Again, the winners were happy followers of Damon
ST. LOUIS -- It would be the grandest finish to any of the 104 seasons of Boston Red Sox baseball, and Johnny Damon had a most electric way to start it off last night -- a rope into the Cardinals' bullpen on the game's fourth pitch from Jason Marquis.
Just as he planned it?
"Exactly," he said. "We needed a run."
It would prove to be the winning hit in a 3-0 win and oh, how it got the Red Sox right into Game 4. And oh, how it seemed to suck the air out of a Cardinals team that was desperate, yes, but still hopeful it could duplicate the historic magic Boston had pulled off in its American League Championship Series comeback over the Yankees.
Only there would be no comeback. There would instead be a Red Sox World Series triumph for the first time since 1918, and the center fielder with the long dark hair and beard -- a throwback to an era long gone in baseball -- stood in the middle of the team's locker room and hardly noticed that he was being drenched with champagne.
"We have a bunch of loose guys who know how to play baseball," Damon told a mob of reporters. "We know exactly what to do."
What Damon's third home run of the postseason and first of the World Series provided was the main ingredient to this late October run that sent all of New England rocking. That is, an early lead. For four games and 36 innings, the Red Sox never trailed, and Damon's rocket off Marquis got an already loose Boston club even more into the affair.
Damon had struggled mightily against the Yankees in the ALCS, at one point going 3 for 33, and his woes were magnified by the fact Boston fell into a 3-0 hole. But what people seemed to overlook is that Damon had hit .467 in the three-game sweep of the Angels in the Division Series and that he is a .300 hitter with a great attitude. "I just had to start being more aggressive," he said. "I wasn't in the early games against New York."
What happened in Game 7 of the ALCS showdown in New York is the stuff of Red Sox legend already, Damon hitting a pair of home runs, including a grand slam. It was Damon at his very best and he carried that momentum into the four-game sweep of the Cardinals. He hit .286 in the World Series, adding a triple to his leadoff home run last night.
His popularity with Red Sox fans is through the roof and after he soaked in the champagne and the madness of the team's locker room, Damon was off in a flash, charging through the crowd so he could go back onto the field. It was St. Louis's home field, but it was jammed with Red Sox loyalists and Damon was more than willing to help them celebrate.
He had started the night in splendid fashion. Now, with thousands of people screaming his name, Damon wanted to help it end in grand style, too.
