I knew Papelbon was gonna have trouble..he'd been pushed hard the night before..threw, 27-28 pitches..and he's never come back well the 2nd night after that much effort.
The pinch hit homer in the 9th was electric..we'd just started to leave, and I was standing in the aisle, and the place went wild.
Sawx should have been able to score a few insurance runs in the top of the 9th. THAT, to me was the game. Once they'd lost, I was actually glad that the Rays won, because there was no way that the Sawx were gonna win a one game playoff..
Prior to the complete collapse the last week, I felt sure they'd win the WC..by a few games, and I thought that Crawford would have a great playoffs..a chance for redemption....instead..he was the goat...he should have easily caught that ball.
I'd dump Francona....the clubhouse culture needs to change.I don't put that much value in managers..you need good players to win..but over a 162 game season, a good manager should be able to steal a few wins.. Francona blew several games in the 9th over the course of the season...and Crawford, who is a really good player, suffered a season-long slump...and it's the manager's job to fix that..and he didn't..
FYI..unrelated..check out weeklystandard.com today..nice article on Sandy Koufax..
Thanks for the tip on Koufax article. I saw him pitch many games, including his first no-hitter against the Mets. Besides the blazing fastball, his curve was virtually unhittable.