David Ortiz, take a load off. Relax. Red Sox Nation needn't always turn its hopeful eyes to you anymore. There is a new Mr. Clutch in town - his name is Jason Bay.

Bay, the man all those fans of our former left fielder said would never be able to properly fill a dreadlocked-shaped hole in the batting lineup, came up with another huge home run on Monday night. This time it was a three-run blast in the top of the ninth to give the Sox an advantage in a brilliant defensive battle of a game. The home run proved to be all the Sox needed - and, quite frankly, all they got - to notch a 3-1 win over the Indians and record their 11th straight win. Check out the standings, guys: the Sox are back on top.

While we celebrate the dawn of a new Bay, let's take a moment to acknowledge this passing of the torch, from Ortiz to Bay. It's not that Big Papi is experiencing a fall from grace or anything - there is no way that we can be anything but appreciative for the way the man came up big time and time (and time and time) again. We expect that he's going to continue to surprise us over the course of this season.

You have to admit, though, that it's never been fair of us, the expectations we've placed on this man's shoulders for going on five seasons now. The man deserves to be able to let someone else be expected to come up big. And if Bay's the man willing to do it, we are enthusiastically on board.

Speaking of enthusiasm, you might have heard the sound of a stampede last night. That was all the Tim Wakefield naysayers scampering to jump onto the bandwagon. Wake is continuing his quest to show that the most consistent arm on a strong rotation can be the aging one throwing the knuckleball. Seven innings, one hit. We hope Josh Beckett was taking notes.

We've waited a long time to find out who the Bruins will be facing in the second round of the playoffs, and tonight will yield our payoff. This evening will feature Game 7 matchups between the Rangers and Capitals, as well as the Devils and Hurricanes. While we wait, we can at least bask in the warm glow that is recognition for what Tim Thomas has accomplished (thus far) this season. Thomas has gone from having to be voted in by fans for a spot on the All-Star team to being one of the finalists for the Vezina Trophy. Boston fans, the NHL is finally realizing what we've known all along: our guy is a golden god.

Sunday's double OT Celtics/Bulls game was such a rollercoaster of emotion that we're thinking we might have to meditate or nap or something prior to tonight's Game 5 showdown. We're nervous, but in a good way. The way we were last year when we were tied up going into Game 5. But we're knocking on wood, just the same.

Image by Flickr user Keith Allison

Filed in Sports and tagged bruins, celtics, david ortiz, jason bay, red sox, tim thomas

Comments [rss]