The Official NS Rox vs. Sox 2007 World Series Thread
- Thread starter Quinny
- Start date
skihillraod
Active member
Rox in 6 just a prediction we have nothing to lose and will play with that attitude. We won't sweep but we will win, in colorado. Ski, golf and baseball all in one day = colorado sucks nobody move here.
salomonskiier12
Active member
sox will win all but the first one
Valind
Active member
This Afternoon
Rain. Patchy fog late. Much cooler with highs in the upper 50s. North winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90 percent.
» ZIP Code Detail
Tonight
Rain likely. Cooler with lows in the upper 40s. North winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.
Valind
Active member
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
61° F
|
47° F
16° C
|
8° C
56° F
|
44° F
13° C
|
7° C
58° F
|
51° F
14° C
|
11° C
63° F
|
52° F
17° C
|
11° C
63° F
|
45° F
17° C
|
7° C
Rain
90% chance of precipitation
Chance of Rain
50% chance of precipitation
Partly Cloudy
Chance of Rain
50% chance of precipitation
Chance of Rain
40% chance of precipitation
Detail
Detail
Detail
Detail
Detail
jimmychung
Active member
GO SOX! i'm not going to make any predictions because i don't want to jinx it, but i'm just going to say GO SOX again. woohoo
Jeff_Lo
Active member
Yeah your right, its not like they set the record for best fielding percentage. Or any other defensive records. I'm also pretty sure Matt Holiday didnt win the NLCS MVP or isnt a canidate for MVP. I also heard it wasnt true True Tulowitzki was up for rookie of the year. I think its also a rumor that they set some of the best offensive records to date? I dont know doesnt seem like they have a living chance to me. I dont think they're a hungry team what so ever since its there First World series. I think you're totally right the sox have them.
PagesHouse
Active member
I'm not a diehard fan of either but I'm with the Rockies on this one
jimmychung
Active member
i'm just going to put up some pictures for inspiration.
ok rockies fans, let's have a picture battle
ok rockies fans, let's have a picture battle
Valind
Active member
Clearly, most people don't know it. Yet.
But they'll be finding out shortly. What makes us think so? Just check
out these Five Reasons the Rockies Are Going to Win the World Series. 1. They're the real team of destiny
We would never diminish what it took for the Red Sox to bash their way
out of that 3-1 cavern against Cleveland. But when you get right down
to it, all they had to do to survive was win three
games in a row. The Rockies, on the other hand, had to win every game
they played (or just about) for two weeks. Now that's pressure. "I think this is destiny, man. Destiny," said longtime
Rockies icon Vinny Castilla, now a special assistant to GM Dan O'Dowd.
"For us just to get to the playoffs ... we had to win 14 out of 15. We
couldn't even lose two games. So I think this team -- it's a team of
destiny. It's not going to be beat."
begin table
SEE THE ROCKIES' RUN
How did the Colorado Rockies win 21 of 22 games, including seven straight playoff games, to reach the World Series? Check out a game-by-game account of their historic streak.
end table
Obviously, in this sport, a 12-strikeout Josh Beckett
two-hitter can derail anybody's Destiny Express rather quickly. But ask
anyone who has watched the Rockies in person during this astounding
21-1 blitz. Much like the 2003 Marlins, a low-budget team that upset an
experienced Yankees conglomerate similar to these Red Sox, the Rockies
have been playing like a team that expects to find a way to win every single game.
"That team is a buzz saw," said one NL executive. "Right now,
mentally, there's no question they think they're destined to win this
thing. I haven't seen a club in a long time that played with more
confidence than Colorado is playing with." We've never had a team roll into a World Series riding a
21-1 streak. So there's no precedent to help us predict how this team
will fare. But it's at least notable that the Rockies are the fifth
team in the wild-card era to rip through the first two rounds with no
more than one loss. And three of the previous four ('95 Braves, '99
Yankees and '05 White Sox) won the World Series. Two of them (Yankees
and White Sox) even swept their opponents. The exception, though, is a big one -- because it's last
year's Tigers, a team that never seemed to recover from its six-day
layoff between the LCS and World Series. Which brings us to this: 2. That eight-day layoff was overrated
So how does an eight-day pre-World Series sabbatical affect a Team of
Destiny? How would anyone know? Only one team has done it, and that was
nearly 100 years ago (the 1910 A's). We'll concede that a team this hot would never prefer to do
it this way. Heck, you can play 1,000 simulated games, but you can't
possibly simulate October.
