Lester's newest moment

Look at it this way: The Red Sox in no way deserved to win on Sunday night. They shouldn't have scored those three runs on Ellsbury's pop-up. Looking at the big picture, wouldn't you rather be up 2-1, playing at home, than down by the same margin? Being up 2-0 in a series and losing doesn't even come close to 1978 (it was the Yankees!) or 1986 (one strike away!) or leading 5-2 in the eighth of Game 7 in 2003 (those damn Yankees again!). The Sox themselves have dug out of 0-2 holes in a best-of-5 series ... TWICE. The Angels' line-up is scary, especially when you get to 3-4-5 (Teixiera, Vlad and Hunter). The Angels won 100 games; a three-game winning streak won't be that big of a surprise (reminder: The Angels beat the Sox 8 of 9 times this season).

24 hours ago Adam Kilgore told us that the Sox were "finishers" who never lose a game that will win a series for them. Today they're teetering precariously on the brink of elimination. His quest to be the next Dan Shaughnessy is on track. Better start trying to grow some Bozo hair, Adam.

ye of little faith, we do NOT live in Chicago. We are the defending world champs. Embrace the Sox playing in October. Pinch yourself, for this is the BEST time of year in Boston. Watch the performance by the fearless Lester tonight who truly epitomizes everything that a role model in sports should be. Next stop ALCS.

I'm a Sox fan but I'm a realist first. The fact is, Lackey made one bad pitch in game 1. He was the better pitcher weather we want to admit it or not. He has know fear of Fenway which he showed when he brought a no-hitter into the 8th when he pitched here earlier this season. Again, take away the 3 RBI single and they dominated us again last night. We are in serious trouble if Pedro and Lowell don't start hitting. The Angels will have finally climbed to the summit we will rejoice as we did when we had the miracle comeback against the Yanks.

The curse is dead! Even if we lose this series with a banged-up roster to a statistically superior Angels team, the curse is dead! Even if we have to settle for winning the World Series only every third year (2004, 2007, 2010, ...), is that so bad? We';ve got our best starter going in a competitive series, let's sit back and enjoy and root and see if we can win two Series in a row!

Panicky fools...
The Sox have won two titles in the last four years. if you're freaking out about not winning a world series or even about not advancing, then you're a sad soul who will never be satisfied or one who simply wants to be miserable. I pity you for not being able to appreciate what you have, whether it be a title or a great, if ultimately unsuccessful, ALDS series.

Right, because no teams ever lose playoff games besides the Red Sox. Columns like this make Red Sox fans seem like such whiners who can't lose gracefully but must instead blame the failure on mysterious forces beyond our control.

You should take care not to perpetuate the fallacy of the predetermined outcome. If Lackey hadn't tossed a bad pitch for Bay to hit, then every subsequent event in the sequence would have been altered and there is no scientific way to predict the score when Lester leaves the game.

Oh, get a life.

How can you ever enjoy watching sports if, even when your team is up 2-1in the divisional series and has their hottest pitcher on the mound _at home_, you still need to dredge up all the negativity of the past.
Just enjoy the game already!
If you, personally, have "feelings of inadequacy and dread", that's your problem. Not ours.

Once I lived two blocks from the Green Monster and lived the curse. No more. Now I will watch confidently from Seattle. Red Sox Nation unite!

Once I lived two blocks from the Green Monster and lived the curse. No more. Now I will watch confidently from Seattle. Red Sox Nation unite!

lets not count our chickens b/4 they hatch. But yes i feel good with Lester on the mound tonight. Now all we need is for Mighty Mite to start hitting.

GO HALOS!

The real problem with last night's loss is how it affects the NEXT series. Had the Sox won, they could have been assured of starting Lester, fresh, in the first game. More than that, they would have been guaranteed his services TWICE if need be. Now, all that is off the table. So going forward, they now have a problem they might have avoided with a win.

Can't argue with agentpinckney, though. Had the Sox won, it would have been a fluke.

Come on. One loss and we are now being compared to the redsox of an 86 year drought. SO extreme. The BoSox are defending world champs. They have a team loaded to the brinks with young talent. And not just young talent but young talent that does not fold under pressure and knows how to win and step it up in big games. Get real.

