Visions of 1918

Maybe I was wrong about the Red Sox. They just won Game 6 of the ALCS, 4-2, a game I never even expected them to reach let alone win. They've managed to battle back from an 0-3 deficit to force a Game 7, the first time this has happened in Major League Baseball history. They still have to win Game 7 and then win the World Series to finally be rid of The Curse, but let's just talk about this Game 6. Wow, what a game...

Curt Schilling made a remarkable return from an ankle injury after not only being scratched off the schedule for Game 5 but being counted out from the series altogether. His right foot visibly bleeding through the sock, he pitched a very strong seven innings -- only giving up a run in that final seventh -- to redeem his dismal Game 1 outing, and rested as he watched his teammates finish the dramatic win over their bitter rivals.

Speaking of bitter, those New York fans were going nuts over a couple very strange (but very right) calls against the Yankees, literally throwing balls and other debris onto the field which prompted the officials to call in riot police. Nothing major occurred, but the mere presence of law enforcement lines on the field gave an eerie feeling to the electrically charged atmosphere of the game.

The crowd's restlessness began in the fourth as a blast by Sox second baseman Mark Bellhorn sailed just over the outfield wall, bounced off a fan's hands and back onto the field where Yankee outfielder Hideki Matsui picked it up and threw it infield to stop Bellhorn, the final runner. The Sox immediately protested the play and the umpires congregated to decide what had happened. They ruled that the hit was indeed a homerun that was simply deflected back onto the field, so it should never have come back into play and therefore Bellhorn should automatically score. Yankee Stadium fans were none too happy with the decision and voiced their displeasure with loud shouts of "bullsh*t!"

Then in the eighth, with an already surly crowd on their hands, the officiating crew had to make another reverse call that threatened to cause a riot. With Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter on first base, third baseman Alex Rodriguez hit a grounder toward first base. Red Six pitcher Bronson Arroyo snatched the ball up and stretched his arm out to tag Rodriguez, who shockingly smacked Arroyo's arm away and dislodged the ball, which traveled far down the right-field line. However, this all happened so quickly that even the first-base umpire didn't catch it; in fact, he called Rodriguez safe when he never even stepped on the base! By the time the ball was recovered, Rodriguez had made his way to second base and Jeter had scored. Another protest was launched by the Sox and the umpires congregated again. They decided that Rodriguez had interfered and should have been out, and that Jeter was thus locked at first base and ineligible to score. The fans went crazy at this point and began the aforementioned throwings, causing a 10-minute delay while the Yankees argued the call and riot-gear police had to be called to the field.

All the public disapproval in the world couldn't reverse the calls, however, and well, perhaps this game's favor toward Boston marks a turning point in the collective fortune of the Red Sox franchise. Visions of 1918 are on the horizon...