It Only Counts Once

The Boston Red Sox scored what was boxing’s equivalent of an early round knockout in Game 1 of the 2013 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Red Sox fans at Fenway were delighted to slovenly defense and a properly, but rare, overturned call that facilitated an early 3-0 Boston lead. The Sox never looked back, winning 8-1. The Cards’ only score came off of a cheap solo home run by Matt Holiday off Ryan Dempster in the 9th inning, with the game in hand.  

LIGHTNING DOESN’T STRIKE THE SAME PLACE TWICE

Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright was horrendous. The expression “He didn’t have his best stuff,” was tossed around postgame shows like the phrase “Sorry for your loss,” at a funeral. That was being kind. Wainwright didn’t have any stuff and didn’t even look like an MLB starting pitcher, let alone an ace.

Whether it was the weather, the Fenway Park atmosphere, travel fatigue, rust, or some combination thereof, Wainwright looked nothing like he has all season long. It could not have come at a worse time. However, I would not count on seeing him toss another clunker like that in Game 5 (if necessary).

The Cardinals were a comedy of errors on defense. Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina put the excitement back into the routine infield popup. A sure double play ball turned fielder’s choice turned error by Cards shortstop Pete Kozma (on an overruled call by the umpires) kicked off the mudslide. The Cardinals had the fewest errors in the National League in the regular season. They committed three errors last night, two by Kozma.

"I got it. I got it! I GOT IT!!" ... Yep...the Cards "got it". 1

ALL ZEROES 

Tonight, the Red Sox and Cardinals do it all over again. Rookie Michael Wacha, who is having a postseason for the ages gets the ball against the veteran John Lackey. Last night is in the rear view and the rookie, Wacha, has demonstrated a short-term memory and a naiveté to the magnitude of the moment during the postseason.

As bad as the Red Sox’s flogging of the Cardinals was, it is all meaningless now. The series doesn’t “really” start until someone loses at home and the Redbirds have won their share of games on the road in the playoffs. Despite an ugly opening salvo to the Fall Classic and in spite of the fact that the Red Sox have not lost a World Series game since 1986, let’s not start planning for a parade in Boston yet.

Red Sox fans old enough to remember can personally testify that it is better to get the blunders out of the way in Game 1 than, say...up three games to two in Game 6 with a lead and two outs in the 9th inning. 2

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1) Image from www.fansided.com
2) Image from www.posters.ws