on the topic of playoff baseball

yes, i know. the Sox play tonight. and i am thrilled it isn't against New York, more than just the fact that they have been eliminated. beyond, even, that it always scares me a little, and almost makes it impossible to actually enjoy the game for all the stomach upset & angst that seems to emanate from any Sox-Yankees series. it's actually a relief to see a "new" opponent on the field, and to have this ALCS be about which team is better, and not all the hype the media rams down our throats, ad nauseum, as a result of the long-standing rivalry.

this is going to be some kind of series. you couldn't really ask for two more evenly matched teams.

1. the Sox have two marquis, time-tested playoff caliber pitchers in Joshy & Schill. the Indians have two scary starters with even scarier ERAs in CC Sabathia & Fausto Carmona. we have Matsuzaka, who when he has his game working for him, can pitch circles around the opposing offense. ditto for Wake, when he leaves the hitters all googly-eyed & angry, swatting at that maddening flutterball. the Indians have Westbrook, who looked solid early on, then came apart a little (hmmm... seem like any number three pitcher we know of?), in Game Three against the Yanks. and Byrd, though a lot of people had their doubts, had quite an outing in Game Four to send Cleveland to the ALCS. four starting match-ups that truly could go either way.

2. we have Manny & Papi coming together, and bats starting to come alive, up & down the Boston lineup. they have names like: Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner, Kenny Lofton, Grady Sizemore, Jhonny Peralta, Ryan Garko, Frankie Guttierrez, and Kelly Shoppach -- some names we know for very obvious (and thus, terrifying) reasons, and others who, i can assure, the Yankees all know by name now that they've left cleat-marks in the Bombers' pinstriped backsides.

3. defense? the Sox placed second in the AL with .986, the Indians came in third with .985.

4. i can't speak for more than what i've seen of the Indians' bullpen in the post season, but i would have to say that they appear to hold their own, and that they looked every bit as good as what we have in Boston. our closers have very different styles -- ours gives you a death stare before mowing you down with a heat-seeking missile, designed to find its way to the target of Tek's glove; theirs is a veteran, with a multi-pitch arsenal, who certainly did his job against New York. but this is the only place i seem able to give Boston an edge: Papelbon over Borowski.

i guess when you have two teams that finish out the season with identical records, this is the sort of playoff showdown that seems destined to occur. and if there was any cockiness to be had about having had a season record of 5-2 against Cleveland, i would say the Tribe put that to rest when they laughed in the face of being swept in six games against the Yankees over the course of the regular season. they are playing ball with the best of them, with a real post season fire, dialing it up a notch, as is to be expected by any team that belongs in the League Championship Series.

i don't know how this will turn out. it truly seems the tides could turn in either team's favor. don't get me wrong. i am rooting for my boys with every fiber of my Sox-bred being. but i fully expect this series to take six or seven games to decide, and there will be no shame for whichever team goes home. they will have lost to a worthy opponent, and the winner will have earned their spot in the World Series. of that, i have no doubt.

this is what we watch all year for. this... these true match-ups, in which anyone can go home the victor. this is really baseball. at the risk of piling on copious amounts of "cheese factor," i feel like an ALCS face off of this quality is a true celebration of the game i love.



unlike the disgrace of what happened in Arizona last night, when the Rockies had to be pulled from the field, and the game delayed, because a bunch of "fans" felt it necessary to throw full water bottles out onto the field from the upper decks. i want to believe that all people in attendance at baseball games are true fans of the game, and can act with respect & social propriety. voice your opinion to the umpires if you don't like a call, but there's never any reason to launch projectiles at other human beings. i would say "stop acting like you're two," but i did daycare for five years. with one-year-olds. throwing objects at others was not acceptable even then. for crying out loud, people, use your words, not your hands. i hope that's the last of this nonsense we see, because it just ruins the game for the people who truly enjoy it.

first pitch. 7pm. Fenway.
i'll be planted firmly on my couch.
GO SOX!