A reader sends in a horrific rundown of Lofton's postseason resume, just to remind us all. Lofton's teams have blown postseason leads a whopping seven times in 12 years.

• 1995: Lost to Atlanta in six games, final out of series.
• 1996: Lost to Baltimore in ALDS despite being heavily favored and at home.
• 1997: Lost to Florida in NLCS despite being favored and with home
field advantage.
• 1998: Blew 2-1 lead to New York in ALCS.
• 1999: Blew 2-0 lead to Boston in ALDS, Pedro's epic Game 5.
• 2001: Blew 2-1 lead and a lead late in Game 5 to Seattle in ALDS.
• 2002: Blew 3-2 lead, Game 6 lead in World Series to Angels. Final out
of series.
• 2003: Bartman.
• 2004: Blew 3-0 lead to Boston in ALCS.
• 2006: Swept by Mets.
• 2007: Blew 3-1 lead to Boston in ALCS.

Clearly, he needs to get back to the Cubs. (Sorry!)

• With All Due Respect to Ryan Garko, Champagne Tastes Much Sweeter At Home. Of all the things I'll miss about the ALCS broadcast, one has got to be the frequent shots of Indians GM Mark Shapiro and his apparently Paxil-addicted trophy wife (pictured above). Every time the cameras caught these two, they were frozen in the exact same poses — Shapiro furrowing his brow and reflecting on how he's gonna explain this latest collapse, and the missus looking glassy-eyed at nothing in particular, her thoughts likely shifting between, "If we lose, will we have to sell the hovercraft?" and "Man, do I like vanilla." [Surviving Grady]

• The End. 162 regular season games. 11 playoff games. Approximately 550 hours of baseball. All changed by five minutes in time. Facing the 12-year-old Jacoby Ellsbury, Senor Slo-Mo induced a grounder to Blake, who booted it, allowing the "tweenie" to lead off the inning standing on second. After Julio Lugo sacrificed Ellsbury to third, Dustin Pedroia (all 130 pounds of him) stepped to the plate and, with one swing, ended the Indians' season. Plenty of time (that's all we have now) to discuss the fantastic ride that the 2007 Cleveland Indians took us on and what lies ahead for this young, talented team of players. [The Diatribe]

• Rox And Sox 2007 World Series, It's On. Wonder how smart Tito looks to the guys that hacked him in Philly now? 3 post seasons, 2 world series appearances in 4 years here. Nice to know he gets that last laugh. Starting Wednesday it's on. [38 Pitches]

• The Tag Or Joel Skinner? (Message Board) what the F**K is it with us??? Why can't we ever, ever, ever, EVER just WIN???? [The Disappointment Zone]

• Don't Wake Me. For the record, I was wearing my "JD" Red Sox t-shirt, along with a pair of cheap-o Red Sox earrings...all while watching the game next to my Jacoby Ellsbury bobblehead doll and sipping from the same bottle of Caberknuckle — for all of the last three games. Hey, it worked! [Red Sox Chick]

• There's Only One Choke-tober. Nothing save memories of The Skinner, the newest image to add to the Cleveland Sports Misery Pantheon. That's in honor of third-base coach Joel Skinner, who held Kenny Lofton at third base when Franklin Gutierrez roped a ball down the third base line that banged off the facing of the stands and landed 30 feet in front of Manny Ramirez. As Lofton rounded third and headed for home, Skinner threw a stop sign up in front of the fastest man in Indians history and prevented him from scoring the tying run in the seventh inning. Next man up, Casey Blake, immediately banged into a double play. Ball game over. Series over. [God Hates Cleveland Sports]

• How's That Champagne Tasting, Donnie Garko? White hankies aside, you know what Cleveland's real problem is? Too many ridiculous beards, that's what. I hope the Rockies fans have enjoyed that streak, because it's gonna be a memory come Wednesday night. [The Soxaholix]

• Shit. This sucks. This really really sucks. After I attended game 4 at the Jake, I was flying about as high as I'd ever been. Now I am in despair. I feel for those guys in the clubhouse. They gave it everything they had. Seeing Victor cry in the dugout after the game just reinforced my feelings for this team. To want something so bad, for so long, then to come up just shy, is nothing short of crushing. Even in defeat, I still love these guys. Every one of them. [The Cleveland Sports Animal]

• Seuss Series. Rocks. Sox. The Rocks play the Sox. Rocks. Sox. Fox. The Rocks and Sox are seen on Fox. Wall. Ball. A ball will hit the wall. Hawpe. Papi. Everybody Hawpe on Papi! [Baseball Musings]

To make things more interesting, there's a very real chance Byrd will come out of the bullpen if Jake Westbrook, how shall we say, "Carmonalizes" in the first trimester. We may also have special appearances by Josh Beckett, Coco Crisp, Joe Borowski, Mo Vaughn, Eric Plunk, John Henry Williams, Roger Dorn, Dick Pole, Max Patkin, and Crispus Attucks. I doubt we'll see Dane Cook, though. He looks busy.

