Caption contest: What was Manny thinking here?

1. I did this!
2. So that’s what a walk-off home run looks like from the batter’s box.
3. WOOOOOOOOOO!!!
4. I didn’t say “Simon Says.”

You know what, I could care less what he was thinking. There are few things sweeter as a Sox fan than Manny being Manny with two on and two down in the bottom of the 9th of a tie playoff game…against K-Rod. And he didn’t just go deep, he probably caused a 10 car pile-up on the Mass Pike when he broke somebody’s windshield with that blast.

But baseball is a team game. And unless you pitch like Beckett did during the first game, you can’t receive all of the credit for a win. So, thanks to Tito for having the quickest hook I’ve ever seen from him. Pulling an obviously ineffective Dice-K after 4.2 innings is gutsy, and so is putting Paps in the game with two down in the 8th. But as soon as a reliever started to lose it, Tito was running out to take the ball. Way to manage for the playoffs Tito.

“Nancy” Drew also came through with a 2-run, 2-out single in the bottom of the first. Of course he then went 0-3 for the rest of the game.

And last but certainly not least credit should also be given to the anti-Steve Bartman who stole a foul-pop up almost out of the glove of the Angels catcher in the 5th. With one out and runners at the corners, Manny ended up working a walk which allowed Mike “El Cubano” Lowell (Kim’s new nickname for him), to score the runner with a sac fly. Basically, no anti-Bartman means the Sox are trailing going into the bottom of the 9th. They should find this guy and give him a playoff share.

Sox up 2-0. Let’s get one more.

And in honor of Manuel Aristides Ramirez, here’s your playoff beard pic for the day: