Despite being a diehard Red Sox fan, I just want to be fair to their World Series opponents, the St. Louis Cardinals. If the St.Louis fans have faith, the team will be fine. Why? If the Red Sox collapse in dramatic fashion (unlikely, but possible!) like the 1999 Cleveland Indians did versus the Boston Red Sox by losing the American League Division Series (ALDS) after leading the series two games to none then the Cardinals will be in good shape. The series began on October 9th, 1999 (10.9.99) at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. The starting pitchers for Game 1 were Pedro Martinez for the Red Sox and Bartolo Colon for the Indians. In 1999, Pedro Martinez had the best season for any pitcher in baseball history (dating back to World War I), as he had twenty three wins and four losses in 29 games pitched. Unfortunately, Pedro left the game in the 5th inning with a back injury and the Red Sox had to use Derek Lowe, who was battling a blister on his right middle finger and, not surprisingly, the Indians won the game 3-2 and took a 1-0 series lead. In Game 2, Boston had another injured pitcher, Bret Saberhagen, (who had resurrected his career more times than Jesus at that point!) pitching against Charlie Nagy of the Indians. The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd inning thanks to a homerun from my all-time favorite Red Sox player, Nomar Garciaparra. But in the bottom of the 3rd inning, Saberhagen's elbow gave out but he toughed through it...poorly. He gave up six runs and never got out of the 3rd inning and was replaced by Robinson Checo, who was equally as bad as Saberhagen...and Checo was healthy! He gave up five runs and hit two guys. The Red Sox didn't have a chance in Game 2 as they lost 11-1. Cleveland was on the cusp of going to New York to face the Yankees in the ALCS. But, then the series shifted to Boston at historic Fenway Park. The Red Sox somehow won Game 3 by a score of 9-3, even though Nomar Garciaparra was given the night off as Manager Jimy Williams thought the Sox were done for the year! The next night, the Indians pitching collapsed. Their starter, Bartolo Colon, who had pitched for eight innings just three nights before, didn't even make it out of the 1st inning in Game 4 after giving up seven runs! Steve Reed didn't help either, giving up eight runs. The Red Sox scored 23 runs in the game and it was no contest after the 2nd inning. The series shifted back to Cleveland. But, if the Boston Red Sox wanted to complete their unlikely comeback, they would have to do it WITHOUT Pedro Martinez, who had been slated to pitch that night, but his back acted up again just minutes before the start of the game. So they had to go with Saberhagen (who had started Game 2). Cleveland went with Nagy (who also started Game 2). The results were poor for both sides as neither pitcher made it past the 3rd inning. Saberhagen's elbow gave out (sarcastic shocker!) and Nagy was ineffective. After Cleveland had gained an 8-7 lead at the end of the 3rd inning, the Red Sox tied it up in the top of the 4th thanks to a surprising homerun by 5 foot 6 inch tall center fielder Darren Lewis. In the bottom of the 4th, Pedro Martinez came in (IT'S A MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!). Cleveland countered with 19 year old Brockton, Mass. native Shaun DePaula. Both pitchers were on top of their game. But Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove took DePaula out in the 7th and brought in Paul Shuey, who gave up a three run homerun to backup left fielder Troy O'Leary. The sad part was that Cleveland didn't even get a HIT off Martinez. After Saberhagen's replacement, Derek Lowe, left the game after the 3rd inning because of a chronic blister and poor performance, Cleveland didn't get a hit from that point on! The Red Sox had just completed their comeback and shellshocked the baseball world beating Cleveland by a final score of 12 to 8! Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove was fired by the Cleveland executives mere hours after the end of the game.
Before I end this entry, I would like to answer the question: Why not talk about the 2004 ALCS between the Red Sox and Yankees when the Yankees collapsed? The reason is because the Cleveland series is less known other than in Cleveland and Boston, as there is hardly ANY footage of this series outside of those two cities.