I think I can stay up to watch this entire game. No, honestly. After a full day of college football on Saturday, NFL this afternoon, and photoshopping a sock onto Jason Varitek's hand, there's no question I can ... muster ... the ... ... *collapse*

Byrd: HGH Was For Serious Condition [Yahoo! Sports]

J.D. Drew Would LIke To Apologize For Ruining Your Sunday Dinner Plans. You can't tell me you didn't call it. Because you did call it. I called it. Your grandmother called it. The guy who played "Dr. Zaius" in the Planet of the Apes movies called it. Those original, still-in-the-box Mego Aquaman action figures you've been preserving in the attic for the last 35 years, hell, they probably called it, too. When J.D. Drew came up to the plate in the first inning with the bases loaded and two outs, everybody in Red Sox Nation — black, white, green, members in good standing of the Foghat Appreciation Society... basically every sentient being on the eastern seaboard with the possible exception of Mitt Romney — got down on their knees and said, "Here's your chance to make up for what could be perceived as a lackluster year at the plate," give or take a word. [Surviving Grady]

Melting ... Melting ... If I didn't know better, I'd say the Indians placed all their eggs in the basket of clinching the series at home in Game 5. When it became apparent that wasn't going to happen, they lost their collective composure. [Erik Cassano's Weblog]

JD Drewski's 4-run Bomb. When Theo Epstein rolled the dice and signed JD Drew in the off-season, legions of Red Sox fans — including this guy — groaned. "WHY!?!??" we asked. That refrain was heard again and again throughout the summer, as JD Drew performed like a terrible robot version of his supposed former self. [Red Sox Monster]

Ace in the Hole. Tonight is do or die. Tonight, is the meaning of October baseball. Tonight is what we dream the playoffs will be. Tonight its win for the Pennant or dream of next year. Cleveland doesn't want to dream anymore. They've been dreaming for a sports championship since 1964, let alone a baseball championship, since 1948. This town suffers more then them all. The Sox had their win in 2004, but ITS TRIBE TIME NOW. [Let's Go Tribe]

Ryan Garko Is a Class Act. Cleveland first baseman Ryan Garko was in the batter's box at Fenway with his team down 12-2 in the ninth. He was in a god awful spot. ... A foul ball dropped in Garko's direction. If there was ever a time to get away with being less than gracious, this was it. Sure, maybe you toss it into the crowd, but to seek out a kid to hand the ball to, even though he's a fan of the team that's crushing you? That's class. [Foul Balls]

I Summon the Ghost of Francisco Cabrera! After the Game 4 victory, we all saw the graphic: 65 teams have taken 3-1 leads in best-of-seven series; 55 of them have gone on to win. Of course, a lot of them (most, in fact) went on to win 4-1 or 4-2. I'm more interested in knowing what happens when a team, down 3-1, forces a Game 7 (thus implying a huge momentum swing). Some quick research reveals 14 such instances—not a lot to go on, I realize. Still, 10 out of 14 times, the team with the momentum went on to win the series. Only 4 teams out of 14 have managed to "plug the dam", so to speak, and win Game 7 after blowing a 3-1 series lead. [Mistake By The Lake Sporting Times]

Photo courtesy Cleveland Plain Dealer, whether they know it or not.

Much like in the movie Independence Day when Bill Pullman fired test missiles at the alien ship to see if Goldblum's virus worked, Drew played the Randy Quaid character by causing Carmona to implode. After that, it was fire-at-will for the rest of the game. And since Fausto Carmona was essentially manhandled for the first two-plus innings, I suppose in this metaphor he's the Jada Pinkett Smith Vivica A. Fox character.

By the end of the first inning, it was a foregone conclusion that the Red Sox would go on to a 12-2 cocktwisting of the Cleveland Indians. As a bonus prize, one of the Indians are now subject to breaking news about buying HGH a couple years ago. In this case the subject was Paul Byrd. Good thing Boston won, because otherwise the HGH story would have been about ... oh, let's say ... Jason Varitek.

There will be more, much more, about Game 6 of the ALCS, and certainly way more on tonight's Game 7. Whether you like it or not. Whether you're Paul Byrd or not. And you thought it was just another NFL day.

For those who don't fancy the ball of bases, we have the ball of feet. Michigan and Illinois will battle for second place in the Big Ten. Auburn and LSU are both 3-1 in the SEC East, and they have conflicting opinions of who should move to 4-1. Virginia's on a six-game win streak, and are awarded with a trip to Maryland. Kansas is finished with their cupcakes, and looks to gorge on beef jerky in Colorado. Plus there could very well be some curious little Pac 10 games happening as well, but these reports are spurious at best.

But if any of those football teams lose, they still have many games left in the season. If the Red Sox can't keep the Indians off the bases, then it's back to offseason Manny Ramirez trade rumors, and Cleveland will meet its second straight 1993 expansion team in the World Series in as many decades. Otherwise, we're going to have to play baseball tomorrow, which is also football night, and Dick Ebersol won't stand for such insolence.

