Death and Taxes

So imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to find out that the Sox won in walk off fashion last night to go up 2-0 on the Halos. I stayed up a late as I could (11:40) but decided to record innings 8-9 on my DVR. Of course I was wide awake at 5:45 this morning so I got up to watch the rest of the game. Wow!

This dramatic win (thank you Danny Vinik for taking the ball away from Anaheim catcher, Jeff Mathis) combined with the Yanks equally dramatic -- and buggy -- loss last night, got me to thinking about the big picture. I've always been told that there are two certainties in life, death and taxes. I think we can now add two more:

1. Red Sox always beat the Angels in the ALDS. My buddies (yes, that's you Lil' Jim) keep giving me a hard time about being over confident before the deal is done. I don't care. We've seen enough historical data to make this assertion. Sox will fly home from Anaheim/Los Angeles/Long Beach with the series in hand.
   
   
2. ARod continues to play the role of "cooler" in the playoffs. I don't care that he batted .900 this year, hit 650 HRs and knocked in 2,000 RBI during the regular season - come playoff time, he becomes a different player. So far, he is 0-6 in this year's ALDS, part of a 28 at bat hitless streak in the playoffs.
   
   There was talk earlier about Boston signing him if he opts out of his contract. The Sox under NO circumstances should do this, not even if he agrees to come and play for free.
   

If we had Tim Wakefield or Jon Lester going in game three, I might not be so sure about a Sox sweep. But for all his blow-hardedness, Schilling is a big game pitcher, especially after his boy Beckett pitched lights out in game one. Plus, the Angels have to be feeling a little demoralized after their eighth straight post-season loss to the Sox. It's not like bringing Lackey back on three days rest is going to solve the problem either. For as good as that guy has been this season, he's been horrendous against Boston.

This might be sound like heresy because I dislike the Yanks as much as anyone but I wouldn't mind seeing the Bronx Bombers win a game or two just to make things tense for both teams. Even better would be to have three more extra inning games with the Tribe winning a dramatic game 5 16 inning victory. Ideally, Fausto Carmona will have to come in to pitch 5 of those innings and won't be able to pitch until game four of the ALCS>

Are you ready for some football?

Walk Off

Wow. We needed that one. How long has it been since Papi came to the plate in the 9th with the tying run on first base this season and actually driven in the winning run? Yes, we were spoiled last season. And yes, Papi has hit some clutch hits this season. But it seems like he had so many of those games last year.

It would have been a real shame to piss this one away considering the fact that the D-Rays scored all their runs in the 1st inning. They also needed this one to give them a little cushion going into the series with NY this weekend.

The player of the game? Yes, Papi was the king but Julian Tavarez was a close second. Go Sox!