The Red Sox Have Manny Reasons to be Happy

Seeing Manny (Along with his royal Youkness) is certainly a sight for sore eyes. (AP Photo)

Last nights game was a great game to attend and once again the No Scalp Zone at Fenway came through in the clutch. I was scouring all day on Craigs List for a good deal, however everyone on Craigs List are still trying to make a profit, and I'd rather keep my money where it belongs, in my pocket. So I went to the no scalp zone and bought for face value ($45.00 each) two LF Grandstands in section 31, which was perfect because it gave us a good view of the field and the man they call Manny. I'd rather sit in the LF Grandstands any day of the week instead of the RF Grandstands just because it's more enjoyable to watch the game from there, and speaking of the game, lets talk about that huh?

The last time I was at Fenway I saw Curt Schilling lose in a 1-0 duel against that pesky Scott Kazmir. What I noticed in both contests is that Curt Schilling still has it. The Big Schill still has that aura of confidence around him when he's on the hill and that was very present last night. A great start for Curt.

Last night also saw the re-emergence of two of our fallen heroes, Mr. Manny Ramirez & Mr. Kevin Youkilis. Having these two guys on their way back is beyond huge for the Sox and their post season chances. I think by letting them rest and assuring that they're healthy for the playoffs was the wisest thing to do, however at times when our lead was shrinking it was a little hard to swallow. Manny looked very balanced up at the plate which means we just injected a nice fat amount of Bad Ass back into our lineup.

The race for the best record in MLB is now most realistically a two horse race with Boston squaring off with Cleveland. Cleveland is in the lead now with a 0.5 game lead over the Red Sox and the Angels are still within sniffing distance at 2 games. The big difference here is that all the Angels and Indian games that are left are on the road, and as we know from yesterday's post, all of the Red Sox are at home.

If I had to pick who the Sox would play I'd pick the Indians just because of the shorter travel and the known difficulties the Yankees have with the Angels. The Indians have the far superior pitching when compared to the Angels, however I think our lineup could crack it. Talk to me tomorrow on this because either way, it's not going to be a fun ALDS. What a week.

Comments

[Jeff]

I completely agree with what you had to say. Manny is my favorite player and seeing him play again was awesome. Curt also pitched another good game and I feel that the Red Sox can tear it up in the post season. After the Spankmees lost yesterday, and the magic number down to three I feel that the AL east title is in our grasp.

[Doug]

Hey Derek, I was at Tuesdays game too, and I thought I saw you walking by on the third baseline. Scalp free zone is nice, eh? I think it was a great game, especially for a confidence and momentum builder. The biggest cheer of the night, though, was when the scorekeepers put up 6 runs for TB vs NYY. God bless Fenway.

[Derek Hixon]

Yeah that was absolutely classic! Jeannine and I snuck down so we were about 3 rows back at that time and at first she was a little confused (as was Gagme!).

Last nights game was so fun with Manny coming back, Youk coming back, and just the feeling that that was the night that the Red Sox finally gripped their fingers around the AL East.

That very well may be the last game of the year, unless I miraculously score playoff tickets, and if it is, I'm totally fine with that. Hmmmmm....that may also be the last time I see Schilling pitch live for the Sox...sad.

[Daniel Margolick]

It looks like Varitek has replaced Kevin Millar as the designated rally killer.They should pinch hit for him when there are men in scoring position.