• Shippin' Up To Boston. Oh, and nice play by the Injuns to bring a former Beckett ladypal to sing at the game. As attempts to get in a guy's head, rolling out the ex is a pretty shrewd move. But it seems to have back-fired big-time. In fact, the extra shot of testosterone may have been just what The Commander needed to finish off the Indians. Because, as everyone knows, Josh Beckett is fueled by testosterone, Coors Light, and the blood of his victims. [Surviving Grady]

• This Just In, Beckett's Got Balls. ...and they're dirty big balls. Where have I seen this before? Josh Beckett on the mound, pressure cooking...game, season, dreams on the line. Oh wait, it happens every single time the dude steps on the hill during the postseason. Trust me, Cleveland fan,s I sympathize with you. And for the record, you can relax...I still think the Indians are going to win this series and I hope they do just that. However, every once in a while you've got to sit back and appreciate just how lights out Josh Beckett is during the postseason. [Ghosts Of Wayne Fontes]

• Beckett, Despite Intense Cleveland Mind Games, Forces Game Six. Absolutely superb. Josh Beckett clearly feels his WS MVP trophy is a little lonely on the mantle. After a dicey 1st in which he escaped partly due to a non-RBI DP off the bat of Travis Hafner, Becks gave a clinic on pitching, being efficient while also striking out hitters, and almost got an opportunity to teach Kenny Lofton some humility in the process. [Over The Monster]

• Big-Game Beckett Beats Tribe Again. I cannot stand Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. McCarver has a great T.V. voice, but my lord, when these guys get going on something...it's like a rabbit during mating season. They just can't stop or help themselves. Josh Beckett is really good. Anyone that watches baseball can see that. Apparently that wasn't good enough for 'Son of Joe,' and 'I've been around a little too long McCarver.' These two spent the better part of four innings ready to anoint Beckett the King of the World. At least they stopped short of saying Beckett was the greatest pitcher of all time. [Tribe Report]

• Shots Equal Victory. Legend has it that Kevin Millar and members of the Red Sox did shots of Jack Daniels before Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. They won that game — and so they did shots before each of the next seven games — and won the World Series. In that spirit, Laura and I did JD shots tonight before 8 PM. It worked! [Joy Of Sox]

• A Five-Game ALCS? This Is Cleveland! You didn't think our guys could just reel off four straight against the team they tied for the best record in the whole damn league, did you? Did you?!? Listen, nothing is ever that easy for the Indians in October. In 1995, the year the Tribe lapped the frigging field in the A.L., the Mariners (the Mariners!!) even stretched the Wahoos to six games. Our boys just don't wrap up best-of-seven series in 5 games or less. That's just not how it works for us. This is Cleveland. Nothing comes easy for us. [The Sports Elitists]

• The Morning After: Salvation, And A Peck. Another eight innings with just one more run. That with the brimstone battle between himself and 86 year-old Kenny Lofton, who just fired Joshie up even more, if anything. [Sox Nest]

• Getting A Lead Was Big. It was good to get the lead tonight and build a little more confidence on this team. I think that was a huge factor, just trying to get ahead and trying to get some runs on the board against C.C. I was glad I was able to help there, with that solo homer in the first. [Yooooouuuuukkkkk]

• Round 2. (Oct. 18) Tonight is the night, Tribe fans, when Big CC has revenge on Big Papi and co. Tonight is the rematch where CC proves he is finally over the postseason jitters. Tonight, is the night when CC leads the Tribe to its first World Series in a decade. Every single critic has already dismissed CC as a choke. The east coast bandwagon continues to ride the Beckett/ Sox wagon saying they will come back to beat the Tribe in 7 games. It's not going to happen. [Let's Go Tribe]

We're not quite ready to declare this an epic series now that Beckett has staved off the executioner for a couple of days; the atmosphere will be more friendly in Fenway, but Mr. Carmona is a terrifying Game 6 prospect. But the Red Sox made it to the weekend, and Cleveland, once again, doesn't get to clinch a World Series at home. But they don't have to look at Josh Beckett again either.

New England Winter Postponed [Fair And Foul]

Those wacky Red Sox bastards just won't go away. Cleveland carried a 3-1 lead into their home field with their ace on the mound but they were immediately sent reeling by a first inning blast off the bat of Kevin Youkilis. The intimidation emanating from his fearsome goatie and semitic good looks proved too much for the Indians to handle. Oh and then there was Josh Beckett. He started off on shaky ground following his ex-girlfriend's pre-game performance but quickly hit his groove en route to a dominating victory. Unfortunately Beckett also has a bad habit of running his damn mouth, this came to a head in the sixth inning when he mouthed off to Kenny Lofton (who would never talk shit). Follow along for my exclusive transcript of the verbal sparring as well the compelling video of Joe Buck analyzing the umpire's ability to break up a bitch-o-rama on the verge of erupting into an all-out slap-fest.

Beckett: Get your dusty ass back to the dugout!
Lofton: Shut the fuck up!
Beckett: You didn't even get paid for that DHL ad!
Lofton: Shut the fuck up or I'm gonna come rip that shit off of your chin!
/scene

Video courtesy of Awful Announcing

We tend to be nervous nellies as fans, but Indians fans have to be a little concerned if they don't pull it off tonight: Giving Boston a little bit of hope, back in Fenway Park for two games. Plus, you know, it's always more fun when your team clinches at home. Your starters are Josh Beckett for the Red Sox and the suddenly vulnerable C.C. Sabathia for the Indians. It's on, folks. It's Rocky IV all over again. And make sure to listen for "Jub Jub."

That's exactly what the Cleveland Indians are doing tonight.

Country music artist Danielle Peck will sing the national anthem and "God Bless America" at tonight's Indians game. She will not sing, "Stand by Your Man."

