Every time Bruin D-Man Johnny Boychuk scores a goal for his team, local play by play announcer Jack Edwards screams "IT'S A JOHNNY ROCKET!!" and while the Red Sox don't play hockey, that same call would be equally correct if screamed about a different Johnny running the base-paths immortalized against the Fenway sky last night: Johnny Gomes.
The Sox have hit 8 walk off home runs this year, yet while that sure is a record for the ages, the most spectacular aspect of Boston's dramatic finishes has been that 2 of them have been hit by the same man: Gomes.
Nevertheless, as profiled by Boston Globe writer, Julian Benbow, the events leading up to John Farrall's decision to insert Gomes as a 9th inning pinch hitter were ones of careful thought yet forced action. You see with the Sox and Padres going at it last night, the fact that San Diego and Boston are on well, opposite sides of the country means that the only time these two teams play is during the MLB's annual interleague play. With this looming over the Red Sox heads, that meant that Padres closer Luke Gregerson was a completely new face to all but 4 of Boston's roster members.
The Sox have hit 8 walk off home runs this year, yet while that sure is a record for the ages, the most spectacular aspect of Boston's dramatic finishes has been that 2 of them have been hit by the same man: Gomes.
Nevertheless, as profiled by Boston Globe writer, Julian Benbow, the events leading up to John Farrall's decision to insert Gomes as a 9th inning pinch hitter were ones of careful thought yet forced action. You see with the Sox and Padres going at it last night, the fact that San Diego and Boston are on well, opposite sides of the country means that the only time these two teams play is during the MLB's annual interleague play. With this looming over the Red Sox heads, that meant that Padres closer Luke Gregerson was a completely new face to all but 4 of Boston's roster members.
Of those 4 Red Sox, one of them was out with a hamstring injury and 2 were already locked into the bottom of the order and would not be facing Gregerson in the inning meaning that the only available Boston hitter who would not be completely new to Gregerson was Johnny Gomes.
“I felt like this was an opportunity to pick a spot to use Gomes,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said, and he wasn't wrong.
Yet like he did with each of the three outs he had already thrown in the game, Gergeson went with his slider, a pitch he and the Padres had used all game with great success downing countless Sox mostly via the strikeout.
“He throws a good slider,” Gomes said. “No one’s hitting it the whole game.”
Nevertheless using his knowledge of Gergeson, Gomes continued to work the count finding his way towards forcing Gergeson to throw his 5th pitch of the at bat.
“I let that one go by and it kind of locked me into my sights... I always go for the fences,” Gomes said when asked to relive the seconds before that 2-2 pitch.
“I felt like this was an opportunity to pick a spot to use Gomes,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said, and he wasn't wrong.
Yet like he did with each of the three outs he had already thrown in the game, Gergeson went with his slider, a pitch he and the Padres had used all game with great success downing countless Sox mostly via the strikeout.
“He throws a good slider,” Gomes said. “No one’s hitting it the whole game.”
Nevertheless using his knowledge of Gergeson, Gomes continued to work the count finding his way towards forcing Gergeson to throw his 5th pitch of the at bat.
“I let that one go by and it kind of locked me into my sights... I always go for the fences,” Gomes said when asked to relive the seconds before that 2-2 pitch.
With Fenway on its feet, and Jose Iglesias on deck for the Sox, Gomes finally saw the hanging slider he was looking for and didn't think twice on swinging.
“I knew I hit it far enough, but that green wall can be tricky sometimes,” Gomes said. “So I just hoped I had enough air under it to get out.” he did.
With Gomes rounding 3rd, that baseball was gone. Gergeson slowly walked from the field and Fenway shook from the ground up as the 30+ thousand fans within its walls roared with delight carrying Gomes in towards home. His teammates crowded the plate, Gomes faked punting his helmet (a celebration that caught eye's the last time he and his team walked off this year.) and as he jumped into the pile, the Boston Red Sox were back on top: tied for the most wins in baseball.
2013 is no fluke, for the first time in years; the Red Sox are contenders for the division title. They have more wins than anyone in the AL, they have without a doubt one of the best pitching staffs in the league. And they have now hit more walk-offs than any other team in the MLB. Do you believe it yet, do you believe that the Sox have forsaken the chicken and beer of the early days of this new decade, do you believe that they can get the postseason and not stop there. Do you believe that the Red Sox are World Series contenders? I'd think yes.
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