This championship is about the present
By JOHN ROMANO, Times Columnist
Published October 29, 2007
DENVER
This time, it was for Manny.
Not for the old man in Peabody, Mass., who had been waiting a lifetime, or the sons and daughters in Brookline sobbing for the loved ones who could wait no longer.
This time, it was for Big Papi.
Not for the poets and their tales of curses, or the retired ballplayers and their repertoires of heartbreak.
This time, it was for Schill and Varitek. For Tito and Timlin.
This time, the World Series belonged to the players and not the ages.
"But 2004 was for our parents and grandparents and those people who suffered through eight decades before a World Championship," team chairman Tom Werner said. "This is for us and for our children and for everybody in Red Sox Nation."
Yes, the Red Sox have won again and New England is celebrating once more. It began just past midnight with the final out against the Rockies, spread into the clubhouse where David Ortiz stood on a table to loudly and profanely tell the world what the Red Sox had accomplished, and it probably continues this morning in Copley Square.
But the moment is no longer unique, and the feeling is at least a little less euphoric. When the Red Sox swept the Cardinals in 2004, it ended 86 years of near-misses and suffering. The celebration swept across area codes and generations, and lives on today in memories and lore.
So this time, there is no reason to cry.
Just to applaud.
Applaud a group of players who were a perfect mix of talent and dedication. Of heart and nerve. Applaud Manny Ramirez, who says everything wrong but still makes it all seem right. Applaud Ortiz, who comes through in the clutch like no player of this generation. Applaud Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett, whose arrogance is matched only by their abilities.
Applaud Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek, who get lost in the shuffle. Applaud Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury, who have changed the standard for rookies in the postseason.
And applaud Terry Francona, the only man in history to win the first eight games he ever managed in the World Series.
"We don't have to hear about 1918 every time we step on the field," said reliever Mike Timlin of Tarpon Springs. "I miss that like I miss a line drive off the shin."
A more lopsided World Series you have probably never seen. The Rockies had a one-run lead for a few innings in Game 2, but were otherwise chasing a bandwagon that could not be stopped.
On the morning of Oct. 18 the Red Sox were one loss from being eliminated by the Indians in the best-of-seven ALCS. Since then, they have literally been unbeatable, taking three in a row from Cleveland and four from Colorado.
Never before has a World Series team been swept in four games, while being outscored by a margin as wide as 29-10.
"This is an organization that has redefined who it is, and hopefully it is a fan base that is beginning to redefine itself too," Schilling said. "We are a family of 17-million. We go out on the ballfield every day with the largest following of anybody in the baseball world."
And so, this morning, we have to consider the possibility that the balance of power in baseball has shifted ever so slightly.
For decades upon decades, and generation after generation, the Yankees were the standard that all other ballclubs were measured against. New York won the World Series 26 times, ruling the game with an annoying imperialism.
And the Red Sox?
They were the team that supposedly cursed their descendents and sent the Yankees on their way to glory by trading them Babe Ruth in 1918.
But now Boston has won two of the last four World Series titles, and there is no reason to doubt their reign won't continue. Most of the main characters will be back in 2008.
Ramirez and Ortiz are still under contract. So are Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima, Jonathan Papelbon and Jon Lester. Ellsbury and Pedroia are mere pups. Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew just signed fat deals.
Only Schilling and Lowell are in danger of departing, and that hardly seems cataclysmic today.
"This team is built well," Timlin said. "There is no telling where we can go from here."
Four years ago, the Red Sox did it for all who preceded them. They did it for the grandparents in Swampscott, Mass., and the dock workers in Portland, Maine. They did it for Yaz and Dewey and Teddy Ballgame.
They did it for the 1967 Impossible Dream team, and they did it for the '86 team.
Four years ago, they did it for everyone else.
This time, it belongs to them.