Kid can take the heat

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BOSTON -- Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett (pictured at left) has never lacked for confidence, dating to his high school days in Texas when he answered to the nickname Kid Heat and had the word ‘phenom’ stitched into his letterman’s jacket.

But as Joe Namath proved, it ain’t bragging if you can do it. And Beckett, who has never played on a losing team in a postseason series, can add to his growing resume as a big-money pitcher Sunday when he goes to the mound at Fenway Park with a chance to eliminate the Angels from the playoffs.

‘A lot of it has to do with opportunity,’ Beckett said Saturday, referring to his October successes. ‘Put into situations to succeed you take advantage of them. A lot of it comes down to preparation and being put in that [situation].’

Cockiness doesn’t hurt, though. As a 23-year-old, Beckett made his first start at Yankee Stadium in Game 6 of the World Series, and before the game he was asked whether he was intimated by Yankees lore, specifically the monuments beyond the center-field wall. Beckett, after all, was pitching for the upstart Florida Marlins at the time.

‘Why would I be intimidated? They’re just plaques,’ he said. ‘I’m not facing those guys.’

Against the living Yankees, he threw a complete game to win a championship ring and a World Series MVP award. He’ll get a chance at another helping of both if he beats the Angels on Sunday night.

‘If there was any better way to script it to finish off the series,’ teammate Mike Lowell said, ‘it would be with him on the mound.’

-- Kevin Baxter