I think a lot of people had the Red Sox dead and buried after game four. Down three games to one and facing the alleged Cy Young contender C.C. Sabathia (he has to have one good post-season outing, right?) seemed a daunting task indeed. Unless you’ve got a guy named Josh Beckett pitching.
The think-tank in the Cleveland Indians front office brought in Josh’s ex to sing the National Anthem in a decidedly lame attempt to rattle him. Suffice to say, it didn’t work. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo sports elaborates:
One player, who requested anonymity, laughed at the choice of country music singer Danielle Peck belting out the national anthem and “God Bless America,” while her ex-boyfriend stood ready to pitch.
“That was a good one,” he said. “We do that on purpose?”
Beckett didn’t care.
“I don’t get paid to make those (expletive) decisions,” barked Beckett. “She’s a friend of mine. Thanks for flying my friends to the game so she could watch for free.”
A great Boston sports quote, akin to such classics as “Moses does eat sh!t” or “You’re messin’ with my cake” and of course “Don’t let us win tonight.”
Other Indians took the “whistling by the graveyard” approach. Also from Yahoo:
“Champagne tastes as sweet on the road as at home,” offered Ryan Garko.
Meanwhile, Casey Blake was reminding people that “Momentum is not a term in baseball.”
“I heard momentum is only as good as your starting pitcher,” Garko said. “And we’ve got a good one going in Fausto Carmona.”
Tough talk. Especially from a team in a city so far removed from winning anything. Granted, Boston had it’s 86-year baseball drought, but they had the Bruins in the 70’s, the Celtics in the 80’s and the Patriots of the new millennium. Cleveland? Well, they won a football championship in 1964 – two years before it was the Superbowl. And now the Indians have to head to Fenway Park in Boston and win two straight to have a shot to end their city’s championship drought.
Curt Schilling will have something to say about that. No doubt, he will have his own game two performance weighing heavily on him, as well as thoughts of game six redemption. And if he needs any additional motivation, he has to look no further than a few lockers over – Josh Beckett has to have a few words for Schilling knowing how fiercely competitive the two have been as teammates.
There’s a few others that want to send the Indians back to Cleveland – to play golf, not more baseball. The bats had a bit of an awakening last night. The 1-2 punch of Pedroia and Youk went 4-for-8 with three runs scored and three RBI. Even Julio Lugo had a nice bunt single. Bobby “J.D. Who” Kielty added a hit, and the big three continued doing what they’ve been doing all year.
The lone exception to the hit parade was Coco Crisp. He was 0-for-5 with two K’s and looked as inept trying to lay down a bunt as he did trying to swing away. He’s now batting a team-low buck-sixty-one. It has got to be Jacoby Ellsbury time on Saturday, doesn’t it?
Cleveland rocks, but Boston wins. And Danielle Peck looks better in a Red Sox shirt than she does singing in Cleveland. Maybe we can get her for game 7?
