None of those eyeballs, however, will be seeing the games as clearly or thoroughly than those behind the spectacles of Terry Francona or those beneath the low red brim of Mike Scioscia.
The two managers are among the best in the business — their records (Francona: 565-407 with the Red Sox; Scioscia: 900-720 with the Angels) speak for themselves.
Francona’s Red Sox have gotten the better of Scioscia’s Angels in their three postseason meetings, with Boston going 9-1 since 2004. Still, the combination of a potent Angels lineup and a healthy pitching staff has Red Sox Nation standing on its toes heading into the series.
So who holds the advantage? That’s hard to say, but The Boston Globe’s Tony Massarotti wasn’t afraid to take a stab at it.
“The real questions from the dugout will come with the Angels in whether or not they make mistakes with their aggressiveness that could come back to haunt them,” Massarotti said on NESN’s SportsDesk, citing last year’s failed suicide squeeze play in the decisive Game 4 of the ALDS.
“Both of these guys are elite managers,” he said. “Picking one over the other is extremely difficult. But because of the variable with the Angels’ style of play, [there is] a slight edge to the Red Sox because they typically don’t make mistakes that hurt them.”
Check out all of Tony Maz’s commentary in the video below:
