| Yeah, thats one thing about this team...every time after a game one of them was asked about the performance they had just given, they immediately began talking about things their teammates did instead. There isn't an ounce of ego on this team, and they all believe in one another. I loved Konerko's comments after winning the ALCS MVP. He said something along the lines of "I am honored to be awarded this, and I know the players who won it before me were great and are legends, but I honestly think this should have been split 4 ways and given to our starting pitchers". That? Is a good teammate.
Another thing about the Guillen move that's finally sinking in with me...if you look at almost all of his coaches (except the pitching coach, Don Cooper) they are all former Sox players. We finally have a setup where our tradition is being both honored and furthered. No, we don't have all the titles the Yankees do...but we've had our share of greatness over the years anyway. The players are onboard with this, and they are playing with the pride of representing the organization and the fans, and I think that's wonderful for a change.
I was surprised by this too. They played poorly for the last part of the season, but honestly once they went into Cleveland and swept the Indians out of playoff contention, I thought they might be back in form. I didn't expect this though.
My experiences as a Sox fan with the playoffs have been horrible. There was 1983, Tito Landrum homering off Brit Burns in the 10th to end that series. There was 1993, Toronto rolling over us. The strike year of 1994 with the playoffs that never were. Then in 2000 we got to the playoffs only to get our brains beat in by Seattle. Every time we got there, our team looked confused, over matched, and just flat-out lost. Every time.
But now? These guys go and sweep the defending champs (and yeah their pitching was down, but still a damn good team) and then go out to California and take 3 out there to beat the Angels in 5. Its like a dream, man. This is so NOT what I expected...or really, most Sox fans I think...and its just great.
The night the Sox won the pennant all these guys were calling the sports talk radio station and saying they didn't want to go to bed. They were all afraid that when they woke up this would have been a dream, and it would be mid-September and Cleveland would be 2 games in front of us lol. |