephyrs, got hot, courtesy of great stretches by David Ortiz, Ichiro Suzuki, Dustin Pedroia and Brandon Webb. On the last week of the regular season, I got into the fourth place and a spot in the playoffs.

On my other team, the Liverpool Red Sox, it was a ten-team league with a smaller roster (20 players instead of 25 on my other). This team I dominated almost the entire season. I got into first overall by the All-Star break and stayed there.

I breezed through the first round of playoffs, which was the next-to-last week of the regular season. That meant I was in the championship round in both leagues. And lo and behold, I had another easy time in both rounds. In my ten-team league, I went 8-0-2, and in my twelve-team league, I went 7-4-1 to capture both crowns.

I've been in ESPN fantasy baseball since 2001, and this is the first time I've won a league title since that first year. Yep, the drought is over. I captured not one, but two crowns this year.

It'll be tough to top that in 2008.

Trivia Q&A: October 2

There were 11 teams for Trivia on Tuesday night, and it got off to a rather inauspicious start. We had problems with Professor Thom's sound system, and the sound continued to go on and off. We got going a few minutes late, and we managed to get throught the first round OK. But when I started to read off the Current Events answers, the sound was nearly gone, and I thought we'd have to bag Trivia Night last night.

But when I started to explain the problems, most of the bar patrons wanted me to continue with contest, even without the mic and sound system. So we decided to try something I'd never done before: I would read the questions to the players from in front of my usual place with the microphone. And the players all agreed to be quiet so I could be heard by everyone in the bar.

It turned out to be a success. Everyone respected my need to be heard by all, and my voice carried enough so everyone could hear me. (I had to raise my voice slightly, but fortunately, I wasn't yelling.) I also decided that because of all the starting and stopping, we would do only four categories. (True or False Trivia was bumped for the second consecutive week.)

As for the game, New England Trivia saw about the lowest scores I have ever seen in all the time I've been doing Trivia. (The highest score anyone got was 5.) But almost everyone bounced back with General Knowledge. The final round saw six teams separated by just two points.

But a team called Sofa King Smart managed to get four of the five IQ Trivia questions correct for 20 points, and won the contest by 5 points.

I apologized for the problems we had with the sound system, but everyone seemed to enjoy the contest with me just reading off the Q&A with no mic. I thank everyone for the nice hand they gave me once Trivia Night concluded. I hope that everything gets back to normal next Tuesday. The night actually turned out to fun, but I don't know if I could do that again, especially with the Red Sox postseason about to start. My voice takes enough of a beating rooting them on in the playoffs.

Current Events
1. An historic summit meeting has begun between these two countries, sworn enemies since their land was divided in the mid-20th century.
2. Garry Kasparov, a world champion in this event, has announced he will run for the position of president of Russia in 2008 last week.
3. This NYC hotel celebrated its 100th birthday in style yesterday before over 1,000 invited guests.
4. Haile Gebrselassie, from this African country, set a new marathon record in Berlin last week with a time of 2:04:26.
5. This country defeated Brazil on Sunday to win their second straight women's World Cup soccer title.
6. A powerful earthquake struck the western coast of Sumatra in this Asian country, prompting a tsunami warning.
7. This private company that has been providing security in Iraq is currently being investigated by the FBI for their role in a shootout that left 11 Iraqis dead two weeks ago.
8. This retail giant announced today that they are cutting prices on toys for Christmas by as much as 50%.
9. Knicks head coach Isiah Thomas was found guilty of sexual harrassment today, and a jury awarded this amount (within $2 million) to the victim.
10. NASDAQ announced on Tuesday it would buy this eastern US city's Stock Exchange, and it's the first time in 173 years it would be run by outside ownership.

Answers: 1. North and South Korea; 2. chess; 3. The Plaza; 4. Ethiopia; 5. Germany; 6. Indonesia; 7. Blackwater; 8. Wal-Mart; 9. $11.6 million; 10. Boston.

