Papi and Papelbon

The walk-off HR by Ortiz was just another in a long line of unbelievably clutch winning plays. He just seems to radiate confidence and I knew when he stepped into the batters box, the game was over.

And Papelbon has just been incredible so far. You knew that as long as he was in the game long enough to get Ortiz back to the plate, the Red Sox were going to win.

Throw in Curt Schilling and, oh by the way that other guy Manny Ramirez, and you have a playoff team.

I'm not (too) worried about who's going to pitch in the fifth spot. The third spot belongs to Wakefield, and you know what you're going to get with him. Hopefully, that knuckleball will be dancing come playoff time. Add in the (arguable by someone I'm sure) best defensive team the Red Sox have had in decades, and this should be a great team.

But it's not.

Josh Beckett has to step up and be the number two starter they hired him to be. Otherwise, the rest of this stuff is just for show. You need two aces and a closer to win come playoff time. Without it...