A look forward.

With one victory firmly in hand, Sox fans around the world can start to breathe a little easier regarding the Olde Towne Team's chances in the 2007 World Series. As the old saying goes, however, momentum is only as good as the next day's starter; no one should know this better than the Colorado Rockies, who have now won 21 of their last 23 games and find themselves down one game to none in the Series.

So will the scrappy upstarts from the senior circuit be able to get on a hot streak before next Wednesday, or will your Boston Red Sox be able to close the door and establish the American League dominance that has become painfully obvious to the rest of the country?

Let's look at what will be the deciding factors for both sides.

For the Colorado Rockies...
1.) Ubaldo Jiminez! Josh Fogg! Aaron Cook! These three men are the starting pitchers standing between the Rox and a broom-assisted elimination. Not exactly Koufax and Drysdale, to be sure, but you have to think they'll be more effective than Jeff Francis. On the other hand, they put up ERAs of 4.28, 4.94, and 4.12, respectively...and Aaron Cook hasn't throw a competitive pitch since August. Hmm.
2.) Matt Holliday and Todd Helton. These guys are both very good, as my fantasy teams from the past five or six years can attest. Unfortunately, I'd never actually seen Holliday before last night in my life, despite the fact that he's already accumulated 103 homers and a .380 OBP in his first four seasons. Todd Helton, on the other hand, is finishing up his eleventh season as the undisputed "Only Guy You've Ever Heard Of From The Rockies."
3.) Coors Field and Rocktober!!! I've never believed in the widely-held theory that home-field advantage is most important in basketball, and this series could be Exhibit A in my defense. Not only will the absence of the designated hitter dramatically change the lineup that won the Sox 96 regular season games, but the physical playing surface features a significantly different atmospheric pressure. The wildcard in Denver will be the hometown fans, who heard about the Rockies' success during halftime of last weekend's Broncos/Steelers game. Will the team with a storied history stretching back as far as the feature film Jurassic Park have its fans riled up and ready to go, or will they go more in the direction of the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks and resort to explaining the rules of baseball over the loudspeakers between at-bats?

And for your Boston Red Sox...
1.) J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo. The poster children for the big-ticket Sox have led to many angry phone calls from Tom in Boston, but their timely resurgence could be quickly rewriting the history books. I've been saying all along that Drew would produce a hit or two in the postseason that would be replayed endlessly for the next twenty-five years, to the point that Sox fans of the future would reflect on the 2007 season and say "Man, J.D. Drew was a great signing for that club." He already has one of those hits (the Game 6 grand slam), and I wouldn't be suprised to see another one in the next week or so.
2.) Jon Lester. Thanks to Tim Wakefield's ailing back, Lester will probably be getting the nod for a Game 4 start in Denver. The silver lining of this decision is that we'll probably get to see another Josh Beckett start. The Sox unfortunately don't have much of a choice in the matter, however, and Lester will be forced to try out his Houdini act on the grandest stage of them all. Let's just put it this way: How many great pitchers can you think of who are famous for working out of jams on a regular basis? That's right, none, because they don't find themselves in jams in the first place. Lester doesn't throw strikes and subsequently finds his pitch count pushing the low 100's after 4 2/3 innings of work. A pleasant suprise from Mr. Lester on Sunday night would be most welcomed, but I won't be holding my breath.
3.) Clint Hurdle. Perhaps the biggest asset the Sox bring into this series is the managerial acumen of Mr. Hurdle. We've already seen his genius at work in Game One; whether using a backup outfielder as the DH in the number 9 slot in the batting order, playing the infield in in the second inning of a two-run game with Manny Ramirez at the plate, issuing two intentional walks in the first four innings, or burning the fifth starter and secret weapon in the fifth inning of a five-run game, Hurdle is obviously doing his best to get noticed. Let's hope he can keep it up.