Knuckle Down

Now that was unexpected. No, not the Red Sox returning to pre-2004 form, bringing us almost to the brink of the post season and then lying down on the job. They've got the hitting power, they've got the pitching, and they just don't bring it together. They've got another game on Thursday with Josh Beckett on the mound, so don't count them out quite yet, but this is what Red Sox fans were used to in the almost century run up to 2004.

No, what caught me by surprise was the song they played in the background as they wrapped up the game. Celebrating Tim Wakefield's knuckleball (which wasn't enough to stop a 7-run 5th inning for the Indians), they backed the highlights with "Knuckle Down" by XTC. I haven't been that pleasantly surprised since Extra put "Falling and Laughing" behind coverage of the O.J. trial. (I knew a guy who worked on that show, and when I mentioned it to him, he suggested that it was probably just a coincidence. I explained that Orange Juice had no American distribution and very little American exposure at the time, so the idea that they'd just randomly picked this track to accompany that story was quite a stretch. The music guys on the show just weren't that clever, he assured me. I asked him to pass my compliments to them, anyway.) Admittedly, it's late in the game to cheer for XTC exposure, but it's nice to see.

"For my sake, won't you put your knuckles down, boys."

Speaking of baseball, you've just got to respect those Rockies. That's an amazing accomplishment--winning 21 of their last 22 games, and just at the moment it counted to maneuver their way into the World Series. The only problem with streaks like that is that ultimately they come to an end. Do the Rockies have four more wins in them this year?