Peck, it turns out, dated Red Sox pitching ace Josh Beckett, who is starting tonight's do-or- die game against the Tribe and who handed them their only loss in the American League Championship Series.

The Indians claim they had no idea, and that's it's just a coincidence. Right. Of course. We think we might have just figured out a way to slow down Tom Brady this season.

Head Games? Tonight's Anthem Singer Is Beckett's Ex [Cleveland Plain-Dealer]

To remind, and to fill space:

"Why should we panic? We've got a great team. It doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year. It's not like it's the end of the world."

Ah, Boston. Only in Boston could a person say, "You know, the world will not in fact burst into flames and break apart into pieces as a result of one baseball game," and the reaction be shock and outrage. Or even better, more Manny Being Manny nonsense: He's crazy ... heh heh ... "not the end of the world?" That Manny ... WHAT A CHARACTER.

Yes, Red Sox fans are holding out hope, as well they should. But just in case Manny's wrong ... we recommend stocking up on perishable items and canned good this evening. Game starts at 8 p.m. Plenty of time to get to the store and back, and also so goodbye to your loved ones.

Maybe Manny Should Reconsider Being Manny [Sons Of Sam Malone]
Smokin' Hope [Soxaholix]

As someone who spent four years at the student newspaper of a university with a Native American mascot, we are as exhausted by the "debates" about this stuff as anybody. But seriously, red face? With those ridiculous cartoonish smiles? We know it's just a reflection of the logo, but we're not exactly fired up about that either.

Some people are better about explaining this than we are.

Chief Wahoo is the Indians' mascot, a grotesque caricature grinning idiotically through enormous bucked teeth. He's a reminder of the days when whites regarded native Americans as savages on the warpath, with scalps dangling from their belts. And it's time for him to go.

Sorry: We just think it's weird.

The Indians' Mascot Must Go [Christian Science Monitor]

(Joe Posnanski, as usual, nails this better than we ever could.)

• How We Roll [Promoted Diary. Yeah. That's Right.]. Look guys, we're down three in an ALCS. So what?! This is how we roll. You know, to make it interesting and stuff. Let the Rockies have their sweep. BOOOOORRRRRRINNNGGG. No, it's like the Mighty Casey...you spit on a few pitches before you send one out of the park. Gives the fans something to chew on. Anyone can come back from a game down, but three? That takes brass balls. Brass Balls are a major export for our region so I'm not really worried. We here in Red Sox Nation have a flair for the dramatic. And not the hot-pink purse with black pumps type of flair no, no, no. We're talking trip, fall, and accidentally knock over the Empire State Building-type flair for the dramatic. So now comes the fun part. The winning. THIS is how we roll. [Over The Monster]

• Got You Where I Want You. I suppose we have them just where we want them now, these Cleveland Indians. Lulled into a false sense of security, riding high on the shoulders of Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez, waving their towels and blasting their "Tribe Time" theme song and guzzling cheap wine like they're on their way to the World Series. Everything else that has transpired, to paraphrase the Emperor from Star Wars, has done so according to our design. One game away from elimination? F@#k that noise. We prefer to think of you guys as three games away from elimination. And hanging on by a slender thread. [Surviving Grady]

• Collectively Collected. On the day that World Series tickets arrived to the Tepee in the mail, and with Game 5 tickets under my bed, calm is settling in. Next up...the storm of a potential World Series berth. [The DiaTribe]

• Game One Hundred Seventy: Indians 7, Red Sox 3. But the biggest hit of the game came after Wakefield left. Manny Delcarmen's mid-90s heat was supposed to provide a major change of pace from Wakefield's lazy knucklers. Apparently they weren't aware of Jhonny Peralta's affinity for the outside fastball. Peralta rocketed a high Delcarmen fastball to the right field seats. [Let's Go Tribe]

• Suddenly, The Playoffs Aren't Nearly As Awesome As Dane Cook Promised They'd Be . All right, I'll go on record with it: I think Josh Beckett should have been given the ball tonight. It's not that I distrust Tim Wakefield — even with his 18-day layoff and his late-season struggles, we all know that he's entirely capable of rising to the occasion — but I like the idea of the Sox having their ace lined up to pitch Game 7 on regular rest. And while the history of pitchers going on three days' rest in the postseason is abysmal, Beckett is the exception. [Touching All The Bases]

• Play For The Day. I think the biggest thing you've got to do is, you have to go out there and scrap and play like there's no tomorrow. I think sometimes you can be more of a dangerous team when there is no tomorrow. For us, we've been in a lot worse spots. We're down 3-1 now, but we were down 3-0 in 2004. We just have to go out there and play for the day — just go out there and play as hard as we can and not worry about yesterday, and we'll just play for the present. [Yooooouuuuukkkkk]

• We're In A Great Situation. I'll take credit for Jhonny's homer. I told him to move up in the box, because some of Wakefield's knuckleballs were just downright nasty and down in the zone. I told him to move up, and he just laughed. When I'm not playing, I kind of live through Jhonny, because I know he's trying to go deep with every swing, just like me. And he did it tonight. I loved it. It seems like every game I don't play, he goes deep. I get to mess around with him and towel him off and give him a cup of water. [Ryan Garko's Playoff Blog]

Riffing on Bill Simmons' befuddled confusion that these aren't the loose, wacky Red Sox of recent vintage, FWJRB (as he will be referred to in this post) lays out the case.

