Peter knew all along, of course

Paraphrasing Peter Gammons, who is locked in a nip-and-tuck battle with Dan Patrick for ESPN's biggest ego, during SportsCenter's post-game analysis of the Sox sweep:

"People talk about that nitwit, medieval concept of the Curse, but in reality, what it was was that for 86 years, management believed that to win with Fenway as your home ballpark, you build around offense. Epstein came in and said, you win championships with pitching, and that's how the Sox won the World Series, with good pitching."

Okay, first of all, Peter, I've got some news for you: people didn't really believe in the Curse. Sure, it made good copy, and marketers loved it, and people kind of had it in the back of their minds, perhaps as a kind of perverse therapy, but people didn't really believe in it. Mostly it was just kind of a running joke. Sorry you didn't get it. But you are not the only enlightened person in a country of idiots (a general theme of Gammons' commentary).

Second of all, isn't it funny how Gammons left the "good fielding" part out of the "Good pitching and good fielding win championships" cliche? After all, I thought that was the big impetus behind the Nomar trade. Upgrade your fielding, to make those clutch defensive plays that decide championships in October. Instead, the Sox set a record for errors in a winning cause. Twice.

And finally, "building around pitching." Are you saying that if Buckner picks up that ground ball, then building around offense is the correct approach after all? Kind of a funny way to decide that question. I seem to remember that the Sox had a couple of pretty good pitchers in '86, too. And if Rivera slams the door a week ago Sunday, is building around pitching now wrong?

Nobody's denying that good pitching in the postseason is crucial. The '88 Dodgers won it all practically without an offense. But you also need a healthy dose of luck, and a good offense sure doesn't hurt either. And let's remember that during the regular season, the Sox were 3rd in the AL in ERA, but they led the majors in runs scored.