There's Only One...

Game 7 of the ALCS seems like a pretty good time to keep a running diary. Daisuke Matsuzaka has the ball for the Sox tonight. The game is being broadcast in HD so you should be able to physically see the short leash he is on tonight. Beckett has been deemed available tonight. Any chance we could just start him and lower my risk of a heart attack?

Throwing out the first pitch tonight is former Sox first baseman, Mr. Cowboy Up, the man that was Born in the USA, Kevin Millar. He has to be the first guy ever to throw out the first pitch while being an active member of another team in the same division. Rumor is they wanted A-Rod, but he demanded that Jeter be flown in with him so Derek could hold his hand while he threw out the pitch.

Well...there is only one postseason, there is only one OCTOBER! (contrary to popular belief that there is actually 6 October's. Little known fact there.)

It's gametime. Oh, and for the second night in a row Tito has decided to start Jacoby Ellsbury and break up the Rally Killers, that solid part of the order known as Tek, Coco, and Lugo who have combined for 63 strikeouts and 97 double plays this ALCS. Shame to see them go...


8:22 Jensen Lewis gives us the starting lineup for the Indians. According to Lewis, pitching tonight for Cleveland is Jake The Snake Westbrook. Must be awesome to have Jake as a name. Automatically you have the nickname "The Snake." Gotta be pretty psyched to be born into the long line of Jake The Snake's that includes Jake the Snake Plummer, and Jake the Snake Roberts. Definitely naming my first son Jake just so I can call him Jake the Snake McDonnell. It must be awesome to be born with an automatic bad ass nickname like this. You must instantly gain like 10 points in badass-ness with the name Jake the Snake.

8:27 leps11 (8:27:52 PM): the team that breathes the easiest...wins
HeyUmp47 (8:27:29 PM): speechless
HeyUmp47 (8:27:32 PM): i love fox

Thank you Fox Sports. Who knew that breathing was a big part of the game? Sadly, I'll take comments like this over that stupid friggin graphic of Scooter from a few years ago explaining how a curveball works any day of the week.

8:31 Dice-K puts Cleveland down 1-2-3 in the first, closing out the inning by striking out Travis Hafner. A lot of people predict big things from Dice tonight. I won't lie, I am absolutely terrified of him tonight. A 7-run first inning from the Sox is absolutely the only way I end up with full confidence in Dice. He definitely looks on through one inning, but there's always that looming explosion that makes me wanna cry sometimes.

8:34 Joe Buck announces that Jake the Snake has thrown first strikes to 22 of 28 batters this series. Somehow McCarver shuts his mouth and doesn't ruin the comment with one of his typical idiotic statements about how strikes are important. I'm actually a little saddened by this. I was ready for something great there. Meanwhile, Pedroia leads off with a single.

8:38 Youk with a single, Ortiz swings at the first pitch and fouls one off the Cask N Flagon. He's locked in right now. McCarver also explained that in order for a sinker to get groundballs it needs to be low. Who knew? I thought a hanging sinker was the way to go. So glad Timbo is here to explain these things to me. I'd be lost without him.

8:42 Manny hits a 600 mph grounder to shortstop, Peralta shits his pants, makes an error, and the ball ends up in left. 1-0 Sox. Prior to that error, McCarver explains that having 2 strikes on the batter is an advantage for the pitcher. Interesting...I learn so much from McCarver.

8:45 Lowell singles, and they're loaded for JD Drew. Drew had the grand slam in the first inning last night. If he does it again tonight I might lose my mind. It only took JD 6 months to get accustomed to Boston. Hey, better late than never. JD grounds into a DP to end the first. I thought Tek was designated as our guy who grounds into DPs to end rallies like this. Does he pull JD aside before the second inning and explain "yo JD, I'm the Captain, the inning-ending DP to kill a rally is my thing. Don't let it happen again."

