One of the most thrilling, grind-yer-nuts-on-the-cheese-grater conclusions to a Sox playoff series came during the final game of the 2003 ALDS. We were holding on to a measly one run lead and the A’s had the bases loaded, but Derek Lowe, who lost Game One of the series on that crazy-ass squeeze play, seemed remarkably poised, confident in his skills and likely inspired by Tek’s visit to the mound, which I’m sure went something like this:
Tek: You know that pitch you just threw to Melhuse?
Lowe: Well, yeah, but I’ve got–
Tek: Never mind that shit. You know that pitch you struck out Melhuse with?
Lowe: Yeah.
Tek: Throw the same one.
Lowe: You sure?
Tek: The exact. same. f@#king. pitch.
Lowe: O–okay.
And just like that, Lowe struck out Terrance Long with an absolutely filthy pitch that started inside and curved out gorgeously over the plate. Game over. Cue chaos.
But, of course, there was more to the tale. Watch Lowe’s motions after that final out. Miguel Tejada swears it was an obscene gesture at the Oakland bench. And, yeah, it was. But as I’ve said before, it’s your basic “bite my tweeter” maneuver; totally acceptable considering the stakes involved.
Here’s a video of that fateful, final out. Oh, and stick around after the post-victory melee for an interview with Manny Ramirez, looking amazingly like Manny Delcarmen.
In other news, as we mentioned before, our pal Allan Wood’s “Joy of Sox” blog is a finalist for Best Sports Blog in the 2007 Canadian Blog Awards. So let’s all do the right thing and help push JOS to the top of the heap. Whadaya want, some freakin’ Blue Jays blog to take the prize? Get on over to the voting site and let your voice be heard!
