BOSTON — These Red Sox are not the Red Sox who rocked the Rockies.
These Red Sox are less imposing at the plate and more vulnerable on the mound.
That takes nothing away from the Tampa Bay Rays, a team fueled by speed, power, deep pitching and the magical elixir of youth. But the menacing club that swept the Rockies in the World Series featured a healthy Josh Beckett, an effective Curt Schilling, a fine-tuned David Ortiz and the dangerous Manny Ramirez.
This fall, Beckett’s fastball isn’t as fast and his status for the rest of this series is unknown, Schilling didn’t throw a pitch this season, Ortiz is hurting but still playing and Manny pouted and took his act to Los Angeles. And, third baseman Mike Lowell, the MVP of the 2007 World Series, is facing hip surgery and is inactive. Last Rocktober, center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury hit 7-for-16 (.438) vs. the Rockies. He didn’t start Tuesday night’s game because he didn’t have a hit in his last 20 at-bats.
Like an NHL team, the Red Sox play cloak-and-dagger when it comes to injuries. But clearly Beckett, who has struggled in two postseason appearances, and Ortiz aren’t close to be their normal all- star selves.
“Big Papi” entered Tuesday’s game hitting .148 for the postseason and was 0-for-10 in the ALCS. He missed 45 games with a left wrist injury this season and is still not driving the ball to all fields.
“I don’t know if he’s perfect. . . . I doubt that,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said before Tuesday’s game. “But I don’t want to sit him. That wouldn’t make a lot of sense.”
The grumpy Beckett continues to insist he’s OK, but he spent time on the disabled list in August and September with a sore shoulder. In Game 2, the Rays raked him for nine hits and eight earned runs. A year ago he won four postseason games and was nearly unhittable. He mowed down the Rockies in Game 1 of the World Series, cruising through seven innings, striking out eight and allowing one run.
The Red Sox are still the champions, and, under Francona’s stewardship, should never be counted out.
But these Red Sox aren’t the Red Sox who climbed from a 3-1 hole to defeat the Indians in the ALCS last year. They’re going to have to find a different way to win.
Boulder days.
White-haired Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon was a 21-year-old kid when he got his start as a player-coach with the old semi-pro Boulder Collegians. In 1975, the Collegians won the National Baseball Congress national championship. That season, Maddon pinch hit for Joe Carter, the man who hit the World Series-winning homer for Toronto against Philadelphia in Game 6 in 1993.
“I don’t know how many guys were drafted in the first round out of that particular team, but it was a great team,” Maddon said. “I was a player- coach and actually got a chance to pinch hit for Joe Carter in the NBC World Championship at Wichita.
“Jim Dietz was our manager. Jim gave me a lot of leeway with it. And eventually, when I made it to managing in the minor leagues and being a scout with the Angels, it was an invaluable experience for me.”
