Sports Redux: October At Its (Mostly) Finest

First, the really great news: Josh Beckett managed to make C.C. Sabathia look like a Little League pitcher (no offense to some of those who are the future of America's pastime) on Friday night at Fenway Park, ably leading the Red Sox defense in what turned into a 10-3 routing in Game 1 of the ALCS. Seriously, we were a little worried about what hinted at a pitching fan's dream matchup - two great aces facing off in do-or-die October.

Look at the numbers:
Beckett - six innings, four hits, two runs, seven strikeouts, no walks (and, we'd like to add, only 80 pitches)
Sabathia - 4 1/3 innings, seven hits, eight runs, three strikeouts, five walks

But for a few moments early in Friday night's game, we were wondering if Beckett was destined to have the kind of night his Cleveland counterpart wound up experiencing. One of Beckett's four hits was a big shot to Travis Hafner in the first inning; he then gave up a long ball that barely, just barely went foul. It didn't look good.

But then Beckett settled down and set the Indians to task from a defensive standpoint; the rest of the Boston crew decided to kick the offense into high gear. Leading the pack? David and Manny. Ortiz and Ramirez. A perfect 10-for-10 combined on-base record over the course of the game. And what made that so special for Sox fans was the realization that these guys were patient at the plate, combining for five walks, two of which Ramirez drew with the bases loaded.

Home runs are one thing, and of course we're a big fan of them. But Manny bouncing back from trailing 0-2 in the count to draw a huge walk? That's the sign of not only a good hitter, but a smart hitter. We can't, however, forget the rest of the offensive lineup, given that every single member of that lineup earned a hit over the course of the game. Among those players? Bobby Kielty, who hit a big two-run single in the fifth, in absence of Mr. September, J.D. Drew.

As for Sabathia? He got rattled again, the second time he's done so in this postseason. We know that walking in runs is the worst feeling a pitcher can experience, but come on - you get paid the big bucks because you're not supposed to do that stuff. That's not the sign of someone who was a candidate for Cy Young this season.

So it's 1-0 Boston in the series. We never wanted to seem cocky, but we pretty much expected that, given that we had Beckett on the mound. Tonight is when things get really interesting. The only pitcher on the Sox lineup with more October magic in his past will take the mound tonight, and we're hoping that Curt Schilling continues the domination he showed against the Angels in the first round. Schill goes up against Fausto Carmona - who earned a 19-8 regular season record and is a top-notch arm in his own right. It'll be a nailbiter of a Saturday night.

-- In other baseball news, we haven't heard the word "salacious" linked to the MLB this much since "Juiced" was poised to hit the bookshelves. Makes sense, then, that the adjective is all about steroids in baseball. Former Senator George Mitchell has been busy working on his steroid investigation, and it appears that we can plan on seeing the results sometime between Halloween and New Year's Eve.

-- Does NFL commissioner Roger Goodell have a direct phone connection with Gillette Stadium yet? You know, kind of like a Bat Phone? If not, he might want to think about it, given the fact that he's again fining someone within the Patriots organization. Mike Vrabel was fined $5,000 on Friday for unnecessary roughness, stemming from the late-game tackle against Cleveland that sent Browns player Eric Steinbach into a tizzy. Vrabel says he plans to appeal.

The above image, taken from the Big League Store, speaks for itself.