Save us (again), Pedro

A second close loss to the Yankees has put the Red Sox in quite a hole. Or maybe we have 'em right where we want 'em. Just ask the Indians what happens when you go two games up on the Sox.

Can Pedro Martinez save the season, or are we pretty much done with baseball in Boston for the century?

Gino, Worcester
The bottom line is this: The Sox are a blown call and 6 inches away from being up 2-0. Figure the Sox have two wins coming from Pedro, so it is a best of three series. The breaks have to fall the Red Sox way sooner or later.

Mike, San Diego, CA
I need a long vacation, these first two games have completely drained me. Every pitch seemed to be more crucial than the preceeding pitch. If the remaining games have anywhere near the drama of the first two, the sale of tranquilizers will break records. This series is far from over and I see it going the full seven games with the Sox prevailing. Baseball is a game of inches, but more importantly, it is a game of averages and the Justice Scale is over due to lean Boston's way.

DC, Braintree
I don't understand why Jimy didn't allow Hatteburg and Merloni to bat? Jimy has always played on hunches and non-conventional methods. Why not let these guys bat against pitchers that throw from the same side they bat? It would have given him more guys on the bench in case of injury or extra innings. Also, why have Jason Veritek bunting when he is hot? Again, non-conventional thinking may have gotten us some runs.

Bill, Chicago
The comments of bomber at this site clearly illustrate the sad mentality of the typical Yankee fan... or New Yorker for that matter.
You can buy the most expensive players; you can buy division and world series victories, but you can't buy class or respect. Sox fans may be cursed to dream the impossible dream, but Bomber is cursed to go through life without dignity! I'd rather be a dreamer than an idiot!

John, Burlington
I think the cold weather is impacting the Sox. They have a great deal of problems when the weather turns bad. In Wednesday game they did alright until the rain. After the rain they stopped hitting. I think the same happened last night, as soon as it started to get really cold they stopped hitting. I think that the sox should start training for the cold weather. I think they will do well on Saturday due to the 4:00 start time. Last nights game they had 12 runners in scoring position and could not hit the ball, that should never happen to a playoff team. The sox batter seamed timid, like the really did not want that game. It can't continue!!!

Wanda Fischer, Schenectady, NY
Sometimes I think I'm getting too old for this. I've been following the Red Sox for more than four decades, and I hate living in Yankee-land. I am searching for something positive in last night's game, because I was clutching my chest when Reed blew the call on Wednesday night. How can you blow such an easy call (hey, I'm a 51-year-old who's never actually played baseball, and I knew it was bad) when it's tied 3-3 in the top of the tenth innning in such a crucial game?
Anyway, last night, I was getting tired of Jimy and Joe and their "strategic" antics. What if that game had gone into extra innings? We had no bench left. If, in the top of the ninth, Nomar and Troy had scored, and we could have gotten some insurance runs, getting down to the ninth position, did Jimy think that Cormier could actually hit? Why not let Merloni take his at bat? The constant shifting, the "I'm-a-better-manager-than-you" mentality that both Williams and Torre displayed last night marred what might have been an enjoyable game for me.
I have watched all the Sox playoff games (although here in Yankee-land, I don't get to watch much during the regular season), and I think that it's tougher emotionally on both the players and the fans to lose by one run than it is to be blasted in a blowout (such as last Sunday's would-be football score). I will say, however, that Ramon looked good on the mound, and that he was not flustered. Cone pitched well, and it was a classic pitcher's duel. Isn't that what we like, if we are true baseball fans?
Yes, we blew many chances. Thirteen runners left on base... Sigh... But the Yankees aren't blowing us out of the water, either. This is what a championship game is supposed to look like, I think. Even Paul O'Neill said that he felt as if "he had been in a war." It WAS a war, and the Yankees barely held on.
Let's get 'em in Fenway. I really hate seeing Roger in pinstripes.

Jeff, Topsfield
I still believe that the Red Sox can pull 4 wins out of the 5 remaining games. It depends on how much they believe that there is something special happening to the team this year, for instance: Trot Nixon not knowing where the ball is a catching it while looking at Offerman... The fact that they won three straight against the Indians... They could come through again against a team that doesn't have the hitting that Cleveland did. The Red Sox pitching has matched up much better then you would expect. They just need to come through with some key hits themselves. Joe Torre is a much better mangr then Hargrove. He isn't going to put the Yankees in a bad positon as Hargrove did. They have to beat the Yankees as they are.

