BOSTON — Welp, I’m back in Boston. Had an interesting time getting here yesterday, too. I had to fly from Cleveland to Baltimore and then connect to Boston from there. My first flight was fine, got to Baltimore early even, but the second flight was not so good.

I feel asleep before we took off and woke up about an hour later, flipped open the window shade, only to see that we were still parked on the ground. Finally, a lady comes up the plane and announces that there are too many people on the flight — that the plane was overweight. She asked for volunteers to come off the jet, but no one did.

So, she played her version of Russian roulette with us, literally looking up and down a list of our names and randomly picking two people to kick off the plane. Luckily, I wasn’t one of the chosen ones. Talk about a raw deal, though. But, I got to Boston and now it’s nearly time for Game 6 here at Fenway.

The reason I have a picture of our friend Manny Ramirez up there is I’m just about sick of hearing about his recent comments about "not caring" whether or not the Red Sox won this series. Get over it people. What Manny said was not that big of a deal. Here’s what he said after Boston dropped Game 4:

"It doesn’t matter how things go for you. We’re not going to give up. We’re just going to go and play the game, like I’ve said, and move on. If it doesn’t happen, so who cares? There’s always next year. It’s not like the end of the world or something. Why should we panic?"

All Manny said was it wasn’t the end of the world, life goes on. Can you argue with that? He didn’t say he didn’t care — and his numbers should be ample evidence to the point that the dude does care. Manny’s teammates also didn’t see what the big deal was about what he said. Here’s Mike Lowell on Thursday night:

"We know him. He talks to us more than he talks to you guys. We know Manny the person better than you do. I really don’t have a problem with what he said. When we take it in a baseball sense, that it’s not the end of the world, everyone is up in arms, because it sounds like he doesn’t care about the game. But, the way you see him play, you know he cares about the game. I think he was trying to convey that maybe there’s other things in the world that may be more important than baseball. You can’t fault him for that."

No, you can’t. But, there’s no question that the media will jump all over a quote like Manny’s, especially when it’s coming from such a character. There was another fantastic Manny moment after Boston’s Game 5 win. Manny, once again, was entertaining a pack of media, lounging on a couch and fielding a barrage of questions.

While he talked, David Ortiz pushed through the crowd and asked for a microphone, grabbing one from an NBC reporter. Ramirez, wearing a suit with a bright purple tie, looked up and Ortiz asked: "Hey, everybody wants to know, where’s the funeral?" Everyone busted up and Manny responded with: "Hey, I’m going to try to take this tie to Colorado." Classic.

Anyone watch Joe Torre’s press conference yesterday? I caught some of it after I finally got to my hotel here in Beantown. I’ve got to say that he handled it with class and I was happy to see he didn’t hold back in calling New York’s offer an insult. Once again, good for you, Joe.

ALCS Game 6 Lineups

Cleveland (3-2) at Boston (2-3)
at 8:21 p.m. ET at Fenway Park

INDIANS
Grady Sizemore, CF
Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B
Travis Hafner, DH
Victor Martinez, C
Ryan Garko, 1B
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Kenny Lofton, LF
Trot Nixon, RF
Casey Blake, 3B

PITCHING: RHP Fausto Carmona

RED SOX
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Julio Lugo, SS

PITCHING: RHP Curt Schilling

Go Green…

CLEVELAND — Good for you, Joe. After having George Steinbrenner issue another ultimatum in yet another trip to the playoffs for the Yankees, Joe Torre decided enough was enough.

New York offered Torre a one-year deal worth $5 million, which had incentives that could’ve boosted it to $8 million, that included a vesting option for ’09 if the Bombers made the World Series. On Thursday, it was announced that Torre said no thank you, ending what’s been a comical stakeout by the media in Tampa.

Part of me was surprised to hear that Torre turned down the offer, but the other part of me can completely understand how he might be fed up with dealing with the stress of New York and The Boss, especially at age 67. Torre’s done way too much to have Steinbrenner threaten to fire him if the Yanks didn’t make it passed the first round.

Shortly after hearing the news, which spread like wildfire here in the Jacobs Field pressbox, I gave a quick call to Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. After jokingly razzing me some for phoning him — "Jordan, don’t you know I’m in hiding this time of year?" — Gibby gave pretty much the same reaction I had to the news.

