I can't ignore the collapse of the Red Sox the other night. I can't just sweep it under the rug as I have in my own mind so I feel like I should address it on here. For the record, this loss wasn't as disappointing as the 2003 Red Sox loss to the Yankees or the Bruins 3-0 series lead collapse to the Flyers. That was actually in the playoffs with our minds set on winning a title. We had a full month to realize this time wasn't going to win the World Series. Our dreams didn't come crashing down in one or two nights. There are so many things to talk about but I think the final few minutes of the Orioles game basically summed up the entire season. We couldn't get timely hits, we made base running blunders, our pitching sucked, injuries were prevalent, and Carl Crawford can't shine under the bright lights.
We couldn't get a timely hit to save our lives, or perhaps Tito's job. Ortiz left Ellsbury at third when all he needed was a sac fly or hit to almost any part of the infield for him to score. Rookie Ryan Lavarnway, who hit two home runs the night before, left nine runners stranded. Terry Francona made a poor decision by placin Lavarnway behind Gonzalez in the lineup. This allowed Buck Showalter and the Orioles to pitch around Gonzalez and face the rookie catcher Lavarnway instead. He couldn't produce when needed. You could make the argument that if Youkilis was healthy our lineup would have been deeper and Gonzalez definitely would have had protection. I'm not going to sit here and say injuries cost us to miss the playoffs because we should have made it anyways, but it definitely didn't help that Buchholz and Youk missed the majority of the season. We had plenty of chances to pad our one run lead throughout the game, including the ninth inning, but couldn't manage to produce runs. In the end it cost us the game.
There were mishaps and blunders made by both the players and the coaches which overshadowed some terrific plays. Ortiz was a bit unlucky by hitting the ball so hard off the right field wall he was limited to a single in the fifth inning I believe. His next time up he tried to stretch out a double and was gunned down at second. Marco Scutaro, who helped turn a terrific double play to bail out Lester, also made a key base running mistake by hesitating around third base on a Crawford double and was consequently thrown out at home. We needed that insurance run and ended up losing the game 4-3 when in reality it should have been at least 4-4.
Our pitching sucked for the most part with Lester not being as good as we needed him to be and Papelbon blowing the save. Aceves hit two guys on three pitches but was able to get out of the inning. He was our best pitcher down the stretch and even he couldn't find the plate. Our pitching is the main reason why we didn't easily make the playoffs as the team ERA in the month of September was over seven. Lester, who was thought to be a Cy Young candidate at the start of the season, was nothing more than solid this year. He didn't live up to the expectations this year and more importantly he couldn't stop the bleeding when the Red Sox needed him to get a win and help the team. Our other starting pitchers helped lead to this collapse as well. Beckett, who started off the season great, ended up being terrible down the stretch. Whether it was due to injury, or like many people say, poor conditioning, Beckett wasn't our "ace" by any means and couldn't get a key win down the stretch. His best days may be behind him as he hasn't been any where close to a dominant pitcher the past few seasons. Our worst pitcher of the season was John Lackey. This guy should be gone next year and I don't think I even have to explain how bad he was. Who knows what Dice-K's status is as he may have pitched his final game, ironically against the Orioles, with the Red Sox in May. Bobby "six-million dollar a year" Jenks was nowhere to be found this year. He is signed through next year as well, adding to the horrible acquisitions by Theo Epstein.
My last point about game 162 is the the final play with Carl Crawford. He should have been able to make that catch. He sucked all year long and couldn't make a key play when we needed him to. He couldn't shine under the bright lights that shine wherever Boston goes. He was used to playing in small market Tampa Bay. Same is to be said about Adrian Gonzalez. Sure he had a great start to the year but how did he finish? He started rambling about God after the game blaming him for the Red Sox collapse. He is used to playing in small market San Diego and said the schedule threw him off this year. He asked why San Diego doesn't play Sunday night games. Because they suck Adrian that's why. If you ever want to win a title, get used to playing in front of a national audience. Who cares what time the game is and realize that God doesn't control baseball. So put in the time and work in the offseason and come in ready for spring training. That message goes out to everyone.
My thinking about this collapse is that just about every collapse Boston has had recently caused big things to happen the following year. For instance, when the Red Sox and Grady Little collapsed against the Yankees in the 2003 ALCS, they came back and won the World Series the next year. When the Bruins made history by blowing a commanding 3-0 series lead against the Flyers two years ago, they came back and won the Stanley Cup. My point is that sometimes it takes a team to go through a collapse like this in order for them to set forth on a mission to win it all. They won't be laid back or relaxed during the season ever again. They hopefully will come into spring training next year determined to work extremely hard and do whatever it takes to win. That is what happened to the 2004 Red Sox and the 2010-11 Bruins. Let's hope they can follow suit as I'm gunna throw out a "Jim Fassel Guarantee" that the Red Sox go to the World Series next year. Thank god September is over. Lets go Patriots and Bruins.
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