Red Sox Nation believed? Don't think so.

Of course, now that the Sox have pulled off the greatest series comeback of all time, and given sports fans around the world their happiest day, everyone in Red Sox Nation is saying that they "believed." (I should make clear here that I never believed. Never. I'm still not sure I believe it.)

Well, let's go back to the Sox' deepest, darkest hour--Game 3 last Saturday--and consult the words on that day of the "unofficial spokesman" for Red Sox nation, Bill Simmons. We'll pick up the commentary in the 3rd inning:

When you're headed into a must-win game, most managers come up with some sort of emergency plan ahead of time, just in case their starter doesn't have it. Like any rational Sox fan, we assumed that Terry Francona's plan was, "I'll start Arroyo, but if he's struggling early, I'll go right to Derek Lowe or Tim Wakefield. I can't take any chances tonight."

Nope.

Here was Francona's plan: "If Arroyo doesn't have it, but the game is still close, I'm going to bring in the worst reliever in my bullpen. If that guy doesn't have it, I'm bringing in the second-worst reliever in my bullpen. And if that guy doesn't have it, and we're way behind, that's when I'll bring in Lowe or Wakefield. By the way, I'm doing this because I'm really hoping to get fired next week."

Francona eventually did bring in Wakefield, and he sure was lights-out, wasn't he? A mere 5 runs in 3.1 innings. And look, at least they had someone to start Game 4, as Lowe put in 5.1 decent innings (3 runs). Back to Bill:

5. Torre's so good - he's the anti-Francona
Wrote that one in the bottom of the third, when Torre pulled the plug on Brown once they went up 6-4, bringing in Javy Vazquez. And that's the difference between Torre and Francona -- he acts instead of reacts. He knew Brown was struggling. He didn't want to send him back out there for a few more hits, then bring Vazquez in the middle of an inning (which is what Francona would have done -- although he would have chosen Felix Heredia instead). So Torre said, "Screw it, I've seen enough, let's see what Vazquez can do starting off the third."

And it wasn't like Vazquez was fantastic or anything -- the Sox nearly knocked him out in the third before he settled down in the middle innings. He also didn't pitch worse than Brown would have pitched. Regardless, that's why Torre has four rings. He doesn't react. He acts. That's what a manager is supposed to do.

Not sure what to make of this, since Simmons does admit that Vazquez didn't actually do that well (4 runs in 4 innings). But Torre's nonetheless a genius for putting in Vazquez there because (a) he has 4 rings, and (b) he's not Francona. Okay, maybe we'll agree to disagree on the Game 3 move, but the Brown-to-Vazquez move in Game 7 surely wasn't too brilliant.

(Look, I enjoy Simmons as much as anyone, but once he gets a prejudice against a coach (or a pitcher, or a quarterback), it's all over.)

9. A-Rod -- $15 million
That was after A-Rod hit his second double, giving him two doubles and a homer on the night. And we were still in the fifth. I just wanted to remind myself how the Sox were $15 million away from getting A-Rod last winter, but chose to wait until spring training to try and close the deal, allowing the Yanks to sneak through the back door. Whether he would have fit in with the team of self-proclaimed idiots, we will never know. It just seemed interesting that he was the guy hammering the nail in the coffin last night.

Everybody off the bandwagon!

(By the way, I was grasping for straws at this point -- it seemed much easier to rationalize that a potential sweep was Francona's fault or Schilling's ankle's fault when the reality was that the Yankees were laying the SMACK down. And not just in Game 3. For the whole series. You have to hand it to them.)

The great thing about Simmons, though, is that he's not afraid to occasionally pull out the old "The lesson, as always? I'm an idiot."

And how about that faith shown in the last few paragraphs:

14. Nov. 2 -- don't think so.That's the return date on my airplane ticket. Something tells me I'll be catching an earlier flight back to Los Angeles.

15. We aren't just leaving the game early -- we're fleeing a crime scene. Wrote that on my way out, right after Bernie Williams' two-run double to make it 16-6. One of those rare moments when an entire crowd gets up and leaves -- not even a "Hey, should we go?" shrug to be seen. I never thought I'd leave a Red Sox-Yankees playoff game in the seventh inning. But I did. Everyone did. We had to get out of there. It was practically a stampede.

16. T-shirt stop = silver lining Heading to the subway after the game, I bought two T-shirts from sidewalk vendors to make myself feel better.... I'm going to break them both out this winter in California. Frequently.

While I'm recovering from another Red Sox season that fell short.

Wait a minute. I thought Sox fans would never leave a playoff game early. (That's what they claimed after Game 7, anyway, when they saw the Yankee fans leaving early.)