8:50 Just noticed Dice-K is sporting some new facial hair. It looks almost as pathetic as when Greech tries to look tough by not shaving for 6 months and has those three little hairs on his chin.

8:54 Another 1-2-3 inning for Dice-K with a little help from Mike Lowell. During the inning, Buck explained that Terry Francona is fully confident that Dice-K will be better next year. Any chance we could focus more on tonight guys? I mean there is only one OCTOBER for Christ's sake.

8:57 Beckett is out in the bullpen. Is there anyone Cleveland would like to see less than Beckett tonight? If it comes down to it, the entire city of Boston would go absolutely insane if Beckett came out of the pen tonight. Oh, Tek just hit a shot off the Monster for a leadoff double. "The Future" Jacoby Ellsbury follows up with a single. 1st and 3rd, no outs for Lugo. Luckily, Lugo would be allowed to bust out the typical double play and it would get the run in. He must have absolutely no idea what to do right now. Does he still hit into the DP but help the team or does he just strike out looking and contribute nothing? Such a dilemma for Julio.

9:01 Lugo does the expected...Double Play...but he does bring in the run so it wasn't all for nothing. Pedroia flies out to left to end the inning. 2-0 Sox. Keep adding the runs boys, I'm still horrified of Dice right now.

9:13 With 2 outs, Casey Blake singles. Cleveland has their first runner, and Dice is finally going to be tested. Dice throws one in the dirt and Blake takes second. Great baserunning there, gotta give Grizzy Blake credit there.

9:18 Dice strikes out Sizemore to end the top of the third. He looks great right now. He's not wasting pitches which is what kills him. I guess Tito said regardless of the inning, Okajima is the first guy out of the pen tonight. I like that move. He's been clutch all year, who would you rather have coming out of the pen to clean up a mess?

Anyway, as I was saying, Dice is hitting his spots. All of his pitches are on tonight. Let's hope he keeps this going. Oh, Dane Cook just explained there was only one World Series...Sorry Dane, you're wrong...World Series of Poker...asshole.

9:21 Youk leads off with a double down the left field line. Papi looks locked in man. No other way to say it. Here comes his revenge for the first inning strikeout. Someone warn the Prudential please? FYI, Youk is hitting .520 this series. That's just insane.

9:23 God our bullpen is weird. What the hell are they doing with the water bottle drum sets?

Actually you know what? As long as they keep pitching like they have been I don't care of Delcarmen starts playing the air guitar while he's out there.

Ortiz just grounded out to first, Youk moves to third with one out. They intentionally walk Manny to face Lowell. Mikey makes them pay here. The guy has been our MVP this year. That has to suck to have to decide between facing Manny who is completely locked in right now, and Lowell who has absolutely killed everyone this year.

9:27 Lowell flies out to right and Youk scores. 3-0 Sox. Thank God he didn't ground into a DP there. Not because it would have killed a rally, but because Tek and Lugo would have been seriously offended by it. The inning-ending, rally-killing DP has been patented by Tek and Lugo. JD already did it tonight and I'm sure Tek is planning on peeing in his cleats to teach him a lesson.

9:29 JD flies out to left to end the inning. 3-0 Sox after 3. Just need Dice to keep it up on the mound.

9:35 Hafner doubled off the Monster with one out. Here's where Dice needs to bear down. If he gets out of this my worries about him tonight go away.

9:40 McCarver tells some story about Joe Torre telling him about not taking pitches on the outside part of the plate with 2 strikes. I don't know, I worked pretty hard to ignore it. I am kinda shocked that it took thing long for McCarver to bring up Joe Torre. I expected his first sentence in the pregame show to be something like "We're here with Game 7 of the ALCS tonight and I love Joe Torre."

9:42 Garko just put a dent in the Green Monster with that one. 3-1 Cleveland. Dice threw an absolute meatball right there. I'm just happy the ball was only hit 20 feet off the ground. Any higher than that and we're looking at 3-2, with an unconscious Sox fan on top of the Monster. That ball was KILLED.

