Wild party
Tim Wakefield called it, “As sweet as any other ones I’ve ever been a part of.”
David Wells said that clinching a berth for the postseason, “Gets better every time.”
There was some question among certain media members if the Red Sox might have a subdued celebration on the day of clinching the American League wild card berth, in that it was just a day earlier they lost out on the AL East title to the Yankees.
The answer came immediately in a champagne-soaked locker room, after the Red Sox beat the Yankees, 10-1 in the regular season finale. Boston opens the postseason in Chicago on Tuesday night. The White Sox won their 99th game of the year today in a 3-1 decision that eliminated the Cleveland Indians, and automatically gave Boston its third straight wild card berth.
“There is a reason why they won all those games, but we feel pretty good about ourselves in here,” said Tony Graffanino, who will enjoy the fourth postseason of his career, the previous three with the Atlanta Braves. “You don’t want to back in, but as long as you get there.”
Red Sox outfielder Gabe Kapler was on hand, his crutches nearby and his left leg cast wrapped in a garbage bag, soaking anyone who passed in Korbel until the bubbly ran dry about 20 minutes into the party. And none of the Red Sox were apologizing.
“This is a special city and a special situation,” said Curt Schilling, who evened his season record at 8-8 with the win. “The fact of the matter is, we went in as a wild card last year.”
And how’d that turn out?
— Red Sox GM Theo Epstein congratulated the Indians on a great season and said they have a great future ahead of them. The surprising Indians finished two games behind Boston in the wild card hunt, and six games behind Chicago after the White Sox swept them out of the way over the weekend.
“They deserve to be there, but I’m not apologizing,” Epstein said.
— What did manager Terry Francona say to relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon when he came out to get him from the mound in the eighth inning? Consider it his formal word that he was on the postseason roster.
“They didn’t want me to get too much work in,” Papelbon said. “He told me, ‘We’re going to need you down the road.’”
— Mike Myers taped much of the clubhouse proceedings on his camcorder.
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