And you can't possibly simulate the feeling of having to win every day, a feeling that fueled this team's magic-carpet ride.
begin table
LONGEST SERIES LAYOFFS
Teams that had six or more days off between games entering the World Series:
TEAM
DAYS OFF
WS RESULT
2007 Rockies
8
?
2006 Tigers
6
Lost in 5
1996 Yankees
6
Won in 6
1995 Braves
6
Won in 6
1946 Red Sox
6
Lost in 7
1911 Athletics
7
Won in 6
1910 Athletics
10
Won in 5
end table
And most of all, you can't possibly simulate having to face
Beckett in Fenway in the first World Series game in the history of the
franchise. Can't be done. But just because the Tigers couldn't regenerate their
momentum last October doesn't mean it's impossible. And here's the
evidence:
• Of the three teams in the divisional playoff era that have had
six-day breaks before the World Series, the '06 Tigers are the only
team that didn't turn around and win the Series. The other two -- the
'95 Braves and '96 Yankees -- both won in six.
• Of the nine teams that have had breaks of five days or more before
the World Series, six of those nine went on to win the Series. The most
recent example: the 2005 White Sox, who were so screwed up by their
five-day layoff, all they did was go out and sweep the Astros.
• And back in 1989, when the Bay Bridge World Series took an 11-day
intermission for seismological reasons, it had zero effect on the
Oakland A's. They'd won six of seven postseason games before the
earthquake. Then they came back and won the next two by a combined
score of 22-13.
So you can probably make an argument that a little rest, a little sleep
and a little mental break is a good thing, nearly seven months into the
marathon. "I don't think the break is that big a deal," said one
scout. "They'll still be amped up. How can they not be? It's their
first World Series ever. They're not veterans of this stuff, so they
don't even have a routine, let alone a routine to get thrown out of. I
think they'll be fine."
3. The Rockies have the real home-field advantage
Granted,
there's no place in baseball quite like Fenway. But there's no place
even close to Coors Field -- humidor or no humidor. Think about how Games 3-4-5 in Coors will affect the Red
Sox. It's tough to make a case they don't hurt Boston just about every
way possible. Take a look:
• ON OFFENSE -- Anybody want to argue that losing the DH won't change the whole personality of the Red Sox lineup? "Their hottest hitter is Kevin Youkilis," said one scout. "But when they go to Colorado, he can't play -- either him or Big Papi [David Ortiz]. So that's a huge hole in that lineup." It's also possible the Red Sox could play Youkilis at third, but that takes Mike Lowell
out of the lineup. Or Youkilis could try to sneak by in right field for
a night, but that's a big defensive gamble in the most spacious
outfield in baseball. And if the Red Sox go with Coco Crisp over Jacoby Ellsbury in center for defensive reasons, that hurts them offensively, too.
• ON THE MOUND -- The Coors Effect is so powerful here, it actually affected how the Red Sox structured their original rotation. Curt Schilling
(4-4, 5.51 lifetime at Coors) is president of the Coors Haters of
America. But the Red Sox were prepared to send him out there to pitch
Game 3 in Denver, at least in part because he was still a better
altitudinous option than Tim Wakefield,
a guy who has been dodging all games in Denver since 1993 (when he went
0-2, 9.31, in two starts at Mile High Stadium). Now, thanks to
Wakefield's health problems, they'll both dodge Coors. But if you're
curious about how a knuckleballer might have fared in that thin
Colorado air, we looked at the four most prominent knuckleball kings of
the last 20 years -- Wakefield, Charlie Hough, Tom Candiotti and Steve Sparks.
And their 10 trips to the mound (six starts) in Denver were definitely
less scenic than those snow-capped mountains. They went winless (0-4),
allowing 50 hits, 69 baserunners, 41 runs and 36 earned runs in 33
innings. That computes to a 9.82 ERA and a disastrous 2.09 WHIP. Oh,
and Daisuke Matsuzaka
could have his issues, too. "You need power arms to win there," said
one scout. "With Dice-K, a guy who has to rely on his screwball or his
gyroball, you can't be too sure what that altitude will do to those
pitches."