1. Recent post-season success

2. Bloated payroll

3. Aloof, superior fanbase

4. Aging and/or worthless pitching (with Eric Gagne playing Roger Clemens)
5. Offense predicated entirely on home runs.

Yep: That's pretty much dead on. The Red Sox have turned into the Yankees, and suddenly, their quirks and eccentricities aren't charming anymore. When Manny poses after hitting a home run that brings his team within four runs, it's not funny or cute: He's just being a dick. And Manny's one of the likable ones! The Red Sox have the only player in the major leagues who Cardinals fans boo.

Boston's gonna be fine; as a friend told us last night, if you could build a Major League Baseball franchise from scratch, they'd look a lot like the Red Sox. But that team, that next team, is in the future. This Boston team now, they're look old, they look confused and they look like this fun, talented and fiery Indians team is about to wipe them straight out of the playoffs.

Would The Red Sox Please Make This Interesting? [Fair And Foul]

(Advantage to putting up About Last Night at 5:30 in the morning; smart commenters will write the site for you!)

We were surprised to learn that Wakefield's postseason ERA was 6.12; we had remembered him pitching better than that. He's gonna have to improve on that tonight, or the Red Sox are going to be down 3-1 facing the Indians' two studs. They catch the relative break that is Paul Byrd tonight, a man who looks like a squat Floyd Landis to us.

It's still possible it will rain, but if they play, we're gonna have a lot of answers right quick. At least there will be no bugs.

• And The Hits Just Keep On Not Coming. But nobody wins when the umpires are bad beyond belief. To paraphrase one of my favorite SNL sketches, what the f@#k game was that home plate ump watching? Did he have an iPod Nano tucked into his mask? Did he forget to wear his corrective lenses? Did he have a hot date with a steak sandwich and an east side hooker that took up most of his focus ("Do I start with the sandwich, or the boobs? Sandwich... or boobs?")? Because he sure wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to the game. One of the worst performances I've seen this year, and I'm including game two of the Walpole Penitentiary World Series, which was eventually called on account of rain and sodomy. [Surviving Grady]

• Game One Hundred Sixty Nine: Indians 4, Red Sox 2. This was my first time at a Jacobs Field playoff game, and it was different that any regular season contest. The fans didn't need much coaxing from the digital cheerleaders; they were on their feet early and often, whether it was with two strikes on a Boston player, or runners on in the bottom of an inning. When Borowski came on in the ninth, the mood was anticipatory but hesitant. Everyone was on their feet, hoping for an easy inning, but knowing that just one base runner brings the tying run to the plate. And in case you didn't notice, Borowski allows a lot of base runners. But, other than a long battle with Jason Varitek, he retired the Boston hitters rather easily. And with that, a happy stadium-full of Indians fans poured out of Jacobs Field, and blared their horns on their way out of downtown Cleveland. [Let's Go Tribe]

• No Time To Panic. You can't be in panic mode. A lot of times, it's panic mode in Boston, but we're not in panic mode. We were in a situation a lot worse than this in the 2004 ALCS, and we won that. This is easy compared to 2004, when we were down 3-0 against the Yankees. For us, we're not in panic mode. We're just excited to go out and win a ballgame tomorrow and get this series back to even. [Yooooouuuuukkkkk]

• Boston's FOX 25 Blows Off The National Anthem Before The ALCS. Friday night, Boston's FOX 25 was doing their pregame for Game One of the 2007 American League Championship Series between the Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians ... But there's something interrupting their broadcast. A drunken streaker? A F-14 flyover? Jonathan Papelbon? No, just that pesky National Anthem ... [Home Run Derby]

• Top 10 Things I'd Like To See At The Jake Tonight. Due to the fact that the Red Sox started off the season at a .700 clip, and then rather casually swept the Angels in the ALDS, there haven't been many must-win games for them this season. Really, none...until tonight, when they're staring down a 1-3 pit if they don't put up a W. The chances of taking the series get exponentially smaller otherwise, and don't be telling me it's all good because look what happened in '04, either. Part of what makes '04 legendary is that most of the time, huge comebacks don't happen. [Red Sox State Of Maine]

• ALCS Game 3: Jake Westbrook Comes Up 'ACES' Against Red Sox. Westbrook did what he does best. He forced ground balls, which in turn, got him through several innings. When it was all said and done, Jake gave up two runs on a Jason Varitek home run in the seventh inning. He did this giving up seven hits and three walks, and striking out two. In other words, it was typical Westbrook pitching when he's on. No, he doesn't blow it by you like the two Indians' aces do. He just gets it done, and helps the maintenance crew mow the infield. [Tribe Report]

It's also clear at this point that Daisuke Matsuzaka hasn't quite earned his Red Sox Nation badge yet or, for that matter, the $102 million it cost to get him. He wasn't horrible last night, but he didn't resemble any kind of stopper either. The Indians, if you East Coasters can believe it, are an outstanding team, and they can take this series by the throat if they can win tonight. (Or if it doesn't rain.) If Boston doesn't win tonight, they're looking at Cleveland's top two pitchers, both fully rested. Ask the Yankees how easy it is to knock around Paul Byrd. This could get worse before it gets better.

