Steal A Base....Steal A Taco

It's hot, my head hurts (as it normally does when the Santa Ana winds start a-blowin'), the entire eastern county is on fire, I haven't been to work since Monday, and we're all out of coffee.

OK, I made the last thing up.

And, the World Series got underway today.

The game is still in progress, but it's been over since the bottom of the fifth. 13-1 Red Sox. Yikes. Colorado gave up 8 runs total to Arizona in four games. Some instant observations from Game 1:

- Beckett is really good.

- Eight days off will kill a pitching staff (way to go, MLB and FOX!). Denver's a hockey town, rumor has it the Nordiques play there. Sometimes, during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, when one team has survived a grueling 7 game series and their opponent won in 4 or 5 games to earn some days off, you hear the 7-game survivors say, we'll give a good effort, but we really don't expect to win this game. Think Clint Hurdle told that to his guys before Game 1?

- When Drew scored the 12th Red Sox run, Joe Buck intoned, 'That breaks the team record for runs in a World Series game.' The previous record? 11. As in 11-9, Boston, Game 1 in 2004. Thanks for the reminder, Joe. A small part of my mind secretly hopes Boston wins this series; maybe then we'll stop seeing ads of the team celebrating as Cardinal players exit the field from 2004.

- I don't think I can sneak Pedroia by everyone next season in my fantasy league. Probably not going to get Ellsbury, either.

- A lot of air has been heated comparing the Red Sox's 30-5 blitzing of Cleveland to Atlanta's 32-1 blitzing of St Louis in 1996. Note to all overconfident Red Sox fans: In 1996, Atlanta blasted the Yankees 12-1 in Game 1 and 4-0 in Game 2. They then lost 4 straight. Stay tuned.

- One more thing about that comparison: 30-5 doesn't do justice to the Indians. They trailed 4-1 in Game 5 when Boston scored 3 runs on 1 hit (and 2 balls hit out of the infield; both were sac flies) in the seventh. They trailed 3-2 in Game 7 until Pedroia's HR in the seventh, then got blown out in the eighth because Wedge stayed with Betancourt about 4 hitters too long. Cleveland lost the series because Carmona and Sabathia went 0-3, and their bullpen finally turned mortal. St Louis lost to Atlanta because Atlanta was better; it just took Atlanta until Games 5-7 to show it.

- The best part of this game was Clayton's conversation with Coco Crisp about the Taco Bell promotion. No wonder baseball can't attract new fans.