End Of The World? One weird thing I read in a few places was that we would be crushed if the Angels had won Game 3.

David Heuschkel of the Courant writes, "Mike Timlin was poised to join the list of goats in Red Sox history when he gave up a grand slam to Vladimir Guerrero." And in a Herald pay column, Steve Buckley says, "Had the Sox gone down to defeat after Guerrero's home run - and had they been swept in the next two games - Timlin would have been Torrez to a new generation of Red Sox fans." [Buckley at least acknowledges the other games.]

Lee Jenkins, the New York Times writer following the Red Sox, began his clinching-game story: "No one came to Fenway Park on Friday to celebrate a victory. They came to ward off a disaster. There was more tension in attendance than joy. Fans were more pensive than players. For much of the evening, the rickety old stadium sounded as quiet as the Old North Church." ... Disaster? Tension? Pensive? Quiet?

Then he writes: "While Boston devoted the off-season debating Grady Little's decision to leave Martinez on the mound one inning too long against the Yankees in Game 7 of the ALCS, Anaheim will spend part of this winter wondering why Mike Scioscia pulled Francisco Rodriguez one batter too soon."

Jesus H. Damon -- Red Sox fans DO NOT debate whether Gump made the wrong move. Do you know anyone who thinks that idiot made the right move? And Scioscia's decision (made in a Game 3) isn't even in the same universe as Gump's blunder.

Jenkins ends his story by calling the victory "a disaster averted." ... I wish these writers would realize that yesterday's game was not an elimination game and no matter how easy it is to break out the ol' gloom and doom angle, sometimes it just doesn't apply.