The New Mr. October

After a regular season in which he wrote a few columns containing many subtle and not so subtle digs & criticisms about the subject, Shank is now singing his praises.

David Price has morphed into Jim Lonborg/Luis Tiant/Josh Beckett/Jon Lester. Dare we say Curt Schilling? Boston’s much-maligned $217 million southpaw — a dartboard ornament for most of his three seasons at Fenway — is suddenly the Mr. October of the Red Sox pitching staff.

After a lifetime of historic postseason failure (zero wins in 11 postseason starts), Price has found his playoff mojo at the precise moment it matters most. On the heels of his series-clinching Game 5 masterpiece in Houston last week, Price on Wednesday dazzled the Dodgers, allowing only three hits in six innings of a 4-2 Red Sox victory in Game 2 of the World Series. J.D. Martinez delivered the winning runs with a two-run, two-out single to right in the fifth. Sox pitchers retired the final 16 Dodger batters.

Fortunately, that's it for the 'column', which doesn't bore you with any of that silly game recap stuff.