It's tough to eliminate a number of thoughts
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - I was reading Hawthorne's "The House of the Seven Gables" when I had an urge for a 7UP. So I went to
Got me thinking about sevens. And Game 7s.
"I actually was taking my bike ride today, and you just look out over the water and you think about Game 7," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said before last night's American League Championship Series finale against the Red Sox.
"When you're a kid in the playground or in the backyard playing, you're always playing Game 7."
The Sox-Rays joust was the fourth Game 7 of this amazing Boston sports calendar year. The Bruins had a Game 7 in Montreal and the Celtics had a pair of winner-take-alls at the Garden - a blowout against the Hawks and the mano a mano, Paul Pierce-LeBron James Sunday matinee in May.
The Red Sox and Rays were still playing because of all the amazing sevens dealt last Thursday at Fenway. That's when the Sox trailed the Rays, 7-0, in the seventh inning. Tampa needed only seven outs to win the pennant. J.D. Drew, No. 7 in your program, hit a two-run homer and the walkoff single that bounced into the bullpen.
It was the night after an electrical fire burned a "7" into the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square.
Seven is the most mysterious and sacred of numbers. It's a prime. It signifies the days of the week and a lucky roll of the dice. We have seven deadly sins, seven seas, seven continents, the seven-year itch, the seventh son of the seventh son . . .
And we have Game 7.
Game 7 has been fun for the Sox lately, but it hasn't always been a friend to Boston baseball. Let's revisit:
Red Sox 11, Indians 2 (2007 ALCS) - This one was over early, probably at the moment Dropkick Murphys performed "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" while Irish step dancers hopped on the warning track (thank you, Dr. Charles Steinberg) before the game. The Sox scored three runs in the first three innings, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis hit homers, and the stunned Tribe never knew what hit them.
Red Sox 10, Yankees 3 (2004 ALCS) - Felt like it was over before it started. Johnny Damon's second-inning grand slam made it 6-0 and New York's humiliation was complete. "Big Game" Derek Lowe got the win with six innings of rocking chair work and the Sox drank champagne and posed for photos as they danced on the Yankee Stadium lawn.
Yankees 6, Red Sox 5 (2003 ALCS) - The final chapter of the Curse of the Bambino. The Sox lead, 5-2, in the eighth when Grady Little left Pedro Martínez in the game and got himself fired. Mariano Rivera pitched three innings of relief and Aaron Boone won it in the 11th with a homer off Tim Wakefield. It was the last time the Sox made you cry.
(Note to purists - the Sox twice went to a winner-take-all Game 5 in the Division Series, but I'm not including that here. There's also no mention of Boston's Game 7 in the 1903 World Series because that was a best-of-nine affair and the Sox won it in Game 8).
Mets 8, Red Sox 5 (1986 World Series) - No, this was not the Bill Buckner game. Boston's heinous collapse - one on a par with what the Rays did in Boston in Game 5 - actually took place in Game 6. The Sox had a day off (rain) after their epic fold, then burst to a 3-0 lead in Game 7 at Shea Stadium before Bruce Hurst (anagram for B. Ruth Curse) wore down in the sixth and Calvin Schiraldi came on to lose it.
Red Sox 8, Angels 1 (1986 ALCS) - Another easy Game 7, much like the Indians in 2007 and the Yanks in 2004. This was Roger Clemens's only victory in nine postseason starts with the Red Sox. Jim Rice's three-run homer in the fourth made it 7-0. Gene Mauch's team led the series, 3-1, and took a 5-2 lead into the ninth inning of Game 5. It was the worst ALCS choke of all time - until the Rays at Fenway Thursday.
Reds 4, Red Sox 3. (1975 World Series) - Boston was still hungover from Carlton Fisk's 12th-inning midnight moonshot off the left-field foul pole that climaxed one of the best World Series games ever. The Sox led the Reds, 3-0, in the sixth inning of the finale, but Bill Lee tried to float an eephus pitch past Tony Perez and the ball was last seen flying over the Mass. Turnpike. Young Jim Burton, who went on to win one big league game, gave up the losing run on Joe Morgan's single in the ninth. Ouch.
Cardinals 7, Red Sox 2 (1967 World Series) - These were the Impossible Dream Red Sox, the Cardiac Kids, led by MVP Carl Yastrzemski. Noble Jim Lonborg started on two days' rest and had nothing left. Bob Gibson beat the Red Sox with his third complete game and hit a home run into the triangle in center for good measure.
Cardinals 4, Red Sox 3 (1946 World Series) - A crusher. The Sox were 3-1 favorites in this, their only postseason appearance between 1918 and 1967. Scrawny Cardinal southpaw Harry Brecheen beat them three times, Ted Williams hit only .200 (five singles) and Johnny Pesky wore goat horns for allegedly hesitating on a relay throw when Enos Slaughter scored the winning run.
Red Sox 3, Giants 2 (1912 World Series) - OK, this was actually Game 8, but only because there was a 6-6 tie in Game 2. It was a winner-take-all Game 8, the final game of the first season of Fenway Park. The winning pitcher was Smoky Joe Wood, the loser was Christy Mathewson and only 17,034 attended, none wearing pink hats.
Must have been seventh heaven.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com.