First Timers [Fair And Foul]

(Oh, and we rewrote that first sentence. Sorry. That was gnarly. Late night.)

Still another game to go tonight. We'll check back with you whenever that's over as well, assuming it's before it's time to start the site tomorrow.

(Getty Images Photo)

This is the most pivotal game of this postseason so far, and we're sure Joe Buck and Tim McCarver will rise to the proverbial occasion. There's plenty of stress in the air in Boston, so much so that fans are becoming envious of the Patriots. (This seems like piling on.) But they'll all feel much better if they can take back homefield advantage tonight.

Your starters are Jake Westbrook for the Indians and the estimable Daisuke Matsuzaka for the Red Sox. If there's ever a time that $103.11 million pricetag will be tested, it's tonight. Enjoy.

• Epic Fail. Maybe someday, when all this is over, we'll sit down with (or maybe without) Terry Francona and we'll all have a good laugh out of all of this. Because when it became obvious that Curt Schilling didn't have it (and he was OK, but clearly didn't have his A game, or even the B+ game he's been getting by with), maybe a different manager would have gone to Jon Lester, or Julian Tavarez (whoops! he's inactive) to go a few innings. Instead of having to dip into Okajima and Timlin too early. Which leaves not much in the bullpen except Eric Gagne. Which, from a traffic-control perspective, is a pretty good way to empty out Fenway early. [Bostonist]

• Spiders 13, Sox 6 (11). I figured the teams would split the first two games, and they did, though this route is a bit tougher to take. Still, I cannot fault Francona's bullpen management at all. Cleveland's trio of Jensen Lewis, Rafael Betancourt and Mastny shut down the Red Sox when it counted, allowing only one baserunner in the 6th through 10th innings. [The Joy of Sox]

•The Gagne/Lopez Comedy Hour. It was a outrageously bad ending for a game that, until the eleventh, marked the welcome return of Heart Attack Theatre — both teams trading the lead with dramatic hits and home runs until hitting that 6-6 deadlock. With a heady mix of alcohol and caffeine pumping through my veins, I found myself pacing and punching and swearing and kicking at walls in a manner typically reserved for October games against the Yankees. And it felt good. But when Tito pulled the trigger and brought out The Bot in the ninth with the score tied, he was playing for us to win it in the bottom of that inning or, at worst, the tenth. Once that didn't happen, the wheels came off the wagon, and rather f@#king quickly. [Surviving Grady]

• Classic Playoff Game. Strange game. Storylines you can't make up seem to happen. Is the series over? Not by a long shot. We're now 1-1 and heading to Cleveland for three games. Bad karma? The team that has won Game 2 in seven of the last eight LCS has advanced to the World Series. The one team that lost Game 2 and advanced? You guessed it: the 2004 Boston Red Sox. [Hit and Run]

Bonus: Manny Ramirez caught digging for gold. [beRecruited SportsWrap]

As you know by now — thanks, Will! — it was Nixon's pinch-hit single in the top of the 11th that opened up the floodgates last night. Luckily, for Indians' fans, the Tribe had wisely packed their wake-boards with 'em in the back of their jeeps ... dudes. Seven record-setting runs later ... and this American League Championship Series was all tied up at one. You know, just like Dane Cook drew it up.

The series now moves to Cleveland for Game 3 on Monday night, when Sox rookie Daisuke Matsuzaka will face Jake Westbrook. Here's to hoping Slider doesn't pull an Owen.

(Getty Images Photo)

On the mini-drumlins tonight it's Curt Schilling for the Sox and Fausto Carmona for the Indians. Schilling is 9-2 with a 1.93 ERA in 16 career playoff starts; Carmona is UNDEFEATED with a 1.00 ERA in *mumble mumble mumble* playoff starts. As you can clearly see, Carmona is the superior big-game pitcher.

Enjoy the game, guys. Try not to let McCarver get to you too much.

Note: The Gawker techies just informed me that they're planning to change Nibbles' water and newspapers sometime tonight/early morn. So, if I'm a little late getting started tomorrow, you know who they lost and/or stepped on.

As for the BoSox offense? Um, yeah, not bad. Ramirez went 2-for-2 with an RBI single and three walks — two of them with the bases loaded — and Ortiz went 2-for-2 with two walks and a jersey-hit-by-pitch. The numbots tell me those two have reached base a combined 27 times in their last 30 at-bats. I tell you that's crazy.

And oh, while we're here ... Mike O'Malley's cousin is right reads basegirl: Kevin Youkilis does look like Yukon Cornelius from the Christmas special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"! Good eye.

ALCS Game One: Beckett Was Brilliant [Over the Monster]
Mike O'Malley's Bean Balls [Yahoo! Sports]

A look at predictions from around the Internets:

• CoolStandings: Red Sox in six.
• Keith Law: Red Sox in seven.
• Baseball Prospectus: Indians in seven.
• Rob Neyer: Indians in six.
• Jeff Passan: Red Sox in seven.
• DEADSPIN: Indians in six. We think the Indians are destined to become the next Ohio team to lose in the championship round. Poor guys.

Thoughts?

Major League Baseball scuttled the plan, Dodd spokesman Hari Sevugan confirms. They'll be offering refunds to contributors who were in it for the baseball, rather than for the face time with Dodd.

