Manny Ramirez’s home run in the 6th inning was the stuff that sends chills down any baseball fan’s spine. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “called shot” in my lifetime. All the stories about Babe Ruth pointing his finger and unleashing the infamous home run are the stuff legends are made of, but tonight I got chills down my spine watching Manny pull that shot over the wall. You could tell Manny Ramirez was pissed about the 7 runs the Cleveland Indians scored in the bottom of the 5th and he was going to take matters into his own hands. Forget the fact he knew that a back to back to back combination would be the first ever in ALCS history, he was focused on taking his aggression out on that ball. The guy is a phenomenon. Screw A-Rod and the “one man wrecking crew. What good is A-Rod under pressure? Manny has the “real stuff”. As with all champions, it’s not if you win or lose it’s how you play the game. I love this picture..

Unfortunately for Sox fans the Indians are on the warpath and it doesn’t look good at the moment for the Boston Red Sox. Even though I’m an National League fan and my favorite team in the American League is the Indians because I was born in cleveland, I’d have to say the Red Sox are my second favorite team in the American League because the Sox play as a team. This series is a real treat for me. Regardless of the outcome, both teams have shown the true determination and sportsmanship that is the most important aspect of professional sports. No matter who wins and who advances to the World Series to face the red hot smoking Colorado Rockies, they’re all winners in my humble opinion. This is what baseball’s all about !!!

Feel free to discuss the “Called Shot” on our forum…
Red Sox lost Game#4 but Manny’s the MAN !!!

The 2007 MLB Playoff picture is starting to come into focus with the Cleveland Indians and the Los Angeles Angels clinching their respective divisions in the AL and the Boston Red Sox securing a playoff spot as either division winner or the AL wildcard. The National League playoff picture is still a tight race in all three divisions with no team clinching a spot as of yet.

For the Cleveland Indians, this is their first AL Central division title since 2001, when ace hurler CC Sabathia was a rookie. This year Sabathia and Fausto Carmona have pitched their hearts out to get the team into the playoffs as the division champs. For the Los Angeles Angels, they clinched their third AL West title in four years Sunday, with pitcher John Lackey leading them to a 7-4 victory over Seattle. The race for the AL East is still open with the New York Yankees chasing the Boston Red Sox for the division. The winnerof that race will take the division and the loser will take the wildcard spot in the american League.

Over in the National League East, the slumping Mets have given up ground to the Philadelphia Phillies who have won 8 of their last 10 games and have overcome insurmountable odds to find themselves in the race at this point in the season. In the NL central, the Chicago Cubs are holding off the Milwaukee Brewers for the division title. The race in the NL West is even tighter between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres. The wildcard spot in the National League could include as many as eight teams depending on how the rest of the season goes.

Congratulations to the Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Angels and the Boston Red Sox and all of their great fans who have supported their teams into the playoffs. Best of luck luck to everybody still in the race !!

Although he’s been put on the 15-day DL as of May 14, 2007 with an injured right middle finger, The Boston Red Sox pitcher extraordinaire, Josh Beckett has once again been ripping it up. In this 2007 season Beckett has posted a 7-0 record with a 2.66 ERA and 50.2 innings pitched and has been leading The Boston Red Sox to a commanding 9.5 game lead over their competitors in the American League East (It is worth noting the BoSox are a full 10.5 games up on the New York Yankees in the division).

Josh Beckett was a 1st round (2nd overall) draft pick by the Florida Marlins in 1999, and became the first high school pitcher to be selected in the first round by The Florida Marlins, bypassing college baseball and moving straight into Single-A ball. Josh was named Marlins Rookie of the Year by the South Florida chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America after going 2-2 with a 1.50 ERA (4 ER/24.0 IP) in 4 starts for the Marlins after a September 1 promotion from Double-A Portland.

In 2003, he posted a career-best 3.04 ERA, with a 9-8 record in 24 games (23 starts), recorded an impressive 152 strikeouts in 142.0 innings (an average of 9.6 strikeouts per 9 innings) for the Marlins before turning in an MVP performance in the World Series to help the Marlins to the World Championship. Josh Beckett was named MVP of the 2003 World Series and went 2-2 with a 2.11 ERA (10 ER/42.2 IP) with 2 complete-game shutouts in the 2003 postseason, including a complete-game 5-hitter for a 2-0 win in Game 6 of the World Series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium to wrap up the championship. It was the first World Series complete-game shutout since Randy Johnson turned the trick for Arizona against the Yankees October 28, 2001 (editors note: Darn, seems like all those records are against the Yankees).

To the dismay of many Marlins fans, Josh Beckett joined the Boston Red Sox for the 2006 season and set career highs with 16 wins, 33 starts and 204.2 innings pitched, reaching 30 starts and pitching for more than 200.0 innings for the first time in his five years in the majors. He led the Red Sox in wins, starts and innings pitched and on July 19 The Red Sox announced a 3-year contract extension with Beckett with a club/vesting option for 2010.

Although I’m a diehard Florida Marlins fan and a fan of the Cleveland Indians, I must admit that Josh Beckett is my favorite MLB player, and to the guy in my Yahoo Fantasy Baseball League who keeps trying to trade me for Curt Schilling, if you want Schilling, you’ll have to trade me Beckett.