"That doesn’t really surprise me. It’s hard to say, I’m sure he was frustrated with the whole thing, when it came out where Steinbrenner said ‘Win this game or he’s gone.’ He’s accomplished too much and he’s too distinguished a guy to put up with that.

"He’s not some first-timer rookie out there. Who knows what all went into it. Who knows what he was looking for as opposed to what they offered. He’s accomplished way too much. If he doesn’t feel good about it, then he did the right thing."

Exactly. Good for Joe.

ALCS Game 5 Lineups

Boston (1-3) at Cleveland (3-1)
at 8:21 p.m. ET at Jacobs Field

RED SOX
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
Bobby Kielty, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Coco Crisp, CF
Julio Lugo, SS

PITCHING: RHP Josh Beckett

INDIANS
Grady Sizemore, CF
Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B
Travis Hafner, DH
Victor Martinez, C
Ryan Garko, 1B
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Kenny Lofton, LF
Franklin Gutierrez, RF
Casey Blake, 3B

PITCHING: LHP C.C. Sabathia

CLEVELAND — Mike Lowell summed it up on Tuesday night. Boston’s third baseman was asked about the three straight home runs the Sox belted in the sixth inning, and a smirk crept across Lowell’s face.

"I’ve got to ask him — the hands up, 7-2 — I don’t really understand that one, but that’s him. I just like that he hit the ball hard and over the wall."

Yeah, it didn’t make much sense. Boston was down by five runs and Manny Ramirez launches a solo homer, throws his hands in the air and stands and admires his work. If this is anyone but Ramirez, he’d get a fastball between his numbers the next time up. But he’s got that whole "Manny being Manny" get-out-of-jail free card.

I remember earlier this season when the Blue Jays were in Boston. In the first inning, Ramirez made a sliding catch at Fenway and ended up laying on his back. To the amusement of everyone, he started moving his arms and legs like he was making a snow angel. Again, anyone else, and he might get plunked next time up. But it’s Manny, and after the game the Jays players were cracking up when they replayed the catch on Sportscenter.

Rare are the moments when Ramirez actually speaks to reporters, too. But here today, he plopped in his chair in front of his locker and fielded questions for nearly 15 minutes — first in Spanish and then in English. Naturally, the question finally came up about his antics after hitting the homer. Ramirez just smiled and shook his head.

"Man, I’m just happy to do something special like that," he said. "I’m not trying to show up anybody out there. I’m just trying to go have fun. If somebody strikes me out and shows me up, that’s part of the game. I love it. I like that. I like to compete and when people strike me out or whatever and they show me up, it’s all good. There’s no hard feelings."

Ramirez was also hit with plenty of questions about how being down 3-1 to the Indians right now is similar to being down to the Yankees in 2004, when Boston staged their famous comeback. It’s a must-win on Thursday for the Sox, but Ramirez — staying with his typical laid back manner — didn’t seem express much care either way about Boston’s fate in the next contest.

"If we go play hard and the thing doesn’t come like it’s supposed to come, we’ll move on. We’ll come next year. Why should we panic? We’ve got a great team. If it doesn’t happen, good. We’ll come next year and try to do it again.

"We’re confident every day. It doesn’t matter how things go for you. We’re not going to give up. We’re just going to go and play the game, like I’ve said, and move on. If it doesn’t happen, so who cares? There’s always next year. It’s not like the end of the world or something."

No, it’s not the end of the world — that’s for sure.

MOMENT OF THE DAY: Man, talk about a flashback. I walked in the visitor’s clubhouse this afternoon and sitting on the couch were Eric Hinske and Dustin Pedroia. There was a crowd of people blocking the TV, but I heard some familiar music and sound effects.

Sure enough, they were playing Tecmobowl on Nintendo! Classic. I was more of a Blades of Steel guy myself back in the day, or Megaman, but Tecmobowl was definitely a staple of my childhood. Well done, BoSox.

CLEVELAND — It’s officially Rocktober. Congrats to the Rockies, especially for making me look smart for picking them as the National League champ when the playoffs began. Now, if the Tribe can follow suit to make my World Series picks hold up, that’d be quality.

