I'm home, sick again. But even with this coughing, sneezing, stuffy-head, can't get any sleep and headache, I can think of no better time for such an illness. There has been baseball on the television at least twice every day. It beats the heck out of some ol' daily soap opera.

While Boston.com's Dan Shaughnessy says "get ready for you know who," referring of course to the Evil Empire, I can't help but think about the future. I'm not thinking about the ALCS, although I probably should. I've been thinking more about potential National League opponents. Why? Because aside from the Dodgers, all the teams have some history that would make a series with the Red Sox interesting. And they say history has a way of repeating itself.

First there is St. Louis. The Cardinals have beaten the Red Sox twice in the World Series. In 1946, the Sox were led by non other than Ted Williams. Williams had just returned from World War II and although rusty was named the league MVP. He had 38 home runs, 123 RBIs, a batting average of .342 and scored 142 runs. Rusty indeed. The Sox lost the series in seven games. The two biggest bats of the era came up short. Williams only hit .200 during the series, and St. Louis' Stan Musial hit .222.

Then in 1967, MVP and Triple Crown winner Carl Yastrzemski led the way. The series went seven games featuring great hitting and pitching. The Cardinals had the speedy Lou Brock and fireballer Bob Gibson, while the Sox put their faith in Jim Lonborg the winner of 22 games. But again the Cards were too tough.

The Cards are still tough, led by perennial MVP candidate Albert Pujols, they do not seem to have a weakness. And former member of the Red Sox Jeff Suppan had 16 wins this season - a career high.

In each of the Cardinals series, the Sox have had the best player in baseball, yet came up short. The 2004 Sox in all likelihood will have at least one MVP and a 20-plus game winner. Hmm.

Then there are the Atlanta Braves. The history between these two teams goes back to sharing the same city and oft-times the same venue. With very few fans, the Braves left Boston in 1953. To this day, they are Boston's annual interleague play rivals. It's been 50 years, yet we still play them as if there were some real rivalry.

I'm not a Braves fan. They have had such a huge amount of success, it's upsetting. Atlanta has been involved in every postseason since 1991 except for 1994. In fact, they have made five World Series appearances during that time winning one in 1991. Manager Bobby Cox must have made some deal with the devil. Year in and year out they lose veterans and stars but still manage to pull out victories. They are the New York Yankees of the National League, without the big names.

But what if the Houston Astros meet up with the Sox? How interesting would that be? There isn't much on-field history with this team, but off-the-field? This team is made up of some former Red Sox prospects.

Let's start with Jeff Bagwell, one of my favorite players. This former thirdbase standout was traded in another pennant run in 1990. Since then he has amassed over 445 home runs. He's now Houston's firstbaseman. Bagwell has been playing with a sore shoulder the past two years but that has not stopped him from getting 70 home runs during that time.
Adam Everett, former standout at short, was off to a terrific start before he was sidelined with an injury. He's back but in a support role at the moment.
Then there is The Rocket. Yes, Roger Clemens has come out of retirement only to return to the post season. The 40-year-old s having yet another great year with 18 wins and an ERA just under three. Amazing.

With that kind of history, aren't the Sox destined to meet up with the Astros or the Cardinals? With that in mind, I am forced to give my support to the L.A. Dodgers. Go Blue!

But first there are some minor details to deal with starting with tonight's Game 3 versus the Angels. Bronson Arroyo takes the mound at home against the struggling Angels. I hope we sweep so I can start making World Series plans, I mean, ALCS plans.

Reader comments: Who would you rather see the Red Sox face in the World Series - Houston, Atlanta, St. Louis or Los Angeles?

E-mail this entry to a friend