Thanks for the memories

Of all of the former Red Sox players who were with the Sox during the 2004 championship season, I would argue that the one that carries the most goodwill with him from Red Sox fans is Orlando Cabrera. He was thrust into the position of having to fill Nomar Garciaparra's prolific yet petulant shoes, and he did so tremendously. He played a sterling defensive shortstop, was a joy in the clubhouse, and contributed a few key hits down the stretch. He, I would think, is more beloved than some of the other luminaries from that season (Pedro, Millar, Derek Lowe, Johnny Damon). Maybe Bill Mueller, who hasn't gotten a chance to return to Fenway yet, would get a bigger ovation, but O-Cab is close.

Last night, while most of New England slept, Orlando Cabrera sent some love back to Red Sox Nation. In the seventh inning of a very well-pitched game, Doug Mirabelli came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. If you were like me, you're thinking "Please strike out, Doug. Don't make contact." But he did, and chopped a grounder to short. Our man Orlando fielded it cleanly, and instead of flipping the ball to Adam Kennedy covering second, he decided to race Alex Cora (coming from first to second) to the bag. Cora was hustling his ass off, as he always does, and not only beat Cabrera to the base, but put in a hell of a slide. Of course Cabrera was still able to throw out Mirabelli by about 20 feet at first, but Lowell snuck in with the Sox second run of the night. This, of course ended up being the winning run. Had Cabrera just flipped the damn ball the 20 feet to Kennedy, it would have been an inning-ending double play. It's not as if Mirabelli's breaking any of these up on his own. I'm guessing this has something to do with his Mendoza-licious batting average. It's to the point that he could line a pitch into shallow right and still get thrown out at first. I know the Sox have a long and storied history of fat slow ballplayers, but Mirabelli has got to be right up there.

So a big thank you goes out this morning to Orlando Cabrera, who, together with the home-plate umpire who missed Juan Rivera's slide at home and called him out on Wily Mo's terrific throw, handed a very solid 2-1 victory to the Sox. All in all, it was a very satisfying game. The Sox handed that sour, little-lord-fauntleroy rookie his first loss, Beckett came up huge, with some of his best stuff this year. His curve and his changeup were just exactly what the front office had been waiting for. The cut on his finger they discovered in the seventh inning doesn't sound serious, and fortunately, the Sox were in a good position to take him out right away. Timlin pitched 1 2/3 solid innings, only allowing a run to the one guy he inherited. Papelbon got his second straight 4-out save, and has reclaimed his spot among the rookie of the year candidates.

That is going to be one of the most interesting award votes in recent memory. It's not like last year's MVP race, when it's A-Rod the position player vs. Papi the DH. There are no fewer than four pitchers who deserve serious Rookie of the Year consideration. Last night, they pointed out that Howie Kendrick (I know, who?), the Angels' rookie infielder, was leading all rookie hitters with a .307 batting average. It really underscored how insignificant rookie hitters have been this year in comparison with the pitcher. You've got Papelbon with 34 saves and an ERA around 0.95. You have Fransisco Liriano, still in the top 10 in strikeouts and ERA despite joining the rotation a little late and being out recently with injuries. You have Justin Verlander, a top-10 pitcher in wins and ERA for the still-burning-bright Tigers. Finally, you have Lanky McLongshanks, Jered Weaver who despite picking up his first loss last night, is still 9-1 with an ERA under 2. He'll suffer a bit from joining the big club so late in the season, though.

If the season ended today, I think the voting would go Verlander-Papelbon-Liriano. Rookie of the year has never been as much about team performance as the Cy Young or the MVP have been, but this year I think it will matter a lot. If the Sox make a run and end up making the playoffs, I think that you could hand the award to Papelbon. If Liriano returns and the Twins grab the wild card, he might be your bet. If neither of those things happen, Verlander will probably ride the wave of Tiger-love to the award.