The Second Cup: Doug himself out of that hole

Sorry, had to steal the Herald’s game-story headline for Second Cup this morning. When something is just too good, something you just have to give props. So props to you, Herald editors. That’s some solid work there. Now, here’s some more, in “best of today’s papers” form:

You know, he may only be hitting .200, but Eric Hinske sure does seem to fit in with the Sox, doesn’t he? It doesn’t hurt when he launches home run bombs, either.

BOSTON HERALD

Far from done at age 41 - Look, I’ll admit it: Steve Buckley can get on my nerves. But this is a terrific piece detailing all that is brilliant about Tim Wakefield. You may be surprised by just how much there is.

Shaken Ortiz has crossed that bridge - It’s only a couple graphs, but Jeff Horrigan’s piece about Big Papi crossing the now fallen Minneapolis bridge is almost haunting in it’s brevity and poignance.

Doerr opens for Pedroia - Another nice Buckley piece, this time about Bobby Doerr’s affinity for Dustin Pedroia. Who knows, maybe I’m just really sappy today, but I thought this was solid, too. Buck’s getting to me.

PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Mirabelli saved face, and maybe game, for Sox - Joe Donaldson writes an impressive feature on the travails of being Doug Mirabelli. Now that would be a great sequel to that Malkovich flick, wouldn’t it?

Crisp got Sox off and running in 7th - Steve Krasner takes an interesting tact by leading the notebook with Coco Crisp, though he also hits on Jay Payton, Kevin Millar and other fascinating topics.

It’s Gagne time! You know what that means? Game OVER!!

BOSTON GLOBE

A stop-and-go win - I was leaning toward posting a game story from the Globe (sometimes you just want a good gamer, you know?) before the terrific headline, which of course alludes to Mirabelli’s running gaffe. After that, there was no question. Amalie Benjamin does a nice job of surrounding what has to be one of the more surreal instant redemption moments in recent Red Sox history, all within the threads of a strong existing piece.

– Cameron Smith