Hardball Heaven

Well, you couldn't have asked for a better night of baseball. The Sox and Yankees were both in action last night in Game 2 of their respective division series against the Angels and Indians. The Sox were confident coming off the absolute gem thrown by Josh Beckett in Game 1, while the Yanks were in a must-win situation, having been thumped by the Indians in their Game 1. A Sox win and a Yankee loss would be a nice way to start the weekend.

The Yanks and Indians went to extra innings in a game that was marred by an insect invasion. Bugs were flying around in clusters, sticking to players and making it difficult to see. I kept thinking about how important it is to get home-field advantage. Just contrast the two: the Yanks are in Cleveland, fighting for their playoff lives, and they've got bugs - not to mention C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona - to contend with. The Sox, meanwhile, are in the cozy confines of Fenway, on a rocking Friday night with a full house, and summer-like temperatures.

In the end, both games last night ended in dramatic walk-off fashion. Travis Hafner's single in the bottom of the 11th made the Yanks losers, and in Boston, Manny Ramirez's moonshot over the Monster - off the best closer in the game - gave the Sox a 6-3 win and a commanding 2-0 series lead. Nirvana. With the game ending at 12:44 a.m., the only big question was would the Boston bars and taverns stay open a little later for the delirious crowd.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was asleep on the couch when Manny hit his majestic homer but I've already seen it 10 times this morning. The picture above says it all. Incredibly, Manny had never hit a walk-off home run in his career - and he certainly picked an opportune time for it.

This quote from Manny in today's Globe sums it up: "In that moment, I am just trying to see the ball and trust myself," Ramirez said in a rare appearance in the postgame interview room. "I ain't trying to do too much. You know, I got a lot of confidence in myself. He's one of the greatest closers in the game and I am one of the best hitters in the game. You know, he missed his spot, and I got good timing on the ball and that's it...it feels great, man. It's been a long time I don't do something special like that. But I haven't been right all year round. But I guess, you know, when you don't feel good and you still get hits, that's when you know you are a bad man."