9:45 McCarver was just giggling at the sight of some Red Sox fan. Could his anti-Boston thing be any more obvious?

Johnny Peralta grounds out to short to end the threat. I woulda spelled his name like he does, but my spell check absolutely refuses to switch the O and H in his name as it is absolutely retarded. Seriously, how can you possibly screw up the spelling of the name Johnny?? How did his parents let this happen? The conversation with the hospital when he was born must have been hysterical.

Doc: Umm, Mr. and Mrs. Peralta I'm pretty sure you spelled that wrong.
Mr. P: No we got it, don't worry about it.
Doc: No seriously guys...that's wrong. I'm telling you that's not how you sp...
Mrs. P: You know what Doc YOU'RE WRONG!
Doc: Uhh...OK, do what ya gotta do...(under his breath) effing morons.

That bothers me everytime I see it. I'm convinced this is the main reason no one votes for him for the All-Star game. IT'S JOHNNY DAMNIT.

Anyway, Dice got out of what could have been a really ugly inning. I'm happy with that. The way they made contact that inning, it easily could have turned into a 6-3 game before Tito had time to make the move to Oki. I'll take 3-1 going into the bottom of the 4th, no problem.

9:52 Ellsbury lines to first, slight confusion with the error and Tek gets thrown out at second. I'm more surprised that Tek was on base in the first place than by any of the events of that play.

9:54 For the love of God let Ellsbury steal here. Lugo is in full form with the inning-ending DPs here. He already has 1 tonight. Don't let it happen again please. Let Jacoby steal.

9:55 Ellsbury off on the pitch and Lugo hits one through the hole at second. He did everything in his power to hit into the DP there. Just barely missed it. Great job Julio, way to contribute something other than a rally killing DP.

9:59 With Lugo off on the pitch, Pedroia grounds one right at second base for the DP. Nothing you could do there. Tailor made DP ball. Tek and Lugo are getting really sick of this. They're both gonna call Theo and ask for trades if people keep stealing the DP.

10:02 Lofton leads off by getting thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. Lofton's reaction at second base has to be absolute shock. No doubt he was thinking "wait, Manny knows how to throw?"

10:04 That's back-to-back singles for Cleveland, with the incredible "Manny throwing a guy out" play that saved a run. Oki is up and throwing. Couldn't agree more with this. They're starting to get to Dice right now and I don't want any chances taken. First sign of trouble he needs to be pulled.

10:06 3 straight singles for Cleveland. For the love of everything that is holy pull Dice-K NOW. I don't let him throw another pitch. Of course, Tito is going to wait until the game is actually tied until we go to the pen. Don't make the move now when it makes sense. Wait til Cleveland regains ALL of the momentum before you bring in your 2nd best reliever to get out of the jam. Great move.

10:11 Sizemore with a sac fly to center. 3-2. We're one "Manny blacked out and made a sweet play" away from a tie game here. Did you ever think you'd hear the words "lead-saving defensive play" and "Manny Ramirez" in the same breath? Lofton is still in absolute shock in the dugout right now.

10:15 Dice just got hosed on a called third strike. This one could bite us in the ass in about .2 seconds.

10:16 Strikeout swinging:

leps11 (10:16:58 PM): what the (expletive deleted, we keep it PG here at the Hub) was that pitch
HeyUmp47 (10:16:43 PM): the dirtyball
HeyUmp47 (10:16:47 PM): broke like 6 feet

Yea thats right...I named that pitch the dirtyball. Deal with it. 3-2 heading into the bottom of 5. Dice absolutely needs to be pulled now. He's done. He did his job, got us through 5 with a lead. Don't risk it. They're killing him right now, it was an absolute miracle that he got out of this with only 2 runs. DO NOT PUT HIM BACK IN.

