The Baseball Update

Last night, for only the second time this postseason (first was right before Game 5 of the ACLS), I was nervous that the Sox would not win the game. That did not last long. Ellsbury and Pedroia said "oh yeah?", kicked dirt in the faces of the Rockies and their fans and walked off with their girlfriends and the win.

I opened my big mouth in the third inning and asked the Taxwife whether it was too early to start considering WS MVP. After she punched me in the face, she said "yes". She was right. Although this morning - let's look at the candidates (As you will see, I take into account intangibles):



Jacoby Ellsbury: .417/.500/.667, 3 2B, 4-5 last night and the Stolen Base that Launched A Million Tacos.



Dustin Pedroia: .357/.438/.643, 1 HR, 4 RBI, clutch hit last night and the worst hairline I've ever seen on a 24 year old.



Josh Beckett: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 9 Ks, 1 BB and a huge set of huevos.



Jonathan Papelbon: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 Ks, 2 SV and some sick dance moves.



Hideki Okajima: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 6 Ks, 0 BB and a head jerk to third (thanks, Timm-ay).

I think if it goes 5 and Beckett gets another win, he'll be the MVP. If it's a sweep and Paps saves a close one tonight, it will be him. Otherwise, it's wide open and a clutch hit by Pedroia or Ellsbury (or Lowell or Drew (!) for that matter) will win it.

Of course, the Rockies could come back.

Some random thoughts from last night's game:

-- The best Rockies fans could do was a sign that said "Big Papi eats boogers"? That seems more appropriate for College Gameday.

-- Ditto the Halloween costumes - the Cat in the Hat and the Jolly Green Giant? WTF?

-- McCarver busting out the phrase "a bevy of fastballs" - I prefer a "veritable cornucopia" myself.

-- Okajima worked through trouble like the pro he is and struck out Atkins in the bottom of the 7th with an absolutely nasty splitter. I read time and tie again how breaking pitches don't break as much in the thin Colorado air, but Dice-K's curve was working and Okie's splitter was nasty.

Cruising the Blogs:

Red Sox Chick had this up pretty quickly after last night's game. I'm not sure anymore who McCarver and Buck root against. They seemed relatively fair and balanced last night - McCarver even gave Manny props on the slide into home (after I yelled at the tv for a minute or two).

Peter has his summary of last night's game - including mad props to Dice-K who was in command throughout (although I didn't realize until this morning that he topped 100 pitches).

Joy of Sox has all of the Sunday morning headlines.

NFL Picks in a bit.