Talk Is Cheap When Actions Speak Loudly

Actions, and some non-actions, speak louder than words, as Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz reminded two baseball teams, three baseball announcers and millions of baseball fans with his playoff series-ending home run at Fenway Park on Friday.

For 10 innings, we heard ESPN’s announcing crew write the Angels off, write the Angels back in, praise Angel Manager Mike Scioscia for a grand slam hit by Vladimir Guerrero, praise Scioscia for a slick defensive play made by Alfredo Amezaga, praise Scioscia for pretty much everything involved in the Angel rally back from a five-run deficit in Game 3 of their American League division series because, well, surely the Angels on their own couldn’t have found their way back to the dugout against the mighty Red Sox.

It had to take a baseball genius to push the Angels (outscored in two games in Anaheim, 17-6) to the 10th inning of the third game of a three-game sweep against the Red Sox, who are so loaded they leave their manager, Terry Francona, with so little to do, he can take time out of a potential series-clinching game to conduct a fourth-inning interview with ESPN.

“Very kind of him to do that,” Chris Berman said of Francona. “A playoff game. You know, you have other things on your mind than to be wasting time with me, frankly.”

It was good of Berman to notice. Considering how much camera time ESPN gave Red Sox hitting coach Ron (Papa Jack) Jackson, it was easy to forget the Red Sox actually have a manager, and his name is Terry Francona.

(I was hoping Steven Tyler might give Francona a shout out when ESPN dispatched a reporter to interview the Aerosmith lead singer, a big Red Sox fan, mid-game. But the interview was conducted before the seventh inning, when Francona permitted a laboring Mike Timlin to pitch to Guerrero with the bases loaded. Grand slam, score tied at 6-6. It would have been interesting to interview Tyler about Francona right then. Steven? “Dude looks like a Grady!”)

Francona didn’t get much mention until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Ortiz reached first base on a two-out infield single and ESPN analyst Rick Sutcliffe urged the Red Sox manager to pinch-run for Ortiz.

Francona stayed put. He stayed with Ortiz. The Red Sox didn’t score in the eighth, but they did in the 10th, when Ortiz laid into the first pitch he saw from Jarrod Washburn -- just summoned by Scioscia to pitch to the left-handed power-hitter -- and ended the Angels’ season with one swing.

“In the end, too much thunder in the Boston lineup,” Berman said after watching Ortiz circle the bases. “Mike Scioscia made all the right moves, until the last one. David Ortiz was ready for Washburn. And the Red Sox win it, 8-6.”

Sutcliffe gave Francona his due.

“It comes down to a move that Terry Francona did not make,” Sutcliffe said. “We talked about it in the bottom of the eighth. He had Ortiz at first base. He had two outs. He could have pinch-run for Ortiz with Dave Roberts -- try to steal a base, maybe steal a ballgame.

“He did not make that move. He kept Ortiz’ bat in the ballgame. And it’s the difference in the series.”

Lesson learned?

Talk softly ... and stay with the big stick.

Available for viewing this weekend:

TODAY

* St. Louis Cardinals at Dodgers (Ch. 11, 5 p.m.)

The Angels are done in three, and the Dodgers are on the verge of the same. The great charge to the Freeway Series -- remember that one? -- could very well die on the onramp.

Still, if the Dodgers lose again, extending their post-Kirk Gibson playoff drought to 0-9, they will have executed better and performed more admirably than the Fox Sports Net TV crew that erased the tape it had of Thursday’s confrontation involving Dodger outfielder Milton Bradley and Times reporter Jason Reid.

The incident was news. That FSN crew was assigned to cover the news, regardless where it might happen. But because they were cowed by a “pretty big” Dodger public relations man who asked them to erase the tape, fearing the Dodgers might revoke their credentials, they acted like lap dogs -- even though Major League Baseball oversees credentialing during the playoffs, not individual teams.

Shouldn’t Journalism 101 be a prerequisite before stepping up to the NLDS?

* California at USC

(Ch. 7, 12:30 p.m.)

Big Saturday extends to the Coliseum, sold out for the rematch of the game that ruined USC’s undefeated season in 2003 and introduced chaos theory to the bowl championship series. Let’s see: Last Saturday, the Dodgers clinched the NL West over the Giants and the Angels clinched the AL West over the A’s. Does that suggest the inevitable completion of the Southern California sweep? Or does it mean that Northern California is finally due?

* Arizona at UCLA

(FSNW, 3:30 p.m.)

If the Bruins defeat Arizona while everyone is either watching the Dodgers or driving back from the USC game, did it really happen?

SUNDAY

* NASCAR Nextel Cup Banquet 400 (Ch. 4, 11 a.m.)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was penalized 25 points in the Nextel Cup championship race after cameras caught him cursing during an interview on NBC. Clearly, Earnhardt made two mistakes here. He used a forbidden word during a live interview. And he said it in front of a camera belonging to NBC, not Fox Sports Net.

* Oakland Raiders at Indianapolis Colts (Ch. 2, 10 a.m.)

In a CBS news release, Jim Nantz says “the Colts might be the best team in the NFL.” Go with the Raiders in an upset. Nantz also says “the Raiders will see a far sharper performance from Kerry Collins this week after his mistake-marred start in Houston.” Better stay with the Colts.