Few players have transformed from hero to miscreant faster than Keith Foulke, and that’s pretty unfortunate. Yes, he struggled mightily over the past couple seasons, and that “Johnny from Burger King” quip didn’t exactly get the fans rallying behind him. But in the 2004 postseason, if Ortiz was the straw that stirred the drink, then Foulke was most certainly the dude waving his Gold Card around and setting the house up with round after round. Any other year, any other pitcher, and Game 6 of the ALCS ends with Tony Clark going yard — another former Sox player driving a wooden stake through our dreams. But Keith shut him down, struck him out [one of the 19 Ks he threw in the 2004 postseason] and set the stage for the ass-whipping that was Game 7. He probably should have a World Series MVP trophy on his mantle as well, but we won’t get caught up in the details. The point of this post was really to say that I’ll miss Keith Foulke. And if it turns out the dude blew himself out giving us everything he had during that unquestionably awesome October, then I’d still say it was worth every penny.
Oh, and don’t worry, ladies. I’m sure Daisuke Matsuzaka‘s pretty cool to hang out in bars with as well.
