SOX APPEAL EXPERIENCE WILL KNOCK ROCKS OFF.Byline: TONY JACKSON
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer So now the question becomes, can baseball's feel-good story of the year possibly continue? Can the Colorado Rockies For the National Hockey League team (1976 – 1982), now known as the New Jersey Devils, see . The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. They are in the West Division of the National League. possibly survive now that they have had an unprecedented eight days to cool their heels after sweeping their way through the first two rounds of the playoffs? And can they possibly compete with the bigger, badder, heavily favored Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox are a member and currently champions of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball’s American League. From to the present, the Red Sox have played in Fenway Park. ? The suddenly hip Rockies have their bandwagon-hopping fans, but the uber-trendy Red Sox have their Nation. The Rockies play in an ultra-modern stadium, a gargantuan gar·gan·tu·an adj. Of immense size, volume, or capacity; gigantic. See Synonyms at enormous. gargantuan Adjective huge or enormous [after Gargantua, a giant in Rabelais' structure that opened just 12 years ago and was made to feel even more cavernous in recent seasons by the fact that, until now anyway, there never seemed to be very many people in the stands. The Red Sox play in a 95-year-old bandbox band·box n. A lightweight cylindrical box used to hold small articles of apparel. bandbox Noun a lightweight usually cylindrical box for hats Noun 1. that is jam-packed every night, no matter how many extra seats are added atop the roof or beyond the Green Monster This article is about the left-field wall at Fenway Park. For other uses, see Green Monster (disambiguation). The Green Monster (often known simply as The Monster or The Wall) is the nickname of the 37-foot, two-inch (11. . But mostly, the Rockies pitch, field and hit in the clutch, while the Red Sox pitch, field and hit pretty much all the time. And that, as much as anything, is why the Red Sox have been installed as 2-1 favorites in a series that will begin in the American League park American League Park was a baseball park that formerly stood in Washington, DC, at the corner of Florida Avenue and Trinidad Avenue, NE. It hosted the Washington Nationals from April 29, 1901 to September 27, 1902, when the team moved to National Park. for the sixth consecutive season. "When you have a veteran team like the Red Sox, it's tough to go against that experience," one National League scout said. "Plus, they have the deeper rotation." Tonight's Game 1, as it always seems to, will be a matchup of the teams' respective aces. Lefty Jeff Francis Jeffrey William Francis (born January 8, 1981 in North Delta, British Columbia) is a highly-touted left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher for the Colorado Rockies. Francis made his major league debut on August 25, 2004, against the Atlanta Braves, losing the 8-1 decision. , who was 17-9 during the regular season, will take the mound for the Rockies. He will be opposed by Josh Beckett Joshua Patrick Beckett (born May 15, 1980) is a right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the Boston Red Sox. In his career in the playoffs, he has won the World Series MVP Award in 2003 and pitched 65. , the majors' only 20-game winner this year who is a career 5-2 with a 1.78 in the postseason -- including 3-0 with a 1.17 in this one. Francis will be followed by Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Fogg Joshua Smith Fogg (born December 13, 1976 in Lynn, Massachusetts) is a Major League Baseball pitcher who plays for the Colorado Rockies. He played college baseball at the University of Florida and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the third round of the 1998 Amateur draft. and Aaron Cook Aaron Lane Cook (born February 8, 1979 in Fort Campbell, Kentucky) is a right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher currently playing for the Colorado Rockies. He has played with the Rockies for his entire Major League career, spanning from 2002 onwards. , who is being added to the roster for the first time in these playoffs and hasn't pitched since Aug. 10 because of a strained oblique muscle (Anat.) a muscle acting in a direction oblique to the mesial plane of the body, or to the associated muscles; - applied especially to two muscles of the eyeball. See also: Oblique . Curt Schilling will follow Beckett, but Boston manager Terry Francona hasn't announced his pitching plans beyond Game 2 except to say Tim Wakefield, the 41-year-old knuckleballer who went 17-12 in the regular season, won't be on the World Series roster. The lineups are fairly even. The Rockies hit an NL-leading .280 this season while the Red Sox were fifth in the AL at .279, and the Rockies outhomered the Red Sox 171-166. But Boston, as AL teams always do, will have a huge advantage at home because of the designated hitter. Theirs is David Ortiz, one of the most dangerous hitters in the majors. The Rockies, at least for Game 1, is expected to be Ryan Spilborghs, a part-time center fielder -- albeit one who batted .299 with 11 homers and 51 RBIs in 264 regular-season at-bats. For the middle three games in Denver, Ortiz will be forced back to first base, which in turn will force the sizzling siz·zle intr.v. siz·zled, siz·zling, siz·zles 1. To make the hissing sound characteristic of frying fat. 2. To seethe with anger or indignation. 3. Kevin Youkilis to the bench. But it can be argued that only gives the Red Sox a deeper bench. As hot as Yorvit Torrealba has been in the playoffs, the Red Sox have the edge behind the plate with the veteran presence of Jason Varitek. Todd Helton gives the Rockies a slight edge over Youkilis at first base -- but not over Ortiz -- mostly because the Rockies have built a club that no longer relies as heavily on Helton as it did in years past. "They don't need Helton to hit for power anymore," an NL scout said. "That frees him up to be a line drive, doubles-type hitter, which plays more to his strength." The rest of the infields are essentially a wash. Likely NL Rookie of the Year Rookie of the Year may refer to:
The Rockies are stronger overall in the outfield. As dangerous as Manny Manny may refer to: In nobility:
Both bullpens are airtight at the back end, with closers Manny Corpas and Jonathan Papelbon among the best in the game. The Rockies are a better defensive club, but not that much better. They committed a major league-low 68 regular-season errors, while the Red Sox committed 81. So, when in doubt, go with the team that has more experience -- and better starting pitching. This feel-good story won't have a warm, fuzzy ending. Red Sox in six. tony.jackson@dailynews.com (818) 713-3675 CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 3 boxes Photo: (1) David Ortiz will probably get the nod at first base over Kevin Youkilis for Boston when the World Series shifts to Colorado this weekend. Elsa/Getty Images (2 -- color) no caption (Red Sox) (3) KEVIN YOUKILIS (4) TODD HELTON (5) DUSTIN PEDROIA (6) KAZ MATSUI (7) JULIO LUG0 (8) TROY TULOWITZKI (9) MIKE LOWELL (10) GARRETT ATKINS (11) JASON VARITEK (12) YORVIT TORREALBA (13) MANNY RAMIREZ (14) MATT HOLLIDAY (15) JACOBY ELLSBURY (16) WILLY TAVERAS (17) J.D. DREW (18) BRAD HAWPE (19) DAVID ORTIZ (20) RYAN SPILBORGHS Box: (1) MATCHUPS - Associated Press (2) WORLD SERIES (3) world series Boston vs. Colorado |
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