Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Red Sox Back in the A.L.C.S.

The official A.L.C.S. preview will be out by Thursday (as if you could last that long). For today, TheBostonInsider is celebrating the Red Sox being back in the A.L.C.S. for the fourth time in six years.
Remember when the Red Sox were the suffering losers, the team that could never get it done when it mattered? As a child I often felt that following the Red Sox was like being swallowed by the Sarlacc in Return of the Jedi. Yes, following my favorite baseball team was similar to being digested over the course of 1,000 years in the desert of Tatooine.
Times have certainly changed. The Red Sox received next to nothing from Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz at the plate and Josh Beckett struggled in his one start but they still found a way to win. Jason Bay hit homeruns, Jacoby Ellsbury drove in runs, Jason Varitek showed all the doubters why he is so important to the success of this franchise, and Jon Lester emerged as an October hero, a lefthanded Curt Schilling.
Last night, when things looked bad, really bad, the Red Sox got the job done. Manny Delcarmen inherited a runner on third base with just one out in a 2-2 game and got the team out of a serious jam (with a big assist to 'Tek). Jed Lowrie, the Stanford grad who started the season in Double-A Portland, came through with the game winning RBI. Stuff like this never happened in the past. Now, we kind of expect it.
On a side note, doesn't Lowrie look an awful lot like the guy who purchased the Drunken Clam?

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