ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — I’m sitting inside “The Trop” about three hours before Sunday’s Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, trying to figure out who will advance to the World Series to face the Phillies.
My prediction: If Red Sox lefty Jon Lester is his usual solid self for, say, the first five innings, the Red Sox are headed to their third World Series in the last five years.
Of course, I’ve been wrong before. As recently as last week, in fact, I painted the Red Sox as a pale imitation of the team that knocked off the Rockies last year.
And while I still think this year’s team isn’t as good as 2007’s, I underestimated the Red Sox’s heart.
All in all, it has been a memorable series. Some observations:
• MVP: Regardless of what happens in tonight’s Game 7, Rays center fielder B.J. Upton has been the star of the show. He hit four homers in the ALCS (seven in the postseason) and drove in 11 runs. If he stays healthy and keeps his head on straight, Upton will be the kind of star I once thought the Mets’ Jose Reyes was destined to become.
• Best quote: It comes from, of all people, Boston ace Josh Beckett, who’s usually about as cuddly as a crocodile on steroids. Speaking about veteran Boston catcher and team captain Jason Varitek, whose home run was the deciding blow of Game 6, Beckett said, “He wears the ‘C’ on his jersey for a lot of different reasons, but none more important than how much respect everybody in that clubhouse, including players, coaches and upper management, has for him.”
FYI, the homer was Varitek’s 11th in the postseason, most by a catcher.
• Turning point: The hit that made the ALCS a series to remember was the three- run homer David Ortiz ripped down the right-field line at Fenway Park in the seventh inning of Game 5. “Big Papi” ignited the fans and rekindled the Red Sox mojo. Simply a great moment at a great ballpark.
• Most inspiring: Rays right fielder Rocco Baldelli, who has battled back from energy- sapping, muscle-weakening mitochondrial disease and kept his career alive. He hit a three-run homer in Game 3 and started Game 7.
• Most Hurdle-like: From his cropped silver hair to his love of music to his ability to spin a yarn, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon is very Clint Hurdle. Like Hurdle, Maddon seems to enjoy the give-and-take with the media. Boston’s Terry Francona? He’s respectful and professional but not nearly as forthcoming. Of course, he also has two World Series rings and doesn’t feel the need to explain himself or his team.
New kids on the block.
Look out, Red Sox —and you, too, Yankees and Blue Jays — the Rays will be back next season. Heading into Sunday’s game, they had already won 103 games in 2008 and did so with the youngest team in the postseason (average age 27.4). Their starting rotation of James Shields, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine, Scott Kaz- mir and Edwin Jackson is the youngest for a postseason team since the 1986 Mets (Ron Darling, Dwight Gooden, Sid Fernandez, Bobby Ojeda and Rick Aguilera).
Seamhead stuff.
Finally, for those of you who like baseball by the raw numbers, I offer a couple of interesting factoids. No. 1, going into Sunday’s Game 7, Tampa’s dynamic duo of Upton and rookie Evan Longoria had combined to hit eight homers in the ALCS, the most by any two teammates in a single postseason series. No. 2, Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon has never allowed a postseason run. In fact, of the 85 postseason batters he has faced, only 16 have reached base via hit or walk.
Of course, now I’ve probably cursed him. Sox fans, forgive me.