New England Trivia
1. How many US presidents were born in New England? a. 6; b. 8; c. 9; d. 5.
2. What is the second largest city in NE by population? a. Hartford, CT; b. Worcester, MA; c. Providence, RI; d. Portland, ME.
3. What sport was invented by William Morgan in Holyoke, MA in 1895? a. volleyball; b. softball; c. basketball; d. badminton.
4. Who was the on-deck hitter when Carlton Fisk hit his famous home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series? a. Jim Rice; b. Rico Petrocelli; c. Fred Lynn; d. Dwight Evans.
5. Alexander Twilight was the first black graduate of any American college from which NE state? a. MA; b. CT; c. RI; d. VT.
6. In the 2000 presidential election, what was the only NE state that Al Gore did not win? a. NH; b. RI; c. ME; d. CT.
7. How many Stanley Cups have the Boston Bruins won in their history? a. 2; b. 4; c. 5; d. 6.
8. Which famous poet was born in California, but moved to Massachusetts and published his first poem in Lawrence?
9. Which MA college is nicknamed "The Singing College?" a. Smith; b. Williams; c. BC; d. Amherst.
10. How many numbers have been retired in the history of the Boston Celtics? a. 15; b. 21; c. 10; d. 17.

Answers: 1. b; 2. c; 3. a; 4. c; 5. d; 6. a; 7. c; 8. a; 9. d; 10. b.

General Knowledge
1. What TV sitcom's theme song was "I'll Be There For You?"
2. What is the main food source for the giant panda?
3. What is the largest Hawaiian island by area?
4. On her Fox TV series, what did Tracey Ullman say at the end of every episode?
5. Who was the second man to walk on the moon?
6. In September 2001, which pop star wed her choreographer in a secret wedding?
7. In the 1983 movie "Vacation," Chevy Chase's character skinny-dips with what supermodel?
8. The late billionaire Leona Helmsley's fortune primarily came from which industry?
9. Which city is the capital of Sicily?
10. Which future First Lady graduated from Wellesley College in the 1960s?

Answers: 1. "Friends;" 2. bamboo; 3. Hawaii; 4. "Go Home!;" 5. Buzz Aldrin; 6. Jennifer Lopez; 7. Christie Brinkley; 8. real estate; 9. Palermo; 10. Hillary Clinton.

IQ Trivia
1. What fashion guru popularized the minishirt in the 1960s? (6 points)
2. Archbishop Desmond Tutu served as head of the Anglican church in what country? (4 points)
3. In 1985, artist Andy Warhol appeared on an episode of what TV series? (5 points)
4. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers are better known as what music group? (5 points)
5. In what country did the dance known as the rumba originate? (5 points)

Answers: 1. Mary Quant; 2. South Africa; 3. "The Love Boat;" 4. Indigo Girls; 5. Cuba.

The Man Who Keeps the Sox On the Field

Here's a pretty cool video about Paul Lessard, the Red Sox trainer. He's one of the unsung heroes behind the Red Sox success.

My thanks to Joe at Boston.tv for sending it along to me.

Good Riddance, Turncoat

There have been a ton of articles in the New York newspapers the last few days about the Mets' stunning collapse over the past three weeks. Many of them are justified, as the Mets really have no one to blame but themselves for what happened. But I read an article this morning in the Daily News that was to say the least outrageous, and garnered a response from me.

It's about a copy editor/writer for the Daily News named Adam Sommers, who claims to be a lifelong Mets fan, who now says because of what happened, will now abandon the Mets for, you guessed it, the crosstown Yankees.

Talk about a turncoat. Talk about a front-runner. Talk about the worst kind of baseball fan.

Read this article, even if you aren't a Mets fan.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2007/10/02/2007-10-02_heres_one_fan_ready_to_just_shea_goodbye.html

If you are a Mets fan right now, the best thing to do is to get away from baseball right now. (Or do what my dad, a dedicated Mets fan since 1962 always says, root for "anybody but the Yankees.") You have to let the dust settle on this disaster before doing anything rash. I know legions of Mets fans right now, dedicated fans of the team who are simply devastated and trying to come to grips with what happened. But the best of those fans I know all have one thing in common.

They will be back with the Mets when the players begin reporting for spring training at Port St. Lucie in February.

Except for this idiot Summers. When the Red Sox lost in heartbreaking fashion in years like 1978, 1986 and 2003, I didn't know a single Sox fan who said, "I'm through with the Red Sox. I'm going to root for someone else." Most couldn't wait for what the Sox were going to do to bounce back from the loss, and were back with bells on the next spring. Of course, there are those fans whose knee-jerk reaction was to not let this happen again by not rooting for them. But as time goes along, they knew they were with the team, win or lose, and no matter how painful the loss. Being a Red Sox fan gets into your blood. You can't get a "transfusion" and get rid of it.

