Josh Beckett: the new John Wayne
By Travis
How sweet. I don’t expect the Red Sox to make another 2004-esque comeback, but Thursday’s performance by Beckett was vintage and gave a ray of hope. You have to expect Curt Schilling to pitch like his old self, the John Wayne character before Beckett, if only because he’s always pitched best with his team’s back against the wall. But with Daisuke Matsuzaka slated for Game 7 I don’t like the odds of winning three in a row.
Some thoughts with the Sox finally cruising for once:
Who would I rather start Game 7 (if we get that far)? Well, other than Beckett, who obviously can’t start on 2 days rest but might be available for the 6th and 7th innings when Dice-K predictably bows out after 4 2/3 innings, why not Jonathan Papelbon. Well, it might have been a more realistic pipedream had Tito Francona not used him for the 9th inning on Thursday, but who better? Sure, they might need him on Sautrday, but why not leave open the possibility by pitching anbody else with a 6-run lead on Thursday? I’d still rather see Dice-K than Tim wkefield or Jon Lester, but not by much, but I hope everybody but Schilling is available in relief beginning as early as the 4th inning.
On to Joe Torre, the poor sap. Seriously, nobody feels less sorry for the old man than Moxie, but this was as predictable as a Coco Crisp GIDP. The MFY didn’t want him back, but they do want the Joe Torre loyalists (most importantly, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez) to return and needed to show the MFY skipper respect to at least have a shot at signing each.
So, they made a half-hearted offer so they could claim to those free agents that they wanted him back and tried to keep him. I’d love to call them each dumb, but even Grady Little could read between these lines. It’s going to take one of two guys. Joe Girardi, who played with Pettitte, Rivera, Posada and Derek Jeter, will be able to keep some semblence of sanity. Don Mattingly might be able to keep a couple of the guys in stable.
Any other manager and you’re going to see a major overhaul. The MFY are already in store for a transition period — Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes will take over for Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte — but having to replace Rivera, Clemens, Posada, A-Rod and Pettitte this year and Mussina, Giambi, Abreu and Damon in 2009 will be a major transition even if more money is freed up in that span than any other team spends.
Oh, and before I forget … Go Cats!!!