"This isn't quite Bucky Dent or Aaron Boone, but we are disappointed nonetheless. Senator Dodd was looking forward to spending a night watching the Red Sox take on the Indians at Fenway Park, but unfortunately Major League Baseball's rules are such that the contest cannot continue. We will still be cheering on the Red Sox every step of the way to the World Series, and look forward to inviting someone to spend a day on the trail with Chris Dodd," Sevugan said in an email.

Wait, so does this mean he's not going to game at all now? Some kind of fan you are, Senator.

So Much For The Sox [Politico]
About The Only Chance You Have At Fenway ALCS Tickets [Deadspin]

(UPDATE: We've been informed that Sen. Dodd IS, in fact, going to the game. Good for him.)

Here's Raab, a rabid Indians fan, on LeBron wearing that Yankees hat:

As far as I'm concerned, LeBron James is worthless scum. The sooner this son of a bitch hauls his ass out of Ohio, the better. And any Cleveland "fan" who pays to see the bastard play after this should follow him out of town and straight to hell.

That's one way to put it; heavens! Pretty much a must-read as long as the Indians are still in the playoffs.

LeBron James Is Worthless Scum [Esquire]

If you make a donation of $20.04 to the Dodd campaign, you can win Game 6 ALCS tickets.

Next Thursday at 5 P.M. Eastern, we're going to pick one entrant at random, live and online, to attend Game Six with me that Saturday. I'll put up the two tickets, $600 towards airfare for you and your guest, and a hotel room in Boston.

Here's how it works. You make a minimum contribution of $20.04 (in honor of the last time the Red Sox won the World Series, 2004) and you have as good a shot as anyone else to attend the game. And whatever happens, your contribution will go towards our campaign, restoring the Constitution, and ending the war in Iraq.

You can throw your hat in the ring right here. Screw restoring the Constitution, that overrated document; get us Sox tickets! Though you do, in fact, have to watch the game with Chris Dodd.

Take Me Out To The Red Sox Game [ChrisDodd.com]
A Q&A With Sen. Chris Dodd [Deadspin]

My brother Logan and his buddy Steve, took the camera by the strap yesterday camping with Momma Wert and brother Corey in section 148, while I made do watching the amazing game from the comforts of luxury suite territory. But before I get to the pictures, I need to take a moment and talk about the city of Detroit and the jungle of suburban sprawl surrounding it.

This is a city which, when the Tigers won in 1968, had 3.5 million residents, and just under a million living on the north side of eight mile. In 1984, it was a city with 1.5 million on the city side and 3 million on the suburb side. It's now a city with 3.5 million in the suburbs and just under a million residents living on the south side of eight mile. It's a metro area which is more segregated than any other city in the United States — Detroit's 90% black, and the suburban communities ring it like a lace doily of whiteness. Both sides think the other is full of shit, and both sides are more racist than they'd admit to an outsider — and both the suburbs and the city claim that fault is not their own.

Drop on top of that the city's (not the sprawling suburbs) stratospheric unemployment rate, and you can see how something taking our minds off the everyday and mundane is so welcome. That's because despite these problems, Metro Detroit's found a way to be unified — a singular purpose by which all can cheer for. Now I'm not one of those people who thinks sports hold the key to solving all a community's problems — but I am a believer that a city's sports teams tell a lot about the city spawning it. I've said before I think this city uses sports teams as surrogates — doing battle in arenas where the citizenry can't always tread, or where the city can't always win, and again I've found it to be true.

But on top of the the Detroit Tigers being Detroit's surrogate gladiators, these boys have gone and proven yet again that although it often helps, you don't need a $200 million payroll to win a league championship. And when you put all this together, I stongly believe that they, more than any other team in sports today, deserve to be embraced as America's team. That's right, fuck the Yankees and Red Sox, fuck the Dallas Cowboys, fuck U of M (doubly when they play MSU) — this team is a team that represents America — or at least the America that was and the America that we should all strive to see. It's a hard-working team, a team that embraces the dual requirements of success in any enterprise here in the good ol' US of A — that of leadership — something the Yankees, and their vaunted lineup, couldn't seem to muster — and a desire to put winning as a team above winning as an individual — something the Oakland A's never seemed to show. But the Tigers, whoa nelly, they showed throughout this season they've got both in spades.

Whether it was from a guy like Pudge Rodriguez, who took owner Mike Illitch at his word when he told him "I will give you the tools this team will need to win." Whether it's the guy Pudge came in to replace, Brandon Inge, who was such a hard-chargin' athlete, the team said "You know, we don't need him at Catcher, but damned if we don't think we'll find a place for him" — and thus moved him to almost every non-pitching position until finally letting him settle in at third base. But it isn't just them — it's also guys like the game winning home run hittin' Magglio Ordonez — a free agent who came here because he thought they'd have an opportunity "down the line" to make the playoffs.

So I guess what I'm saying is that people outside of Detroit should be cheering on this team, because they should be cheering on this great city. It's a city that despite the problems and despite the hardships, helped give this nation's dreams the wheels to take them where they needed to go. More importantly, it's a city that did it without the big bucks, without the big words of the big sports folks, and without any help but that which they received from their own hard-working and hard-knock fans. So feel free to cheer on this Tigers team — and hop aboard the fan-bus, because you're more than welcome. And if it gets filled, don't fear — we've got the wherewithal to build another one. But if you decide not to hop on, we're ok with that too, because you know — that's just how we roll here.

