A Duel of Two Cities
Evidence of Love
BOSTON After chatting with Red Sox fans on a popular website last November, Curt Schilling waives his no-trade clause and okays a deal to Boston.
ST. LOUIS Larry Walker, acquired from the Rockies in a key trade, receives a standing ovation before--and after--striking out in his first at bat with the Cardinals on Aug. 7.
Highest Asking Price for a 2004 World Series Ticket on stubhub.com, through Monday *Game 7 †Game 5
BOSTON* $15,430
ST. LOUIS† $4,706
Most Creative Offer for World Series Tickets on craigslist.org
BOSTON "My 1997 Isuzu Trooper LS (retail value $7,650.00) for your 4 tickets to any 2004 World Series Game at Fenway Park. Straight up, you get title and will own the SUV in return for your tickets."
ST. LOUIS "Trade 1 week in hawaii, beachfront house w/airfare for 2 ticks to games 3, 4, 5 anywhere at Busch."
Movie Moment
BOSTON Anthony Perkins battles mental illness as Red Sox outfielder Jimmy Piersall in Fear Strikes Out (1957).
ST. LOUIS Ronald Reagan (with Doris Day) portrays pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander in The Winning Team (1952).
Preferred Watering Hole
BOSTON Cask 'n Flagon, behind the Green Monster. (Home runs that go over the wall sometimes land on the roof.) Owner Dana Van Fleet estimates that the bar has been drawing 1,500--2,000 customers on game nights (up from 100--200 on a normal night) and going through 300 cases of beer a night. The bar is also packed for away games. "This will be our biggest year," Van Fleet says.
ST. LOUIS Paddy O's, by Busch Stadium. Including its outdoor area, the bar, which is open only during Cardinals games, takes up an entire street. Before games, fans can get their hair and face painted Cardinal red for free. When told of the Cask 'n Flagon's 300-case-per-night estimate, owner Veda Martorelli (who's originally from Boston) says, "I probably double or triple that."
Passion Online
BOSTON Manny Ramirez's back-to-back errors in the eighth inning of Game 1, as documented on the Red Sox fan message board sonsofsamhorn.com:
exCentralSquare: Manny Ramirez: worst fielder in the league. The media is right.
ossie schreckengost: ave maria, gratia plena....
MikeGreenwell: Was there really any question Manny was going to bobble that ball? Sad to say I think that lots of people saw that one coming.
TrotWaddles: The winner of the game will be whoever trips last.
Nuf Ced: Manny's big adventure.
Gorton Fisherman: Can't freakin' believe it. Just can't.
exCentralSquare: ??????????????WHY? Manny, why?
JimD: My worst nightmare--I knew we'd have a Manny moment like this.
mabrowndog: I'm about to be sick to my stomach.
Can Youks [third baseman Kevin Youkilis] play the outfield??
OilCanShotTupac: It almost looked like he hit a sprinkler head or something. Not making excuses for his suckitude, but that motion didn't look natural.
ST. LOUIS
Keith Foulke's bases-loaded, two-out strikeout of Jim Edmonds in the eighth inning of Game 1, as described on the popular Cardinals fan blog Red Bird Nation (redbirdnation.blogspot.com):
home-plate ump Ed Montague punched out Jim Edmonds on a called third strike to end the inning and leave the bases loaded. The ball was at least a foot inside, the worst ball/strike call of the entire postseason. Now, I'm not saying that Montague stole us any runs--I mean, who knows what Jed [Edmonds] would have done in that situation. It's just a shame that it was the biggest moment of the game up to that point, and the star was not Keith Foulke or Jim Edmonds but Ed Montague. Great timing.
2004 Attendance
BOSTON The Red Sox ranked 11th overall with 2,837,304 but led the majors in percentage of stadium capacity: 100.7% in cozy Fenway Park.
ST. LOUIS Though just the nation's 18th-largest metro area, St. Louis ranked eighth in the majors in attendance (3,048,427).
2004 Local Over-the-Air TV Ratings
BOSTON WSBK/UPN 38 and WBZ-TV 4 10.6 No. 2 in the majors
ST. LOUIS WB-11 12.7 No. 1 in the majors
2004 Local Cable TV Ratings
BOSTON NESN 9.8 No. 1 in the majors
ST. LOUIS Fox Sports Net Midwest 8.9 No. 2 in the majors
Octagenerian Link to the '46 Series
BOSTON Special instructor Johnny Pesky, 85, who was blamed by some for Boston's Game 7 loss to the Cardinals that year (he allegedly held a relay throw too long, allowing Enos Slaughter to score on his "mad dash" from first). "I want to see us win one time," Pesky says. "I can die happy then. If they win, I'm going to take all my clothes off and run through the ballpark."
ST. LOUIS Special assistant to the G.M. Red Schoendienst, 81, who played second base for the '46 Cards and managed them to the title in '67, again beating the Red Sox in the Series. "Johnny didn't hold the ball," Schoendienst says of Pesky. "It wasn't his fault. It looked like we were destined to win."
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AL TIELEMANS (SOX MASCOT)
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DAMIAN STROHMEYER (WALKER)
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CHUCK SOLOMON (SCHILLING)
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COURTESY ISUZU (TROOPER)
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ROBERT W. MADDEN/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC/GETTY IMAGES (HAWAII)
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JOHN SPRINGER COLLECTION/CORBIS (PERKINS)
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COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. (REAGAN AND DAY)
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ELSA/GETTY IMAGES
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ELSA/GETTY IMAGES
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DAVID E. KLUTHO (CARDS MASCOT)
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DAMIAN STROHMEYER (RAMIREZ)
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DAMIAN STROHMEYER (EDMONDS)
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JESSICA RINALDI (PESKY)
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RAY STUBBLEBINE/REUTERS (SCHOENDIENST)
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AP (SCHOENDIENST ATOP PESKY)
Schoendienst jumped on Pesky as the Cards topped the Sox.