ALDS Game 2

There was no doubt about it. The ball left Manny's bat in a way Aaron Boone only dreams about. This was a bomb onto Lansdowne street, a moon shot, a fabulous blast through the October night. 37,000 + fans raised their arms. 4000 miles away, I sprung from my seat and shouted "Manny!" That's 74,000 arms announcing to the universe that Manny had won Game 2 of the ALDS with a three-run home run in the bottom of the 9th inning. With the game tied at 3 Ramirez only needed a base hit with Julio Lugo (A miracle clutch single) on second and Ortiz (intentional walk) on first. But he touched them all only after standing in salute with 37,000 fans. K-Rod threw him a meaty curveball over the plate and Manny made the Angels pay for intentionally walking Ortiz to face him. We have seen this before, where every at bat can decide the game. It's not for the casual fan. This is October and every game counts. This is the second season, the important season. The Red Sox have three sets of games to play. A maximum of 19 games. A minimum of 11. If they win the majority of these games, a hair over .500, then they are champs. These are games people talk about all winter long. No one cares what happened in June or August. These games make a difference. If Manny hits a three-run homer in June then everyone will cheer. But Manny will just run around the bases. In October Manny has earned the right to stand there and watch. He's a fan too, perhaps his own biggest fan, and he understand baseball.