This changes everything!

I kind of thought the best shot the Red Sox had to win was game 1...

But man, an entire October was changed in the course of 2 innings.

In the 6th with the Sox down 1-0... and I thought to myself "Man, I just don't feel it this year."

Then Jason Bay hit his homer and I thought "Holy Cats... we might win this game."

And then Ellsbury made that diving catch and I thought "They've got the swagger."

And then it happened...

Vlady Guererro turns a potential post season defining moment for the Angels into the leap off the couch moment for me.

Seriously... what the hell was he thinking? A shallow fly ball... the baseball gods let it drop and Vlady thought third?
That was a slow motion, end of a Die Hard movie moment where you can't believe the bad guy made such a fatal mistake.

First to third on a shallow pop... by a guy who has been hurt!

I went from conceding the playoffs to thinking about how the Sox can line up the rotation for the LCS.

I was so tense in that 8th inning that I walked down my street in South Pasadena and went to my gym where I watched the 9th inning running on a treadmill at 5 MPH.

It was either that or have me shove a bag of chips down my throat.

But suddenly winning the Wild Card works in our favor!
By playing the Angels, we get the schedule that allows them an extra day of rest.

Guess what?
It gives US an extra day too!

Suddenly the Sox have Papelbon with an extra day of rest with a day after that off!
So asking Paps for 5 outs in game 2 isn't outlandish.

Get 6 or 7 from Dice-K, mix and match with Delcarmen, Okajima and Masterson...

And suddenly the best team in baseball is on its heels.

And suddenly what looked like a short October... suddenly looks like I'll be promising lots of good things to my wife and kids in November... once the games are over.