Game Day: ALCS Game One

Okay, I admit it. I have become a crazy Red Sox fan. It is really cool! It has been a great season for the Sox and we have high hopes for the first game of the ALCS series with the Cleveland Indians.

Josh Beckett, Boston's Cy Young award contender, is up against C.C. Sabathia (another Cy Young nominee) on pitching. ESPN used their Diamond Mind simulation software to project the results of the Red Sox-Indian series. ESPN made a few educated decisions before running the simulation 1,000 times for the series. The results?

As unpredictable as the outcome of the regular season can be, luck and unforeseen events can play an even greater role in a short series. Bearing that caveat in mind, the results of our simulations project the Red Sox with a 58.2-percent likelihood of defeating the Indians and advancing to the World Series, most likely in seven games. (ESPN)

That is music to my ears! Our Beantown team, often the underdogs, may just end up on top this time. Woo hoo! The article goes on to say:

In our 1,000 series simulations, Boston, behind Josh Beckett, beat C.C. Sabathia and Cleveland in Game1 55.4 percent of the time. If Boston wins Game 1, it could well finish the job in just five or six games. If Sabathia and the Indians top the Red Sox in Game 1, however, Cleveland becomes the favorite to take the series, and in six games to boot. The bottom line: Imagine Sports projects a close series, likely to go at least six games and probably seven, and the Red Sox will emerge as the American League champions and face the red-hot Colorado Rockies in the World Series. Unlike our NLDS projections, where we projected the Rockies as likely to win if they had dropped Game 1, the odds swing in favor of the Indians if the Tribe can take the opening game on Friday. The pressure is on!

Tonight's game will be awesome! I hope I still have my voice tomorrow.

**Update: Red Sox win 10-3. Woo hoo!!!!! How can we not be happy. One picture is below, more can be found at Boston.com: