The Only Time Luck Was On Our Side

People always say that Fenway Park is a magical place. Last night, Nick Green was able to experience some magic of his own en route to aiding the Red Sox in their come-from-behind win.

With two outs in the ninth and the bases loaded, Green stepped up to the plate for his first appearance in about 10 years. Since acquiring Alex Gonzalez, Green has seen limited at best playing time. As he took a few warm-up swings, I turned to my friends and said, "Perhaps if the Red Sox had played Green at all in the last month, this may be a good idea, but the game is over. He's not fresh enough."

It turns out I was right. Green struck out twice in the ninth. In the same at-bat. He then proceeded to take ball 4, stroll down to first, and recieve credit for the tying run. Just imagine Mike Scioscia's face. It was great.

After the game, the media approached Scioscia, most likely tentatively as the Angel's manager was borderline insane with anger. They asked him about the game and he retorted, "what was the count -- 3-4 to Green?"



Some may call this outburst spiteful. Some may call it bitter. I still believe Mike Scoscia is a tool who fails as a manager every October, but I see where he's coming from. The man has been almost ejected about 16 times over the course of the past 2 games. I'm impressed that he restrained himself from bursting out of the clubhouse and attacking the umpiring crew.

My friends from California are livid. They feel betrayed by the umpiring crew and now hate Nick Green.

If the Angels were going to win last night's game, however, they should have won it long before. The Angels had every chance to win. They took leads in the 6th inning, 8th inning and 9th inning and proceeded to blow all of those leads. Alex Gonzalez's game-winning single was a catchable ball. They made a few half-hearted plays throughout the game that ended up costing them, and now they have another loss in September. Sure, the Red Sox were lucky Nick Green ended up walking, but the Angels still had every chance to win that game.

After the game, Tori Hunter called out his teammates, saying they needed to play with more guts. They needed to have more heart.

In these past two games, the Red Sox have shown a lot of heart, a lot of guts, and the tenacity needed to win against tough teams in both September and October. Back in August, I was sure the Sox had quit for the season. They were primed for an early exit if they were going to make the playoffs at all. The pitching was falling apart, Beckett was giving up an average of 42 home runs per inning, they were not hitting, they were slaughtered by the Yankees and the Wild Card ticket was not looking good.

These past two days, the Red Sox have put two pitchers on the mound who are plagued by large question marks. Daisuke earned his second win of the season on Tuesday after returning from a three-month DL stint. Paul Byrd was coaching little leaguers on Opening Day. He did not pitch fantastically last night, but the Red Sox kept rallying behind him. They seized every opportunity they had.

In the end, that's what makes a good playoff team. Dan Shaughnessey wrote that perhaps this team could make a run at a World Series title. I still doubt the Red Sox will go too deep into October, but at least it seems that now they are giving themselves a chance.