(When the Red Sox lost Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS to New York, I had a long subway ride home that night. I was totally devastated, and I asked myself if I still wanted to support the Red Sox. Even before I got home, the answer could only be a resounding yes. I simply could never abandon them, no matter what happened. Sommers could take a lesson from Red Sox fans.)

This Sommers guy is clearly a front-runner. Now he wants to jump over to the Yankees, who he calls "winners." He talks up the Evil Empire, "They have character and class, not to mention 26 championships!" Boy, some Mets fan this guy was. I'm not saying that being a Mets fan means automatically hating the Yankees, but anyone who would abandon a club for their direct rival doesn't impress me as being a passionate fan of the team he's abandoning. (And I don't know any Yankee fans who gave up on the Yankees after their historic fold against the Red Sox in 2004. And I bet no Yankee fan became a member of Red Sox Nation because of it.)

New York has a lot of fans like Sommers, those who will root for one New York team or another depending on which team is currently on top as far as the city goes. (Spike Lee comes to mind.) That is why those polls about which team has more support are just worthless, because if you took one today, the Yankees would win overwhelmingly.

Sommers talks about his conversion will be "painful" because he's "hated the Yankees a long time." This makes this jackass' conversion that much more idiotic. And it makes him look even more like a wimpy front-runner. He sums it up by saying, "I want to be with the winners for a change." I would bet as a Mets fan he was probably ripping the Yankees excess, and their obnoxious boasts about their championships.

Hey pal, you do know that the Yankees haven't won a World Series since 2000, and pulled off the greatest postseason choke in baseball history three years ago, right? I bet this guy was one who supposedly got great joy out of watching their collapse in 2004. But now he's talking them up in this column like they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. Truly pathetic.

So, Sommers, if the Yankees go belly up in this postseason again, what's next, a conversion over to Red Sox Nation?

Stay with "the winners" as we wouldn't want assholes like you.

So once again, Mets fans, let the all this sink in. Turn your attention elsewhere for awhile. Then early next year, get back with the team as they start a new season. They'll be back.

As for Sommers, good riddance. You're the worst type of baseball fan. (He also better be prepared for a mountain of hate mail from Mets fans, as he left an email address at the end of his column.) Go root for the Evil Empire. They deserve turncoat, hypocrite, fair-weather fans like you.

P.S. The News also took a poll on their web site, asking if this was the worst moment in Mets history. So far, 86% said it was. I say it isn't, and I can think of two worse moments that had long-ranging consequences for the team. The two are: the death of Gil Hodges in 1972, and the trade of Tom Seaver in 1977. Both hurt the franchise in many ways for years after. We'll see if this collapse has any after effects in the years to come.

October 1, 1977

This is my 1,000th post here at The Mighty Quinn Media Machine. I've been at this for nearly 19 months, so it looks like I've had plenty to say here. So I thought I would dedicate this milestone post to an anniversary that is also today.

It was 30 years ago today that I joined Red Sox Nation.

It was the final weekend of the 1977 baseball season. The Red Sox were in a three-team dogfight for the AL East crown with the Yankees and Orioles. Earlier that season I had become a disenchanted Mets fan. The team was being run into the ground by a clueless ownership that only cared about the bottom line and little else. They traded away the most popular player the franchise ever had, Tom Seaver, the previous June, and it was clear the Mets would be a terrible team for the forseeable future (and they were). It made me extremely angry, and I made a decision I would not support them again until their skinflint owners had divested themselves from the team.

At the same time I was a Yankee hater, as I had been raised that way. I had begun to look at the AL East race, and hoping one of those clubs could catch the Yankees. I had been following it but wasn't truly a Red Sox fan yet. On September 30, both the Red Sox and Orioles were three back of the Yankees, who had just clinched a tie for the division title. Both the Sox and O's faced each other at Fenway that weekend. One team would have to sweep and New York would have to get swept at home by Detroit in order to force a tie.

The Sox eliminated the Orioles on Friday night with an 11-10 win as the Yankees lost. So if the Red Sox kept winning, they could conceivably reach them and force a playoff (which they ironically did one year to the day later). On that Saturday, I was with my family at the home of some friends in New Jersey, spending the weekend there. The Red Sox-Orioles game was the NBC Game of the Week, and I'll never forget going down into my friends' basement to watch the game.