—-

Ray's a passionate guy. And turning to the Mets/Cards series, let's take a walk through the world of Jeff Suppan, evidently the world's greatest athlete. The Cards took a 2-1 series lead on the Mets last night, winning 5-0 behind eight brilliant innings from Jeff Suppan, on top of a solo home run, and a pair of nifty sacrifice bunts.

The Mets have picked a bad week to have one of those weeks. Steve Trachsel took a Preston Wilson comebacker off the thigh in the second inning - after he threw 43 pitches and never once got a swing and a miss. The Mets now find themselves in the position of having to rely on Oliver Perez in a crucial game four.

The following words are from Ray Wert, associate editor with our homeboys Jalopnik. He likes Detroit, cars, and the Tigers... maybe even some combination of Eminem, Kid Rock, and Aretha Franklin. He was fortunate enough to be at the Tigers/A's game yesterday this photo gallery.

It was frickin' freezin' in Detroit last night. The in-stadium thermometer said it was 41 degrees, but we'd heard earlier in the day it was closer to 22 degrees with the wind chill. Those reports were all accurate, because it was cold in Comerica Park last night for Game 3 of the ALCS. Compounding the cold was the tv-courtin' decision by the folks with Major League Baseball to change the start time of the game from 8 PM to 4:30 PM — no less than 24 hours before the start of the game. Brilliant decision guys, let's start the game before the work day's even finished AND let's change up everyone's plans at the same time.

Although MLB claims it was due to "inclement weather conditions," we're not so sure what was less inclement about a 4:30 start time — it was still ass-numbingly cold. But whatevs, even with only 3/4 of the stadium filled — the energy was still electric in CoPa. And the fans were, too; electric and stupid. We saw more idiot frat-boys in body paint yesterday than ever before, again proving that age-old truism — the dumber it is, the more people will do it. But even frat-boy silliness couldn't keep us from enjoying the game, because the gambler was taking the mound today.

That's right, Kenny Rogers, continuing his quest to prove to the world that 8.5+ ERA in the playoffs prior to this year was a fluke, was going to be showing the world and the A's what heat a 41-year-old man's gonna be able to slide across home plate tonight. And you know what, the man didn't disappoint. Almost every time the man took the mound, the crowd began the Ke-nny, Ke-nny, Ke-nny chants (despite Drew Sharp thinking it was Ken-ny today in the Freep/Detroit News — he wasn't in the outfield, so what the hell does he know — he's putting the wrong emPHAsis on the wrong syLLAble). Which, when you think about it is pretty amazing — considering this guy was the goat at last year's All-Star game here in Detroit because he took Jeremy Bonderman's spot on the AL team — but boy, we've embraced the man now. Forgive and forget, that's the Detroit way — unless you're the Colorado Avalanche, then you can go and fuck yourselves. But on a day and in a series where the A's two biggest guns, Frank "The Tank" Thomas and Nick Swisher "Sweets" are now looking at a combined 0-17 in this series, it's got to be the pitching. Anyway, here's the pictures of flora and fauna from Game 3.

Tigers ALCS Game 3 [Jalopnik]
Jalopnik

• Nate Robertson's Gum Time. No doubt it was Gum Time tonight. I had two packs in. They had me miked up for the broadcast. Skip nominated me to get miked up for the game tonight. I don't know how much coverage I had out there. I think I was the only one to throw it in, but down 3-1, why not? So I threw in a couple packs, get a little rally going. They actually weren't in my mouth. Half of the gum was hanging out of my mouth. It was pretty ugly.

• Athletics Nation. Don't get me wrong, I don't like going down 2-0 at home. The A's are now officially the underdogs in the series no matter how you slice it, having simply been outpitched, outhit, and outfielded in two home games, off to face their nemesis, Kenny Rogers, in less friendly confines. But tonight's game was a microcosm of why there is hope for the series as a whole. Tonight, the A's looked like they were cooked only to rise up and get Milton Bradley to the plate representing the tying run, only to go a step further and get Frank Thomas to the plate representing the winning run. Perhaps the series will follow the same script and the A's have some rising yet to do. The A's are down, but they're far from out. Frank Thomas hasn't hit his last high fly ball yet. Let's hope his last one has the distance.

• Detroit Tigers Weblog. I'm still nervous. It was only 2 weeks ago that the Tigers played a home weekend series against the worst team in the league needing merely 1 win. They couldn't do it. Now the Tigers need 2 wins against a team that has proved to be very good, even if they haven't shown it yet this series. Some people are saying that the Tigers learned from that series, and that it made them a better team. I don't know if that's true or not, but as fans it would be silly to forget what went down.

• Tiger Blog. What a game by Alexis Gomez. I immediately questioned why Leyland would throw him in there, and then of course he started driving in runs. He hit a two run seeing eye single in the fourth and then a he hit a huge two run homerun in the sixth inning. The other questionable hitter in the lineup was Neifi Perez. He was the only Tiger who didn't reach base last night. It was a big fat nothing.