And now game seven

I'm pretty sure this was taken by KellyO

Kelly and I made our first Red Sox road trip in June 2006. We met up in Atlanta for a three game series between the Sox and the Braves, and we were treated to the ML debut of a young pitcher named Jon Lester. The Sox had sent Lester ahead of the team to Atlanta, in the company of their newest acquisition - Josh Beckett. We guessed that the Sox wanted Lester to see how an ace acts, how he preps for a road start, how he handles the life. At the time, we were a little scared for little Lester - we'd heard the stories already about Beckett enjoying la dolce vita in Boston.

Fast forward two years. Lester is now the hot young ace, our go-to guy as Beckett has been convalescing from various stints on the DL. He's learned his lessons well - and survived the many curves he's hit in the road. And tonight, we turn to him to see this season out. To usher us into the World Series.

All the talking heads are saying Lester is "tired." That Papelbon is "too gassed" to play tonight. I've got news for you --- THIS IS IT! IT'S DO OR DIE TONIGHT! You better believe every member of that team is going to leave it all on the field. That they are going to do everything they can to keep playing, to continue on to the final round of the "tournament."

At the risk of tempting the baseball gods, I've got a good feeling....

GO SOX!!!!