I actually lived in Colorado for two years — about 50 minutes south of Denver in Colorado Springs — during my last two years in high school. Whenever I had some spare time, I’d hop in my Ford Exploder (may it rest in peace) and haul up to Coors Field and take in some Rox games. I saw the one and only Mike Lansing hit for the cylce on one occasion.

I wasn’t a big Rockies fan, but it was the only baseball team around, so I enjoyed heading to Denver to watch some ball. So, part of me is happy to see Colorado advance to the Fall Classic. Besides that, the run they’ve been on has been nothing short of amazing. They were in fourth place in the NL West when their run began, and now they have a pennant. Incredible.

As for the Red Sox here in Boston, they were simply manhandled by Jake Westbrook — 14 groundball outs through six innings. Daisuke Matsuzaka didn’t pitch terribly, but the Tribe forced him to throw a ton of pitches and the few mistakes he made were enough in light of Westbrook’s performance.

After the game, Matsuzaka was not in a good mood. We spent more than an hour standing and waiting to see if Dice-K would talk to the media, which he is usually good about. He sat at his locker staring ahead, let out some sighs, leaned back in his chair, took a minute to eat some dinner, went back to sitting alone at his locker, and finally — for just the second time this year — he only offered a short statement, opting not to take questions.

While Dice-K sat in one corner of the clubhouse, David Ortiz and Josh Beckett were lounging on some couches in the middle of the room, throwing down some cold ones while watching the D-backs/Rockies game. If there was ever a moment that made Ortiz seem like the Dominican Babe Ruth, this was it. He was all smiles, joking with reporters, shaking off a report that said his knee injury might’ve kept him out of the ALCS, and throwing his arm around one TV guy during an interview.

At one point, shortstop Julio Lugo walked over and said, "Papi, what, you don’t have no family? Why don’t you go home?"

To which Ortiz flashed his wide smile and replied, "If I went back to my hotel, I’d be doing the same, but without the beer. So, I stay here and get beer for free."

During a later conversation, Beckett offered this beauty of a line: "You can’t buy love, but you can buy so much affection that you can’t tell the difference."

With that gem, here’s tonight’s lineups:

Boston (1-2) at Cleveland (2-1)
at 8:21 p.m. ET at Jacobs Field

RED SOX
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Coco Crisp, CF
Doug Mirabelli, C
Julio Lugo, SS

PITCHING: RHP Tim Wakefield

INDIANS
Grady Sizemore, CF
Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B
Travis Hafner, DH
Victor Martinez, 1B
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Kenny Lofton, LF
Casey Blake, 3B
Franklin Gutierrez, RF
Kelly Shoppach, C

PITCHING: RHP Paul Byrd

CLEVELAND — During one of my trips to Cleveland during the regular season, I made a point of heading over to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I could’ve spent the whole visit poring over the display case for the Grunge Era. They also had a special exhibit on The Clash at the time, which was pretty sweet.

Right now, the special exhibit on display is on The Doors, which I may go take a look at some time this week — possibly tomorrow. I wrote in this week’s Jays mailbag, track 10 on the Doors’ 1970 album "Morrison Hotel" is the song "Indian summer." Fitting, considering I’m here at the Jake to cover the Indians prolonged summer.

I didn’t blog yesterday due to my utter lack of sleep and energy. Along with most of the other writers, I was at Fenway Park on Saturday night well beyong 3 am and I had an early flight to catch to Cleveland. An hour of sleep and it was off to the airport and then to the ballpark to get right back to work. I nearly didn’t get here either.

My flight was going through Laguardia in New York — all the directs were sold out — and when I got there, they told me I didn’t have a seat. Nice. Shortly before they started boarding, though, I was able to get on. Crisis averted. Both in Boston and in New York, the gates directly next to the one I was at had flights going back to Toronto. God certainly has a sense of humor.

Here are tonight’s lineups:

Boston (1-1) at Cleveland (1-1)
at 7:10 p.m. ET at Jacobs Field

RED SOX
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Coco Crisp, CF
Julio Lugo, SS

PITCHING: RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka

INDIANS
Grady Sizemore, CF
Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B
Travis Hafner, DH
Victor Martinez, C
Ryan Garko, 1B
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Kenny Lofton, LF
Trot Nixon, RF
Casey Blake, 3B

PITCHING: RHP Jake Westbrook

BUGS: None in sight, yet.

