The Cleveland Indians are looking for their sixth World Series berth in franchise history tonight. They lost Game 5 in both 1995 and 1997 before winning the ALCS on the road. The Red Sox will try to stretch this thing to a seventh game Sunday night.

Terry Francona benched Coco Crisp, inserting Jacoby Ellsbury, a promising rookie from Oregon State, into center field. And Eric Wedge is starting Trot Nixon in right field. “Trot has obviously played so many games here in right field, big games, in the postseason,” Wedge said.

Terrific weather here. About 65 degrees, I think, and the flag is barely moving in the breeze. Perfect setting for an October classic.

Indians

1. Grady Sizemore CF (.306 postseason batting average)

2. Asdrubal Cabrera 2B (.237)

3. Travis Hafner DH (.200)

4. Victor Martinez C (.333)

5. Ryan Garko 1B (.333)

6. Jhonny Peralta SS (.361)

7. Kenny Lofton LF (.306)

8. Trot Nixon RF (.375)

9. Casey Blake 3B (.222)

RHP Fausto Carmona (0-0, 3.46 ERA)

Red Sox

1. Dustin Pedroia 2B (.212)

2. Kevin Youkilis 1B (.355)

3. David Ortiz DH (.500)

4. Manny Ramirez LF (.440)

5. Mike Lowell 3B (.276)

6. J.D. Drew RF (.259)

7. Jason Varitek C (.200)

8. Jacoby Ellsbury CF (.000)

9. Julio Lugo SS (.214)

RHP Curt Schilling (1-0, 3.86)

I came to Fenway Park today determined to write my off-day story with an angle that was broader than Curt Schilling pitching Game 6 and the bloody sock revisited. Sounds good in theory, but then you get here, and he’s on a teleconference, pouring out his soul again.

He’s afraid of failing tomorrow, he said. After the Game 2 loss, he said, “This one’s on me,” and today, he added, “We put ourselves in this position, and I helped put us in this position for better or worse. I’ve got the ball tomorrow, and if I can do what I know I’m capable of doing and I can execute, we can win. And if I don’t, it’s going to be very, very tough.”

Yes, Schilling always seems to make it about him, but he’s simply a captivating figure. He spoke today about his envy for Josh Beckett and how that used to be him before he changed himself into a finesse pitcher this season, out of necessity. A sampling:

“There’s always fear. I mean, I’m scared to death to go out and fail tomorrow. I’m terrified of letting my teammates down and the fan base down and this organization down because they’re counting on me to survive, and to get past another day. But I’m also very cognizant of the fact that that fear is something that has always driven me and always pushed me.”

Looking back on the Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS, he said, “The Yankee lineup in ‘04 was as good an offense as I’ve ever faced. I was basically pitching on a broken foot with a lot less stuff than I have now, and I gave up one run over seven innings. There’s no excuse for me not to be able to go out tomorrow with what I have now and pitch as good if not better.”

Anyway, I’ve got some ideas on how to write this story and not make it all about Schill, but he had about 10 quotes that were lights out. As one Boston writer put it, he brought his A-Game today. The Indians don’t arrive here for another hour. Will be interesting to hear what Eric Wedge says about the struggles of Travis Hafner and some others. Terry Francona really sounds like he’s ready to bench Coco Crisp and replace him with Jacoby Ellsbury, though he wouldn’t say it. Some players rise to the pressure in elimination games, and other players seem to shrink. Hmmm. There’s an idea.

I just spotted this story at ESPN.com:

Teams have been known to go to extraordinary lengths to get an edge. But the Cleveland Indians swear Thursday night’s choice of pre-game singer is not a piece of gamesmanship.

Danielle Peck, a country music singer who also happened to date Red Sox ace pitcher Josh Beckett, will sing the national anthem and “God Bless America” at tonight’s Game 5 in Cleveland. Beckett is scheduled to start the game for Boston.

“It’s an incredible coincidence. Honestly,” said Indians spokesman Bob DiBiasio.

Update: I heard Ms. Peck practicing the anthem about 20 minutes ago but didn’t see her. None of the Red Sox were on the field. Please note that while I credited ESPN for the above note, it was reported in today’s Cleveland Plain Dealer. … Reporters were huddled here, listening to the Yankees teleconference after the news that Joe Torre had turned down the team’s one-year, $5 million offer. To understand the impact, here’s a terrific piece by Buster Olney.

