The epic collapse has happened. Goodbye, Boston Red Sox. I'm sure every man on the roster would want to forget this season which has been the ultimate failure. Meltdown, going 7-20 in the month of September, unable to win consecutive games. The Baltimore Orioles who were destined to lose a hundred games, snagged wins from the Red Sox, preventing the ugly century mark from happening. They won five games against Boston. The final blow for the Red Sox came with Robert Andino (who is better known as the Red Sox killer in Beantown) lining that ball out into left field which scored the winning run. It was supposed to be a routine play, Carl Crawford should have caught that ball for the final out in the 9th inning, sending the game into extra innings. But not this year, fellas.
Jonathan Papelbon blew yet another save, the Red Sox pitchers could not go deep into the innings. Jon Lester was a flop. John Lackey was a big disaster. He was the weakest link. Josh Beckett was erratic. The lineup couldn't hit to save their lives. David Ortiz failed to come up in the clutch. The management signing Carl Crawford to that 142 million dollar contract for seven years looks like a failure. Crawford was a bust. Adrian Gonzalez sure did put up big numbers, but when it came to winning games, he was unable to come through. Oh, and the bullpen faltered and had a dreadful ERA. Daniel Bard. I believe he racked up a 35 ERA in September. What? You kidding me? It happened!
Tampa Bay played with a fighting spirit and never give up attitude. The Red Sox were punks, self centered and egoistic. High payroll, but failing to make the playoffs in consecutive years. They were up by such a huge margin at the start of September, then came the losses piling up, and the Rays winning games in a hurry.
Welcome to a long, bitter cold winter. Terry Francona might be fired, Theo Epstein could be gone too, Papelbon is a free agent, and whether or not he returns remains to be seen.
Hey, at least you have companionship in the collapse, Red Sox. The Atlanta Braves are sent packing for the offseason. They imploded too. Horrible pitching. And the St Louis Cardinals prevailed. What the sporting nation saw this month is a total whirlwind. A nightmare come true for the Red Sox and Braves fans. No lead is safe for a wildcard/playoff spot. Overconfident and cockiness got the best of both teams, especially the Red Sox. As Chris Daughtry sings, "Never saw it coming, should have started running, a long long time ago..." Both teams should have done so. So many questions will haunt the teams, decisions to be made, for the front office and roster. The leads evaporated and it came down to game number 162, the final game of the season on September 28. Boston and Atlanta had a chance to win their respective games, and force at least a one-game playoff the very next day, but they failed to do so. Atlanta had chances in the extra innings, and they were doomed.
In Yankee land, I'm sure that the fans are pleased to see that the evil empire and nemesis is out!
No comments:
Post a Comment