MVP Effort for Ramirez

A roar went up from the crowd as soon as Manny Ramirez connected. By the time the ball cleared the center-field fence, Boston Red Sox fans were delirious, chanting, “MVP, MVP, MVP.”

A perfect Fenway moment.

Yet, this was more than 3,000 miles from Copley Square, making two things very apparent. First, the Angels can’t keep every Red Sox fan out of Angel Stadium, and, second, there are some folks who think Vladimir Guerrero’s MVP coronation might be a whole lot of half-baked beans.

Ramirez put up the numbers Tuesday in Game 1 of the American League division series, knocking some Boston Commons sense into the Angels and their fans during the Red Sox’s 9-3 victory.

Ramirez doubled and scored in the first inning, giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead, then removed all doubt with a monster three-run home run that capped the Red Sox’s seven-run fourth inning.

A most-valuable-player kind of afternoon.

Yet getting an MVP answer out of Ramirez was like Scot Shields trying to sneak a changeup past him in the fourth. Impossible.

“I don’t worry about that,” Ramirez said. “I put up the numbers. It’s not my choice. All I can do is put up the numbers. Other people have the choice.”

Ramirez opted for a humble approach even after hitting the 17th postseason home run of his career.

“I just wanted to get the win,” Ramirez said.

“It didn’t matter how we did it.”

Still, this was the stuff MVPs are made of, or so the clusters of Red Sox fans expressed as Ramirez made his way back to the dugout after his home run.

His Game 1 performance came on the heels of a season in which he led the American League with 43 home runs -- the seventh consecutive season he has hit 30 or more -- while driving in 130 runs.

“Manny, he’s a perennial MVP candidate,” Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon said. “I know there’s a lot of tough competition for that this season, but he’s the best right-handed hitter in the game.”

Guerrero, meanwhile, was a hitless right-handed batter Tuesday.

There has been much talk about Guerrero’s being the American League’s most valuable player, justified by the way he lugged the Angels to the playoffs with a September to remember -- 10 home runs, 23 runs batted in and 24 runs scored.

But Guerrero came up empty Tuesday, ending his and the Angels’ afternoon by striking out in the ninth.

“One thing about Vlad, this was his first playoff game and you want him to take the same approach,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “I don’t think there was anything he was trying to do that was extraordinary.”

Ramirez did little that was out of the ordinary -- for him.

With two out in the first, Ramirez doubled off third baseman Chone Figgins’ glove. He scored when Ortiz rolled a single into right field, giving the Red Sox and starter Curt Schilling a one-run lead.

The Red Sox provided Schilling a greater cushion in the fourth, polished off by Ramirez’s towering home run.

“I just look for a pitch I can drive,” Ramirez said. “That’s all I do out there. I don’t try to put any pressure on myself. If it happens, it happens.”

Which pretty much covers Ramirez’s opinion on the MVP thing as well.