10:22 The Sox have hit into 14 DPs this series, a new postseason record. I'd like to thank the 7-8-9 guys who have been responsible for 11 of them. Way to help the cause guys. It's the little things like this that make me think "how the hell did we get to Game 7 of the ALCS?" I dunno what's more surprising; that we set this new record or that we ONLY have 14 DPs...feels like at least 30 to me. We're averaging 2 DPs per game. Solid.

10:29 Tito thankfully makes the move to Okajima. My confidence level just jumped a few points. And, Beckett is in the pen loosening up. Beckett out of the pen in Game 7...I just...I love him. There I said it.

Buck just told us Papelbon said he's ready from the 7th inning on. I can see Pap coming in throwing about 110 mph for 5 innings tonight if necessary. His adrenaline will be through the roof. It wouldn't surprise me if he threw his first pitch at the head of the first batter he faces and literally kills him just to set the tone.

10:33 lastamericanher0 (10:32:12 PM): (expletive deleted) oki man this guy throws like 85 mph fastballs and somehow has been this good
lastamericanher0 (10:32:13 PM): tricky
HeyUmp47 (10:31:55 PM): deceit man...just great stuff
HeyUmp47 (10:32:00 PM): awesome at changing speeds

lastamericanher0 (10:33:56 PM): Oki is like Chozan from Karate Kid II
HeyUmp47 (10:33:28 PM): hahaha
HeyUmp47 (10:33:39 PM): with mayogi discipline
lastamericanher0 (10:34:14 PM): "Your manager teach you to hit? Maybe he teach you to be coward"

For those keeping track at home, yes, this is the 3rd AIM Convo added to this running diary. Over/under is at 7.5. I think we hit the over with ease.

But going with the Karate Kid reference; can't you see Oki sitting alone trying to catch flies with chopsticks in the bullpen before he pitches? I can see the call to the bullpen being something like:

Tito: Hey get Oki throwing will ya?
Bullpen Phone Guy: Umm...wait...I don't think he's...OK yup, he just caught a fly, I'll have him start throwing.

10:47 The show Manny throwing Lofton out at second again. Lofton still hasn't recovered. Manny still doesn't know it's October.

10:48 Lugo just dropped a pop-up, Lofton is at second. The tying friggin run is 180 feet away with 1 out and I might have just pissed my pants.

10:52 Gutierrez drives one down the third baseline, and somehow Lofton was held at second. Thank God. I am speechless. Need to spin 2 here. I might throw up.

10:53 Oki gets the grounder. 5-4-3, threat ended. 3-2 heading into the bottom of 7. I can't believe that all just happened. Lofton should have scored, and 99 times out of 100 that DP ball is replaced with a 3-run homer. Lugo I hope you're in the dugout bowing at Oki's feet right now because if he doesn't bail you out, you probably get mugged on Yawkey Way tonight.

10:59 Jacoby leads off with a grounder to third that Grizzly Blake booted. Ellsbury on second, no outs, and Lugo should be bunting here. Gets it down and its Jacoby on third with 1 out for Pedroia.

Hey, who was our centerfielder before last night? I already forgot his name. I think he struck out a ton but thats all I remember.

11:02 Dustin Pedroia with a 2-run homer. He absolutely SMOKED that one. Fenway is rockin. I'm vaguely remembering saying stuff like "you're all gonna love Pedroia by the end of the year" and "just watch, he's gonna have one of the biggest hits of the season."

Well there it is folks. That homer could be the final nail in the coffin. Prophecy fulfilled...You're all welcome. 5-2 going into the 8th.

11:05 Commercial break so: If I'm Tito, Delcarmen is pitching the 8th. Guy has been lights out (minus the one homer the other night) for the past couple months. Let's see how Tito plays this one.

11:08 Oki starts the 8th. Sizemore leads off with a bunt single. Not pulling Oki quite yet.

