SoxFan had fallen asleep shortly after the score became 7-0:

... Awoken by a ping on my cell phone and a message on the screen from a former employee who I knew was at the game, I instantly knew. The message said, simply, "oh my".

Oh my. Oh my indeed.

Ellie was in full texting mode:

... I was furiously texting my brother after Big Papi's homer, and I had not even sent the message when Drew went yard. (His return text looked something like this: J.D. Drew *^%#@&*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) And then Drew comes through again with the walk-off base hit. Drew's response? Oh, yeah, whatevs. I was just trying to relax. And it just happened to work out that we won. Lah-dee-dah, ho hum.

But J.D.? You have no idea.

Denton was also texting:

... Last night, when the Rays went up 7-0, I texted a friend "I just became a Phillies fan," signalling my acceptance of defeat.

Luckily, the Red Sox do not give up as easily as I, and they live to fight again. ...

Kristen exults:

... The way I figure it, the Sox pretty much had no business getting past the Angels (now there's a team with a self-fulfilling prophecy) so any games beyond those were gravy. And any games that end the way last night's did are just especially delicious gravy. Like the homemade Thanksgiving kind your grandmother whips up. (Speaking of my grandmother...[Rays fan - Ed.]) So really, we should just be excited we get at least one more game. And to those fans who are booing? Knock it off, you ingrates. This team doesn't owe you anything. Stop being assholes and enjoy watching more baseball than 28 other teams are getting. Suck it up. ...

Berryjooks doesn't get it:

... What's with these guys and the ALCS? And how about the Citgo sign spontaneously combusting yesterday? This is getting spooky. ...

Bruce Allen: Simply amazing.

Cameron Martin reports:

In the middle of the 7th inning, with the Red Sox trailing the Rays 7-0, my wife abandoned the vigil and went to bed. I told her I was staying up, because the Red Sox, while lifeless, heartless and completely inert, had been a big part of my life for six-plus months. I owed it to this team (to myself) to watch it through to its morbid, inevitable finale, even though it felt like watching your friend go to the gallows. ...

Beth considers the way fans at Fenway came back to life:

... I've seen this kind of thing happen before--I've been at the park at times when the fans have collectively decided, the heck with this, we're coming back. It doesn't happen every time, but when it does, it's like there's a hive-mind coming to life, and a nearly palpable electricity begins to fill the place up.

The players respond to this. I've seen it. I've seen them start to mill about more busily in the dugout as the crowd grows louder. I've seen them stride to the plate with more purpose with the roar at their backs.

But I don't think I've seen it happen quite this way before. ...

Amy :The Red Sox have me speechless:

Welcome back, Big Papi.. oh how I’ve missed you.

The Boston Baseball Head: It Is Not OVAH!

Over the Monster: Savor the moment, Sox fans:

The bats are back. The sleeper has awakened. And we're coming for you, Tampa.

Peter N: We should be proud of our team...I know I am:

As always, be well. I love every one of you. I love the Boston Red Sox, too.

Daryl: My heart is pounding like crazy.

Noternie: Holy crap!

Margalit: OMG. Just OMG.

Teddy Kokoros: On to game 6, biatches!!!

... I promise J.D. that no matter how many games you miss next year or how many Double plays you hit in to, I will never make fun of you again. Big Papi does not go out like a punk biatch; Tampa Bay, if you thought you where going to get though a playoff series without a Papi moment, you where wrong. ...

Keewee: Thanks so much TBS, for jinxing the game with extensive discussion of a Phillies-TB World Series during like, the fifth fucking inning.

Pax Arcana: Now can I tell Gerry Callahan to suck my balls?