Lofton Again Denied of Title

By Mike Petraglia
SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON - He did his best to take a philosophical approach to the end of his latest attempt to win an elusive World Series ring. But the pain of yet another season without a title was all over Kenny Lofton's face following the Cleveland Indians' 11-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox in Game Seven of the American League Championship Series.

Lofton, who broke into the majors in 1991 with Houston, has made just two World Series appearances. Lofton was on the losing side as the Indians were beaten by the Atlanta Braves in six games in 1995. The outfielder came up short again in 2002 with San Francisco, when the Giants were five outs away from a title. In 2004, Lofton was on the Yankee team that became the first and only team in MLB history to blow a 3-0 series lead, dropping the final four games to the Red Sox. Sunday night was the latest chapter in a book filled with postseason frustration.

Leading off the fifth inning, Lofton lined Daisuke Matsuzaka's pitch over the head of former Indians teammate Manny Ramirez in left. Ramirez bare-handed the ball and fired a strike to Julio Lugo, who appeared to apply the tag just after Lofton's head-first slide. But Brian Gorman saw it differently as he called him out. "I was safe (in the fifth inning)," Lofton said. "He didn't tag me until I hit the base. He hit my chest." The controversial call proved to be pivotal as the Indians strung together two hits and a sacrifice fly, cutting the Boston lead to 3-2.

But the final insult would come two innings later as Lofton would reach second when Julio Lugo dropped a fly to shallow left field. Franklin Gutierrez followed with a grounder over the third base bag. The ball kicked off the wall and into shallow left field. Instead of scoring, third base coach Joel Skinner put the stop sign up at the last moment and Lofton, with a look of amazement, put on the brakes and held at third. "I do what I'm told," Lofton responded when asked if he were surprised. "That's the way life goes. I don't know what was going on behind me." "It caromed out. The ball kicks out there and you're not exactly sure what the angle is," Skinner explained. "You have to make a decision and that's what I did." The next batter, Casey Blake hit into a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play.

Now 40, Lofton will have to wait until 2008 for another chance at a ring. "At least I got the opportunity," he said of his 11th postseason without a title. "You just have to look at it as I had the opportunity and it didn't work out."