//the familiar -- yet nearly forgotten -- feelings of inadequacy and dread that once shackled this organization and all of New England this time of year.

Is that overstating it?//

In a word, yes.

Please.

I think Lester gets it done tonight. It is one of those passing the torch moments. Dice K game 5 you never know what you get. I still think Beckett comes back in the ALCS and does what he has done his whole career and that is be amazing in the playoffs.

While I find myself rather anxious about tonight's game, I remain hopeful, as we are up 2-1, not down 2-1, and Lester has been great all year. Despite playing in the weak AL West, the Angels did not win 100 games just going through the motions. The middle of the their lineup has been superb in this series, and if we are honest with ourselves, we could just as easy be down 2-1 at this point. Still, I agree with the comments by "Lackey" as this is the best time of year for Red Sox fans. As a native of Maine living in Chicago, I can attest to the futility and never ending gloom of the Cub fans out here. They look and sound like we did pre-2004. Furthermore

Give me abreak! Just because the RedSox didn't sweep the Angels, you say they are teetering on elimination...that if they're not perfect they're ready to crumble.

As far as Sox not deserving the 3 runs off Jacoby Ellsbury's single, controlling Errors is as much a part of the game as swinging the bat , or making a pitch. Game 1 would have been a shutout had it not been for Jed Lowrie's error at shortstop. We just need to keep our focus.

Go RedSox!

'Feelings of inadequacy and dread'? Uh, no. Dread is what is being felt right now by Cubs fans who are wondering if they will ever see a world championship. 2004 and 2007 changed all that. Maybe I'd be more frustrated if Beckett, Schilling, Drew and Lowell were healthy and the Sox found themselves in a hole. But given how banged up some of our key contributors are this year, the Red Sox truly are playing with house money. As noted by agentpickney, the Angels won 100 games this year - a three-game winning streak is certainly possible. I would be upset for a little while if the Sox season ended this week, but I think I'd get over it pretty quickly.

In case you forgot Sandy M, the Sox are still up 2-1 in the series. That doesn't translate to "on the brink of elimination" to me... last time I checked a team had to win 3 games to win the series and by my watch the Sox are closer to eliminating than being eliminated. Oh but I will give you points for the Dan Shaughnessy comment... Oh don't forget that Adam needs to develop a hatred toward Schilling in addition to that Bozo hair.

People, I wrote before game 2 that the Sox HAD to win because Beckett isn't quite right...yet. Please trust me, Sox win tonight. I know it . Don't let the haunted past of pre-2004 make you negative. Sox will find a way tonight...I FEEL IT !!!

Lestah........ How bout em'

If the Red Sox don't win this ALDS then they don't deserve to advance - plain and simple. No humiliation. No curse. No choke. Are we now like Yankee fans and think that we should win EVERY year? God forbid. The fact that they are in the playoffs and have a 2-1 lead despite the injuries is amazing in itself. I hope they win too, but I won't start thinking the organization is like it was before 2003 if they lose. Are you kidding me? I've been a Sox fan since 1975 and they'd only been in the WS twice before winning it in 04' and last season. Win or lose this series or this season, it's GREAT to have them in the playoffs with a chance to win it all!!!!!

The Sox played a poor game last night, and were one hit away from sweeping on several occasions. They'll be ready tonight, there will be no game 5.

Big Papi? More like Big Poopi (as in, pooped the bed again)

Both are good teams and worked hard to get here this year, and it's this year's record and this year's team that counts. The Red Sox are currently the only team with 2 championships since 2000, so it's really time to put the curse fears to rest. Meanwhile, the Angels had their own mini-curse superstition going about beating Boston in the postseason. Now that's past too. So let's get on with the baseball and leave the curse exorcism ceremonies to the Cubs.

