Postseason Public Enemy No. 1

So the Rays overcame two very bad days and won the pennant. Good for them. They're a young team on the rise. And they beat Jon Lester twice to win. That makes them deserving right there.

Back here in Red Sox Nation we'll do what we do, which is assign blame. My guess is that most of it will fall on the shoulders of the salami-bat catcher lovingly known as Captain.

Such blame would be misplaced.

You don't expect much production from Jason Varitek. Now, granted, his production in the ALCS looked like the stock market in recent weeks. Grim, grim, grim. But he still offers value even when he's not hitting.

No, the guy who deserves the most blame is perhaps the most beloved and gregarious Red Sox. But in October he uncharacteristically came up really small.

Ladies and gentlemen, Postseason Public Enemy No. 1 is ..... Big Papi, David Ortiz.

Here are the DH's postseason numbers: .186 BA, .327 OBP, .349 SLG, .676 OPS, 1HR, 5 RBI in 11 games and 52 total plate appearances. In all he had just 15 total bases in the postseason.

In the ALCS, he hit .174 -- that's four hits in a seven-game series -- with a .321 OBP, .435 SLG and .756 OPS. His contributions were limited to the homer -- granted, an enormous one, in the Game 5 comeback -- and a Game 6 RBI single when the Sox added an insurance run.

In Game 7, when a big hit was desperately needed, here's what Ortiz -- whose only job, mind you, is to swing the bat -- came up with.

8th inning: 2 on, 1 out, score 3-1 TB. Ortiz grounds into a force play, erasing the runner at 2nd.
6th inning: 1 on, 1 out, score 2-1 TB. Ortiz strikes out on a high fastball out of the strike zone on 3 and 2. The puzzling decision to send Dustin Pedroia on 3-2 -- which smelled of panic -- results in an easy double play and a promising inning erased.
3rd inning: 1 on, 2 out, score 1-0 BOS: Ortiz strikes out with Pedroia, who was hit by a pitch and stole second, in scoring position and a chance to add a vital second run.
1st inning: o on, 1 out, score 1-0 BOS: Ortiz walks to follow Pedroia's home run. What looks like a promising inning is undone by a Youkilis fly out and Drew whiff. This is Big Papi's only Game 7 contribution.

But in three of his four at-bats there were runners on base and not a one of them scored:
Two strikeouts and a slow grounder were all the vaunted Big Papi could muster.

Clearly the entire Sox lineup was poor in Game 7 and credit Matt Garza and the Rays relievers for that. But other players -- Youkilis, Bay, Drew -- had so many key postseason hits that they can be let off the hook somewhat.

Big Papi had a lousy October. When he was needed most, he didn't come through. That is one big, loud reason the World Series is not starting in Boston on Wednesday night.

With all respect to Mark Kotsay, wouldn't a healthy Mike Lowell have made a difference in this series?

-- MJM