THAT'S WHY ITS DIFFICULT TO WIN DOUBLEHEADERS

The primary reason it is difficult to sweep doubleheaders, in my opinion, is that you use up your top pitchers in the 1st game. The winning team typically needs to utilize their top set-up man and closer in order to win the first game. Then they typically can't use them in the 2nd game. That's what happened in the 2nd game. On any other day, we probably win that game. Schilling wouldn't have had to go deep into the 7th. We could have used Papelbon and Timlin to end the game. We probably would have won.

The notion that Craig Hansen should be the closer for this team is laughable. It was laughable when people running sites like Boston Dirt Dogs suggested it after his impressive debut. The guy is still a kid. He's got great stuff, but he hasn't proven himself yet. We're not some crappy team willing to experiment, we're the Boston Red Sox. You need to EARN your spot on this team. It isn't just given to you after one good performance.

Apparently, an anonymous member of the Red Sox clubhouse was ragging on Curt Schilling. "When he comes into the game, people cheer him like he's the Pope? You think they'd let Pedro get away with this? Why does he get a free pass?"

Now, my guess as to who the player is Foulke. Think about it, Foulke has been crapped on by everyone in Red Sox Nation for pitching poorly due to injury. Yet Schilling pitches poorly with an injury and get standing ovations even when he allows 3 runs in an innings. Foulke was just as big of a part as Schilling in last years Wild Card and World Series victories, if you ask me.

I'm not saying what was said should have been said to the media. But I understand why it was thought. I mean, I love Schilling. But I love everyone who won the World Series last year. That means Bellhorn, Foulke, Cabrera, Pedro, D-Lowe, and a number of other players not with the team or not helping the team. And in my opinion, Schilling has been getting a free pass compared to the crap players like Foulke, Pedro and Bellhorn have gotten. I remember a few years ago people complained that Pedro wasn't doing enough to stay in shape over the off-season. Curt Schilling showed up to Spring Training visibly overweight. How the hell was he supposed to rehab a bad ankle while his body was adjusting to some extra pounds?

We love Curt when he speaks his mind. When Pedro did it, we hated him. We worship Curt for pitching through an injury, we forget about Pedro's outing in Game 5 of the 1999 ALDS. We praise Curt as some sort of savior to the Red Sox, but in reality, this team was nothing until Pedro got here. And guess what, without Foulke or Bellhorn, we don't win the World Series last year even if Schilling pitched on two healthy ankles.

Unlike most members of Red Sox Nation, I appreciate what Foulke, Pedro, and Bellhorn did for us last year. Yes, Foulke was an a-hole for calling the fans Johnny Burger King. Yes, Pedro was greedy for going to the Mets for more money (weird how Boston Dirt Dogs can criticise Pedro for wanting a few million dollars and when you look at their site, its covered in advertisements and links to buy their crappy t-shirts), and yes Bellhorn wasn't doing it for us. However, these men brought a World Series Championship to the city of Boston for the first time since 1918. That gives them, ALL OF THEM, a free pass. But only Schilling has gotten one.