Anonymous, WH, CT
I'm truly thankful I'm not a Red Sox fan. But I'd like to apologize for boorish behavior and comments on the part of fellow Yankee fans. You can be proud of your team no matter what the outcome. This is simply great baseball!

JW, Norwalk, CT
How can you say there were no blown calls? Offerman was given a stolen base when it was clearl that knoblauch tagged him out. Then Nomar hit the 2-run homer. This blown call actually cost a run; while the blown call in game 1 only cost a POTENTIAL run. You Boston fans need a dose of reality.

Sabuso, NY
I read that Yankee stadium is a hostile place. I was there for 1+ 2 we had fun with your crying fans. You call the wins luck from the Yankess, statements like this proves Beantown know nothing about winning. The Yanks can beat up on any team. Do you forget who are the World Champs. They certainly did not achieve this by placing all the pressure on one pitcher. We have 4 number one starters on our staff to your one. Yank will loss to Pedro , if you bosox can score atlease 1 run, but that's all folks Yanks in 5.

Mac Daddy, Concord
We were down two games to none last Friday also. Last Friday I figured we had no chance of winning the series. This Friday again down 2 to 0, I am I actually more hopeful than last week. Why??

David, Salem, NH
The Red Sox should have brought in Pedro Martinez to close both games. They were leading in both games. He would have preserved those leads and the Red Sox would be now up two games to none.

Robert, Kensington
The majority of "Baseball Know-it-alls" have never really given the SOX a chance but these guys are showing the world how to play the game hard every play and exceed expectations. Regardless of the outcome, this team is one that every true RED SOX fan can be proud of. 0-2 doen't mean a thing. Heart, character and determination will prevail in the end. We will win 6!!!!

John, Watertown
Baseball is a game for longshots and underdogs. As they say, it's not over till it's over. Anyway, remeber October 2, 1978? The Yankees closed a 14 game deficit and managed to force a one game playoff in Boston. Contrary to popular belief, miracles can come true. It's midnight cindarella!

Paul, Dorchester
I think the Sox are a much better team than the spankees. They have better hitting and better pitching this year. The spanks are just catching all of the breaks. Once the breaks go the Sox way they will start thre winning streak. The Sox can still win this thing.

Jeff, Nashua
Besides leaving more men in scoring postion than Madonna has, the biggest oversight was when Tom Gordon failed to even check Chick Knoblach to keep him at second. Had he been held to second and they walked Jeter, O'Neil's single was not srong enough to score Knoblach from second.
Additionally, while it's fine to be aggressive the insistance on swinging at the first pitch by Boston batter in both games has been painful give the early control problems of the NY starters.

Kevin, Northfield
The Sox must win 4 out of the 5. If the bats show up this weekend like they did against the Indians (9 and 23 runs), Pedro can be mediocre and we'll still take Game 3. That leaves the Red Sox with the task of winning 2 out of 3 (2 at Boston, 1 at NY) and turning it over to Pedro in the grand finally. Nevertheless, if the Yankees manage to squeak out Game 3 like they did the first two, the ALCS is over.
My prediction out of all this:
Pedro will be brilliant on Saturday, the Sox will manage one win between Games 3 & $, sending the series back to NY for Game 6 with Ramon. Game 6 will be a barn burner like Game 2 was, and if the Sox can pull it out that time, Pedro will carry them to the World Series with a historic performance in Game 7.

John, San Diego, CA
Blame it on the curse of the Bambino? Babe Ruth was Catholic; in fact he is buried in a Catholic cemetary in Westchester County, about 20 miles from the Bronx. How about performing an Exorcisim at his grave site....... whatever it takes.

Bill, Portland
There are two rules in baseball,major leage rules and yankee rules.

Stephen, Franklin
There WERE blown calls last night - in our favour. Early in the game there was a groundbal play to first where the Yankee batter was safe but called out; and later in the game Offerman stole second and was tagged on the leg before his foot his second base.
The Red Sox are playing hard, but this is not a championship team. Dan Duquette may be able to get scrapyard players for bottom dollar, but the Red Sox organization knows nothing about how to operate a team on the field.
They deserve to lose if for nothing else, for deciding to take down Fenway Park.