High On Hope

"Are you kiddin' me? I'm friggin' high on hope." - The Soxaholix

Tonight, my Red Sox play in Game 5 of the ALCS. Tonight, everyone thinks that my Red Sox will be eliminated - that the Rockies and the Indians will go on to play a lovely underdog-friendly World Series.

In October 2004, everyone thought the Red Sox were going to be eliminated by the dastardly Yankees in that ALCS. But then... this happened. And the rest, quite frankly, is history.

So let me tell you I still have hope tonight - hope that I didn't have in 2004. Any Red Sox fan that tells you he still thought the Red Sox were going to win in 2004 after being down 3-0 is full of it. By then, we had been trained, like Pavlov's dogs, to a a certain response - Red Sox play Yankees in the playoffs, Red Sox lose, Red Sox nation mourns. Repeat next year until Red Sox fans are broken-down shells of their former selves.

But Kevin Millar (as annoying as I found him) had hope. On Faith Rewarded (also known as the greatest DVD of all time), Millar is shown saying laying out the exact scenario that would happen: the Red Sox would just have to win Game 4, and with Pedro and Schilling up next, would win Games 5 and 6, followed by an anything-can-happen Game 7.

But Kevin Millar is on the Orioles now (Youkilis is far better, so I'm not really sad about this at all). Who are this team's Kevin Millars? Who will tell the rest of the players to buck up and beat a team they should beat? It's certainly not Manny. I don't see J.D. Drew stepping up. Or even Ortiz.

It all falls on these two men, in my opinion. And I certainly like their track records.


Even if the Indians are desperately trying to distract Josh Beckett, I like the Red Sox's chances of making it to an anything-can-happen Game 7 at Fenway. And I don't see the Red Sox losing Game 7 at Fenway.

Cause I know I have hope. The question is: do the Red Sox?