Sox-Rays to be compelling tale

Former manager Buck Martinez, an analyst for TBS's coverage of the American League Championship Series, believes the Red Sox-Tampa Bay Rays matchup promises to be compelling and competitive.

"These two teams have played good ballgames all year long," said Martinez. "With the experience of the Red Sox coming in here and understanding how difficult Tropicana Field can be, I think that will serve them well."

Martinez said the fact the Rays have won most of the close games will do wonders for their confidence, but doesn't guarantee anything.

"At the same time, now we're seeing the pedigree of the world champs," he said. "They dispatched the Angels very effectively. I think they're prepared to play and go to the World Series and defend their title."

As much as the Rays' lack of experience has been discussed, Martinez said it in no way means Tampa Bay doesn't have a chance.

"In years past, it may have," he said. "But this generation of ballplayers doesn't seem affected one bit by the lack of experience. When you look at the Division Series, the Tampa Bay Rays had 53 games of experience under their belts compared to 223 for the White Sox, and that didn't factor in at all. I don't think it will factor in in this series as well."

One person responsible for the success of the Rays has been manager Joe Maddon, whose leadership, guidance, and demeanor have transformed the young team into a serious contender.

"There's no question his impact has been dramatic," said Martinez. "He's changed the culture of this organization and let them know early on that losing was not acceptable. He's done a great job of weeding out the guys who were distractions. He's done a great job of bringing in athletes and baseball players."

Martinez said he believes the Rays are better defensively than the Red Sox, and that although Josh Beckett wasn't his usual self in the Angels series, he said he expects Beckett to be better. Martinez doesn't expect the Rays to be as easy to knock out.

"Tampa Bay is not going to make the mistakes that the Angels made," he said. "For some reason, the Angels made mistake after mistake, on the bases, in the field, and at the plate. They weren't very patient. They certainly didn't run the bases very well and made a lot of mistakes defensively in the outfield."

As far as the NLCS, Martinez said he realizes Sox fans are rooting for a Boston-Dodgers showdown, but Los Angeles will have its hands full with the Phillies.

"Obviously, the Dodgers come in red-hot," he said. "I think the one thing that gets overlooked is the quality of their starting pitching. I think they are pitching very well. When they dispatched the Cubs so effectively, they did it because the Cubs don't have potent lefthanded bats. The Phillies do. Manny Ramírez has not hit well against Philadelphia. I think this will be a very tightly contested series and I think ultimately the Phillies might overcome the Dodgers."

Heinsohn a homebody

Comcast SportsNet announced that Tommy Heinsohn's role will be changing with regard to Celtics telecasts this season. Heinsohn will no longer travel and will call 38 home games during the 2008-09 season with longtime broadcast partner Mike Gorman. Instead of traveling, Heinsohn will be in studio with Gary Tanguay while studio analyst and former NBA player Donny Marshall will assume Heinsohn's former duties during the road games. Courtside reporter Greg Dickerson will continue in his role . . . "The Express," the story of Ernie Davis, the first African-American Heisman Trophy winner, who died at age 23 from leukemia, is opening today at theaters, starring Dennis Quaid. "It's really a great story, very emotional," said Quaid, who said he was taken by the script and has vivid memories of the inequality of the era during his years growing up in Houston. "There was a lot of turmoil that existed in this country at that time." . . . The Patriots' Monday night game against the Denver Broncos Oct. 20 will be broadcast on Channel 5 as well as ESPN. It will be preceded by a half-hour "SportsCenter 5" special, and later a postgame show.