Job Number One

In the aftermath of last night's sweep, there's immediate speculation about the Sox future. Will Mike Lowell be back? He has to be back; that's Theo's number one priority. How about Schill, has he pitched his last game for the Nation? I hope not. Despite his age, and the deterioration of his stuff, he still came up big in another October. But while Theo is working all that out, we have our own decisions to make: most importantly, what's this year's kipah going to look like? In 2004, anyone could see that the Sox had divine assistance, without which they never could have won Games Four and Five. This year it was more subtle; but we've previously pointed out how the luck changed in Game Five of the ALCS, and seemed to stay with the Sox all through the series. Just for example, in each of the games out west, potential Rockie home runs fell a foot short, last night backing Ellsbury right into the left field wall. So even though many wonder whether Papelbon has sold his soul to the devil, in exchange for that blistering fastball, we need to give thanks once more, just as we did in 2004.

Here are some things to think about: Red or Blue? Even though we've done blue before, twice before if you count the Orange, blue is less ostentaious, and easier to wear in public. Plus, most of the distinctive Sox lettering won't easily work on red. On the other hand, we could use a design consistent with the bright red home jersies. We used the two socks in 2004; How about the big B? Clearly, there has to be mention of 2007, but do we have some phrase we want to incorporate? "See the ball, hit the ball" is probably too long; and I don't recall anything to match 2004's "why not us?" So let's get some suggestions from the faithful, so I can contact my man in Jerusalem.

I was planning to post about Lester's comeback, all the way from last year's chemotherapy to this fall's win in the deciding game of the world series. But I'm pleased to see that the print media are all over this story; there's nothing we really need to add. Beyond that, everything from the last three weeks seems a blur. Ever since ALDS Game Two, when Manny hit that walk-off at close to 1 am, after a long Friday night of baseball, it seems that most of the games have gone well beyond midnight. So right now, looking back, especially at the final seven games, it's hard to sort everything out: J.D. Drew's grand slam; Beckett's dominant performances; the rookies coming up so big; Kielty hitting the Game Four winner in his one world series appearance; Youk drilling the coke bottle. When did that happen? I know my readers look forward not only to insightful analysis, but to unending reminiscence. For now though, let's just leave it with : GoSox.