The Red Sox were a really powerful team in 1977. They hit 213 home runs to lead the majors, and that was a very high total for the time. Jim Rice hit 39 HRs and 114 RBI to lead the team and five players hit 25 HRs and four had at least 100 RBI. The lineup also consisted of Carl Yastrzemski, Fred Lynn, Butch Hobson, George Scott, Carlton Fisk and Dwight Evans. Pitching wasn't the Sox strong suit in '77, and their top winner was reliever Bill Campbell, who won 13. Luis Tiant won 12, and Rick Wise and Reggie Cleveland won 11.

I also remember that was the same day that the immortal soccer legend Pele made his farewell appearance for the New York Cosmos at Giants Stadium, in a downpour. I remember during the game switching over to watch Pele play one half for the Cosmos and the other for his former Brazilian club Santos. (The game ended in a 1-1 tie.)

The game at Fenway was a nailbiter. It was tied into the fifth, when Baltimore scored runs in the fifth and sixth and led, 6-5. I really found myself pulling for the Red Sox to tie it as the game wound down. The Orioles scored two more runs and it was 8-5 in the ninth. Bernie Carbo hit a two-run shot to bring the Sox within one run, but that was a close as they would get, and it would end in an 8-7 Baltimore win. Despite the Yankees losing again to the Tigers, the Red Sox loss gave the title to New York.

I had followed the Red Sox for many years through the Baseball Game of the Week on NBC, as they were on many times because they played only Saturday afternoon games. I'd always liked Fenway Park, and was always a Yaz fan. But for the first time, I had rooted really hard for the Red Sox, and I realized I had a new rooting interest in baseball.

And at time, I had no idea what I was letting myself get into.

Here is the boxscore of the game, courtesy of Baseball Reference:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS197710010.shtml

And so to summarize:
I became a Red Sox fan on a day they lost.
And my first full year as a fan? 1978.

And that's a story for another time. It's now three decades of Red Sox fandom. In the immortal words of the Grateful Dead: What a long, strange trip it's been.

I'd like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Joyce in Heaven. I hope it's a great one. We miss you.

Celebrate Good Times

My friend Jere over at his fine blog, "A Red Sox Fan From Pinstripe Territory" has dozens of great photos from the Red Sox Friday night celebration of winning the American League Eastern Division, as he was presnt at the Sox 5-2 win over Minnesota.

Good job by Jere staying and watching the Yankees loss to the Orioles with a few thousand other Red Sox fans on the Fenway big screen. I was home that night watching on the MLB package, and of course, they cut away as soon as the Red Sox victory was completed. So missed all the celebrations going on live. (Heck I figured the Orioles probably weren't going to beat the Yankees that night, so I figured to stay home and catch the games at home. I heard there was also a big celebration at Thom's as well. Bad job by Yours Truly.)

Here's a link to the story and pictures over at Jere's blog: http://letsgosox.blogspot.com/

New England Trivia On Tap

Trivia Night this week will feature a special category on New England Trivia, which will be ten questions on all things about the six states to the north and east of us. It will be about sports and other famous people and things from that area. It will also be multiple choice as well.

We will also have the other four usual catgories. There is no baseball game, as the MLB playoffs don't start until Wednesday. So we should begin some time around 9 PM.

The Sneak Peek question for this week:

Which famous poet was born in California, but moved to Massachusetts and published his first poem in Lawrence?

Hope to see many of you on Tuesday night.

A Strange Break in the Silence

You all may have heard this story last week. Tom Cruise is making a film in Germany called "Valkyrie," about an anti-Nazi hero in Germany during World War II.

They were filming a special scene in a place where many anti-Nazis were executed during the war, and out of a show of respect, the famed Couch Jumper asked everyone for a moment of silence in their memories.

But what should happen during the moment of silence, but an unknown crew member let out a loud fart for everyone to hear. Apparently, Mr. Cruise was not happy about this unfortunate breaking of wind. And as we speak, he and the movie's producers are going through the footage to unmask the person guilty of this passing of gas. So much for that old saying, "Wherever you be, let your wind go free."

Boy, if this person does get found out and bounced, it would be interesting to hear his next job interview. "I was fired for inappropriate farting." And from now on, I suppose movie crews on Cruise's future films will be warned, "Don't break wind in front of Tom. He doesn't like that, and you could get fired."

For more on this: http://www.bestweekever.tv/2007/09/26/interactivity-the-tom-cruise-fart-post/

(P.S. I find rather amusing that in the "categories" section in the link, there are sections for "long drawn out farts" and "Nazis." Somehow I've never put the two together.)