Boston had us in good spirits through the first seven innings of Game 7 of the ALCS. While the Cubs squandered their opportunity to make the 100th World Series a spectacle for the ages, the Red Sox were offering us hope that the match-up at least wouldn't feature baseball's perennial favorites against Florida, a young organization that displayed little appreciation for its first World Series win.

After a scoreless first, the Red Sox took an early lead, putting three runs on the board in the second. OF-L Trot Nixon homered into the right field stands to drive in 1B-R Kevin Millar, who was at first after singling into center field. 3B-S Bill Mueller then struck out for the second out of the inning before C-S Jason Varitek hit a double into the right field corner. Consequently, the Yankees could have come to bat down by only two if they'd executed the next play cleanly. OF-L Johnny Damon hit a grounder to third, which 3B-S Enrique Wilson attempted to throw to first for the final out of the inning. However, Wilson's throw bounced on the line in front of first just as Damon was coming into the bag, preventing 1B-L Nick Johnson from making the catch. The ball bounced into the photographer's section behind the base and both runners were automatically award one base on the overthrow. As Varitek had advanced to third on the play, he scored on the error.

New York had not yet answered Boston's runs when Millar hit the first pitch of the fourth inning into the second deck in left field, making the score 4-0. RHP Roger Clemens then issued a walk to Nixon and gave up a single to Mueller, so there were men on first and third with no outs in the inning when Joe Torre walked out to the mound to pull Clemens. Despite the score, the Yankee Stadium crowd provided Clemens with a standing ovation as he walked slowly from the mound to the dugout.

Although he's still more than effective on the mound most days, Clemens announced some time ago that he intends to retire after this season with the intention of spending more time with his family. The 41-year-old's expressed an interest in playing for the U.S. team in the 2004 Olympics but reportedly doesn't plan to sign another contract with an MLB club. Of course, given he remains in good health and still seems to have years left in his arm, the media isn't completely convinced his career is really ending, especially with the number of comebacks and postponed retirements staged by athletes over the years. Unless the Yankees could comeback to beat the Red Sox to advance to the World Series, Clemens' season was over, which led to conversation in the booth as to whether he'd reconsider his plans to retire rather than leave on such an inglorious note.

RHP Mike Mussina took over from Clemens and escaped the inning without allowing Boston to add to their lead. DH-L Jason Giambi sent the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth into the stands just right of the batter's eye in center, but the Yankees didn't put another man on base that inning, and the Red Sox still held a three run lead, so we weren't concerned.

We were convinced that we would see the Red Sox in the World Series, if RHP Pedro Martinez could make it out of the bottom of the seventh inning with Boston still in the lead following another long rendition of "God Bless America" during the stretch. He retired the first two batters of the inning before Giambi came to the plate and sent his second solo homer of the night just over the wall in center. Damon reached over the wall to try to pull it back, but he isn't a great defensive centerfielder, so the Red Sox lead narrowed to two. Martinez then gave up consecutive singles to Wilson and OF-L Karim Garcia before striking out 2B-R Alfonso Soriano to end the inning. New York brought LHP David Wells in to face DH-L David Ortiz in the eighth, and Ortiz sent the first pitch he saw over the right field wall, making us feel more comfortable with the Red Sox chances.

That feeling of comfort didn't last long, as we saw Martinez back on the mound in the eighth. His pitch count wasn't overly high at 100, but he hadn't looked particularly strong in the last inning and the Red Sox pen has done well for them throughout most of the playoffs. Johnson popped out to short only after a 7-pitch at-bat. Nixon broke late when SS-R Derek Jeter hit a fly ball into right and it dropped for a double. Damon then let OF-S Bernie Williams drop a ball into center for a single, which scored Jeter.

Grady Little went out to the mound, and though he didn't immediately signal to the bullpen, we were sure LHP Alan Embree would come in to face OF-L Hideki Matsui. Instead, Little apparently asked Martinez if he felt able to finish the inning, though Pedro's pitch count was now at 115 and he was obviously struggling. As most pitchers will do when given an opportunity to hold onto the ball, Martinez chose to stay out and pitch to Matsui. Matsui hit a double into the right field corner, moving Williams to third. Martinez remained in to face C-S Jorge Posada. Posada dropped a fly ball into center, scoring Williams and Matsui. With the game tied, Embree came in to relieve Martinez.

Embree and RHP Mike Timlin escaped the inning without allowing the Yankees to pull ahead. RHP Mariano Rivera took the mound for New York in the ninth, and while the Red Sox put one man on base, Boston couldn't score. Timlin pitched a one-two-three ninth to send the game into extra innings. Ortiz doubled in top of the 10th, but the Red Sox failed to drive him in. RHP Tim Wakefield sent three consecutive Yankees to their seats, and while Boston also went down with minimal fuss in the 11th, we were uplifted by the thought of the Red Sox facing one of New York's lesser relievers in the 12th.

I hadn't even quite returned my focus to the game after the inning break when 3B-R Aaron Boone homered off Tim Wakefield's first pitch of the inning, sending the Yankees to yet another World Series.

Pedro should have known he needed to come out when asked. However, Grady Little probably shouldn't have sent Martinez out for the eighth and definitely should have had the professionalism to pull him when he visited the mound. We felt GM Theo Epstein handicapped his club when he failed to bring in a new manager when launching his regime. After this mistake, we were ready to see Little leave before the World Series even if the Red Sox rallied to advance to the next round. In light of the loss, we're hugely disappointed that Epstein hasn't indicated any intent to seek new management for 2004.