QUOTE: "Hey, Canada’s here." — Red Sox manager Terry Francona, upon seeing Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star during Monday’s press conference

BOSTON — I was heading out of the Fenway Park pressbox last night and walking in was broadcaster Rick Sutcliffe. Naturally, I held the door for the man and he responded with a simple, "Thanks." No, Sut. Thank, you. Thank you for helping the Cubs to the 1984 division title. The least I could do was hold the door for the man.

Talk about an offensive explosion in that Game 1, huh? Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz continued to put up their ridiculous postseason numbers. Even if I played as the Red Sox on my gamecube — yeah, I’m the one guy in the world who still is rockin’ the ‘cube — I don’t think I could match the stats their putting up. It’s been flat-out sick. I know C.C. Sabathia struggled somewhat in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Yanks, but I didn’t think he’d labor as much as he did last night. Indians need a big game from Fausto tonight. The last thing the Tribe wants to do is head back home down, 2-0.

As things stand right now, we’ll be taking in a Rox-Sox World Series. What a boneheaded play by Stephen Drew last night in the bottom of the ninth. The ump calls him safe at second after Rox SS Troy Tulowitski’s foot came off the bag, and Drew starts jogging back toward the dugout. OK, fine, you didn’t realize you were called safe, but you don’t see the shortstop arguing with the ump? That turned out to be quite costly, considering the D-Backs wound up losing in 11.

Anyway, I just got here to the Fens to prep for Game 2. For all of you dying to know who’s taking the field tonight in Beantown, here are tonight’s lineups:

Cleveland (0-1) at Boston (1-0)
at 8:21 p.m. ET at Fenway Park

Today’s lineups:

INDIANS
Grady Sizemore, CF
Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B
Travis Hafner, DH
Victor Martinez, C
Ryan Garko, 1B
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Kenny Lofton, LF
Franklin Gutierrez, RF
Casey Blake, 3B

PITCHING: RHP Fausto Carmona

RED SOX
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Coco Crisp, CF
Julio Lugo, SS

PITCHING: RHP Curt Schilling

Cleveland (0-0) at Boston (0-0)
at 7:10 p.m. ET at Fenway Park

Today’s lineups:

INDIANS
Grady Sizemore, CF
Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B
Travis Hafner, DH
Victor Martinez, C
Ryan Garko, 1B
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Kenny Lofton, LF
Franklin Gutierrez, RF
Casey Blake, 3B

PITCHING: LHP C.C. Sabathia

RED SOX
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
Bobby Kielty, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Coco Crisp, CF
Julio Lugo, SS

PITCHING: RHP Josh Beckett

BOSTON — On the way from my hotel to Fenway Park, you go right passed this fine little establishment, the Hotel Buckminster.

As a Chicagoan, I should’ve known the sigificance of this place (beyond the Pizzeria Uno located at the bottom, which is fitting, as it turns out), but it took Rangers beat writer T.R. Sullivan to remind me of its history. This is where, in 1919, the White Sox met and decided to throw the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.

Down Huntington Ave., which isn’t too far away from the Buckminster, is the spot where the first World Series was played in 1903. Now, though, a building stands on the spot with just a plaque to honor the site. One hundred and four years later, the World Series just might be back in Boston again.

I don’t see this Indians-Red Sox series ending in a sweep like three of the four first-round matchups. I think this ALCS is going to go at least six games, and seven doesn’t seem unlikely. Both clubs have solid lineups and good pitching staffs, led by Cy Young contenders. I like Cleveland’s rotation over Boston’s, but I like the BoSox bullpen better than the Tribe’s.

It’s a toss up, but since I originally posted somewhere on here that I think it’s going to be a Cleveland-Colorado World Series, I’ll stick to my guns. So, I pick the Indians to win in six. I think the Rox will win in five. We’ll see what happens.

Another fun little tidbit for you guys, this past week while in New York, Laz Diaz and some of the ALDS umps made their way to Foley’s irish pub in New York. If you ever are in the Apple, head to 33rd street at the base of the Empire State Building and check out Foley’s. It houses a ton of sports memorabilia, including a wall of baseballs signed by players, actors, and even sportswriters. Even I have a baseball on the wall.

