A FIRST: In the standings (for the Red Sox) and in the way they celebrated clinching the A.L. East Friday night. The blog A Red Sox Fan in Pinstripe Territory has what I think is the best of many home-made videos of the party that erupted at Fenway Park around 11 p.m. Friday when Melvin Mora -- think he got the idea from Ramon Hernandez? -- laid down the bunt that finished Baltimore's improbable comeback from a 9-6, ninth-inning deficit, giving the Orioles the victory over the Yankees and giving the Sox the division title. Steven Krasner and Joe McDonald had the down-and-dirty version of the night's happenings in Saturday's Providence Journal, and McDonald expanded upon it the next day.
GET THE PICTURE: We've been remiss all season in not linking to the nightly slideshows from Journal photographers, which have captured the season visually every bit as well as the writers do with words. Bob Breidenbach captured the festive atmosphere Friday night. Click to the second page for the postgame celebration.
MOVING ON: With that out of the way, attention now shifts to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, whom -- because they got the choice by finishing as the A.L.'s top seed (they tied Cleveland for best record, but won the tie-breaker with a 6-2 edge in the season series between the teams) -- the Sox will play Wednesday and Friday at Fenway. Krasner gives a preliminary look at the Sox-Angels matchup, and Sean McAdam examines the potential roster makeup, which may include Kevin Cash as a third catcher in order to give the team more pinch-hitting and pinch-running flexibility. McAdam also notes it may be Daisuke Matsuzaka, and not Curt Schilling, starting Game 2 on Friday; the assumption has been that Schilling would follow Josh Beckett in the rotation.
HOT HANDS: The Sox head into the playoffs with both David Ortiz and J.D. Drew in the swing offensively. Krasner and McDonald provide the details on both.
DONE FOR THE YEAR: But they'll also head in without Clay Buchholz. Krasner and McDonald report on the decision to shut him down for the season.
CHECKING IN . . . with some of our favorite Sox bloggers, like Chad Finn, Allan Wood and Dan Lamothe, on the Sox' championship. (Strangely, there's no word yet from Seth Mnookin.) Both Lamothe and Wood have extensive compilations on Friday's clinching party in multiple posts on their sites; check them out. As for the Sox players, Curt Schilling has yet to post anything; I've given up on Kevin Youkilis.
I FEEL YOUR PAIN: Joe Torre, who endured an historic collapse of his own in 2004 -- you might remember that one -- has nothing but sympathy for Willie Randolph. (New York Post) Randolph, actually, was part of both of them; he was one of Torre's Yankee coaches in '04.
STILL TALKING THE TALK: One of the things some people hated about the Mets was their confidence, which they felt bordered on arrogance; a few of the players said earlier this year the Mets were so good they got bored with actually playing the games, which is why they'd go through down periods. Well, after yesterday's loss, Carlos Delgado was still saying the Mets ''were too good to finish like this.'' (New York Post) Maybe so, but to quote a great football coach: You are what your record says you are.
