Price puts October failures behind him
Red Sox lefty looks to write new legacy against the Dodgers, writes Rob Longley.
There are playoff games in David Price’s checkered playoff past that he’s certain could have gone the other way.
And yes Blue Jays fans, Game 2 of the 2015 ALCS in Kansas City was certainly one of them.
After allowing a leadoff single in the first inning of that game at Kauffman Stadium, Price was brilliant in retiring the next 18 batters he faced, and seemingly well on his way to breaking his playoff winless streak three years earlier than he finally did.
We’ll keep the gory details brief, though Jays fans remember them well. After a routine pop-up to lead off the seventh that second baseman Ryan Goins let drop, the Royals erupted for a five-run inning on the way to a 6-3 victory and 2-0 series lead. The Jays would never recover.
“There are games (like that one) that I’m sure I could have won, and there are others where I didn’t pitch that well,” said Price, who gets the start for the Red Sox in Game 2 of the World Series here at Fenway Park on Wednesday night. “Everything happens for a reason. Everything leading up to my last start made it all the more special.
“I have definitely had more downs than ups in October, but I’ve got a lot of baseball left. That’s why I came to Boston. I knew we would be in this position year in and year out.”
Price isn’t shy about speaking of the relief that came with last week’s epic effort in Houston in Game 5 of the ALCS, his first playoff win in 11 career starts. At age 33, he prides himself on trying to take the good ones with the bad, as evenly as possible.
But that game had huge implications beyond the veteran lefthander’s personal post-season bugaboos. It allowed the Red Sox to easily dispatch the World Series champion Astros in a 4-1 ALCS series win, was an important validation of their 108-win season, and also earned the team some rest time.
But during that game — and while warming up for a possible relief effort the previous night — Price felt he unearthed something in his delivery that was going to play well against the Astros. So on three days’ rest, he was Mr. Clutch and Mr. Clinch all in one.
“It started in the bullpen the night before and it carried over into that start,” Price said. “For sure, I found something that I do believe helped me, just something that helped my delivery flow a little bit better, put my arms more on time for every throw.”
Generally laid-back to begin with, Price was particularly so when talking about what will be his third World Series appearance, but his first start, and first action since he was a rookie reliever with the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays.
“I definitely enjoy this a little bit more now that there are a couple of questions I’m not going to have to answer right now,” Price said. “It’s definitely a weight lifted off me for sure. Not like food tastes better or anything like that, but it was time.
“I’m glad that the time came, and we moved past it, and I look forward to doing the same thing (on Wednesday).”
Price has had his doubters among the notably harsh Red Sox fan base, and the occasional runin with the media, as well. That’s going to come with a contract like the seven-year, US$217-million deal he signed with Boston in December 2015, ending his one-year stint with the Jays.
But as has been the case through much of his career, he’s well-respected in the Boston clubhouse, and an important ear for the pitching staff.
“Playing with him the last couple of years and seeing the ups and downs he’s had, and how he’s carried himself and learned throughout them, he’s just grown,” Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel said. “It’s what you want to see, especially from a leader of a ball club.
“I couldn’t be happier for what he was able to do the other night, to put us in this position.”
For the most part, Price has handled his playoff failures well enough. And the competitor in him made him keenly aware of its prominence in his legacy. Yet he never ran and hid from it, or made excuses, like he easily could have done in that critical loss with the Jays. It never dulled Price’s drive, nor did it diminish his passion for the sport.
“I always enjoy doing this,” Price said. “Just because I failed in October for about nine straight years, it didn’t take away my passion for baseball. This is something I fell in love with when I was two years old.”