Sox in Series

            The 2013 Boston Red Sox have been described by many words: Resilient, relentless, scrappy, the list can go on. But one thing that has jumped out to me throughout this 2013 season is those who outfielder Johnny Gomes calls the 26^th man on their roster. The fans.

            Especially throughout the postseason, people who I never would’ve expected to be watching the Red Sox have been glued to the games. This includes friends, family members, teachers, and the millions of others who have gotten behind the Red Sox this season.

            The Red Sox haven’t always made it look pretty this season but they have found a way to get it done nonetheless. This postseason and World Series have been one for the ages. Maybe you’ve liked the crazy endings. Maybe it has put a little too much pressure on your heart for games that are so late at night. Either way, it has been one of the oddest and craziest World Series in my lifetime.

            Outfielder Jonny Gomes said in an ALDS press conference, “You play 162 games, a lot of innings, a lot of pitches, a lot of runs. One thing you can guarantee in the playoffs is that you are going to see something that you haven’t seen all year.”

            That has been an understatement. We’ve seen things this postseason that have never happened before. A playoff game has never ended with a runner getting picked off at first base, the way it did on Sunday.  A game has never ended on an obstruction call, with a runner being awarded home the way it did on Saturday.  And move over Babe (Ruth), the Red Sox have never had a postseason starter as young as Xander Bogaerts, who is just 21 years old.

            Unlike the NFL, which held its first official Super Bowl in 1967, baseball has had playoff and World Series games since 1903.,  That first World Series,  coincidentally, was won by the Boston Americans (now the Boston Red Sox). All those years of postseason play means a lot of games to set records, and a lot of unusual plays. So to see multiple record setting things in this World Series is really something special.

THREE KEYS TO THE REST OF THE SERIES

#1: Managing: John Farrell has been out-managed in this series. This is the first time that he has had to put thought into managing against a National League team in the postseason. Thankfully, the Red Sox won’t have any more games at Busch Stadium where they can’t use David Ortiz as a designated hitter. But Farrell has to start using the bunt more affectively, and maybe using the intentional walk more too. The decision to leave pitcher Brandon Workman in to hit against Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal in game 4 was a really bad one, and one that Farrell would like to have back.

#2: Craig Breslow: The Red Sox need relief pitcher Craig Breslow in the seventh inning. He was perfect through the ALDS and the ALCS but has allowed three runs (two of them earned) in the World Series prior to game five. If the Red Sox are going to keep pointing to him out of the bullpen in the seventh inning, he needs to be reliable. Breslow is a big fat question mark in my mind at this point.

#3: End of the lineup: The bottom of the lineup has been dismal for the Red Sox so far this World Series. It consists of Jonny Gomes/Daniel Nava, Jarrod Saltalamacchia/David Ross, Stephen Drew, and Xander Bogaerts. I have wanted shortstop Stephen Drew out of the lineup for a little while now but I can understand John Farrell’s desire to keep him in. He is a wall for them at shortstop. Drew is hitting .083 in the postseason and a devastatingly bad .085 in the Series. Little Leaguers across the nation have had to cover their eyes trying to watch Drew hit. He has been off balance at the plate, he has been finishing his swing with only his top hand on the bat, and has contradicted many of the game’s basic fundamentals with his at bats.

            I think that the Red Sox will squeak out the win in the series. Game 6 of the 2013 World Series will be tomorrow night at Fenway Park in Boston.

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