Sure, the wins are nice, but…

Posted by Ted McEnroe April 30, 2008 at 11:37 pm

The Boston Red Sox are making these ninth inning wins look too easy. They needed two tries tonight, but eventually, Manny Ramirez strode home to give Jonathan Papelbon his second win in as many nights. The Red Sox starting pitching has been stellar, and with clutch hitting pulling out a pair of wins, all is well, right?

So why am I unhappy? Well, one, because I am a Sox fan, and it’s our nature. Believe it or not, I’m not that concerned with the Red Sox hitters. They have faced some strong pitching in Tampa and Toronto, even going back to Edwin Jackson in Tampa, a guy with mediocre stats but great talent if he ever puts it together.

But there are two bones to pick tonight.

1. The Red Sox pitching between starters and closer is not looking like the group that did the job so effectively in 2007.

2. Manny’s head. Not in the game. Tonight’s win should have been 90 feet easier than it was, but Manny being Manny the man-child, threw up his hands in celebration and stopped at second base as Jed Lowrie was thrown out at the plate by Vernon Wells. If Manny had kept running, he’d have been on third, and the play to win the game wouldn’t have been at all close.

I love Manny. I love his childlike enthusiasm for the game. And he’ll win more games for Boston than he’ll lose for them. But it’s the little things…