Waiting

Will the Rockies -- who have won 21 of their last 22 games -- be rusty after nine days off?

Dustin Pedroia:

We've played a lot of intense games, but we'd rather go in having seen live pitching in a couple of days instead of nine days off. That's got to be tough on them, especially in cold weather and all of that snow.

J.D. Drew:

Baseball is a game of routine. Throughout the season, you have two days off a month. Sometimes you don't even want days off because you find yourself in a good rhythm ...

The Rockies have been working out and playing intrasquad games -- ah-ha, so one-half of a Colorado team has lost recently! -- while they waited for the Red Sox to finish off Cleveland.

The Herald reminds us that the 2006 Tigers beat the MFY in the ALDS, swept the A's in the ALCS and then had six days off. They batted .199 and lost the World Series to St. Louis in five games.

While Colorado's team batting average has been dropping -- .280 (season), .267 (NLDS), .222 (NLCS) -- their team ERA has improved -- 4.32 (season), 2.33 (NLDS) and 1.89 (NLCS).

Colorado played three games at Fenway Park on June 12-14, winning two of them. Recaps here and here.

Colorado has Jeff Francis and Ubaldo Jimenez lined up for the first two games. After Josh Beckett starts Game 1, Tim Wakefield could start Game 2 on Thursday night. It might be wise to not start him at Coors; plus it would give Curt Schilling and Daisuke Matsuzaka another day of rest. If so, that would mean the rotation would probably go like this:

Game 1: 10/24 Beckett
Game 2: 10/25 Wakefield
Game 3: 10/27 Schilling
Game 4: 10/28 Matsuzaka
Game 5: 10/29 Beckett
Game 6: 10/31 Wakefield
Game 7: 11/01 Schilling

There is also the decision of the lineup in Games 3, 4 and 5 -- in which one of David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis or Mike Lowell will have to start the night on the bench. As far as Tizzle playing first base -- not really the nightmare the media makes it out to be, as Jeff Suppan can tell you -- Rob Bradford notes that

there might be one saving grace when it comes to which National League park the Red Sox find themselves having to integrate Ortiz' fielding. The Rockies boast the tallest infield grass in the entire league.

"He's going to be helped out greatly by the infield. It is the slowest, by far. It's almost as bad as the Cubs used to have it in the Ron Cey days when they were trying to protect him at third base," said Dodgers bench coach Dave Jauss ... "That helps a lot. It's really, really thick."

Ahhhhh - 2004:

It was the year that compelled Dan Shaughnessy to find a new moonlighting job. He had chronicled the so-called curse the way Tolkien had tracked the civilizations of Middle-earth.

Idiocy of the Day -- Bill Reynolds, ProJo:

Let's not kid ourselves here. If the Red Sox were not in the World Series this morning, there were going to be fall guys, and Theo was going to be the biggest. Bigger than Terry Francona. Bigger than the players.

So the team would be exactly the same, the off-field and managerial decisions would be exactly the same, but because of an unlucky bounce here or an umpire's incorrect call there -- things 101% out of the general manager's control -- Theo would get the axe? Please.