Another Ludicrously Draining Series

After the Sunday night blip, the Red Sox clinched the series after more than a few plays going their way during the ALDS.

Now, after going 1-13 against the Red Sox in the post season since 1994, including 11 straight losses, I can understand the Angels being less than happy. I agree with the Halos' ace John Lackey when he says:

[On Sunday] they scored on a pop fly they called a hit, which is a joke

And it must be difficult to contain the emotions, and in fact it's not healthy to, after another difficult exit, but the Halos have many other points that I'll just give them the benefit of the doubt considering their new vacation plans.

[On Monday], they score on a broken-bat ground ball and a fly ball anywhere else in America [except in Fenway Park]. And [Pedroia's] fist-pumping on second like he did something great.

Ehh...yes. Pedroia kind of did. He used his surroundings to the fullest. Whilst the Green Monster turns what would have been fly ball outs into doubles, it also turns what would be line drive homeruns into doubles. Pedroia is a good example. On would on the surface expect that his diminutive stature is helped by the Green Monster, giving him a home run advantage at home. However, looking at his stats, it's the opposite. He's hit 7 of his 17 HRs at Fenway this season. True, of his 54 doubles, 35 came at home, clearly an advantage, but you have to wonder how many of those would have been a homerun in any other park.

Finally Lackey brings out the old chestnut to disparage the winning opponent:

We are way better than they are. We lost to a team not as good as us.

Ehh....no. If you win, you are better. If you lose, you are not. It's a pretty simple equation. Of course the Angels point to their league leading 100-62 regular season record. Looks good on paper, doesn't it?

A closer look points out that the Angels went 36-21 within the AL West, against such powerhouses as the Rangers (79-83 final record), Athletics (75-86) and of course the punching bags the Mariners (61-101) who the Halos went 14-5 against (The Red Sox when 6-3 against the Mariners). The Mariners won all season series agains their AL West opponents.

In comparison, the AL East had 4 out of 5 teams with winning records, with the Red Sox only winning one season series (Baltimore, 12-6), whilst tying the season 9-9 with the Blue Jays and Yankees and losing 8-10 against the Rays.

So sure, following the motto "You can only beat the team put in front of you" the Angels were clearly better in the regular season, including a spanking 8-1 record against the Red Sox.....

...but the Red Sox have gone from October hopeless to October hopefuls. The Red Sox, always sure to lose in the most agonising way in the post season, or even stumble on the last steps leading there, are now the mental giants of the pressure cooker that is October baseball (or November if we let the MLB decide).

No matter what obstacles arise, the Red Sox believe that plastic wrap will adorn the locker stalls come October. They expect closer Jonathan Papelbon to dance a jig eventually, designated hitter David Ortiz to man the clubhouse stereo with flair, and the home clubhouse carpet to require about four industrial strength cleanings over a four-week span.

The new mindset is analysed by ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, and it does indeed seem as the Red Sox is a different animal after its recent post season success. However, you only need to ask the Patriots if you think that a feeling of entitlement gets you anywhere...

(And as a matter of full disclosure - going into this series I thought Papelbon would be playing golf in Florida by now...)

Finally, a quick look at the upcoming ALCS;

Thankfully, the MLB seems to have listened to my complains about the starting times of many games ;)

Game 1: Friday, Oct. 10, 8:37 p.m. (at Tampa Bay)
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 11, 8:07 p.m. (at Tampa Bay)
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 13, 4:37 p.m. (at Boston)
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 14, 8:07 p.m. (at Boston)
Game 5*: Thursday, Oct. 16, 8:07 p.m. (at Boston)
Game 6*: Saturday, Oct. 18, 4:37 p.m. if NLCS is still being played; 8:07 p.m. if not (at Tampa Bay)
Game 7*: Sunday, Oct. 19, 8:07 p.m. (at Tampa Bay)

It seems as we might be able to get 2 reasonable start times and two weekend evening starts, which obviously helps the sleep deprived of us, in and outside the US.

As for roster, the biggest debate is which rotation to go with. The Red Sox are announcing their starting pitcher for Friday's game 1 sometime today, and Francona have a few conundrums to deal with.

Does he start Lester on 4 days rest on the road, or does he save him for game 3 at Fenway where Lester has been almost unbeatable this season? A Game 3 start would mean Lester would start a possible game 7, alternatively Game 1 of the World Series if the Red Sox make it that far.

If not Lester, who to start? Beckett could go on his normal 5 days rest, but Sunday proved that this is not the same Beckett as last year - or perhaps this Sunday's game was a blip? His start against the Rangers at the end of September was magnificent. Still, I think there are some remaining physical issues going on.

Or Francona could go with the long term record and start Wake? The main question is which Wake would show up - the one who went9-1 at Tropicana Field up to September 2007 or the one who went 0-2 in three starts there this year.

Finally, there's Dice-K, who somehow laboured himself to a somewhat deceiving 18-3 record this year, but finally showed that he can pitch with runners on, something he struggled with in 2007.

I suspect the rotation will be:

Game 1) Dice-K
Game 2) Beckett
Game 3) Lester

after that it's a crap shoot!

Now to wait another two days....