Back in 2004, a great deal was made of the now famous Bloody Sock. A lot was written–okay, too much was written–about Curt Schilling’s “gutsy” performance, about how he pitched through pain, how his pitching may not have been vintage Curt Schilling, but his heart certainly was. It all quickly became overly dramatic, and it didn’t take long for people to start suggesting that it all was a ruse. The unfortunate thing is all the excessive hype covered up the fact that, in reality, it was a gutsy performance. We’re talking about the limited context of baseball here, but what Schilling did in Game 2 of the 2004 World Series really was pretty amazing.
We saw the same playing on heart from several Red Sox players in last night’s ALCS Game 6 between the Red Sox and the Rays. Josh Beckett clearly is hurting and is not at his best. But for five innings and 78 pitches, he gave the team everything he had. Allowing only four hits (two of which were home runs), Beckett put the Red Sox in a position to win. It was not the vintage post-season Beckett we saw last year; but being one of the best pitchers in baseball is not just about how hard you can throw.
Similar performances came from Hideki Okajima, Jonathan Papelbon, and Jason Veritek. Okajima has not been able to repeat his sensational 2007 season this year, but he pitched his heart out last night in some very difficult middle innings. Papelbon clearly does not have a great deal left in the proverbial tank, but he gutted his way through that final inning with whatever he could deliver. Veritek’s go-ahead home run after posting a battering average of 0.00 in the series up to that point was nothing short of exhilarating.
It’s interesting that it largely has been the young guys that got the Red Sox to this point. Pedroia has been sensational all year. Lowrie stepped in for the injured Julio Lugo and has played extremely well. But last night it was the veterans demonstrating that baseball is not just about youth and talent.
As an aside, twenty-four-year-old Justin Masterson also was sensational last night, but for different reasons. He does have youth and talent. But after hitting the first batter he faced and falling behind in the count 2-0 to the potentially tying run, Masterson looked like he was going to collapse. You could feel the momentum start to swing. Timely visits from his catcher and pitching coach allowed Masterson to get his head together. The next three pitches were strikes, retiring Iwamura, and he got B.J. Upton (a very dangerous batter) and Carlos Pena on infield pop-ups.
And so now the Red Sox go back to relying on youth: John Lester, who, in game 2, looked very tired. Boris Becker once set that the fifth set is all about heart. The same can be said for games like last night’s and tonight’s. Tampa Bay is a young and very talented team, but it has been a long season. It will be the team that plays most from the heart tonight that wins.