Paradisecity
10-15-2008, 10:42 AM
Red Sox banking on history repeating itself
BOSTON -- Yes, the Red Sox have been in this situation before.
Last year, they trailed Cleveland 3-1 in the ALCS before winning the final three games and then sweeping the World Series. In 2004, they trailed 3-0 before staging the comeback that will never be forgotten (in part because Boston fans will never stop talking about it).
And if you can go back to 1986, the Red Sox trailed the Angels 3-1 before Dave Henderson entered New England folklore.
But as your broker really should have pointed out more strenuously, past performance is no guarantee of future results.
"That experience, I guess, can give you kind of a feel for what you're supposed to do," Coco Crisp said of last October's comeback. "And, I guess, at the same time, it was last year. We're not playing Cleveland now. This is a much different team we're playing."
So, too, are the Red Sox a different team. David Ortiz wore a telling black T-shirt after Boston's 13-4 Game 4 spanking. In the same style of the "Got Milk?'' advertisements, the shirt asked: "Got Manny?" Boston most certainly does not got Manny this October, and while Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay have hit well, his absence is as conspicuous from the lineup as it is from the clubhouse.
In other words, no one was saying, "If we lose the next game, who cares -- it's not the end of the world" as Manny did before the Sox rallied against Cleveland in last year's ALCS. Instead, Ortiz was telling reporters: Hey, don't blame me for everything. A bunch of my teammates have sucked, too.
"The problem is that everyone is focusing on Papi not hitting, and to tell you the truth, both of the series, with Anaheim and now with the Rays, Papi doesn't come to hit with men on base all the time," Ortiz said. "I may come to hit four or five times the whole series with men on. That's not going to change the game when they have a lead of nine, 10 runs, whatever it is. What we have to focus on right now is stopping their offense and make things happen like in the first game."
Actually, Ortiz has batted seven times with runners on base this series and has failed to drive in any of them. He also was hitless in his previous 14 postseason at-bats before he broke the string with a meaningless triple in the seventh inning. But his point was well-taken, even if it was a slight slap at his teammates. Ortiz is struggling big-time -- he isn't denying anymore that his wrist is bothering him -- but the Red Sox are losing for a lot of other reasons as well.
Aside from Daisuke Matsuzaka's Game 1 performance, the starting pitching has been atrocious. Josh Beckett allowed eight runs in Game 2, Jon Lester allowed five runs in Game 3 and Tim Wakefield, pitching on 16 days' rest, allowed five runs on three massive home runs in less than three innings in Game 4.
The Red Sox found themselves trailing 5-1 after three innings and 11-1 after six.
That kind of pitching would be difficult to overcome even if the Red Sox were hitting, which they aren't. Manager Terry Francona subbed Crisp for the hitless Jacoby Ellsbury and batted J.D. Drew at the top of the order, but it didn't do any good. Neither player had a hit -- Boston leadoff hitters are 0-for-19 this series -- and Crisp also grounded into an inning-ending double play in the second when the game was still relatively close.
Boston rallied against Cleveland, but unlike last year, when Games 6 and 7 were at Fenway, the Red Sox will have to win two games in St. Petersburg, where the Rays had the best home record in baseball and have won nine of their 11 games with Boston this season.
Ortiz said after Game 1 that when he looked in the Rays' eyes he could see they were feeling the pressure of the stakes. But the Rays aren't the ones who are bug-eyed now.
"This thing is a surprise," Ortiz said. "Everyone is raking in their lineup. You watch the game and everybody is pretty much locked in. I've been in a lot of playoffs and you don't see that too often. You might see three or four guys, tops, but everybody there is hitting. It's crazy."
Asked whether he was healthy, Ortiz said unconvincingly, "I'm all right. I'm dealing with my hands and stuff. But I'm in a situation where I don't want to put too many things in my head."
Thanks to baseball's insane postseason scheduling, Boston gets a needed day off Wednesday to rest Ortiz and its tired bullpen. It also gives the Sox a chance to recover from having their heads beaten in the past two games. They will send Dice-K to the mound and hope he can begin another comeback.
Asked what last year taught him about their current situation, reliever Mike Timlin replied, "Take tomorrow off and come back the next day -- and come back firing. These things aren't just handed to you; you have to earn them. This is where you earn your reputation.
