3 down; 1 to go. I’m starting to get worried. What if the Red Sox actually do win a World Series? I think that I’d lose part of my identity. Red Sox Nation is going to need a series of support groups all around the country to cope with our newfound winning ability. I just think it’s too bad that some of the greatest Sox in history–I’m thinking of Ted Williams especially–won’t be around to see it.

Anyway, on to the Curse update.

Did anyone else notice that Trot Nixon almost killed himself last night chasing down an errant fly ball? The right field area near the track at Busch Stadium was so wet from the day-long rain that he slipped and fell on his ass. Now, I’m not really so sure how much the Curse really had to do with this. If the Curse (or The Babe’s ghost, which really may be one and the same, anyway) had gotten on the plane from Boston to St. Louis and actually been at the game last night, Nixon would have hurt his back (already questionable) and/or not been able to make the pickup on the ball and get it back into the infield.

Secondly, not to downplay the brilliant pitching by Pedro Martinez, the man needs to understand the concept of swinging the bat. I know you’re an AL pitcher who had fewer at-bats during the regular season than Ortiz had games at first during the regular season, but for pity’s sake, swing the bat!. The fact that Martinez actually managed to draw a walk in his last plate appearance is nothing short of amazing! But lest we forget that he didn’t even bother offering at a single pitch during his first at-bat, we need to remember that on a 3-2 count, he was taking all the way. That’s right; he wasn’t even going to try to put the ball into play . . . or even foul it off.

But as long as we’re talking about pitchers in NL parks, we shouldn’t forget the huge error that Suppan made on the basepaths, allowing himself to get picked off (by Ortiz, no less!) when he should have scored.

I’m not really sure what is going to happen tonight. Either the Red Sox will win it all, or the Curse will catch them (maybe it took the bus or the train instead of a plane), and they’ll proceed to lose four straight.

It’s all in the hands of Derek Lowe . . . But no pressure ;-)