Cruising Red Sox will need another gear
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Faint at first, the chants grew louder by the middle innings, louder yet in the bottom of the ninth, and even louder when J.D. Drew squeezed the ball for the final out and triumphant players gathered around the pitcher's mound.
"Let's go Red Sox! Let's go Red Sox!''
By the time David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were done battering the Los Angeles Angels' pitching staff, by the time Curt Schilling was done silencing the Angels' offense, by the time Boston had clinched a three-game sweep in the American League division series with a 9-1 victory Sunday, Red Sox Nation had turned this stadium into their own. Soon after, Red Sox players piled into the visitor's clubhouse and sprayed champagne on one other, whooped and hollered, and the chants continued as if taunting history, or at least disregarding it.
Any Red Sox fan who remembers that ground ball rolling between Bill Buckner's legs, or Bucky Dent's home run, or anything else connected to The Curse purportedly broken with the 2004 World Series championship should have stepped inside the bedlam, shouted above the din and issued a word of caution.
So allow me:
"Put down the damn champagne bottles and cool it with the chants. You just beat a team so crippled it could've qualified for a handicapped placard.''
It's not the Red Sox's fault that Angels center fielder Gary Matthews Jr., had to watch the series from the bench because of a sprained ankle and bum knee. It's not the Red Sox's fault that Garret Anderson contracted conjunctivitis on the eve of the series and, because he could barely see out of his right eye, had to leave Sunday's game after one at-bat. It's not the Red Sox's fault that, like Anderson, the rest of the Angels looked like they were batting with one eye closed.
But that's the reality, and Boston should consider it before planning a second tickertape parade in four years. Rather than showering themselves with champagne, Red Sox Nation should sip it and quietly revel in the following:
• Curt Schilling remains postseason's Mr. Clutch.
The Red Sox right-hander's performance does not belong in the Louvre, but it deserves an ornate frame and a special place in Schilling's home. Considering he's one month shy of his 41st birthday, the game he pitched was a masterpiece.
With nagging tendinitis, he can no longer use the entire canvas by blowing pitches past hitters. Having lost almost 10 mph on a fastball that once regularly hit 97, he now must paint the corners. On Sunday, he painted with precision.
He threw 100 pitches, 75 for strikes, and proved that success for an aging flamethrower comes down to location, location, location. And a little humility.
In the third inning, when Vladimir Guerrero stepped to the plate with the game scoreless and runners on first and third with two out, Schilling swallowed his pride. The young flamethrower would have challenged the Angels slugger with his best fastball. The aging flamethrower resisted.
Anderson had already left the game, leaving Reggie Willits in the on-deck circle. So instead of challenging Guerrero, Schilling pitched around him. Then, with the bases loaded, he induced Willits into a pop up. Clutch.
In the sixth inning, with the Red Sox leading 2-0, Schilling gave up a leadoff double to Macier Izturis. Izturis scampered to third on a subsequent ground out and suddenly the pressure was on Schilling. Or so it looked.
Schilling induced Juan Rivera to pop out and, after working the count to 3-2 on Mike Napoli, fired a well-placed fastball. Strike three. Clutch.
As if propelled by Schilling's escape act, the Red Sox scored seven runs in the next inning, Schilling gave way to the bullpen after seven shutout innings and improved his postseason record to 9-2.
• David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are the kind of tag team that could dominate the Major League Baseball playoffs and WWE simultaneously.
With the game scoreless in the fourth, the Red Sox's No. 3 and No. 4 hitters changed that with two swings. First, Ortiz belted a home run over the right-field wall. Ramirez followed with a shot to center that should be landing about the time you read this.
In three games, Ortiz and Ramirez went a combined 8 for 15 with four home runs. If you find a better three-four combination in baseball, send it to Cooperstown for immediate enshrinement.
• With Josh Beckett and Jonathon Papelbon, the Red Sox arguably have the most dominating starting pitcher/closer combination in baseball, but each needed only one appearance to sweep the Angels. The key part of that phrase being "Angels.''
Not the Yankees or the Indians. Not the Rockies or the Diamondbacks. But the hobbled, helpless and, ultimately, hapless Angels.
Anyone in Red Sox Nation failing to realize that should have taken a good look at the back of Curt Schilling's T-shirt as he left the postgame news conference. It didn't say "American League Division Series Champions," or "2004 World Series Champions."
No, the big white letters on the back of the T-shirt spelled out the following message:
"The Season Begins Now.''