"History repeats itself -- that's what I've heard. So we'll go with that."
WTF???
BOSTON -- Yes, the Red Sox have been in this situation before.
Last year, they trailed Cleveland 3-1 in the ALCS before winning the final three games and then sweeping the World Series. In 2004, they trailed 3-0 before staging the comeback that will never be forgotten (in part because Boston fans will never stop talking about it).
And if you can go back to 1986, the Red Sox trailed the Angels 3-1 before Dave Henderson entered New England folklore.
But as your broker really should have pointed out more strenuously, past performance is no guarantee of future results.
"That experience, I guess, can give you kind of a feel for what you're supposed to do," Coco Crisp said of last October's comeback. "And, I guess, at the same time, it was last year. We're not playing Cleveland now. This is a much different team we're playing."
So, too, are the Red Sox a different team. David Ortiz wore a telling black T-shirt after Boston's 13-4 Game 4 spanking. In the same style of the "Got Milk?'' advertisements, the shirt asked: "Got Manny?" Boston most certainly does not got Manny this October, and while Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay have hit well, his absence is as conspicuous from the lineup as it is from the clubhouse.
In other words, no one was saying, "If we lose the next game, who cares -- it's not the end of the world" as Manny did before the Sox rallied against Cleveland in last year's ALCS. Instead, Ortiz was telling reporters: Hey, don't blame me for everything. A bunch of my teammates have sucked, too.
"The problem is that everyone is focusing on Papi not hitting, and to tell you the truth, both of the series, with Anaheim and now with the Rays, Papi doesn't come to hit with men on base all the time," Ortiz said. "I may come to hit four or five times the whole series with men on. That's not going to change the game when they have a lead of nine, 10 runs, whatever it is. What we have to focus on right now is stopping their offense and make things happen like in the first game."
Actually, Ortiz has batted seven times with runners on base this series and has failed to drive in any of them. He also was hitless in his previous 14 postseason at-bats before he broke the string with a meaningless triple in the seventh inning. But his point was well-taken, even if it was a slight slap at his teammates. Ortiz is struggling big-time -- he isn't denying anymore that his wrist is bothering him -- but the Red Sox are losing for a lot of other reasons as well.
Aside from Daisuke Matsuzaka's Game 1 performance, the starting pitching has been atrocious. Josh Beckett allowed eight runs in Game 2, Jon Lester allowed five runs in Game 3 and Tim Wakefield, pitching on 16 days' rest, allowed five runs on three massive home runs in less than three innings in Game 4.
The Red Sox found themselves trailing 5-1 after three innings and 11-1 after six.
That kind of pitching would be difficult to overcome even if the Red Sox were hitting, which they aren't. Manager Terry Francona subbed Crisp for the hitless Jacoby Ellsbury and batted J.D. Drew at the top of the order, but it didn't do any good. Neither player had a hit -- Boston leadoff hitters are 0-for-19 this series -- and Crisp also grounded into an inning-ending double play in the second when the game was still relatively close.
Boston rallied against Cleveland, but unlike last year, when Games 6 and 7 were at Fenway, the Red Sox will have to win two games in St. Petersburg, where the Rays had the best home record in baseball and have won nine of their 11 games with Boston this season.
Ortiz said after Game 1 that when he looked in the Rays' eyes he could see they were feeling the pressure of the stakes. But the Rays aren't the ones who are bug-eyed now.
"This thing is a surprise," Ortiz said. "Everyone is raking in their lineup. You watch the game and everybody is pretty much locked in. I've been in a lot of playoffs and you don't see that too often. You might see three or four guys, tops, but everybody there is hitting. It's crazy."
Asked whether he was healthy, Ortiz said unconvincingly, "I'm all right. I'm dealing with my hands and stuff. But I'm in a situation where I don't want to put too many things in my head."
Thanks to baseball's insane postseason scheduling, Boston gets a needed day off Wednesday to rest Ortiz and its tired bullpen. It also gives the Sox a chance to recover from having their heads beaten in the past two games. They will send Dice-K to the mound and hope he can begin another comeback.
Asked what last year taught him about their current situation, reliever Mike Timlin replied, "Take tomorrow off and come back the next day -- and come back firing. These things aren't just handed to you; you have to earn them. This is where you earn your reputation.
"History repeats itself -- that's what I've heard. So we'll go with that."
WTF???