A Great Night

A warm, humid evening in October had the feel of an early July night, maybe just following the All-Star Break. An overcast, mildly threatening sky eventually gave way to black, the moon nowhere to be found. Perhaps it was tucked away behind some big cloud, saving any aerial majesty for Manny Ramirez and a potential mammoth home run that only Manny could deliver. No pitcher in his right mind is ever going to give David Ortiz that chance unless he has no other option.

A relatively boring game even by playoff standards, this one saw what has come to be a typical Dice-K start: flimsy control of his pitches, the tendency to fall behind in counts and on top of that, not getting the close calls from the umpire. But that's what happens when you display a lack of control. You don't get the close calls and therefore, you surrender walks and leave pitches a little fatter over the plate than you normally might. I actually thought that on this night, Tito pulled Dice-K's plug at exactly the right time. While he had sustained significant damage, in no way was this game out of reach when he left. He kept the offense in the game despite his suspect effort. He gave way to Javier Lopez who couldn't have displayed a more contrasting style to Matsuzaka. In one pitcher, you see an extremely deliberate and slowly mechanical delivery to the plate; his arm comes very much over the top. Lopez is quick from the stretch and his delivery is borderling submarine style. He's also a lefty, and in one pitch he got the Sox and Matsuzaka out of further trouble. And the Angels would never sniff the plate again as the Sox bullpen showed how they anchored the best pitching staff in baseball this year: No runs over 4.1 innings.

With the 'pen holding the Sox in the game, the stage had been set for some drama. It must be noted that the 17 year-old fan who snatched a foul ball away from Angels' catcher Jeff Mathis should be given a line on the stat sheet for allowing Mike Lowell the opportunity to hit the sac fly that tied the game. This kid is the anti Steve Bartman.

Let me set this Manny moment up for you a little bit. Early on in the contest, Manny misplayed a ball hit by Chone Figgins and his miscue lead to a run. Yes, he overran the ball and let it get to the wall. Figgins motored to second, a run scored and the fans went apeshit. A quote from the drunk guy behind me: "Manny, you SUUUUCK! Get him outta there, he's done! He can't do shit anymore, get him out!" Yes, great point you drunk fuck. He's done. Let me ask you, has Manny Ramirez EVER been accused of being a good fielder? No. Has he ever won a Gold Glove or come remotely close to one? No. Has he overrun balls countless times out there in left? Yes. Would you be willing to say that his bat more than cancels out his fielding woes? A thousand times over, YES. Amazingly, when Manny came up to bat in the ninth following the Ortiz IBB, that same guy was going berzerk for Manny...screaming his name, shouting accolades and showing his support for what seems to be his favorite player on the Sox. Typical.

We all know what happened when Manny stepped up to the plate to face "K-Rod". 96 mph fastball over the inner part of the plate...the perfect pitch for Manny to turn on and end the game. The anticipation in Fenway leading up to the dong was electric. You could feel the place just waiting to erupt...waiting to shower Manny with attaboys...waiting to sing "Dirty Water" and skip all the way home.

I watched Manny step into the offering from K-Rod and the crack of the bat was the sweetest sound I'd heard in a long time. I didn't have to wait to see the ball clear everything in left. I turned to La just in time to see her face...mouth agape, eyes wider than a 7 year-old at Christmas. I stepped over to her and lifted her off the ground in a celebratory bear hug. She then reached for her camera and got the celebration on video. I continued to lose my head, jumping up and down, screaming like a child and looking for anyone to high-five. The text messages were pouring in from the few people who knew I was there, most of their thoughts aligned with mine and those of the 37,607 fans in Fenway...MAAAAANNNNY! MAAAAAANNNY! And now, we await the result of a series that is gaining excitement in the Bronx. As our pitchers rest and prepare for the first long series of the 2007 postseason, I await hopefully for another Sox-Yanks ALCS. Come on, is there anything better?