Heroes and zeros
One last quickie look at the Angels-Sox ALDS, with due apologies to Three Up, Three Down innovator Gennaro Filice . . .
RED SOX
Three up . . .
1. Jon Lester: It’s official. He’s the ace. No, not just of the Red Sox — of everyone, at least in October.
2. Jed Lowrie: He whiffs like a Bellhorn and delivers in October like a Bellhorn. Sadly, he also looks like the kind of blue-blooded kid The ‘Horn and his goons used to beat up at bars for the sport of it.*
3. The Jasons: Okay, a tie is a cop-out. But Bay lived up to the immense offensive standards of the former left fielder, batting .412 with a pair of homers in the series and chugging home like a turbo-charged Sid Bream for the winning run in the clincher. As for Varitek, he had a crucial and overlooked single in the fifth inning to set up the game’s first run, and also made a terrific play on the botched squeeze. You know we often think Varitek gets too much credit. Last night, he didn’t get enough.
. . . and three down
1. Francona: I’ve heard his explanation, but I still don’t understand why he pulled Lester after seven. Fortunately, Scioscia and his Headless Chicken Angels took him off the hook. Forgiven and forgotten, Tito.
2. Justin Masterson: We believe in this kid as much as Tito does — did you notice he was touching 97 last night? — but at least for a moment, the magnitude of the situation seemed to get to him. When have you ever seen a catcher get crossed up like that? Varitek’s lucky he doesn’t have a dent in his famous, intangibly-crinkled forehead.
3. Sean Casey: So that’s why he’s persona non grata. Who knew Mark Kotsay would bring his center fielder’s range to first base? Well, besides Tito.
ANGELS
Three up . . .
1. Torii Hunter: The one Angel who consistently delivered with runners in scoring position in the series, it appeared he had turned the momentum LA’s way with his game-tying two-run single in the eighth. He’s not the center fielder he once was, however, though he’ll probably win three more Gold Gloves on reputation alone.
2. Mark Teixeira: He didn’t hit for power in the series (though it felt like just a matter of time) and drove in just one run, but he did bat .467, and his all-around performance — working the count, and playing Mattingly-like defense at first — was extremely impressive. The price, as Mo Vaughn used to say, just went up.
3. Chone Figgins: He hit .333 and, as Dustin Pedroia could attest, played surprisingly well at third base.
. . . and three down
1. Mike Scioscia: His team is not aggressive, it’s reckless, and he’s now 1-9 against Terry Francona in the postseason. Tell me again who’s the best manager in baseball?
2. John Lackey: He pitched well in both of his starts — but not well enough to win either of them. Plus, he’s a boor, refusing to give the Red Sox credit and embarrassing his infielders whenever they failed to make a play; Kevin Brown had more grace in defeat. He can’t be a popular guy in the clubhouse.
3. Erick Aybar: Ya gotta get the bunt down, son.
* Okay, we made that up.
* * *
As for today’s Completely Random Baseball Card:
TBS didn’t show the ceremonial first pitch, and there are no photos as far as I know. Poor Yummy’s still getting no respect at Fenway.
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