11:11 Single to center, 2 on, 0 out...and here he comes. No doubt Fenway is absolutely going crazy right now. SHIPPIN UP TO BOSTON WOAH WOAH WOAH!!!

Pap should be throwing about 103 mph tonight.

11:14 They just showed the Lofton stopping at third play again. It looks 100 times worse after the 33rd viewing. Lofton shoulda scored there.

11:16 Pronk goes down on 3 straight fastballs. Last one hit 98. No additional comments needed.

11:17 Grounder to 2nd, Pedroia juggled and Lugo juggled so the DP doesn't happen. Really hope that doesn't come back to haunt us. If it was anyone else other than Papelbon on the mound I would be catatonic.

11:20 Ellsbury chases down a fly ball at the warning track that almost made the triangle. End of threat. Pap is absolutely bringing it tonight. 97-98 with the gas, and the slider he threw to Garko looked like it broke 3 feet. Yea, I think its safe to say he's pumped.

11:27 MVP Lowell with a 1-out double to the left-center gap. Wouldn't mind another run here personally. JD Drew singles up the middle and its 6-2. Unreal. As recently as 48 hours ago everyone in Boston wanted Drew dead. Now he's got 6 RBI in 2 nights and he's a hero. Could not be happier for the guy. I mean don't get me wrong, I was one of the ones wanting him dead and all...but this is great. $70 million looks like it might pay off after all.

11:33 McCarver questions Tek attempting to bunt Drew to second with 1 out. He has no idea why Tek did it. He asks "how's that for crack analysis?" then chuckles to himself. Tim, hate to say it but you're going on like 30 years of terrible analysis. At this point, no one expects you to properly explain why something is happening on a baseball field. Don't worry about this one, it's not exactly a career killer. If they haven't fired you yet, they never will.

And to explain...Tek is like 2-for-800 this postseason. Moving a runner into scoring position for Ellsbury, who has been unreal for the Sox since being called up, would be a smart baseball move.

11:36 Peralta and Blake screw up a routine pop-up that ends up in the left field stands for a groundrule double. Ellsbury is being intentionally walked right now so Lugo gets a chance to extend the postseason record of 14 DPs. I'm thrilled. Forget Williams hitting over .400 and DiMaggio's hitting streak. Forget Cy Young's 500+ wins. Forget Nolan Ryan's strikeout record. Forget Ripken's Iron Man streak...14 DPs in a postseason series will never be topped. No way a team can kill that many rallies ever again. It's not possible.

11:42 Lugo strikes out swinging. Tek is disappointed. Come on Julio, this coulda been special. 15 DPs would have just absolutely clinched the all-time record.

11:43 Pedroia with a base-clearing, 3-run double. 9-2 Boston. BALLGAME (unless for some unknown reason Tito decides to go with Gagne in the ninth to save Pap for the World Series)

11:47 Aaaaaaaand Youk just shattered the Coke bottles. Tap the keg boys, Pap is ready to booze it up. I'm not kidding, if I don't see Papelbon forcing Pedroia to do a keg stand during the trophy presentation I will extremely disappointed. I almost expect to see Papelbon with a strikeout to close out the game then pull 2 Bud Lights out of his back pocket, strip down to the Under Armour and jock strap, and pound them with the Stone Cold Steve Austin salute.

Question: Millar gets invited to the postgame booze celebration right? Is he at the packie as we speak picking up the kegs? There's no other reasonable explanation for him to be invited to Boston tonight right?

11:55 Ortiz already has the goggles on. He's ready to go. 2 down.

11:57 Coco chases down a ball in the triangle to clinch the pennant. Looked like he almost died hitting the wall and no one really cares. 11-2 Sox win.


Unbelievable Series and the Sox are back in the World Series. Crazy. Just great baseball from the first pitch of Game 1 right through the last pitch.

They just interviewed Papelbon and asked if he had a new dance planned for tonight:

"Stay tuned, I got something planned for ya kid."

I'm giddy. Bring on the Rockies.