To get the 3rd ring we will need two folks to finally step up. petey/papi and 1 to show up again.. we all know byrd will get clipped big time in LA

I guess, yeah, I am a little worried about the next series than tonight (but maybe Wakefield will be in his I rock Tropicana Field mode, oh wait, I am rooting for the White Sox because they are funnier). I forsee Dustin being over his guilt and ready to punish the Angels and by his final at bat they will intentional walk him (yes, for Ortiz) and the thing I think that worries me less about John Lackey is, well, he beat us here on July 29. It is October 6. It is cold (we won't mention to them that it is too cold for this time of year). And I can't help but think both pitchers tonight, last time they both pitched, almost pitched no-hitters.

Why all the doom and gloom? We've got a home elimination game with our best pitcher on the mound. The Sox lose one post-season game after winning 10 in a row and suddenly the sky is falling? The series is a little closer now but I'd still rather be a Red Sox fan then an Angels fan today.

Hey Sandy M, teetering precariously on the brink of elimination????
Oh! You must mean the White Sox!!
Give em" hell boys!!!

If Ortiz ever shows up this year then we have a chance for the ring. Franconas is a magician with what he has accomplised this year. 95 wins - are you kidding me.. Best managing job he has done so far.

the fact beckett looked the way he did and only gave up four runs should say something about the angels - they're the ones who should be worried right now, not the sox.

No way the Sox lose tonight.....its the RED SOX VS RAYS ALCS.
RED SOX WIN IN 7 and go onto play the DODGERS in the WORLD SERIES...!

WELCOME BACK MANNY......! GETTING BOO'd outta town....!

What is wrong with you people. You have already given up on the Red Sox. Of course, I wish they won last night, but they didn't. A lot of you are acting like its over. They still have to play tonight and hopefully they will win, but if not, they are still in it until the series is over. Have some faith.

GO SOX!!!!!!!!!!

We won 2 games in LA. Any other team would ahve been happy to win one. It is 2 - 1 and our best pitcher is throwing tonight. If they don't win could it just be that they lost to a better team? The Angels did win 100 games ... I don't care that it was the west, they still had to pitch and hit. The Sox are in a postion many other teams would love to be in right now, can you say the hankees.

With all the injuries, anyone thinking this would be a cake walk to the Championship was kidding themselves. GO SOX!!!!!!

Hey, Sox Fans, get behind the team. Like we do here in the Emerald Isle - we stayed up till 6am to watch last night's game, and still went to school and work today. And guess what, we'll do it again tonight, and rejoice that we have the chance to do it. Go Sox - we luv ya !!

Althought they would not be eliminated if they lose this is essentially a must win for the Red Sox tonight. Jon Lester is fast becoming a big game pitcher who has stared down bigger odds in his life in the past (beyond baseball)

Boston has a new curse. The curse of Manny. Boston couldn't win for decades because they were stupid enough to trade away one of the greatest baseball players ever -- now they've gone and done it again! They dumped another legend!

They'll never win another World Series in your lifetimes. Get used to it.

The curse of Manny.

Predictions:

Pedroia's liners will find some green tonight....Lackey will be lacklustre..Big Papi will take him deep.

I never panic anymore, thanks to 2004. October baseball is a rare and copasetic gift to be enjoyed. I just put on my Sox hat, crack open a Sam Adams Octoberfest and root root root for the home team. If they don't win it's a shame, but it's one, two, three strikes your out at the old ballgame. Right?

It's as if people only remember Lackey's 1 start this year at Fenway....
Anybody remember Lackey's start last August at Fenway... 4 IP, 11 hits and 6 runs...? Or the other 2 losses he had at Fenway last year including the playoffs? As far as I am concerned that July start was an anomaly.

Let's talk baseball instead of blather. Great to see Lester, but the game will be decided in the bullpens. Questions: are K-Rod and Papelbon able to provide anything -- even one key out? Does Sheilds have anything left after his good work last night? Which team can play loose despite coldness and fatigue -- i.e., hit the ball the other way, make plays in the field. And finally, will the Viagra commercials ever stop.

We go up on the high wire again tonight!

I keep hearing about Lackey only making ONE bad pitch, But don't over look the fact that Lester gave up only 1 run.. That run being an Unearned run at that, So to say that Lackey was the better pitcher is just wrong.. Lackey gives up a 2 run homerun (earned runs), Lester gives up one run (Unearned).. You tell me who was better.

