from the brink ... 5 down ... 6 to go

first team to win 11 games wins the world series

or, first team to lose 4 games goes home for halloween

this is not something vaguely familiar ... nope, this is something really, really familiar ... cause we've seen this act before ... more than once

go back ... go back up and take another look at the picture you just scrolled past ... what you are looking at are the boston red sox starting outfielders as they gather and await jonathan papelbon's arrival on the pitcher's mound in the top of the 7th inning ... with the game score tampa bay 5 <> boston 0 ... with 2 tampa bay baserunners poised to add to their run total ... and the red sox on the brink of postseason elimination ... look at the faces ... look at the bodies ... the body language ... jason bay, coco crisp and jd drew ... what do you see ... a) hopelessness <> b) fire <> c) exhaustion <> ) determination ... let me pose a different question ... in the faces of these 3 men ... do you see the fire and determination that they will stage the greatest single game comeback in alcs history ... the greatest single game comeback of the postseason in 79 years ... and walk off with a bottom of the 9th inning 8-7 victory ... after having been pounded by a powerful and relentless rays offense ... upton, pena, longoria, coward crawford, et al ... for 38 runs over the last 34 innings ... and smothered by consistently excellent tampa bay starting and bullpen pitching ... my answer ... not so much

watch fitzy's "reencapment" of alcs game 5 here
bill simmons ramblings during / after an important moment in boston sports history are always a good read

game 5 <> american league championship series (alcs)
boston red sox 8 ... tampa bay rays 7
winning pitcher <> justin masterson (1-0) ... losing pitcher <> jp howell (0-1)

#1 star of the game <> right fielder jd drew
4 at bats <> 1 run scored <> 2 hits <> 3 runs batted in <> 1 walk <> 1 home run

if not for guys like pd and papi ... youk and coco ... jbay, lowrie and kotsay ... jd's home run in the 8th and single to right in the 9th are last gasps in a losing effort ... but on this night ... with the red sox down to their last 6 outs of the season ... and trailing 7-4 on the scoreboard ... jd drew's bottom of the 8th inning 2 run home run turns this into a one run game ... from 7-0 to 7-6 ... and then with boston just 1 out from extra innings with a spent bullpen ... jd's bottom of the 9th inning ground rule double to deep right scores kevin youkilis from 2nd with the walk off ... game winning ... series extending run ... a boston media assclown once asked theo epstein ... "what's the fascination with jd drew?" ... last october we got to know the fascination ... this october we're getting real comfy with this fascination

#2 star of the game <> designated hitter david ortiz
5 at bats <> 1 run scored <> 1 hit <> 3 runs batted in <> 1 home run

pd ignites the fuse ... and "big punish" explodes ... 7th inning ... red sox have just scored their 1st run of the night ... on a pedroia rbi single to right ... the fenway crowd has suddenly come to life ... david ortiz comes to the plate ... tampa bay elects not to go to lefthander jp howell ... righty grant balfour will pitch to papi ... surely an unconventional move by tampa bay ... coco crisp stands at 3rd base and pd is at 1st ... but ... the sox are still down 6 runs ... 7-1 ... they are 7 outs from october elimination ... and big papi is in a miserable slump (1 hit in the series) ... with one swing of big papi's powerful bat ... the tampa bay lead is cut in half ... 7-4 ... on a long blast to right ... and red sox nation explodes

#3 star of the game <> second baseman dustin pedroia
5 at bats <> 1 run scored <> 1 hit <> 1 run batted in

if you start here and read up ... you read the story of a comeback from origin to conclusion ... rather than from conclusion to origin ... but whichever direction you read ... dustin pedroia is the origin of this comeback ... the sorry ass scene at this point ... tampa bay 7, boston 0 ... boston is 7 outs from cleaning lockers ... a player or two might even be making a call to inquire about flights home to wherever ... exhaustion seems to have set in ... to bat comes mvp candidate dustin pedroia ... with red sox runners on base in front of him for the first time in this series ... jed lowrie is on 3rd base after a leadoff double to deep right ... and coco crisp on 1st after singling to left ... as he has done night after night for 6+ months ... pd ignites the offense with a single to right ... sending lowrie home with the 1st red sox run ... 7-1 ... the crowd at fenway is alive ... and the red sox are too ... still alive ... barely ... pd being pd ... mvp ... mvp ... mvp

honorable mention #1 <> center fielder coco crisp
4 at bats <> 1 run scored <> 2 hits <> 1 run batted in <> 1 walk

11 pitches ... 5 foul balls ... coco crisp vs dan wheeler ... the dan wheeler of game 2 excellence ... and on the 11th pitch ... coco singles to right ... scoring mark kotsay from 2nd base with the game tying run in the bottom of the 8th inning ... 7-7 ... historic comeback complete ... coco is also in on the front end of red sox scoring tonite ... coco's two out single to left in the 7th inning ... continues the inning ... moves jed lowrie to 3rd base ... and sets the stage for pedroia's rbi single and ortiz' 3 run home run

honorable mention #2 <> third baseman kevin youkilis
4 at bats <> 1 run scored <> 2 hits <> 1 walk