essence of fisk

When you can evoke the memory of Carlton Fisk in Boston, you’ve done something kinda special. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the onetime Mississippi Braves catcher, did so by getting the game-winning hit for the Red Sox on Sunday in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series. His opposite-field RBI single in the bottom of the ninth capped a huge rally and kept Boston from falling behind 2-0 in the series against Detroit. It was a big hit, and history served to amplify the moment. The last time a Red Sox catcher got a walk-off postseason hit was in 1975 — when Fisk famously homered down the left-field line to beat Cincinnati in Game 6 of the World Series. Saltalamacchia arrived in Mississippi in 2006 as Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect. He scuffled that first year with the Double-A M-Braves but hit .309 with six homers in 22 games in 2007 before getting the big league call. Essentially blocked in Atlanta by the presence of Brian McCann, then in just his third season, Salty was traded to Texas in the summer of ’07 as part of the Mark Teixeira deal. The switch-hitting Saltalamacchia, with the longest surname in MLB history at 14 letters, has never really become the star he was once projected to be. His career average is .246 and he has 78 homers over seven seasons. But 2013 was his best all-around year: .273, 14 homers, 65 RBIs, 40 doubles, 68 runs in 121 games. And now he has made a postseason memory, earning mention in the same sentence with the great Carlton Fisk. Of course, if the Sox don’t win the ALCS, Salty’s big hit, unlike Fisk’s, likely won’t stand the test of time.