Manny is gone, Josh Beckett is down, and Mike Lowell is out. And the Sox keep going.
"Men and boys," is how one American League general manager described the Red Sox and Angels early in the Division Series.
That assessment proved too harsh. The final three games each came down to the final inning. Yet, except for a few inspired Angels moments—their 12th-inning rally in Game Three, Torii Hunter's game-tying, two-run single in the eighth inning of Game Four—a Red Sox triumph seemed all but inevitable.
Five years ago, the Red Sox were even more famous for losing than the Cubs. Since then, they've developed a knack for winning that grows stronger each season, no matter which players they add, no matter which ones they lose.
Their appearance in the American League Championship Series will be their fourth in the past six years, a stunning achievement in an era of increased parity. Their third World Series victory in five years is within reach.
Yet, no one with the Red Sox is about to get carried away with the team's stunning achievements—a mindset preached by the team's humble and forever underrated manager, Terry Francona.
This is baseball, crazy baseball, and the Sox know that they could easily be preparing for Game Five against the Angels instead of Game One against the Rays.
Boy, were the Angels close.
If not for Erick Aybar's botched squeeze in the ninth inning Monday night, we might be talking about the passed ball that occurred after a mixup between Sox catcher Jason Varitek and reliever Justin Masterson the previous inning, putting two runners in scoring position for Hunter.
Or we might be talking about how the Sox are relying too heavily on Masterson, a rookie, in the late innings, exposing a weakness that could haunt them against the Rays.
But Angels manager Mike Scioscia got too cute.
Yes, Aybar led the team with nine sacrifices during the regular season. Yes, the 2-0 count against reliever Manny Delcarmen created a good opportunity to squeeze. And yes, these are the Angels, who pressure the defense and force the action, even at the occasional price of running into outs.
Still, with the score tied, a runner on third and one out, all Aybar needed to do was hit a flyball to score pinch-runner Reggie Willits.
If Aybar had failed, Chone Figgins would have hit with two outs—and Figgins had two singles in his previous three at-bats.
Instead, Aybar couldn't get the bunt down. Sox catcher Jason Varitek barreled up the third-base line, chasing Willits, applied a diving tag, and lost control of the ball upon hitting the ground. Third base umpire Tim Welke ruled—correctly—that Varitek held onto the ball long enough. And the threat was over.
What happened next, in the bottom of the ninth, was textbook 21st century Red Sox.
A one-out, ground-rule double by Jason Bay down the right-field line. A diving grab by Angels first baseman Mark Teixeira on a shot by Mark Kotsay. A two-out single by Jed Lowrie past a diving Howie Kendrick at second base, and Bay sliding head-first into home plate with the winning run.
Bay began the season with the Pirates. Lowrie began it in the minor leagues (and no, they are not the same thing). Does it even matter? Once players put on the Boston uniform, they more often than not develop a winning DNA.
There are exceptions—Eric Gagne, for one, and also Julio Lugo, though the Sox won a World Series with him at shortstop. But the team's overall makeup is so strong; the players essentially voted Manny off the island.
Granted, the Sox can lay over their mistakes with their massive payroll and powerful farm system, even pay all but a tiny fraction of Manny's entire salary to make him disappear. The Yankees of the late 1990s also benefited from greater resources than most clubs. But they, too, were known—and admired—for their grit.
The Angels, winners of 100 games, again made one defensive mistake after another in Game Four. The Sox had their regular first baseman at third and a part-time outfielder at first, yet were brilliant in the field.
Okay, Kevin Youkilis shifts easily between the corner-infield positions, but that's not something that should be taken for granted. And Kotsay, for heaven's sakes, chased down popups at first as if he were Andruw Jones.
Dustin Pedroia was 0-for-15 in the series until—of course!—he hit an RBI double off the wall to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning. Jon Lester, evolving into a left-handed Beckett—actually, a better version of Beckett at the moment—extended his scoreless streak in the postseason to (gulp) 22-and-two-thirds innings.
The Angels were favored. The Angels had home-field advantage. But against these Red Sox—the impassioned, insatiable, 25-men-in-one-cab Red Sox—the Angels barely had a chance.
This article originally published on FOXSports.com.
Read more of Ken's columns here.
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about 1 month ago
Great work Ken, as always. The ultimate difference between the current Angels or the Red Sox of the past is the lack of a team mentality. Instead of getting angry and pointing proverbial finger (yes you, John Lackey) the Red Sox pick each other up as a team when it matters, pulling through together to win. If it took trading Manny away to keep that mentality in the clubhouse, I think right about now is where we step back and say they did the right thing.
about 1 month ago
Not the 2008 Andruw Jones, mind you. Nice article.
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