Well, they proved me wrong. I woke up at 8:30 and the Sox were up 7-6 late in the game. They won, thus setting up the dramatic game 7.

The game started at 9:18am here, and I was up a little before 9. I made a quick run to Java City, one of the many local coffee places (Starbucks rip-offs, that is). They have AMAZING chocolate chip muffins. I figured that would be (a) a good way to console myself if we were losing or (b) a good way to celebrate if we were winning.

I was shocked at how well the Sox were hitting Clemens, and when they were up 3-0 I dared to imagine a Red Sox-Marlins World Series. At the top of the fourth I heated up the muffin, right as Millar smacked his home run to make it 4-0. This was shaping up to be a great day. As I scarfed down my yummy breakfast, the Yankees pulled Clemens. I was jubilant and yelled "see ya later, Roger!" But then it occurred to me that this may be the last time Clemens ever pitches, and I was a little sad that he was going out with a whimper rather than with a bang. Even though he is the enemy now, he was by far my favorite player when I was a kid and I still really like him. Wade Boggs I hate, but Roger will always have a special place in my heart.

In the bottom of the 4th I was thinking back to previous "great days" in my life and then it occurred to me that, this being the Red Sox, they would probably find a way to blow it. I realized that there were five long innings ahead and plenty of chances for the Red Sox to find yet another way to agonizingly lose a big game. Growing up in New England has taught me that my team is always going to find a way to lose at the very last minute, and when UConn won the men's NCAA title in '99 and when the Pats won the Super Bowl, I was sure they would blow it, even after the game was actually over.

Giambi's home run in the 5th made me a bit nervous, but when he did it again in the 7th, I was starting to think he was going to get all Reggie Jackson on us and hit three (the third, of course, being the dramatic winner that would crush our spirits for years to come). I was surprised in the 8th when the Yankees brought in David Wells, because Jeff Nelson seemed to be doing a decent job. I guess with Ortiz up, they wanted the lefty-lefty matchup. I don't really like David Wells (though I am often amused by him) and I thought to myself, "how awesome would it be if Ortiz puts his first pitch in the upper deck?" Well, it didn't reach the upper deck, but it was a pretty good shot and I felt that at 5-2, even with a perenially shaky bullpen, we were in good shape.

Oh, but I have to remind myself that it's the Red Sox and it's not over until it's over. And the bottom of the 8th was probably the most gut-wrenching half hour of my life. I don't want to say that it was worse than finding out your parents are divorcing or having your girlfriend dump you, but it was close. In my head I was counting the number of outs remaining and, when it was down to five, I remembered that at one point this week the hapless Cubs were also five outs away. When Jeter doubled I figured it was time for Martinez to go. And then when Williams singled I thought "well, it's 5-3 now, but we just need two outs to get out of the inning; but maybe Martinez should go". I know why Grady Little left Martinez in against Matsui: he trusted him. And even though Matsui had a few hits on him in game 3, Korean ESPN showed a stat saying that, coming in to the game, Matsui had only had two hits against Pedro in, like, 18 at bats this season. But (like everyone else, I assume), I really thought that he should have pulled Pedro.

Then Matsui slapped one down the line and I thought I was going to throw up. Fortunately, a fan touched it and so it was a ground-rule double. Thus, Williams had to stop at third and it was still only 5-3. I was thinking about that poor guy in Chicago and wondering if the fan who touched THIS foul ball would end up having cost the Yankees some runs.

At this point, I was SURE they would take out Pedro, and when Grady Little went to the mound I thought "okay, let's have the bullpen just get two outs here". But I was shocked when he left Pedro in. I don't know why, but for some reason I always thought that Posada was having a killer ALCS (even though he was only hitting .300ish) and was really afraid of what was going to happen. That flare dropping in between Nomar, Walker, and Damon is forever burned in my memory. It was like the ball was falling and the players were all running in slow motion. I was devastated. It tied the game up, but I felt as if we had already lost.

In the 8th, I really thought that Karim Garcia was going to hit the go-ahead RBI. Not because I think he's any good, but because I really hate him and thus I figured he would be the one to break our hearts. I had never heard of him before this series and then when Pedro nailed him in game 3, he acted like he was the star of the team and how dare someone throw at him? Fortunately, he was not to be the hero in this case, but I knew that someone from the Yankees would.

And so, I sat and waited for the collapse to be over. Every inning, I thought, "who will win it for the Yankees?" Because there was never a doubt in my mind that the Yankees were going to win. Would Giambi hit his third home run? Would it be Jeter? It seemed like every inning brought up a new possible hero. The Red Sox did actually get a runner on second with two outs, but I knew they wouldn't score.

Like many people, I don't have much faith in the knuckleball. Even though Wakefield had been awesome in games 1 and 4, I didn't think he was the right guy for a situation in which you can't allow ANY runs or else the season is over. When the top of the 11th ended, and they showed who was due up for the bottom, I saw that Garcia would be second and thought "oh no, this is where he does it".

But Aaron Boone beat him to the punch, didn't he? Korean ESPN has a very nasty habit of showing too many ads during the break, so that when they come back to the game, a few pitches have already gone by (in fact, I missed Millar's homer because they were showing a commercial when it happened). So I guess they learned their lesson towards the end of the game, and they cut back just as Boone was stepping up. And then........

Well, everyone knows what happened next. For a nanosecond I thought "it's foul" but I knew it wasn't. I waited to see it land (just to be sure) and when they flashed "Yankees AL Champions" on the screen, I turned the game off immediately. I didn't want to see the Yankees celebrating. I didn't want to see the Sox dejected. I didn't want to see the fans gloating. I just was glad that they had finally put us out of our misery....

.... like I knew would happen all along.