Familiar refrain: Drew came through
J.D. Drew rounded first base and just kept running to nowhere, allowing his teammates to leap all over him and the cacophony he had created inside Fenway Park to engulf him. The ball that had trampolined off his bat had flown over the right fielder's head and hopped over a fence. Second base was his. That didn't matter. He'd settle for a ground-rule single.
Drew became the central figure in a memorable Red Sox victory for the third time last night, playing the hero in the Sox' unreal 8-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. He drilled a single off J.P. Howell in the bottom of the ninth, scoring Kevin Youkilis from second with the winner.
Drew, who at one point thought a herniated disk in his back would prevent him from playing in these playoffs, had cemented his growing reputation as a postseason hero. In Game 6 of last year's ALCS, he drilled a first-inning grand slam. In Game 2 of this year's Division Series, he drilled a two-run, tiebreaking home run in Anaheim in the top of the ninth to give the Sox the win. And then came last night, perhaps his most indelible moment yet.
Make that moments, plural. Drew's walkoff, ground-rule single will be remembered more, but the greatest comeback ever by a team facing playoff elimination could never have happened without his two-run home run off Dan Wheeler in the eighth, a laser to right on an 0-1 pitch that made the score 7-6.
Drew will have earned every last penny of his $14 million contract this season, the roughly 40 games he missed with his lower-back pain aside. He has become a Boston legend. At one point, he hoped merely to see the field, and he figured the hope would not be answered.
"You know, I feel fortunate to be in the playoffs and to be able to participate," Drew said. "My at-bats haven't always gone as I planned and as well as I've liked, but I'm battling through.
"I've found myself in a little bit of a bad rhythm. I've worked my way through it. I feel like I'd had some good at-bats lately."
Drew entered last night coming off an 0-for-5 night, 2 for 13 in the ALCS, and batting .222 in the playoffs. His first three plate appearances stuck to the same pattern - 0 for 2 with a walk.
But Drew has found his best at-bats at the right time. In the ninth, with Youkilis on second, he thought the same thing he did when he socked the winning homer in Anaheim: Square the ball up, try to hit it in a hole somewhere, see if Youkilis can score from second.
"Trying to get a ball in the zone," Drew said. J.P. Howell would not comply, starting him with three straight balls. Howell got a strike over, then tried to fool Drew with a 3-1 changeup. The ball stayed over the plate. Drew uncoiled.
"A nice swing," he said.
"A very intelligent at-bat," manager Terry Francona said.
The ball rocketed to right. Drew knew he had clobbered it, but Gabe Gross was playing deep. Drew didn't know whether the ball would clear Gross's head until he lifted his glove, then dropped it quickly. He turned and watched the ball hop into the Rays' bullpen.
Drew bolted around first base, never quite making his way to second. He followed a routine he's getting more familiar with: stop to chat with a television reporter; stroll to the locker room; remove jersey; head for the hero's press conference.
This time, Drew's son, Jack, followed him to the postgame podium. "What are you doing?" Jack asked, pointing at the dual microphones resting on a table.
"Come on, buddy," Drew said, pointing toward the reporters. "We're going to answer these people's questions."
Jack batted a microphone while Drew explained his latest heroics. Drew at one point assumed moments like this would have to wait until next season. Instead, they are becoming commonplace, but never any less cherished. 