What?!! The Red Sox won?!! Unbelievable!

As Dan Shaughnessy reported in the Boston Globe, "Down three games to none, and down 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, the Sox last night rallied to tie the game against indomitable Yankee closer Mariano Rivera. They won it in the 12th inning at 1:22 this morning when Ortiz hit a Paul Quantrill 2-and-1 pitch into the Yankee bullpen to give the Red Sox a 6-4 Game 4 victory at Fenway Park. The game lasted 5 hours, 2 minutes, and many of those who stayed for the finish lingered even longer into the morning."

The Red Sox will start Pedro Martinez in Game 5 today at Fenway and Curt Schilling in Game 6 tomorrow in the Bronx if they get that far.

Ortiz' homer is being compared to Carlton Fisk's in 1975. But no team in baseball history has ever come back to win a seven-game series after trailing, 3-0. Ditto for the NBA. Of the first 25 baseball series which started 3-0, 20 ended in sweeps. You have to go to hockey and the 1975 New York Islanders (who came back against Pittsburgh) and the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs (vs. Detroit) for any glimmer of hope.

But there was no hope, nothing, not even a glimmer, at 11:30 last night when Rivera was on the mound and the Sox were three outs from elimination, end of season, and humiliation.

There was also a nice piece is yesterday's Sunday New York Times about the virtues of losing, or rather, the virtues of cheering for teams that lose. The point was that people who cheer for losing teams tend to be more resiliant in life, have better attitudes about life's successes and failures, and appreciate the long-sought-after victories when they finally do come more than the fans of perennial champions.