[The hunt for] A Red October -- Epilogue

Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox and their fans for their victory over the Cardinals in a 4-game sweep. The BoSox put a new meaning to the term "finishing strong" by winning 8 games in a row after being down 0-3 to the New York Yankees.

A couple of thoughts gleaned from ESPN Radio driving to work this morning:

• The Red Sox are the first team since the 1961 Yankees to win the World Series with two players hitting 35 home runs or more. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz accomplished this feat for the BoSox with Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris last doing it for the Yankees. What it tells me is that pitching and defense still win championships. In this Series, the Red Sox had those too.
• Would the Red Sox have won if they had traded for Alex Rodriguez as they planned during the last off-season? Instead of Manny Ramirez (the Series MVP) in left field, they would have had A-Rod at shortstop. (If rumors are true, Nomar Garciapara would have been traded to the White Sox for Magglio Ordonez so Rodriguez-Ordonez would have replaced Ramirez-Garciapara.) Interesting!
• Boston manager Terry Francona joined Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenley as managers winning the World Series as rookie managers. Hopefully Francona will have a longer tenure than Brenley enjoyed with the D-backs.
• As much as Fox TV tried, the Red Sox (1918) had only the third longest drought in baseball (and in professional sports, for that matter). Our beloved Cubs (1908) and White Sox (1917) have gone the longest without winning the World Series. The Red Sox were last in the Series in 1986 with the Cubs playing in 1945 and the White Sox playing in 1959.

Those of us in Chicago can now look forward to the remainder of the Bears season and, of course, the Chicago Bulls! :-)