ALCS Game 5

Boston Globe photo

It's been a while - well, almost exactly 3 years - since I've had a morning like this. Stumbling out of bed after only 4 hours sleep, forcing myself through my morning workout, arriving at work and realizing you don't remember the drive in, mainlining caffeine... Yes, it's Red Sox playoff time!

What a great feeling! The Sox pulled off a total beat-down of the Indians last night - starting with Kevin Youkilis' first inning home run off their ace, CC Sabathia, and continuing through Josh Beckett's awesome 8 innings. He had 11 strike outs, one earned run. And he totally dominated a very dangerous Indians lineup. And the bats finally woke up - Josh got the kind of run support that makes a game like this look easy.

A couple of interesting moments along the way, though. Beckett and Lofton had a showdown - no punches thrown, but the benches did clear. The home plate umpire was pretty funny - they had him miked up, and he just kept standing in front of Beckett saying, Not a word, Josh, not a word. Then he told the relief pitchers to head back to the Bull Pen, telling them it was a good opportunity to get in some sprints.

The Indians tried a little gamesmanship - the national anthem was sung by one of Beckett's ex-girlfriends. That apparently got the team pretty fired up! Asked about it in his post-game presser, Josh had a few great profanities to express his opinion!

And Manny of course offered the haters something to complain about - not sliding into home on a throw from right field; not running out what looked to be a double... But I love that guy. He plays with the abandon of a puppy - he clearly loves the game, loves playing, and just lives in that moment. When he said that once the game ended and life went on, he was just embodying the view we try to tell our kids - enjoy the game, play with all your heart, leave everything on the field, and then go on to the next game.

And speaking of the next game - it's back to Boston for games 6 & 7, Saturday and Sunday evenings. We've gained back the "home field advantage" - and when that home field is Fenway Park, you've got to think we hold a slight advantage.

Go Sox!!