Misery Loves Company: Two Guys Watch Baseball

Games 133 through 135 - Red Sox
Wyatt Earp and the 2004 Red Sox

Red Sox 2, Rangers 0
Rangers 8, Red Sox 6
Red Sox 6, Rangers 5
Record: 81-54

Word from the Nation indicates that chief cheerleader Kevin Millar's coined (hijacked?) a new phrase to fire up the Sox as they head down the stretch. Millar, the author of last year's 'Cowboy Up' mantra (and star of the critically adored Rally Karaoke Guy video) has appropriated one of cinema's all-time great goosebump moments, commissioning the printing of t-shirts emblazoned with "You Tell 'Em We're Coming..." on the front, with "And Hell's Coming With Us" on the back.

It's worth noting that I'm getting all kinds of fired up just typing that last sentence. I've watched that particular scene (from Tombstone, starring Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp) dozens of times, and it has never failed to make me want to run out of the house, guns blazing, to follow Russell/Earp into battle. 'Cowboy Up' was cheesy and funny and perfect for a loose, goofy team that had already exceeded expectations. 'Hell's Coming With Us' is equally perfect for a professional, driven, exceptionally talented team that seems bent on inexorably tracking down the evil villain and driving them from their accustomed place. Makes me wonder if Jason Varitek might have said, "I'm your huckleberry," to Alex Rodriguez before giving the Yankee thirdbaseman a two-fisted facial back in July.

Job well done against Texas, winning the series despite the end of a 10-game winning streak. Now three against Oakland with the pitching matchups and home field squarely in the A's favor. 1 of 3 will be acceptable, but I wonder if these Sox have more in them than that. The Yankees caught a huge break when the Devil Rays' travel plans were disrupted by Hurricane Frances, and I fully expect the Sox to drop a game or 2 to New York in the next several days. Despite that, Kevin Brown's hand injury looks to have a major impact on the Yankees' over-worked bullpen and makes them extremely vulnerable down the stretch. To say that this thing is getting interesting is an understatement on the scale of Val Kilmer (as Doc Holliday) saying to his then-recently deceased adversary, "You're no daisy, Johnny Ringo, no daisy at'all".

Hell's Coming With Us, indeed.