Thoughtful and righteous Redsock Nation celebrates last night's brawl as sign of hope

"Really, it was a test. The Red Sox passed."

So writes "Beer Keg" Rob Bradford, co-author of the acclaimed "Deep Drive: A Long Journey to Discovering the Champion Within," this morning for WEEI, the Redsocks' version of Sinclair Broadcasting. What seemed like a loss last night was actually... a victory!

"Not only did Kelly execute the strategic offering in fine fashion, but then he invited the Yankee to throw fists," Beer Keg magically soliloquizes, in what reads like an audition for Drunk History. "The image of the reliever yelling out to Austin, "Let's go!" was what the people wanted more than anything." 

So goes today's Redsock narrative: Cora's plucky upstarts, having tasted their own blood for the first time since opening day, rose from the trenches and charged the front, fists curled. Joey the Gloves had his pitcher throw at Tyler Austin - 98 miles into the ribs on a cold night. Such courage! Such spirit! Boston went down - well - jeez, how would you say they went down?

Yes, that's it! Those heroic Cowboy Uppers went down throwing bean balls and fists. They did the right thing. They treated an old school slide into second base like the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, and ordered their pitcher to throw at a Yankee. Let's halt nominations for SI's "Sportsman of the Year" award; Joey Cora has it wrapped up. Then again, maybe he wasn't quick enough on the payback trigger.

Hmm. That's a legitimate concern. Why did Cora wait so late to order the bean ball of justice? Could it be he didn't want to give Yankee pitchers multiple chances to retaliate? And why just hit Austin in the ribs? Why not the head? Because he's such a humanitarian?

Today, Joe "Machine Gun" Kelly claims his pitch just - wink, wink - got away. What champions. And last night was a test, all right - a test of MLB's willingness to market brawls (See Rockies/Padres.) Today's headlines? Hooray! they're already fightin'!

Listen: I recognize the game has an unwritten rule of protecting players through the selective use of purpose pitches. Last night, Boston took a minor, questionable event and accelerated it into a surefire brawl, the kind where players can get seriously hurt. When Kelly hit Austin, everybody knew the implications: It was done on purpose, and it would escalate into violence. They did it because they were behind in the game, and felt they had nothing to lose. Such sportsmen. And today the Redsock Nation is a-hoppin' mad, looking for more blood. We know where this is going: Someone will pay a huge price, and MLB can sell more tickets to the fights. Last night, Boston passed Beer Keg Rob's test. It's their long journey to discovering the champion within.