Nice

The Red Sox did it again. I have to confess I was pulling for the Tribe on this one, but still, you can't begrudge the Sox another grand comeback in the ALCS. The important thing is that both clubs (the two best teams in the AL this year) gave us a damn good 7-game show.

How can you not like this team? Tek, Youk, Coco, Wake, Dice? And hats off to Dustin Pedroia, the rookie hero of Game 7. I'm not much of a Manny fan, though. Even though his offensive numbers more than make up for his shortcomings in character, I still have a hard time watching bozos who don't — or just won't — play the whole game. In the field and on the bases, Manny might as well be wearing a chicken suit.

[It's ironic that, to me anyway, the player who best exemplifies the right way to play the game, the man who more than any other has his head in the game and on the field — the Anti-Manny, so to speak—would be the poster-boy of the accursed Yankees, Derek Jeter.]

But then, but then, but then.... there's Papi.

Is there a greater man in the game of baseball right now? He's the closest thing we have (or are ever likely to have) to another Babe Ruth. His DH status (unfairly) means he's a long-shot for an MVP, but one look at his cumulative effect on the Red Sox since 2003 tells you all you need to know. If we're truly witnessing the birth of a new baseball dynasty, then Ortiz must be crowned Emperor.

So it's Sox v. Rox now. Wow. I only hope the Law of Conservation of Momentum still applies to the Rockies after a weeklong hiatus (the downside of a sweep). Because it's going to take a lot more than brilliant defense to shut down these Sox.