• ON DEFENSE -- Just about every scout we spoke with
had the same horrifying thought. "I'm trying to envision Manny playing
left field in Coors," said one. "That's a little scary." Another put it
this way: "Manny will be so lost out there, he'll need radar to find
his way back." No matter how you compute it, the Red Sox have
leather-working issues at Coors -- whether it's Manny in left, Ortiz
wearing his first-base mitt or Youkilis moving to third base or the
outfield. Now contrast that to the home team, a team that will have no
issues like that, a team that just compiled the highest fielding
percentage in baseball history. Definite edge: Rockies.
• INTANGIBILITY -- The Rockies are terrors in Coors
to begin with. They're 42-15 there since June 2, the best home record
in baseball. Now add in the fact that the Red Sox haven't played there
since 2004. "So they're not going to have a good feel for what they
need to do there, as far as (adjusting to) the lightness of the air and
the lack of oxygen," said one scout. "To me, that means if the Rockies
split the first two in Boston, they're in good shape." 4. No fear of Fenway
Anyone who watched that ALCS should have no doubt that Fenway Park had a lot to do with why the Red Sox are still standing.
Fenway's inimitable nooks and crannies were a big reason Kenny Lofton
never scored the tying run in Game 7. And the occupants of Fenway --
jammed into every seat, lurking right on top of the enemy -- did their
part to intimidate the Indians once they fell behind in Games 6 and 7.
begin player card
Jeff Francis
Starting Pitcher
Colorado Rockies
Profile
2007 Season Stats
GM
W
L
BB
K
ERA
34
17
9
63
165
4.22
end player card
So granted, the Rockies haven't played in Fenway in that atmosphere. But they did play in Fenway as recently as four months ago. And they sure lived to tell about it.
They took two of three there in June. They handed Beckett his first
loss of the season, bombarding him for 10 hits and six runs in five
innings. The night before, they mugged Schilling for six runs on nine
hits in five innings.
And Jeff Francis, Aaron Cook and Josh Fogg -- the three Rockies starters in that series -- combined to allow only four runs in 17 1/3 innings (a 2.08 ERA).
OK, so all those fond memories -- plus a few bucks -- will get the
Rockies a ride through the Ted Williams Tunnel. But it's likely to make
them less intimidated than your average team as they head into a park
where the Red Sox went 51-30 this season. "That's something that definitely plays into their mental
state coming into this thing," said one scout. "Right now, that team
thinks it can beat anybody. And they can look at those three games in
Fenway and say, 'Here's the proof.'" 5. Lean to the left
We can make too much of the left-right chess match this time of year.
But in case you hadn't noticed, the Red Sox almost went into this
series with no left-handed starters, and only one left-handed reliever (Hideki Okajima) they trust.
begin table
LEFTIES IN RELIEF
How Rockies left-handers Franklin Morales, Jeremy
Affeldt and Brian Fuentes fared against left-handed hitters during the
regular season:
MORALES
AFFELDT
FUENTES
Opp. BA
.129
.250
.204
HR
0
1
0
OBP
.200
.344
.297
SLG
.226
.400
.206
end table
The Rockies, meanwhile, will kick off this World Series with a
left-hander (Jeff Francis). And now that Aaron Cook is off the disabled
list and lined up for a Game 4 start, they'll move Franklin Morales to the bullpen to join Brian Fuentes and Jeremy Affeldt (against whom Ortiz is 1-for-13 lifetime).
So why does that matter?
Because the Rockies went 70-49 this season when a right-hander started
against them -- the best record in the National League. So Boston's
tentative Game 4 starter, Jon Lester
(who should replace Wakefield in the rotation), suddenly looms as a key
figure in this Series. "With [Todd] Helton and [Brad] Hawpe and those
guys, and no left-handers to face them, I think that's a factor," said
one NL executive. "Look at the one pitcher who was able to control them
in this postseason -- Jamie Moyer. Off-speed lefties can control that lineup better than right-handers."
And the Red Sox went 25-23 this year when a left-hander started against
them (versus 71-43 against right-handers). "You've got to have
left-handers to come in and neutralize Ortiz and [J.D.] Drew," said the
same executive. "And Colorado has them. Plus, I think that staff showed
in the Philadelphia series that they can shut down good hitters with
their power arms -- and not just their starters. With their bullpen,
too." So don't think the Rockies don't have enough pitching to
deal with a lineup this good. They'll have to pitch inside relentlessly
and wear out the strike zone. But they match up against the Red Sox
every bit as well as the Indians did, if not better.
