But inadvertently diverting some of the heat off Beckett in last night's 7-4 loss to the Tigers was third base coach DeMarlo Hale, who until last night had remained remarkably controversy-free this season compared with his predecessor, the oft-persecuted Dale Sveum.
``I gotta take that one, I guess," said Hale, whose honeymoon may have ended when his decision to wave home Manny Ramírez during an eighth-inning rally blew up.
The Sox already had one run in and two men on against Tigers rookie reliever Joel Zumaya -- who threw eight pitches at 100 miles per hour or better -- when Mike Lowell lined a single to center field. Ramírez, who was on second, froze and actually broke back toward the bag a half-step when the ball was hit, and thus was only arriving at third when Granderson fielded the ball.
Hale, arm pumping furiously, nonetheless sent Ramírez home, believing that the Tigers would be more concerned with the tying runs moving into scoring position than Ramírez's advance plateward. Indeed, that was the plan, but Carlos Guillen, after receiving Granderson's throw, adjusted and fired to the plate, easily erasing the runner.
``Carlos Guillen," said Tigers catcher Vance Wilson, who applied the tag, ``is the most alert infielder I've ever played with."
Instead of having the bases loaded, one out, and Wily Mo Peña at the plate, the Sox had two on, two out, and Peña swinging and missing at a 102-m.p.h. fastball to end the inning.
``Manny froze, and Dee got real deep, anticipating they would throw to third," manager Terry Francona said. ``But with Manny freezing, even though the throw went [toward] third, it ended up not being enough time.
``I mean, hindsight, we certainly would like to have Wily Mo in there with the bases loaded, but I think that's the first time, in what, 118 games, that someone has even asked me [about Hale]. He has done an incredible job, but sometimes we all try to do a little too much."
Peña said that strike three was the fastest pitch he'd ever seen. Could he envision catching up with the kind of fastball that makes the hair on your neck stand on end?
``One day," he said.
