* David Ortiz: Terry Francona has been lobbying hard for Ortiz to bring home the MVP award ... With 98 walks, has easily surpassed his career best. He's scored 26 times on those 98 walks ... Absolutely bludgeons fastballs on the inner half of the plate ... He has one (usual) weakness at the plate: Breaking stuff down and in, and out of the strike zone. But he's patient, and you have to get ahead of him for this plan to work ... Struggles more with lefthanded junk than righthanded breaking stuff ... Song Airlines, which flies to Boston's spring training home of Fort Myers, FL and sponsors the Sox, named their first craft "Big Papi" ...
* Manny Ramirez: His tremendous bat speed enables him to stay back on pitches and still crush fastballs from the middle of the plate in ... You can't sneak a fastball by him after a barrage of offspeed stuff -- if a breaking ball is your out pitch, stick with it ... Hitting lefties better now than he did earlier in the season ... Seemingly playing with more emotion down the stretch ... Became the second player -- after Yaz -- to have three 40-homer seasons for Boston ...
* Kevin Millar: Just 1 for his last 11 (.091) ... His head comes off breaking pitches on the outer half of the plate ... Prefers the ball up ... Has improved defensively at first, both in fielding ground balls and handling throws ... Has a home in Beaumont, Texas, which has caused Millar plenty of Rita-related worry ...
* Curt Schilling: Has not been throwing his splitter as hard, or throwing it as well, as he did as recently as last year ... Because he doesn't get it down as well, righthanded hitters have feasted on it ... Likes to run his two-seam fastball back on lefthanded hitters; it breaks back over the plate ... Likes to work away from righthanded hitters ... Seems to be short-arming the ball lately ... Schilling: "Purely on a professional level, this year has been by far the hardest for me in my career" ...
* Trot Nixon: Fastball pull hitter who thinks right and right-centre ... Has difficulty laying off the high heat from lefthanded pitchers, against whom he struggles to pick up the ball sometimes ... Likes the ball in and can be frozen on the outside corner ...
* Tim Wakefield: Watch out for his sneaky get-ahead fastball as his first pitch in an at-bat ... His knuckler remains prone to gopherism, when it sails on him ... Doug Mirabelli remains his personal catcher ... His two-seam fastball breaks away from lefties. It's far less effective against righties ...
* Edgar Renteria: Not trusted by Red Sox fans offensively, and he's hearing boos at Fenway ... Has hit a woeful .198/.238/.242 in September ... Having difficulty laying off pitches on the inner half ... Still has that gun of a throwing arm at short, but suffering from some concentration lapses in the field. His hands have been very poor ...
* Bronson Arroyo: Does not have an overpowering four-seam fastball. He needs to keep it in on the fists of lefties, or it's vulnerable ... Will hang his slider on occasion. When it's on, though, it breaks late enough to backdoor lefthanded hitters ... Very difficult to run on, such that it's not worth it to even try a hit-and-run ...
* Matt Clement: After a 10-2, 3.85 first half, Clement has posted a mere 3-4, 5.61 line in the second ... Tossed six shutout innings at the Orioles in his last start, but walked six batters and flirted with trouble ... Throws a sharp slider that doesn't fool lefthanded hitters, especially out over the plate ... But it does fool righthanders. He starts it on the outside corner, and it runs away from righties ...
