Coyne's Clippings (David Ortiz Edition)

Still going with the David Ortiz lede (newspaper lingo) even though he was mortal in last night's Game Six. It really is unbeleivable that the Sox have come back to force a Game Seven. You really gotta like their chances tonite, of course we go through the Wakefield-on-the-mound scenario again. Hopefully he doens't get the loss, and hopefully its a close game. Today its finally starting to sink in that the Sox could win this series.

C.H.B. has this in his second paragraph of the front-page Globe story...


That was just a few long days, sleepless nights, and extra innings ago. But now the 2004 Boston Red Sox -- the wildest of wild-card entries -- are just one victory from hardball heaven and the greatest baseball comeback story ever told.

In the history of Major League Baseball, the NBA, and the NHL, 230 teams have fallen behind, 3-0, in a best-of-seven series, and only two hockey teams -- the '42 Maple Leafs and '75 Islanders -- have come back and won.

Robert Ryan actually wonders if the Sox should bring in Schilling tonite for an inning or two to close it out.

Here's an article with people still talking about Game Five Monday night. It is indeed a game of inch as I heard them say on the radio last night. Not a game of inches. That ground-rule double by Tony Clark would have been more if it hadn't gone into the stands. An inch lower off the bounce and it would have hit the wall and caromed around allowing Ruben Sierra to score from first.

And can we talk about Varitek and (gulp) Posada. Those guys have caught every inning of every game in the series. That at a total of 60 innings in the eight days (Tuesday to Tuesday), while Posada has played all 62. Crazy!

Steve Buckley's article focuses on the THEO-logy of Theo and how he keeps a low profile. Of course here at the New England Times, we love that attitude.

And how about the ratings, they're equal to the Patriots SuperBowl games. Imagine if the Sox were in the World Series? Better yet, a deciding game of the World Series. Jim Capel of ESPN has a culinination article, while Bill Simmons as expected, can hardly contain himself. He also brings up this good point from last night...

If the Yankees are down by two runs in the ninth inning, and somebody walks -- like Matsui did in Game 6 -- apparently it's as good as a home run. That's how Tim McCarver explained it last night.

And how about the fact tonite's loss could be the WORST loss in the history of New York Yankees Baseball. That's 104 years of play spanning 16,000 games. Like the Mariners and Rangers before him, its the Curse of A-Rod!

And the off-beat article of the day goes to this one on Pabst Blue Ribbon which is apparently making a comeback in popularity... I have to confirmation of this, but will keep an eye on it.