Ramirez says Boston's ouster from ALCS won't be 'end of the world'
CLEVELAND — Manny Ramirez is the man in the middle of the Red Sox's fading drive toward the World Series.
Boston's quirky cleanup hitter stands at the plate to admire a mammoth homer. He keeps getting on base. He chats pleasantly for nine minutes, a filibuster for a slugger who prefers silence to speaking with reporters.
Ramirez was in the center again Wednesday, surrounded at his locker by writers whose pens sped up when he made a casual remark with the Red Sox trailing the Cleveland Indians 3-1 in the AL championship series that resumes Thursday night.
"We're not going to give up," Ramirez said. "It doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year. It's not like it's the end of the world."
Wow.
That's not what Boston's passionate fans want to hear when their team is one loss away from elimination after losing three straight games.
But Ramirez does care.
Why else would he show up at the ballpark many mornings long before night games to lift weights, do drills and hit balls? Why would he say his career records for most homers in the postseason and the LCS pale in significance to a return to the World Series.
"If I would have known that I was going to be in the World Series and not have those records, I would have traded in a heartbeat," Ramirez said on Wednesday's workout day between Games 4 and 5. "Who cares about the records, man? We just want to go have fun and win."
Those words again: Who cares.
The Red Sox need more than Ramirez and the middle of their lineup to help postseason star Josh Beckett extend their season when he faces C.C. Sabathia tonight in a rematch of Cy Young favorites who faced each other in the series opener.
They need the last four hitters in the batting order and leadoff man Dustin Pedroia to improve on their 16-for-77 showing with just six runs and six RBI in the series.
Ramirez is confident that will change.
"It's going to happen," he said. "We've got a lot of confidence in our teammates. They've been good all year 'round."
The other four starters — Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, Ramirez and Mike Lowell — are a combined 21-for-57 with 14 runs, 15 homers and four of Boston's five homers.
In the 10-3 win over Sabathia in Game 1, those four were 7-for-11 with seven runs, six RBIs, seven walks, a sacrifice fly and a hit batsman. In 20 plate appearances, they reached base 15 times.
They were patient, waiting for good pitches to hit, and Sabathia wasn't aggressive enough.
"I didn't even give us a chance the other day," Sabathia said. "I look to stay calm and stay in control and not try to overthrow and do so much and I think I'll be fine."
The Red Sox must adjust to his power pitches after facing softer throwers Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd in the last two games. The Indians adjustment from Tim Wakefield's knuckler in their 7-3 win Tuesday night to Beckett's fastball — a difference in speed of 35 mph — is greater.
But six Indians starters are hitting .294 or more.
"We just got hot at the right time," Sabathia said. "It doesn't matter how you play during the season. It matters how well you're playing right now."
