10/22/07 The Better Team Won

The better team won!

pictures courtesy of www.bostonglobe.com

I can hear my Yankee fan co-workers and friends now..."they got lucky", "they won't beat Colorado", "Cleveland choked".

Truth is, Cleveland didn't choke as much as they were not prepared to win yet. Their inexperience cost them, no doubt. Their talent is tremendous and they should be back again soon. This will be a great learning experience for them and most teams have to go through that. I hope Colorado learns the same lessons.

Some things about the game last night that were interesting to me in random order:

- Dice K looked great for 4 innings and good enough in the 5th, don't know if Schilling's pep talk with him the other day was responsible but the outcome was great

- 3 hits for Varitek, nice to see him get some success at the plate, he is one of the best "catchers" but not for his hitting. Nice ground rule double - more on that later

- Youk = MVP in my book, I realize they don't gain the momentum back without Beckett and I am thrilled he is pitching game 1 Wednesday, but Youk kept hitting even when the big boys didn't.

- Pedroi, remember all the talk of his struggles? McCarver and Buck nailed it (sorry had to give them props) the other night talking about how Dustin had been hitting the ball well but not getting much for it...way to go

- Lugo , despite his best efforts, the Sox won anyway. Tough all around series

- Lowell, my oldest daughter was intimidated by Lowell's huge eyebrows, thanks Kevin Millar for pointing them out to her. Big hits when needed

-Manny, Anybody see the interview after the game when asked about the Lofton running mistake play, Manny defended himself against the Lugo popup play...language is so much a problem that lots of what Manny says should just be thrown out

- Ellsbury, thank you Francona for reading my pleas in the blog and getting Ellsbury in the games. Outstanding catch in left as well as the running catch in right-center that he ran down from left center.

-Crisp , amazing catch in the 9th, way not to pout and find a way to help

-Drew, Mr. Grandslam has bought his way to next season

-Papi, not a good weekend in Boston but as long as the outcome works out...I didn't like the goggles in the dugout while the game was still on, poor judgement especially when the other team could see you.

Papelbon, awesome intense funny, the way he pitched out of the trouble in the 8th was incredible. The hand motions towards Varitek before they embraced after the last out was awesome.

Francona, overall comfortable with him as a manager, some tough questions always need answering though, like too long to play Ellsbury (energy).

Another thought on Francona and decisions - the double play that Pedroia hit into last night - Lugo runs on a 2-2 pitch but with first and third, and a guy with 33 steals, why not run him immediately as they were prone to the DP's all series?

ok, the popup that Lugo screwed up on with Lofton hitting. Inexcusable and frightening. He is the only player for the Sox to have the deer in headlights looks this weekend. He scares me and I hope winning this round calms him down. They need his speed and glove to be there.

Lugo #3 - on the ball hit by Gutierez that Lofton SHOULD have scored on - shortstops of RedSox past have immediately on balls down the line gone out towards left in case of the carem. Lugo was nowhere to be seen while Manny jogged down the ball. I can picture Nomar getting to that ball quickly and at least giving Lofton an excuse for not scoring.

New Curse: with the praise for being on 11 post season rosters and the all time stolen base (postseason) record all being mentioned over and over, does anyone really think Kenny Lofton is a winner? When he was in Atlanta, he was a negative influence and always seemed to get the stats when it didn't matter. Good luck to the next team to take him to the playoffs, perhaps teams that can't seem to find their way to the postseason should look into signing him, at least they would make it...

Colorado doesn't scare me, the buildup will be david vs. goliath but in reality, the Rockies have been extremely hot, have a tremendously long wait, have beaten the Phillies and Diamondbacks (both would be .500 teams in the AL btw) in the playoffs. Unless Josh Beckett and Jonathon "Riverdance" Papelbon get hurt skiing in the Colorado snow, this series should be over in 6 at most, possibly 5 in the Sox favor.