Love that dirty water

Leftover thoughts from last night...

• WOW

• Still got two to go, and a lot rides on Beckett's strained oblique. Byrd MUST be ready to go at the first sign of trouble (though I like how Tito brings in relievers to close out innings early on, so best to designate a couple arms to be ready)

• This will tell us a lot about the Rays. They've got a pretty good team, and have been unflappable for the most part in September and October. But man, they saw a ghost last night.

• I've been complaining about Fenway for years and years - both the venue and the corporate clientele that buy all of the seats. But the attendees have generally done well during playoff games. I've been EMBARRASSED by the crowds the last three nights. Fuck all of you who left early. I realize that ticket prices are going to preclude most of the die-hards from going to games, but we have to take that stadium back. I hope there are more home games this year, but if not, there's some work to do in the off-season.

• And yeah, it is easy for me to be on my high horse, since the game started at 5:07 Pacific, but come on. That was the season. And possibly Tek's last game in a Red Sox uniform - and still maybe his last at Fenway. We'll speculate on that later.

• The team clearly has some gaping holes in both the lineup and the pitching staff, and we can expect there to be some major additions before training camp. But like it or not, the core of this team will be with us for a while - Lester, Masterson, Pedroia, Bay, Lowrie, Papelbon, etc are in it for the long hall. There aren't a lot of guys left from 2004 - Papi, Tek, Wakefield, Timlin (Youk was around but not on the playoff roster) - even though we tend to think of this edition as a direct descendant of that squad. So I felt it was really important for this unit to get a signature win - we can put the idiots to rest finally (even last years' team couldn't break out of that mold). Maybe Manny did have to leave town for them to establish their own identity.

• Saturday night, baby.