Game Ball: win eleven

Written by: Josh Wilker on 26th April 2009

Game Ball: win eleven | read this item

At some point during yesterday’s slugfest I decided that if the Red Sox hung on to win, the game ball would have to go to whatever reliever managed to stem the bleeding. But while the Red Sox bullpen did manage to greatly outperform the parade of shell-shocked relievers staggering from the visiting bullpen to the mound to the showers, no one on the home side was able to ever sail through an inning without showing himself to be inarguably fallible. That was, in the end, the story of the game: everyone is human, a mixture of good and grotesque. This was brought home most resoundingly by the reigning AL MVP, Dustin Pedroia, who contributed to rallies throughout the course of the four hour, twenty-one minute, 395-pitch marathon, collecting three hits, but who also topped an inning-ending baserunning blunder with a gasp-worthy error that allowed two runs to score.

Even the eventual winner of the game ball was not immune to the propensity of baseball to interweave success with failure. By the time Mike Lowell came up in the bottom of the seventh he seemed to have shown himself to the Yankees to be a weak spot in the lineup, certainly compared to the man in front of him, Jason Bay, whom the opposition intentionally walked to face Lowell. To that point Bay had already driven in three runs while Lowell was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts. Lowell confounded the strategy by drilling a three-run home run. Then, his next time up, he cleared the bases with a three-run double. (Anybody who claims that those latter three runs—which were scored after the Red Sox had already scored what would be the eventual go-ahead run—were unnecessary “tack-on” runs was not paying attention to the game, in which a two-run lead was about as stable as a snowball on a sizzling frying pan.)

The game, and Lowell in particular, reminded me of one of my favorite seasons I’ve ever lived through, 1977, when no lead was ever safe for the Red Sox or their foes. That year the strength of the Red Sox lineup was attested to most profoundly by the fact that the eighth hitter in the lineup, third baseman Butch Hobson, managed to drive in over 100 runs (112 to be exact). The current Red Sox third baseman does not bat eighth, but in his slot at number 7 he’s not exactly in the heart of the order. This hasn’t stopped him from producing, however, and as of right now he’s not only on a pace to equal Hobson’s feat as a bottom-feeding marvel, he’s the current American League leader in runs batted in. I’m glad to finally be able add him to the list of star-of-the-win heroes below.

The updated standings:
Bay 2
Wakefield 2
Beckett 1
Drew 1
Lester 1
Youkilis 1
Bailey 1
Lowell 1
Pedroia .5*
Masterson .5*

*Game ball split due to disagreement between author choice and commenters’ choice.

Topics: Butch Hobson, Mike Lowell

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