BOSTON — Fenway Park was quiet, the Red Sox clubhouse was dry and Jonathan Papelbon was done with his Irish step dance.
The jubilation of Boston's pennant-clinching comeback was over. There was still one more opponent to face, one that fashioned an incredible streak to reach the World Series for the first time.
Monday's stillness was the calm before theswarm. The Colorado Rockies are coming to town, taking a 21-1 surge into Game 1 Wednesday night.
They certainly should befresh - perhaps too fresh.
After sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks to win their first National League pennant, the Rockies will play their first game in nine days. The Red Sox spent most of the time on the field, rallying from a 3-1 American League Championship Series deficit and outscoring the Cleveland Indians 30-5 in the last three games.
"We've played a lot of intense games, but we'd rather go in seeing live pitches in a couple of days than nine days off," said Dustin Pedroia, who drove in five runs in Sunday night's 11-2 clincher.
"They'll be ready. They've waited their whole lives to be in this situation, so I don't think nine days of rest is going to affect their play at all," he said.
Rockies Manager Clint Hurdle
said it was worth the eight-day
layoff just to see the city galva
nized by the Rockies' first World
Series appearance.
"I've enjoyed watching the city
embrace it," Hurdle said. "I've
been able to go to some places
where we're able to be in the
background and just watch the
buzz from other people. We've
gone to places where we've been
overly embraced, too.
"All the stories about the down
time were appropriate. What will
it do to the Rockies? I understand
that. But to watch the city - not
to have us run right into the World
Series - has been really cool." The weather in Boston for the
first two games is supposed to be
mild, with mostly clear skies and
temperatures in the 50s.
There's no snow in the fore
cast for the weekend games in
Denver. Meteorologist Robert
Glancy of the National Weather
Service said Monday that Games
3 and 4 should be played in about
45-degree weather.
"We won't have to mess with
rain or snow," Glancy said. "We're
between storms. It won't be bit
terly cold. But stay tuned. Fore
casts do change." ALCS MVP Josh Beckett will
pitch the opener against Jeff Fran
cis, who is 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA
in his first postseason. Beckett is
3-0 with a 1.17 ERA in this year's
playoffs and was the World Series
MVP in 2003.
If Beckett is just as sharp
Wednesday, Papelbon - a much
better closer than dancer - could
finish up.
Papelbon put the wackiest
touches on Boston's celebration
when it clinched the AL East.
Standing near the mound in a
shirt and shorts, he performed a
wild dance while spraying cham
pagne in all directions.
His repeat performance Sun
day was more subdued.
"Papelbon put some clothes
on this time," J.D. Drew said.
Just imagine his encore if the
Red Sox win the World Series for
the second time in four years.
"I don't know," Drew said.
"He looked like he worked on
his dance a little bit between the
last time and last night. So we'llsee. Maybe he's getting some lessons." On Monday, there were stacks of bottled water on the clubhouse carpet instead of the ice-filled champagne bins that were quickly emptied less than 12 hours earlier.
The plastic sheeting that protected the lockers was gone.
All seemed normal again as about half the team showed up for an optional workout.
That's the way of the Red Sox, a group that tries not to change its approach no matter how extraordinary the situation.
"The mentality is always the same, every day. You play nine innings or whatever it takes," Manager Terry Francona said. "I don't think we try to complicate things. That wouldn't be very intelligent. Sometimes this game is really difficult to play. Sometimes you need to simplify it." There is one difference Francona would love to see: a better performance than the Red Sox had when they lost two of three games to Colorado at Fenway in June. The Rockies won the rubber game behind Francis 7-1, and handed Beckett his first loss of the season after nine victories.
Overall, the Rockies outscored Boston 20-5 in the series.
"They took it to us pretty good," Pedroia said. "So we're going to have to make some adjustments, but I think we're two totally different teams since then." The Red Sox stayed in first place the rest of the way. The Rockies' big streak forced a onegame tiebreaker with San Diego,which they won in 13 innings.
"They had an incredible run to this point," said Curt Schilling, Boston's probable Game 2 starter. "They're going to play us tough." They will if their pitchers can tame the Red Sox hitters.
Boston hit .381 (40 for 105) in the last three games of the ALCS.
No longer are David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell the only threats.
The Red Sox have an edge in experience. They're also resilient.
Seven players who were on the ALCS team that rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS were on the team that came back from a 3-1 hole against Cleveland.
What's the secret?
"You just try to relax and do what you did all year," Drew said.
"I knew I didn't want to walk off that field an LCS loser. I'd been in that place twice before so it was nice to go home a winner and realize you've still got some more baseball to play." On that same field, the ALCS logo behind home plate had been replaced Monday by a World Series emblem.
The Red Sox players were relaxed before their final push toward a title. Drew said he would "go lay down and take a nap." First, he took batting practice to prepare for the Rockies on Wednesday night when the old ballpark will be rocking.
"They've played great," Drew said. "We've got our work cut out for us."
Sports, Pages 17, 19 on 10/23/2007