"Oh, they can win," said one scout. "Absolutely. And I think Game 1 is crucial -- to Boston. Beckett has to win Game 1. If he doesn't, Colorado is going to win the Series. You can mark that down."
Heck, you can mark it down anyway. Colorado in six. You heard it here first.
Yea....people are saying the Sox wont be able to hang in the elevation but that is completely wrong. All the players on both teams are professional athletes and are in great shape. Also Im from Boston and I moved to Montana for school and I have no trouble breathing while I do physical activity. Its going to be a good series but the Rockies just dont have the team to pull of a series win against the Sox.
bp.lando
Active member
right on , I'm just giving her a hard time.
I live in Milwaukee now, would never call myself a fan of the Brewer's / Packers fans, I catch my baseball fix here at Wrigley, the train ride down to route for a team in a situation similar to the Sox is worth it, Plus Wrigley reminds me alot of Fenway.
I live in Milwaukee now, would never call myself a fan of the Brewer's / Packers fans, I catch my baseball fix here at Wrigley, the train ride down to route for a team in a situation similar to the Sox is worth it, Plus Wrigley reminds me alot of Fenway.
marsland
Active member
Jeff_lo, are you seriously retarded? of course someone on the rockies won NLCS MVP, because they won the NLCS, and the MVP is always from the winning team of the series. what would you say if i said that Beckett won teh ALCS MVP award, would you think that was something extra special? It only means he played the best in that series, between 2 teams, its not like he already won the league MVP. that would be something to brag about, but at the same time, Lowell also has to be considered for AL MVP, even though he will not win because of A Rod. Tulowitzki for NL Rookie of the year, did you forget that the sox have Pedroia who is a leading candidate for AL Rookie of the year. sure, tulowitzki put up better numbers than pedroia, but its still the same award, different leagues. as for the best offensive records, maybe in the NL, but im pretty sure the yankees or indians scored the most runs in the league. i will give you that the rockies have very good defense, but the red sox had a great defense last year, and came up short of the playoffs, so defense doesnt always win games. basically all your points can be said for the red sox, except for it being their first world series, but that could hurt the rockies, and the sox won it all 3 years ago.
heres the breakdown- Varitek vs Torrealba- varitek has played in 49 postseason games and hit 270 in the alcs. torrealba his 255 during the season and hasnt done much in the postseason. Varitek takes it. 1st base- ortiz and youkilis vs. todd helton- in the ALCS, youkilis hit 500 with 3 hr and 7 rbi in the alcs, and ortiz is, well, ortiz. Helton is definitely a great player, batting 320 this year, but this postseason hes .154. Boston takes it. 2nd base- Padroia vs. Kaz Matsui- pedroia batted 345 in the alcs, while matsui was only 4/17 in the NLCS. both are decent players but pedroia is on fire. Boston takes it. Mike lowell and Garrett atkins are both relatively even, except atkins is batting .185 this post season and lowell is hitting 333 with 11 rbi. Boston takes it. Lugo vs. Tulowitzski- tulowitzki, likely NL rookie of the year, is a better power hitter and his defense is outstanding. Colorado takes it.  Manny Ramirez vs. Matt Holliday - Though holliday is a phenomenal hitter and batted .340 this season, ramirez is batting 410 in the postseason with 10 rbi in the alcs, and has a lot more experience in october. Boston takes it. Center field- ellsbury/crisp vs willy taveras- crisp hasnt done much but ellsbury is absolutely on fire. This is a pretty even matchup, but my newspaper gave it to taveras. They gave the rockies the edge over JD drew (rightfully so, the only thing he's done is hit that grand slam). In the DH position, its no question of David Ortiz or Ryan Spillboroghs, boston takes it easily. Boston has a deeper and more experienced bench, and in the starting pitchers field, Beckett Schilling Matsuzaka and Lester take it fairly easily over colorado. Boston also takes the bullpen category, and obviously Papelbon is the beter closer, with one win and one save in the post season, he has yet to give up a run.
Like i said before, boston in five.Â
Like i said before, boston in five.Â
kingarthurs
Active member
rox in six