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Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Let the games begin »
October 12, 2007
Journal photo by Bob Breidenbach
AT LAST: Sean McAdam provides a position-by-position breakdown of the Red Sox-Indians series; the majority of the checkmarks go in Boston's favor. McAdam also talks to scouts for a player-by-player breakdown of the Cleveland roster.
All of which means, after five long days, we're about ready to play baseball again.
The national media have come out with their predictions. Among them . . .
-- Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com: Red Sox in 7.
-- Of SI.com's 10 experts, five pick the Sox and five pick the Indians. One of them, Jacob Luft, gives a position-by-position analysis and concludes that Cleveland will win.
-- The Diamond Mind simulation, which predicted the Sox would beat the Angels, picks Boston over Cleveland. (espn.com) A caveat: It also picked the Yankees over the Indians.
-- Tim Kurkjian of ESPN: Red Sox in 7.
First pitch, 7:10 p.m. Get ready.
WELL, I'M READY: When last we saw Josh Beckett, he was authoring one of the greatest postseason starts in Red Sox history. Tonight he'll try to match it against C.C. Sabathia. Kevin McNamara has the details. (projo.com)
AS AM I: When last we saw Sabathia, he was subduing -- though not exactly dominating -- the Yankees. Tonight, reports Steven Krasner, he says he plans to sacrifice speed for command. (projo.com)
DON'T BE RIDICULOUS: Krasner and McNamara say Jonathan Papelbon isn't buying the notion that he's a better closer than Joe Borowski. At least not publicly. (projo.com) He'd get an argument from slate.com's Chris Park, who thinks the Indians should take Borowski out of the job.
WE'VE COME A LONG WAY: Krasner, who knew him back when, profiles Indians manager Eric Wedge, a familiar face to McCoy Stadium denizens of the early 1990s.
PROJO BITS AND PIECES: The roster's been decided and Tim Wakefield is in and Kevin Cash is out . . . Terry Francona is reserving the right to change the rotation as the series progresses . . . It's official: Bobby Kielty's starting tonight in place of J.D. Drew . . . Trot Nixon is to the 2007 Indians what Gabe Kapler was to the 2004 Red Sox . . . Francona says you can throw past results out the window when it comes to this series.
MY KIND OF PLACE: Mike Lowell couldn't be more clear: He wants to stay in Boston. (Boston Herald)
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The sublime Joe Posnanski unveils the Heartbreak City Quotient and concludes that Boston, which is ''going to win another Super Bowl this year, maybe another World Series . . . is the best place on earth to be a sports fan these days.'' The poor folks of Cleveland, whose teams haven't won a championship since 1964, rank 9.58 on a heartbreak scale of 10. (joeposnanski.com)
TALL ORDER: ESPN.com's Howard Bryant says the Indians, having slayed one behemoth to get to the ALCS, now have to slay another to get to the World Series.
HERE'S HOW YOU DO IT: Randy Hill of FoxSports.com gives the three remaining postseason teams tips on how to beat Boston.
FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS: Regardless of who wins or loses, SI.com's Jon Heyman thinks these will be two great League Championship Series.
SHIFTING TIDES? Suddenly, it looks like there's a chance Joe Torre may not be fired, after all. The New York Post reports the Yankees apparently are being influenced by the number of players who've come out in support of the manager . . . and by whispers that Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte won't come back if Torre doesn't. But Northjersey.com's Pete Caldera says ''too many opinions of key club officials would have to be altered to prevent a managerial change -- an extremely tall order.''
HIGH-TICKET ITEM: The New York Post reports Alex Rodriguez' asking price is 12 years, $360 million. And why not? MSNBC.com's John Brittain makes the case that A-Rod ''belongs in the pantheon of all-time baseball greats.''
WIMPS! SI.com's Tom Verducci says the Indians ''laughed when they watched Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez allow themselves to be blatantly distracted by the bugs'' in Game Two of the ALDS last Friday.
WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL THIS GUY THE PARTY'S OVER? Roger Clemens is leaving the door open for yet another comeback (New York Daily News), though it sounds like Debbie Clemens will slam it shut after him if he plays again.
NLDS, GAME ONE . . . goes to the Rockies by a 5-1 count. The Diamondbacks' Justin Upton defends his controversial slide into Kaz Matsui, in which he was called for interference, by saying it was how he was taught to slide. (Arizona Republic) But Baseball Musing's David Pinto says the umpires got it right. And the Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki wonders if Upton wasn't trying to get revenge for being hit by a pitch, though he says the notion that Upton was hit intentionally was ridiculous. (Arizona Republic)
IF YOU PLAY AN NLDS GAME AND NO ONE SEES IT, DOES IT MAKE A SOUND? Yahoo.com's Jeff Passan wants to know where the Diamondbacks fans were.
QUICKLY: Our friends at the Riverside Press-Enterprise say Bill Stoneman may step down as Angels general manager . . . Rod Barajas -- the subject of some offseason subterfuge between Toronto and Philadelphia who wound up as the Phils' Opening Day catcher -- has been cut loose by the Phillies after a disappointing season (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . John Schuerholz steps down as Braves GM, though he's staying on as team president (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . Dusty Baker interviewed with the Reds about their manager's position (FoxSports.com) . . . Steve Stone isn't interested in becoming the Cubs' general manager (Chicago Tribune).
-- ART MARTONE
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