ALDS: End came quickly for Red Sox, fans

By wire services
Published October 8, 2005

BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox and their Fenway faithful waited 86 years to hoist the World Series trophy.

They held it for only one.

There will be no repeat in New England. The Red Sox are out, the first team eliminated from the playoffs this October.

When Edgar Renteria grounded out to end Chicago's 5-3 win Friday that gave the White Sox a sweep, Boston's championship banner was still flying stiffly from the centerfield flagpole at Fenway Park - a reminder of the joy of last season.

"All the magic and all the accolades that we got from last year are, all of a sudden, gone," Johnny Damon said.

Last year, Renteria grounded out for the St. Louis Cardinals, finishing off Boston's sweep at Busch Stadium.

On Friday, slugger David Ortiz was on deck when the final out was made.

"I play to win. I'm not a good loser," Ortiz said when he appeared in the clubhouse 90 minutes after the game. "And I know how good it feels to win."

The Red Sox went quietly this time, chased in three games. There was no Curt Schilling with the bloody sock and the stitched-up ankle to bail them out - in fact, Schilling didn't even throw a pitch this postseason as he was scheduled to start Game 4.

"Ironic, I guess, is the word," said Schilling, who might have pitched earlier in the series if he hadn't last Sunday when Boston needed him to clinch the wild card. "A lot of it is my fault. If I pitched better it wouldn't have gone down to the last day of the regular season."

Boston became the sixth World Series champion to be swept out of the postseason the following year, and the first since Arizona lost in the opening round to St. Louis in 2002.

JOHNSON HEARS BOOS: Randy Johnson invited fans at Yankee Stadium to boo him - and they sure did.

The Big Unit flopped in his postseason debut for New York, lasting only three-plus innings in Game 3 of the AL division series. He gave up nine hits and left with the Yankees trailing 5-0 against the Los Angeles Angels.

One day after Johnson downplayed the din of the Yankee Stadium crowd, he didn't have to strain to hear what the fans thought about his outing.

On Thursday, Johnson said the Yankee Stadium crowd didn't seem the same since he's been in the Bronx as it did when he was a visitor.

"The crowd, and I don't mean this in a disrespectful way, but in games that I've pitched in Arizona, the crowd was really more animated on the days that I pitched than probably any other day that I would witness. And I really fed off of that," he said.

"And so if they want to boo me, then boo me, or cheer me. But do something, because I feed off that."

[Last modified October 8, 2005, 01:27:10]