Not Goin’ Down Without A Fight

“Kind of the motto in the clubhouse right now is, ‘It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees.’” –Josh Beckett

This team is not going to go down without a fight. Or, at least a benches-clearing altercation that doesn’t actually involve any punching but does involve a small-ish 40 year-old man trying to act like he’s going to rumble with a guy 13 years his junior who towers over him and outweighs him by at least 35 pounds. (note I said “act like” – because if Kenny wanted to fight Josh, he had all the time and room in the world to do so. Instead, he strided towards Josh and then slowed up just enough to make sure someone stepped in between them first.)

Enough of that (for now- video of the whole thing in the next post), let’s get back to this guy:

It was nice of Josh to allow the Indians to come out and play on his field tonight, because make no mistake, that was HIS field. The sign over the entrance may have said “Jacobs Field”, but inside it was nothing but “Beckett’s Property”. He also generously gave the Indians and their fans one inning’s worth of hope, and one run to cling to. But that’s it. Otherwise, all he had for them were strikeouts (ELEVEN- plenty to go around) and nasty pitches. Oh, and attitude- no Beckett victory would be complete without that. David Ortiz said it best when he told reporters, “He is the best pitcher I’ve ever seen in the playoffs — ever.”

He didn’t miss many pitches tonight. I noticed one in the bottom of the eighth against Travis Hafner, as Josh was closing in on the end of his time on the mound. On a 1-0 count, after shaking off Varitek twice, Beckett nodded and Tek set up low and away. The pitch that followed was low and in- so far inside, Hafner had to hop backwards to avoid getting pegged in the shins. Josh stepped forward to grab the ball thrown back to him by Tek, and as he turned to walk back, his eyes rolled skyward in disgust at himself. Back on the mound as he started to turn around to set up again, he also delivered a short little cussfest at himself for the poor execution. As fun as it is to watch Josh’s beautiful pitching, it’s just as entertaining to watch him when he misses- not only because it’s a rare occurrence, but also because his reaction to a poor pitch is precisely why he delivers so few of them.

And the bats were on fire as well- except Coco Crisp, who went 0-for-5 on the night (which is probably why Tito Francona finally appears to be caving on his hardline stance against altering the lineup… and is now making noises like we’ll see Jacoby Ellsbury in the starting lineup tomorrow). From the beginning of the game, on offense and defense, there was just a whole different feel than in the previous games. I’m sure credit for part of that goes to Josh- knowing he was going to start sure made me feel more confident about our chances, and I’m guessing his teammates felt the same way.

Now it’s back to Fenway. Where, as Manny Ramirez puts it, “the magic is.”