From SoSH: Re: 9/25: NY v. Bos: Vasquez v. Wakefield

It’s time for Jose Melendez’s KEYS TO THE GAME.

1. Yes, yes Jose knows last night didn’t go as planned. Yes, yes Jose was incredulous that Eurona left Pedro in to pitch the eighth. Yes, yes it felt eerily similar to Game 7 of last year’s ALCS. Jose knows all of these things, but he also knows something else – IT WAS NOT THE SAME!!!

This was not the ALCS, Eurona is not Gump, and this game was not a bellwether no matter how much the local mediots would like to pretend it is. Eurona may not have made the right decision last night, but he made it on the basis of actual information about matchups, pitch counts and performance. By contrast, Grady always seemed to make decisions on the basis of whim.

Contrary to popular belief, we did not get mugged last night. We got mugged in Game 7. It rattled us; it shook us up; it left us feeling wary and scared and sensitive. As a result, when we see something that looks a little similar, it’s deeply upsetting, even if it is completely different. In other words, we got mugged last October, so when we see someone get mugged on TV now, it brings back all of the old memories and makes us nuts, even thought there’s no one holding a switchblade demanding our wallets. But you know the funny thing about this kind of stress? Sometimes it makes people a little crazy. It make them go looking for the mugger with a baseball bat. And do you know what they do when they find them? Revenge. Sweet revenge.


2. Jose is pretty BS after last night’s debacle. And you know what that means? Yup, he’s going to take it out on Tony Castrati.

What TC says: "The fans scolded him, the way they would have scolded Grady Little if he ever had been allowed to return. "

What TC means: See they should have brought Grady back. Same difference. That guy was so cool.

What TC says: "Terry Francona made the wrong decision at the wrong time against the wrong opponent"

What TC means: If I was managing, I would have made the wrong decision at the right time against the wrong opponent. That would have been way better.

What TC says: "So what do Red Sox officials do now, fire this manager, too?"

What TC means: You can’t fire the reporters so fire the manager. Go ahead…you fired Grady for it so you can’t be hypocrites now. I mean it’s not like Grady was an awful game manager who was chronically underprepared long before game 7 or anything.

What TC says: " Francona had nothing to do with that . . . until now."

What TC means: Last night’s game opened a rift in the state time continuum that allowed Eurona to travel back in time to Game 7, where he had one mission – to stop Grady Little. But instead, he just looked at him and said. "That’s some good managing Grady."

What TC says: "In the end, the damage here is minimal."

What TC means: But the sky is still falling down.

What TC says: "And those who forget history are condemned to repeat it."

What TC says: You know, I completely forgot about World War I. I mean, I know it existed, but I don’t know what happened or who was in it. It thing that means there is gonna be another big war between some countries, some place about something soon, maybe between Mexico and Peru or something.

3. After last night’s debacle. Pedro Martinez made a puzzling comment. According to the Globe he said "I just tip my cap and call the Yankees my daddy." That sound really weird and almost defeatist, if you don’t know that Pedro calls the Toronto Blue Jays "Mommy," The Chicago White Sox "Ramon," and the Seattle Mariners "Jesus."

I’m Jose Melendez, and those are my KEYS TO THE GAME.