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October 12, 2007
Click here to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam. The topics: how the players dealt with the long layoff; the Beckett-Sabathia matchup; how Sabathia has made this season his best ever; why winning tonight is very important for Boston; the mismatch at the closer position; Eric Wedge; and will the Colorado Rockies ever lose again?
Remember, if you click the above link, you can listen to all of our editions of SoxTalk over the past year -- so you can see how correct (or incorrect) we were all along as the season unfolded.
Here are some excepts from Sean's comments today:
Players getting antsy to start the series? "They're creaturs of habit, and they get into rhythm and ... you would think that sitting around -- even if there's kind of that anticipation, you know, a little kid before Christmas, finally you want Christmas morning to come. And I'm sure those guys are happy that today is the morning of the game, and they can get back and start doing what they look forward to doing."
Lose tonight and there's the risk of going down 0-2 heading into Cleveland: "They certainly don't want to be up against that, and they know firsthand how tough [Game 2 starter Fausto] Carmona can be, having lost to him -- Beckett himself -- in a 1-0 pitchers' duel back at the end of July. If anything, based on the limited experience they have against both, they've actually done better against Sabathia then they have against Carmona. They're both going to be tough, but certainly getting a win tonight and getting a leg up, and getting some momentum and getting the crowd behind them, all those things would be beneficial in the long run."
Borowski vs. Papelbon: "I think that is the Red Sox' biggest edge. You've got Borowski, who's a guy that had an E.R.A. over 5, who ... was 13-of-19 in one-run saves, so the tighter the save the more precarious it became with him. He didn't have a lot of clean innings all year ... I think Papelbon is the best closer in baseball. That includes whoever you want to put on there, from Mariano Rivera to Joe Nathan to anybody else.
Your Turn: Do you agree that Papelbon is the best closer in baseball?
Posted by Mike McDermott 
at 10:39 AM | Permalink
