Boston Red Sox Baseball Team

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- It took Gary DiSarcina one series in Tropicana Field during Tampa Bay's inaugural season in 1998 to coin perhaps the best description for games played in the catwalk-ringed, bandbox of a domed stadium. "It's arena baseball," the former Angels shortstop said. The Boston Red Sox and Rays provided the latest reminder of how zany indoor baseball here can be, turning Game 2 of the American League Championship Series into a home run derby Saturday night.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Red Sox insist Josh Beckett is sound, that the right-hander is fully recovered from a rib-cage strain he suffered in late September, but the evidence hardly supports their case. Beckett, as well as his reputation as the Mr. October of pitchers, took another beating Saturday night, the Rays pounding the erstwhile playoff ace for eight runs and nine hits, including three home runs, in 4 1/3 innings of Game 2.

BOSTON -- Tampa Bay's 13-4 manhandling of the Boston Red Sox in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday night left Fenway Park's famed Green Monster begging for mercy and executives at the Fox Network gnashing their teeth. A Dodgers-Red Sox World Series would be a ratings bonanza for Fox, which would be so amped up about a Manny Ramirez-returns-to-Boston angle it would probably try to rig the Dodgers left fielder with a Manny-cam. A Tampa Bay-Philadelphia World Series?

BOSTON -- Coco Crisp saw fans heading for the exits in Fenway Park on Thursday night with the home team trailing by seven runs in the seventh inning, and the Boston Red Sox center fielder couldn't really blame them. "I guess down seven in the seventh, most of the time you don't come back from that," Crisp said. "I know they're home kicking themselves in the butt, like, 'Gosh, I just left an instant classic.' The fans that stayed are out here partying, cheering." And the Red Sox?

BOSTON -- The Red Sox faced a three-games-to-one deficit in the American League Championship Series on Thursday night, and who better to extricate them from a seemingly impossible predicament than Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Japanese right-hander and escape artist? But not even Matsuzaka, who threw six no-hit innings in a Game 1 victory over Tampa Bay and has an uncanny knack for pitching his way out of jams, could slow the Rays. Akinori Iwamura led off the game with a single to right, and B.J.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Joe Maddon, manager of the Angels' double-A affiliate at Midland, Texas, in 1986, was in Anaheim Stadium, a few rows behind the first base dugout, for Game 5 of the American League Championship Series that October. The Angels, with a three-games-to-one advantage, took a 5-2 lead into the ninth inning and were one out away from what would have been their first World Series berth when Dave Henderson hit a two-run home run off Donnie Moore to cap Boston's four-run rally.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Rays should have snuffed out the Boston Red Sox when they had the chance. They let them up for air in Game 5, their failure to hold a seven-run, seventh-inning lead preventing them from clinching a World Series berth, and now they're the team that is reeling, gasping for breath in the American League Championship Series.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- This won't be the last we see of the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays battling it out for the American League East title or even playing each other in the AL Championship Series. Boston has talented young players it can supplement with high-priced free-agent and trade acquisitions, thanks to a generous payroll that reached $133 million this season. Tampa Bay, despite its $48-million payroll, has some of the game's best young position players in B.J.

Angels versus Boston Red Sox, tie score, ninth inning, one out, a player standing 90 feet from home, greatness up for grabs. It's happening again. The dramatic scene that occurred on the Fenway Park diamond in October is happening around the hottest of stoves this very moment. The Angels with one chance to overcome the Red Sox intimidation. The Angels with one shot to break the Red Sox spell. The prize then was the Commissioner's Trophy. The prize now is Mark Teixeira.

Some cities advertise their cultural attractions to lure foreign tourists. Some advertise their foreigner. In Boston, it's Daisuke Matsuzaka, the pitching phenom from Japan who makes his first appearance at Fenway Park today. The Red Sox souvenir store is selling T-shirts and caps that say "Red Sox" or "Matsuzaka" in Japanese, the Old Town Trolley is hiring Japanese-speaking guides, and the Palm restaurant has translated its menu.