Finally, here are the lineups for Game 5:

Red Sox (1-3)

1. Dustin Pedroia 2B (.172 postseason average)
2. Kevin Youkilis 1B (.333)
3. David Ortiz DH (.500)
4. Manny Ramirez LF (.429)
5. Mike Lowell 3B (.280)
6. Bobby Kielty RF (.500)
7. Jason Varitek 3B (.192)
8. Coco Crisp CF (.192)
9. Julio Lugo SS (.208)
RHP Josh Beckett (2-0, 1.20 ERA)

Indians (3-1)

1. Grady Sizemore CF (.281)
2. Asdrubal Cabrera 2B (.235)
3. Travis Hafner DH (.226)
4. Victor Martinez C (.344)
5. Ryan Garko 1B (.348)
6. Jhonny Peralta 2b (.406)
7. Kenny Lofton LF (.333)
8. Franklin Gutierrez RF (.182)
9. Casey Blake 3B (.212)
LHP C.C. Sabathia (1-1, 10.61 ERA)

Manny Ramirez didn’t conduct interviews this season and spoke only once or twice during the Division Series, so reporters flocked today when he started holding court in the Boston clubhouse. Ramirez, of course, was a part of the miracle comeback from the 3-0 ALCS deficit to the Yankees in 2004. But here are two quotes that probably won’t sit too well with the diehard fans of Red Sox Nation.

“I think we’ll be fine. We’ve got a great team. And if it doesn’t happen, we’ll come next year and try to do it again.”

He later added, “If it doesn’t happen, who cares? There’s always next season. It’s not like it’s the end of the world.”

I thought it was utterly foolish the way Manny reacted to his home run last night, which capped the back-to-back-to-back sequence following Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz but still left the Red Sox trailing 7-3. Then again, I like the fact Manny is his own person. He’s a character. And at least with him, it’s never boring.

“Man, I’m just happy to do something special,” he said today of the reaction. “I’m not trying to show up anybody. I’m just trying to go have fun. If somebody strikes me out and shows me up, that’s part of the game. I like that. I like to compete, and when people strike me out, and they show me up, there’s no hard feelings.”

Walking into the Cleveland clubhouse last night was like stepping back in time. This is the 2007 ALCS, but for a few minutes, a few of us were reliving the 1987 ALCS.

Victor Martinez and Josh Barfield were playing a video game. That’s a pretty regular sight in any clubhouse these days, but they were going old-school, playing RBI Baseball on the old Nintendo Entertainment System. I looked closer, and it was Twins vs. Tigers from 1987. Kid you not.

Suddenly, Martinez lifted his arms in triumph. Bruno had just taken Doyle Alexander deep.

OK, now I’m riveted. I needed some Kenny Lofton quotes for my game story, but I was in no hurry. Some of the Cleveland reporters wanted comment from Martinez on Game 3 of this ALCS, but he wasn’t budging. Barfield had manufactured a run against Blyleven. It was 1-1.

A few minutes later, Martinez got all excited again. Brunansky crushed another one, and Victor’s arms went up again, but this time, it went off the wall. I’m thinking: Kids these days. He was so busy pimping, he didn’t have Bruno running hard, and Barfield held him to a single.

Tom Kelly would have been furious.

It was 2-1 Twins heading into the fourth inning. I made the rounds, listening in as other reporters quizzed Ryan Garko and Joe Borowski. Stopped by the TV again, and those Cleveland reporters were still waiting for Martinez.

Any Tigers fan could have predicted what was coming next. Doyle Alexander folded like a cheap suit, just like he did twice in the 1987 ALCS. Barfield didn’t go to his bullpen, and pretty soon it was too late. G-Man went deep. Puckett split the gap. Then Hrbek delivered the dagger, a two-run blast deep into the stands.

Martinez was taunting the 24-year-old Barfield now.

I said, “Doyle Alexander? Yeah, who needs John Smoltz anyway?”

Martinez, 28, just ignored me. Probably had no idea what I meant.

I was sorry I had to go. But with a 5-1 lead, and Berenguer and Reardon waiting in the bullpen, I knew where this was going.