Schilling back, Ortiz and Ramírez back-to-back

Jackie MacMullan

It was a frat party run amok, a band of delirious baseball brothers who raucously celebrated as if they had won the World Series.

The Red Sox haven't done that - yet. But they unabashedly partied like it was 2004 after thrashing the Los Angeles Angels, 9-1, to complete a thoroughly humiliating sweep of the best the West had to offer.

As the smell of sweat and champagne wafted throughout Boston's clubhouse, the Red Sox let loose, hugging and shouting and dancing to the heavy beat of their victory tunes. Kevin Youkilis, clad in blue swim goggles, screamed with delight as he doused Mike Lowell with a champagne-and-Budweiser cocktail. Jonathan Papelbon screeched like a little kid with a liquor license, tormenting anyone and everyone in his path with a bath of liquid refreshments.

David Ortiz, who connected with Manny Ramírez for back-to-back homers in the fourth, traded some elbow high-fives, then donned a rain poncho and retreated to the back of the room. Manny Delcarmen, the pride of Hyde Park, grabbed his own bottle of bubbly and poured it down Papelbon's pants.

The question was raised whether such a spirited celebration was premature - and, perhaps, a bit overdone.

"We understand that," said manager Terry Francona. "We haven't accomplished all that we've wanted to yet. But I don't mind this. The emotion you see in here is real."

You couldn't help but notice Jon Lester quietly taking it all in, knowing that a year ago at this time his life - never mind his baseball future - was so cloudy because of a shocking cancer diagnosis.

And there was Delcarmen, who grew up idolizing the team of his native city, and who shuttled back and forth to Pawtucket wondering whether he would get his chance to prove he belonged in the big leagues.

"I'm living my dream right now," he said.

Dan Shaughnesy

Forty years old and not able to throw much harder than John Burkett, Curt Schilling is the Mr. October of Moundsmen. He threw the Red Sox into the 2007 American League Championship Series with seven innings of six-hit pitching in a 9-1 win against an Angels lineup with wounded wings and no prayer.

Schilling is now 9-2 in postseason play. His .818 winning percentage is the best in playoff history among pitchers with 10 or more decisions. Those stats are a little skewed because guys like Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax didn't have three rounds of playoffs in which to perform, but you simply cannot take anything away from Schilling on this one.

Years from now folks will look back at the score and perhaps dismiss the contribution of Boston's starting pitcher. Not fair. This was a tight ballgame every time Schilling threw a pitch. It was scoreless through three and it was 2-0 when he put a runner on third with one out in the seventh. Schilling got what he needed - a popup from the overeager Juan Rivera. Then he put a punctuation mark on his day's work, striking out Mike Napoli on his 100th (76 strikes) and final pitch.

It is a remarkable achievement. Schilling can't hit 90 miles per hour on the gun anymore, but he's still a guy who can put you in position to win. And he's a guy you want in the big games.