Entries Tagged 'ALCS' ↓

PEDROIA AND BECKETT AND EVEN J.D. AND OMG.

The Sox aren’t headed anywhere. They have home field advantage to play the opening game Wednesday night at Fenway Park in the 2007 World Series.

The ALCS was all about the home crowd. If you succumb to the notion of visiting teams during any regular season game that the home crowd is nice, but “we don’t need it”, then you’re fooling yourself. The crowd may not be as electric as they are in the post season, but they’re behind the team; especially in good times.

Beckett is the MVP, deservedly so, but the rest of the team including J.D. Drew, Lugo and the defensive skills of  Coco Crisp were enough to go against the other team with the best record in baseball. The difference? Boston won one more game. That’s it. What separated the entire season is one game. How amazing is it, then, that the Red Sox found themselves in the World Series based on the fact that they won the season series against Cleveland. If it had been the other way around and Cleveland was working with home field advantage, would they be headed to the Fall Classic?

Dice-K had a gutsy first three innings. Unfortunately, that’s all I can say about that specific performance. What irks me and others is the perceived lack of intensity. I believe inside he’s intense and he’s serious about winning. How else do you accomplish the level of success he’s had? You don’t. Interestingly enough, J. D. Drew shows the same perceived lack of intensity. Yes. He wants to win. Yes. He plays hard when he’s trying. But, unlike Dice-K, Drew’s intensity is measured by his bat. A pitcher has the chance for 10 strikeouts or be shown on camera pumping their fist about 100 times during a game. A fielder gets to show off if  a) the ball is hit to them or b) they get into a position where they can perform at the plate in a meaningful situation. Go back and watch J. D. Drew on any tape of any game he’s been in and you’ll see that other than when he’s at the plate, the man is playing hard. It doesn’t make me any more of a fan, but it does make me take a breath and think about his season.

Ellsbury will be a star (if he isn’t already).

Pedroia made himself heard last night and shoved a big, fat “FACE” smackdown to anyone who doubted his ability. Good for him. I’m not the tallest guy either and I can certainly appreciate where he is and what he’s been able to do.

Papelbon got his first-ever six out save AND his first-ever post season save. That dude is really good. Wow. He can dance anytime, anyplace so long as he pitches like that for us until he’s lost the gas in his tank. He will be a Hall of Famer.

And now… we wait. They need the rest. They’re tired and they’re happy. They’ll actually relax a little before the media day and the onslaught of public scrutiny hits them one more time before they get a short off-season. Let’s just hope the World Series sends them off to that short rest with a big smile.

OK, ladies and gentlemen: it’s time to rally.

So, like, this massive dude named Beckett shows up and he, like, MOWS down this buncha’ Indians. And I was like, WHOAH… whoah… those are some mad skills and stuff and my other dude was like, DUDE! That dude ROCKS.

I am quite speechless over the performances that Beckett has become known for at this time of year. His accuracy (especially down in the zone) was phenomenal. He had a “wicked” curve and his fastball never left 96 MPH, even as he threw his second-to-last pitch of the 8th inning.

The Sox come back to Boston for the remaining two games. Whether or not they pull this off will be dependent upon Mr. Schilling’s ability to nibble some corners and keep the balls on the ground. If he gives up a couple long balls (which he certainly has done over the past couple years) we’re in for a long night.

A day of rest and then the home field advantage theory will be put to task.

In the meantime: Thanks, Josh. It’s been fun.

GAME 5 PREVIEW

Jacobs Field, Thursday, October 18, 2007 — 8:07 PM, EST (FOX Television)

Beckett (1-0)- vs. C. C. Sabathia (0-1)

Is this the turning point or the one-way ticket back to off season? The Sox will, of course, count on Beckett to be his typical post season form, but that’s not all they should be counting on. They should probably remove the cover off the ball against Sabathia.

It’s a pretty simple formula from here on out: Don’t lose. If the Sox win, they send the series back to Fenway for home field and Schilling. If they lose, bye-bye season.

The key to tonight is to get the bats patiently swinging at the strike zone. Unlike Westbrook and Byrd, Sabathia won’t intimidate in the strike zone on as many first pitches, so the Sox should be patient unless he comes in pounding the magic tv box.

Let’s just hope the team’s next stop at Fenway isn’t just to drop off the uniforms and say good-bye.

It’s the Transformer interstitial that drives me crazy, not the “Cleveland Rocks” song playing every 45 seconds.

Even with a back-to-back-to-back home run derby, the Sox can’t collect ANY more offense… What a waste of talent. During the regular season they hit .278 as a team. That was 5th best in the AL. This post season? Don’t want to think about it, but I would guess it’s around .220 or slightly lower.

Here are my questions so far:

1. Why not Ellsbury in right? You have a righty on the mound and he could do some damage.
2. Why go through even ONE more batter with Wake? Even though Delcarmen gave up the home run, it was time to pull Wake the minute they realized he was going up in the zone.
3. Why not pinch hit for Mirabelli? Wake is out of the game — go get ‘Tek.
4. What the hell do you do for an encore after three straight losses? Their backs are to the wall.

It’s not looking good, but then again, it didn’t look good in NY in ‘04. Can they do it again? Maybe those home runs were what they needed…

GAME 4 PREVIEW

Jacobs Field, Tuesday, October 16, 2007 — 8:07 PM, EST (FOX Television)

Wakefield (0-0)- vs. Paul Byrd (0-0)

Is Byrd the word, or will the slightly humid wind off the lake help Wake?

This game, after last night’s hideous defeat, will do wonders for the Red Sox if they win it. They must win this game if they want to mentally stay in tune. Tonight’s game is going to be a strange and too close to call one if Wake is in good form. With the Red Sox, it’ll be swing early (yes, early) since Byrd tends to throw a lot of first-pitch strikes. He’s aggressive and he has a Bugs Bunny windup that he’s not afraid to look Daffy using.

More help from the bottom of the order wouldn’t suck, either, since they need to be on base if we’re going to get Byrd off his rhythm.

Let’s go, Sox. You only have a couple more games you can lose. Let’s not.