Happy Halloween! Ok, ok, I know the Red Sox pumpkin's been done on TMT already, but technically this is a different picture of it AND this is Halloween AND the Sox won the Series :)
I'm still not quite sure how Nanabelle let TLM get away with this:
Before we could even collect our thoughts from last night, TLM and I went out this morning to get stuff commemorating the event. I quickly guest-posted over at TMT first and will post something more thorough later today.
What a great couple of nights. Though we may have lost some sleep and had to endure a couple of groggy mornings at work, I think we'd all agree (at least in Red Son Nation) that it was worth it. Two games, two wins, and we're off to Denver for Game 3.
Game 1 - Blowout
The Red Sox opened the 2007 World Series at Fenway by setting a record for most runs scored in a Game 1 (oh, and another for scoring 10 or more runs in three straight postseason games, too), and to make the blowout complete, Josh Beckett continued his torrid pace by striking out the first 3 batters he saw and 5 of the first 6, improving his 2007 playoff record to 4-0 while giving up only 6 hits through 7 innings pitched, striking out 9 and walking 1. Wowza...
The bats came out as well, as the box score indicates. Dustin Pedroia started off the scoring with a solo homerun to lead off the first. Manny and Papi both got 3 hits a piece before being pulled late in the game, and even Julio Lugo went 3-4. I know we'd heard a lot about the big layoff the Rockies had, and though I'm sure that factored in a little there had to be more to this shellacking than that. This Red Sox lineup is a formidable one, and even if Jeff Francis (4IP, 10H, 6ER, 3K, 3BB) was on point, he'd have had to beat Beckett. Whether it was 13-1 or 3-1, the Sox were going to win that game.
Speaking of terrible Colorado pitching, how about Franklin Morales? He came on in the 5th and managed to allow 7 earned runs while getting just 2 outs. The man even managed to mix in a balk...an accomplishment unseen in a World Series in over 10 years. Good job Franklin.
Other notes include:
The crowd at Fenway was a very loud and active one, as well there should have been, seeing as how we are talking about the World Series and all. There was lots of chanting, including the popular chanting (heckling) of the pitcher's name (Fraaaaaaanciiiiiiiiis).
It looked as if everyone had press passes around their necks when in fact they were just lanyards handed out to fans as they came in to hold their tickets (ok, I wanted one too, but I didn't wear it!). I guess everyone gets to feel special every once in a while, even if they had to shell out hundreds to get there.
The Dropkick Murpheys sang the National Anthem, and then proceeded to bring down the house with a resounding rendition of "I'm Shipping Up To Boston", complete with a troop of young Irish dancers filing out of centerfield. "Tessie" is nice, but this song kicks ass, and whenever it is played in Fenway (mostly while Papelbon is warming up), the place goes nuts.
Anyway, on to Thursday night.
Game 2 - Bullpens 'R Us
Talk about night and day. In a game where both teams combined for just 3 runs, the story was pitching. Curt Schilling was his now-expected and usual postseason-self, allowing 4 hits and 1 earned run over 5 ans a third, striking out 4 and walking 2. For all we know, this may have been his last game at Fenway, or in a Red Sox uniform even, though as Nick Cafardo points out it would be hard to imagine otherwise given what he's done and can continue to do (at least for one more year) for this team.
With the victory in Game 2, Schilling became only the second 40-year old pitcher to win a World Series game, and the first player in history to win one in his 20's, his 30's, and his 40's.
After Schilling came Hideki Okajima then Jonathan Papelbon who combined for 3.2 innings of scoreless relief. Okajima was tremendous (2.1 IP, 0ER, 0H, 0BB, 4K). Back in late August / early September, everyone thought that the Red Sox brass had little faith that the rookie Japanaese relief man would have enough gas for the rest of the season. That's why they got Gagne, they said. Well, maybe they were right, maybe not, but all I know is that here we now have a very rested Okajima who can come out and perform like he did last night.
"This was the Pap-ajima show tonight...That was just phenominal to watch." -Curt Schilling
Papelbon was his usual intimidating self, and though his line doesn't include it up front (1.1 IP, 0ER, 1H, 0BB, 2K), he made what is definitely one of the plays of the game. He came in to relieve Okajima in the top of the 8th with 2 outs and a runner on first. Papelbon may be known for many things, like being an intimidating presence on the mound, trying to Irish step dance with goggles and a cigar, and looking like the crazy kid from "The Incredibles", but he is not one known for looking over to first, never mind throwing over there. Yet here in this situation before a pitch was thrown he whirled and caught the mighty Matt Holliday way off the bag, ending the inning and the potential Rockies rally in what will be considered one of the best plays of his careeer. TLM looked over to me and said "He never does that." She was right...and we're glad the Rockies thought that too...
Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado's starter, also pitched well (4.2IP, 3H, 2ER, 2K, 5BB), and in fact held the Sox hitless for over 3 innings. It just wasn't enough on a night where Boston's pitching was as on-point as it was.
Though Mike Lowell was the only player in the starting lineup of Game 1 to not get an RBI, he made up for it in Game 2 with not one but two key plays. In the 4th he made a heads-up, aggressive baserunning decision and took 3rd on a J.D. Drew single, putting himself in position to be driven in on a Jason Varitek sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1. Then, in the next inning, he drove in what would prove to be the winning run by knocking a double to left and sending Big Papi home. So wait...why is there so much debate as to whether or not we should keep this guy?
This couldn't have worked out better. Though the final score was 12-2, the game was won on a first inning grand slam hit by none other than the much hated-on J.D. Drew. After consecutive strikeouts of Manny and Lowell, many of the Fenway faithful looked on as Mr. Drew, the poker face personified, came to the plate and then drove a 3-1 fastball to the deepest part of the park and into the camera net. From then on the Indians were behind the 8-ball, and anyone who could see inside the Cleveland dugout could tell they were psychologically defeated early. The chants of "Faaaauuuuuuustoooooo" were echoing across Fenway throughout much of his entire 2+ innings of work (if that's what you want to call it). Carmona's look after giving up the bomb to Drew (see below) is priceless.
So then, it comes down to tonight's final and deciding Game 7, featuring Jake Westbrook for the tribe throwing against Daisuke Matsuzaka for the Sox. Many fans believe it is exactly this type of backs-to-the-wall situation for which Boston got Matsuzaka, and with good cause. His exploits in elimination games in Japan are legendary, starting as a teenager in Kokoyakyu, and I'm sure many a Japanese fan will be watching and rooting for him tonight...
Whaddaya know...good pitching in the playoffs wins you games. Josh Beckett was again superb, pitching 8 solid innings (a hint that he WON'T be starting a possible game 7), giving up one earned run on 5 hits while striking out 11 and walking 1 (his forst of the postseason). CC Sabathia, on the other hand, gave up 4 earned runs on 10 hits through 6, a better outing than game 1 but still not enough.
So now it comes down to tonight's game, with the Sox once again playing an elimination game. It'll be Carmona vs. Schilling, a rematch of game 2.
If I have to hear "Cleveland Rocks" one more time, I'm boycotting Cleveland, as well as anyone named "Drew" or "Carey". And what's up with the Indians fans? I don't know how many times FOX cut to people who have their faces painted like the ever so politically correct Chief Wahoo character (see above). Does anyone else see anything wrong with this? Is it that there aren't enough Native Americans to make a stink about it?
The Indians organization knows it's an ugly, hackneyed, stereotypical caricature. When they were scouting Jacoby Ellsbury, who eventually became the first Navajo to play in the bigs (and should be playing right field for the Red Sox in this series), they asked if he would be offended by the portrayal. Why continue to bask in the outdated and reprehensible emblem that is this face? Weak...
Enough about that. Where are the Red Sox bats? Paul Byrd? Are you kidding me? If we can't hit him, we almost don't deserve to win. Last night was tough to watch, tougher than the night before. At least in Game 3 we could partially assign blame to a couple of really bad called strikes in crucial situations. Last night was just a case of leaving the bats at home. Speaking of which, when are we going to see someone other than J.D. Drew in the lineup?
Ok, no more negativity. Two key points for all of Red Sox nation to remember moving into Game 5:
1) We have Josh Beckett starting, who's been lights out all postseason. 2) We've been in worse situations (2004 anyone?).
Ok, I admit, the last post was harsh. You have to understand, however, that it was posted as we were leaving the park (yes, we were among those who stayed until the end).
I suppose some credit should be given to Trot Nixon (why can't we have guys like that?), who knocked in the go-ahead run in the 11th. Little did we know at the time how terrible an inning that would be.
The Sox ended up allowing 7 runs in the top of the 11th. 7 RUNS. By the time the Sox came up to bat in the bottom half of an extra-innings game in the playoffs, a situation one expects would command a packed house, the place was already half empty. It got to the point where those of us who stuck it out were calculating who would represent the tying run and how each of the 8 batters would reach, making sure to throw in a catcher's interference and a drag bunt (why not?). It was comical....I guess we all have our defense mechanisms.
I had big hopes for Gagne (now pronounced Gag-ne around here). He was a fantasy baseball stud for me a few years ago, and I held out hope for him a lot longer than anyone I know. Not anymore. This man should never pitch on the mound at Fenway ever again, period.
Last night, for the first time, I went to a postseason game and didn't sit in the bleachers. After TLM won the opportunity to buy ALCS tickets we went online and got a couple of grandstand seats 3rd base side with the tag "possibly obstructed" affixed to them, though I figured we'd be fine once I saw that they were in row 3. Then we got there before the game and saw this:
Just when I thought we were the proud buyers of the worst seats in the house, I noticed someone settling into a seat in front of us - a seat directly behind the post. Unreal. That guy lasted all of two innings.
The Red Sox have absolutely no gripes about selling this ticket, and why should they? They'll gladly take your $95...they told you "possibly obstructed", didn't they? At least they gave you some warning, as opposed to building something new that wrecks the view you've had for 18 years without telling you. Wait...I've heard this story before.
The first inning or two was, as TLM put it, an "exercise in patience", and not just because of the (missing) view. I try to make it a point not to complain (that's a disclaimer), but just about everyone seated around us was tough to bear. My personal favorite was some guy behind us, pretending to be a Red Sox fan, who wouldn't stop talking about how Yankee Stadium is better than Shea and how his uncle loved the Whalers. I'm pretty sure TLM's favorite was this obnoxious kid who claimed to be related to Johnny Pesky and had a knack for standing up and blocking what precious little view we had (oh, and his real seat was 7 rows behind us, by the way).
Eventually, a few more innings passed, the Sox took a commanding lead, and these and a lot of the other fickle fans left, allowing TLM and I to upgrade our seats and watch the Red Sox win. I can't wait to get back to the bleachers tonight for Game 2 with some real fans.
Three games, three Sox victories. To use the phrase Angry Bill made famous in "Still We Believe", "it's ova, o-v-a, ova".
Fine with me. It'll be just fine to see Josh Beckett throw in game 1 of the ALCS, thank you. The Angels looked down coming into the game and looked completely flat after the back-to-back homers by Papi and Manny. So much for small ball.
As for the other ALDS, there seemed to be three general schools of thought: those that wanted to face the Yankees in the ALCS, those who didnt, and those that were intentionally and consciously neutral. Well, the argument has become moot as of last night, as the mighty Yankees were sent home after the first round of playoffs for the 4th consecutive year. Sorry fellas. Anybody need a manager?
What a night. As BostonDirtDogs so perfectly put it, it was "Manny being Papi". He (and everyone at Fenway and watching at home) knew it was gone right off the bat, and even after seeing lots of replays I'm still not sure where it went.
I'll tell you this, though: Manny spent so much time at home with his arms up in celebration, admiring his bomb over the wall, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he takes one in the ribs Sunday in Anaheim.
Obviously Daisuke wasn't on point last night, and I think credit is due Terry Francona for taking him out when he did. We often hear people call up sports radio to complain about some move the manager made (or didn't make), and I think Tito deserves a tip of the cap for how he handled his pitching staff yesterday.
J.D. Drew came up big in the 1st to drive in 2 runs early. Though finishing with only one hit on the night, he made it count. Finally.
Mike Lowell got the sacrifice fly in the 5th to tie it up. As usual, Lowell came up big for the Sox in a clutch situation, and I really hope to see him stay here next season.
One batter before Lowell in the 5th was Manny, who for all intents and purposes should have made the 2nd out in the inning on a foul pop fly first base side. One thing TLM and I didn't know about from where we were sitting in the bleachers was just how close (and subsequently pivotal) the play was. As the ball came down some guy behind us was yelling "Be a good fan. Be a good fan.", and in fact this kid (Danny Vinik) was. He JUST robbed Jeff Mathis of the catch.
That play happened just in front of Steven King. Spooky? No, coincidence, but still of note.
As Okajima was warming up on the mound, we all heard some dance song being played and it took us a bit to figure out what we were hearing. Eventually we heard something being spelled out and it wasn't long before we could figured out it was "O-K-A-J-I-M-A". That's right, Okajima has his own song. You can listen to it below, but be prepared, it gets stuck in your head for hours.
So I finally made it, and was happy to be present for TLM's very first playoff game. The Red Sox won last night, thanks to some timely hitting, a few stellar defensive plays, and an absolutely phenomenal pitching performance by Josh Beckett.
...and yes, we'll be watching the first game of the other ALDS series today. Though a Sox-Yankees ALCS would be nice, I will never, ever root for the Yankees, ever. So go Tribe!
TLM is at Fenway, and I'm sitting in my car in one of the worst traffic jams I've ever been in. Impatience on the part of drivers and incompetence on the part of the BPD trying to direct traffic have together combined for standstills, gridlock, and nightmarish backups for blocks in every direction.
There go the fly-by jets, indicating the end of the national anthem. Maybe someday I'll get there...maybe even by tomorrow if I'm lucky.
Content found on The Neoteric is of no particular genre, topic, or focus, other than it was all at some point, in some way, interesting enough to me to write about.
