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Red Sox Take It From the Top Against Indians
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"To play this game at this level and be undersized and have people doubt you all the time, you have to have an edge to you," Pedroia said Monday. "I have to keep that. I'll have it my whole career. There's always going to be people doubting you, all the time."
He did not, however, have anything to prove to the Boston brass. Asked when he knew Pedroia could handle a situation such as this, Francona answered quickly, "Last September."
"Even when he wasn't hitting, we knew he knew how to play the game," Francona said. "That was never in question. I think he's taken some tremendous strides this year, but because, at times, the way he competes, we almost forget that he is a first-year player."
So when he began the ALCS with three hits in his first 16 at-bats -- all in the first four games, helping the Red Sox fall in a 3-1 hole -- there was some external impulse to sit him down. To hear Francona and others tell it, that was never an option internally -- not in the playoffs, not in April.
"He didn't like people in the media doubting him, and he probably used that as a rallying point for himself," Magadan said. "But we as a staff knew it was a matter of time before he was going to ignite us and lead the way for us."
With that, he hit .415 in May, and didn't have a month the rest of the season in which he hit lower than .299, finishing at .317.
The exceptionally patient Youkilis, too, entered the postseason with much to prove, considering he hit .238 after the all-star break and missed 10 days after getting hit on the right wrist by a pitch in mid-September. That unwelcome injury, Francona said, allowed Youkilis to recoup some strength in his legs. His 14 hits against Cleveland (in 28 at-bats for a .500 average) set an LCS record.
"He's rejuvenated himself both mentally and physically," Magadan said. "It shows. He's got a quick bat right now."
Two quick bats atop a lineup that heads to the World Series with more to consider than the old refrains of Papi and Manny, Manny and Papi. Throw in the Adonis-minded second baseman and the scruffy-faced first baseman, and that is a lineup with which to contend.