Anyway, Diaz and some of the umps went in there and the Foley’s owner presented them with a can of bug spray, honoring the Bug Game aka Game 2 of the ALDS in Cleveland. The umps autographed the can and it will be displayed in Foley’s for good. That’s quality.

BOSTON — I get done with a nice, relaxing train ride from the Big Apple to Beantown, swapping ball stories with Al from Philadelphia, who is in his 70s and was telling me about watching Ted Williams’ smooth stroke in games back in the day at old Shibe Park, and I step into my hotel room and imediately get a phone call.

The search is over. Your Toronto Blue Jays have hired the one and only Gary Denbo to replace the self-proclaimed goat, Mickey Brantley, as the club’s new hitting coach. Denbo comes to the Jays after serving as the Yankees’ roving hitting instructor and he’s now been given the task of righting the offensive ship that sunk and flat-out stunk during this past season for Toronto.

Denbo never played in the Majors and barely cracked the Mendoza line over four Minor League seasons in the Reds system back in the ’80s, but he’s maintained various coaching/managing/front office/scouting jobs with the Reds, Yankees, Indians, and even those pesky Ham Fighters over in Japan.

Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said the club had a list of names that they had interest in for the job, but the Jays only ended up interviewing Denbo and Toronto’s own roving hitting guy, Dwayne Murphy. Ricciardi received permission to talk to Denbo from Yanks GM Brian Cashman, received glowing remarks from the likes of Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada, and added that Denbo blew them away in the interview.

Ricciardi went on to say that the Blue Jays need to find their identity as an offensive club, much like the Yankees and Red Sox have done. Toronto likes the way Denbo focusses on preparation, and Ricciardi said his new hitting coach is big on breaking down video. Toronto’s GM also indicated that hiring Denbo was more his call rather than Gibbons, who was "on board" with the decision. Brantley was Gibbons’ pick at the time he was hired.

NEW YORK — The Rocket may have launched for the last time. Not surprisingly, the Yankees announced today that Roger Clemens is being removed from their postseason roster. That could put the finishing touch on Clemens’ storied career.

With Clemens out of the picture for now — he’s not eligible until the World Series, should New York get that far — the Bombers added lefty Ron Villone to their bullpen. That helps New York, which had no lefties in the ‘pen in Games 1-3.

I’m not sure what to think of the Indians going with Paul Byrd here in Game 4 over C.C. Sabathia on short rest. Byrd may have won 15 games this year, but he also surrendered nearly 240 hits in 190 innings or so. That gives me the feeling that I may very well be heading back to Cleveland tomorrow morning. Also, starting Byrd puts Kelly Shoppach, his personal catcher, behind the plate, taking some pop out of the offense. We’ll see how it all shakes out tonight.

Also, yours truly will be bringing more playoff insight during the American League Championship Series. So, whether or not the Yankees stun the Indians here over the next few days, I’ll be heading to Boston to help cover the next round. I’ll have to pop some champagne later.

Today’s lineups:

INDIANS
Grady Sizemore, CF
Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B
Travis Hafner, DH
Victor Martinez, 1B
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Kenny Lofton, LF
Franklin Gutierrez, RF
Casey Blake, 3B
Kelly Shoppach, C

PITCHING: RHP Paul Byrd

YANKEES
Johnny Damon, LF
Derek Jeter, SS
Bobby Abreu, RF
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Jorge Posada, C
Hideki Matsui, DH
Robinson Cano, 2B
Melky Cabrera, CF
Doug Mientkiewicz, 1B

PITCHING: RHP Chien-Ming Wang

I believe someone asked me to link to stories I’ve written in the playoffs, so here goes:

Oct. 7: Hughes unlikely hero with relief gem
Oct. 7: Wang gets chance to show true ability
Oct. 7: Yankees short hops: Game 3
Oct. 6: Needing a win, Yankees go with Clemens
Oct. 5: Yankees spoil Pettitte’s gutsy effort
Oct. 5: Yankees short hops: Game 2
Oct. 4: Unfinished rallies costly for Yankees
Oct. 4: Yankees short hops: Game 1
Oct. 4: Pettitte assumes familiar Game 2 role
Oct. 3: Wang given critical test

As a bonus to the Lebowski fans out there, here’s the script from the movie. We’ve been killing time here reading it and annoying everyone in the work room with our laughter. You’re entering a world of pain. –JB