BOSTON — There’s a distinct buzz around Boston and, more specifically, Fenway Park. But it’s business as usual in the Red Sox’ clubhouse.
There’s a sense of calmness shared by both the players and the manager in advance of Game 6 of the World Series at Fenway Park. The Red Sox seem to understand that closing out the Cardinals is going to be no easy task, and therefore, the approach that’s gotten Boston this far hasn’t changed one bit.
“I think we’re pretty loose. The feel that’s down there [in the clubhouse] is a good one,” manager John Farrell said Wednesday. “I think what really stood out is following Game 5 in St. Louis, there was nothing out of the ordinary. And what I mean by that it was almost reminiscent of when we secured a spot to advance into the postseason. There was no celebration. There was no getting ahead of ourselves. That was the case again after Game 5, and that’s carried over to today.
“Our guys know where we are. We know what’s in front of us here tonight and possibly tomorrow. But the mood coming in, the early work that’s taken place, very consistent.”
The sense of tranquility hardly extends beyond the clubhouse walls and the field of play. Fenway Park — and the area surrounding the ballpark — is oozing with energy leading up to Game 6. Wednesday’s Game 6 marks just the fourth time ever that Fenway has hosted a Game 6 of the World Series, and the first time since 1975.
“It’s the atmosphere that’s created in here,” Farrell said of Fenway. “You could say it’s the wall, it’s the triangle, it’s any number of things, but it’s what comes to life here every night is the thing that stands out for me. Our fans, much like we came from in St. Louis, when you’re in a ballpark that people know the game, they anticipate situations that are building, and to see it explode when something positive happens, that’s the thing that stands out to me. And the electricity that it generates is awesome.”
The Red Sox, owners of a 3-2 series lead, are certainly in the driver’s seat. Of the previous 62 times that the World Series has stood at 3-2, the team with the 3-2 lead has gone on to win the series 41 times (66.1 percent). The Cardinals are 8-1 in elimination games the last three Octobers, though, so the Red Sox aren’t allowing their focus to drift toward a championship parade.
“It’s the same focus that we’ve had since Day 1. We’ve got a game today,” Dustin Pedroia said. “We’re going to try our best to go out there and execute our pitch and play the game the right way and try to win that game. This is the game on the schedule that we have to play and try to win. That’s what we’re going to focus on.”
“I agree 100 percent, we’re focused on today,” Shane Victorino added. “We’re not worried about tomorrow. If tomorrow comes, tomorrow comes. But from Day 1, we’ve all focused on the game that’s in fronts of us. What we have tonight, we understand the magnitude. There’s a lot of excitement. And there’s a gentleman across the way (Michael Wacha) that’s been very good this whole postseason. We all understand and we’re just going to go out and give it a hundred percent and leave it on the field. It is what it is.”
The Red Sox haven’t clinched a World Series at home since 1918, so a victory in either Game 6 or Game 7 would set off one of the biggest parties this city has ever seen. For now, the Sox are doing what they can to ensure that the bash doesn’t get broken up before it gets started.
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