Sometimes I think "writers write what they write" just to get a rise out of people. This article and ensuing comments is a perfect example.

In April - when the wind blows down Comm Ave and the crocuses bloom - the goal is to make the playoffs. Not win the WS - make the damn playoffs. Everything else is gravy. Eat your gravy

I hate the "he threw one bad pitch" line everybody always uses. What if Bay had fouled that pitch back--would we still have called it his "one bad pitch?" Same thing for other pitches he threw throughout the game that the Sox just didn't connect with.

Lackey pitched a very good game. Just say that. "One bad pitch." Stop it.

HOW MANY YEARS DID WE HAVE OUR HEARTS BROKEN???
HOW MANY YEARS DID WE COME BACK TO SAY MAYBE NEXT YEAR.
HOW MANY YEARS DID WE ENOY STARTING THE NEW SEASON
GET OVER IT.
ENJOY THE GAME.- LOOK HOW FAR THEY GOT WITH ALL THE INJURIES.
LOVE THE GAME.

HOW MANY TIMES HAS BIG POOPI SHOWED UP IN THE LAST FIVE MONTHS? I ASK YOU, HOW MANY TIMES?!!! LOVE BIG POOPI!

anyone out there suprised that Benjamin or any other Boston sportswriter would be waving the fear flag? living in northern California, I don't read the Globe each day like I used to, but I still get a kick out of reading the sports page from 2004, the day after the Sox got their butts kicked by the Yanks in Game 3 in the ALCS. Shaughnessey, Ryan, the usual suspects, my God you would have thought the world came to an end. Called the players a bunch of quitters, whiners, chumps, you name it. They had no crystal ball then, and they don't have it now. The Sox are the best, no matter whether they win or lose this series. I've so enjoyed watching a competitive team over the past several years - imagine being a Mariner's or Padre's fan - Sox management has done an outstanding job of making this a team to watch and root for. So if the Sox don't win tonite, I plan on being there in Anaheim on Wednesday night, outfitted in my Sox regalia, and I'll enjoy every minute of it, whether they win or lose!

Such negativity. The Sox will win it tonight and without the help of Viagra. Speaking of Viagra, wouldn't you love to strangle that bozo in the blue tuxedo?

I can't believe what I'm reading. What is this pyscho-babble? It is patently absurd to compare the reactions of the fans if the Sox lose this series to the way fans reacted to the lack of success for the eighty-six years prior to 04'. Post season success is not something this organization stumbled upon. They learned how to build a team that could win it it all, then went out and got the players. The players then went out and did it. Not easy by any stretch and nothing is ever guaranteed. A lot of things need to fall your way too. But the Red Sox organization and this team is built to win, year-in-and year out. They'll be in contention for some time. They may not win this year, and they certainly won't win it every year. But, they'll win their fair share. The old days are gone. leLet them go.

Is Adam Kilgore trying to channel Dan Shaughnessy, arguably the worst sportswriter ever to write for a big city newspaper? Dan, remember, has never met a cliche he doesn't like, delights in clunky, wooden metaphors, and is prone to delusional mythologizing - it was he, after all, who coined the phrase "curse of the Bambino," even if he can't claim credit for the idea itself. If Kilgore is looking for a role model, there are plenty of better ones. Roger Angell. David Halberstam. Roger Kahn. Michael Lewis. "The kind of nightmare Red Sox followers feared and lived through time after time, for the 86 years prior to 2004," as they lead 2-1 going into a home game at Fenway? "Nine innings from going back to Anaheim?" Please! Yes, we lost last night, and without Ellsbury's pop-up that should have been an easy out, we would have lost by more. But that's baseball. The Angels are a formidable team, but so are the Red Sox, and those "feelings of inadequacy and dread" Kilgore refers to are the product of his own hysterical imagination and/or of too many conversations with Shaughnessy. If Kilgore keeps writing in this vein he should definitely feel inadequate and should dread losing his job, but the rest of us here in New England? No way. Now if we were Cubs fans it might be a different matter...

mdxire jobsk zpnh ycugqf tzosdcnv hajnodyk xgnj