Two more weeks? Red Sox fans are going to have to live like this for another 16 days?
Today marks the 60th consecutive day that the Sox have been in first place. They have led the American League East for 84 of the last 85 days. What the Sox did to the Yankees in 2004 should be enough to keep panic at a minimum around here. But the idea that the ancient rivals may be playing a winner-take-all series here on the final weekend is suddenly very real.
The weight of the wait was painful last night. First, Sox fans had to wait an hour and 37 minutes before the tarp came off and Tim Wakefield threw the first pitch. Then they had to watch the painful numbers on the big board in left -- seeing the Yankees fall behind Toronto, 3-1, then take an 11-3 lead, before finally hanging on for an 11-10 win.
Then they had to wait 10 innings over 3 hours 7 minutes before seeing the Franconamen win in the most unconventional manner of all: the walkoff hit batsman.
No kidding. The Sox beat the Oakland A's, 3-2, in the 10th when the immortal Keiichi Yabu plunked Manny Ramirez with a 1-and-1 pitch with the bases loaded, forcing Alejandro Machado home with the winning run. This came on a night when the Sox went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. They are 1 for 17 with runners in scoring position in the first two games against Oakland, 1 for 24 over their last three games at Fenway.
The locals were allowed to play extra innings because Wakefield continues his amazing second-half run (can he just throw every inning for the rest of the season?) and David Ortiz hit yet another home run in his bid to fulfill his destiny as the reincarnation of Carl Yastrzemski, circa '67.
''Wake went out and just pitched his rear end off," said Terry Francona.
Regarding the winning rally, the manager said, ''What a crazy inning. The way it ended, I think it stunned everyone. Like, 'It's over.' When you're home, if they make a mistake, we go home winners."
The stress of September has risen to the highest levels of Sox management, though the holy trinity of Sox executives said before the game that there is no reason to panic.
''I'm looking forward to the second half of September," said principal owner John Henry. ''How could you not want to be in a pennant race with the Yankees?"
Tom Werner added, ''Obviously, this is better than seeing the Yankees in the standings above us. This is where great players have to step up and be at their best."
As an official cartel representative of the
