You know that old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, in this particular case, I beg to differ. These photos aren't worth two words because they don't begin to explain the epic failure that was the 2011 Boston Red Sox season. The pictures can't tell you that Boston paid Carl Crawford millions to play left field, it can't tell you that Brian Cashman secretly staged phony calls to make Boston think New York was on the verge of signing Crawford, just to make Boston shell out more cash to get their guy. They can't help you understand that this team was built like a 12 year old playing MLB2K 2011, compiling all the best players with the biggest salaries to make sure he goes undefeated and wins a prize that doesn't exist. These photos can't begin to explain how the Red Sox started slow in April, were the best team in baseball by mid July and then it can't even begin to help you understand how fast they plummeted back towards Earth, blowing a 9 game lead in the Wildcard race only to lose it in game 162 to the worst team in the AL East, the Baltimore Orioles.
What these pictures do tell you, is that it hurt, really bad. When you have high expectations in professional baseball, a fan base that calls themselves "Red Sox Nation" an owner and GM that have thrown money around as if they were the New York Yankees, all the while chastising New York for overspending and tainting the great game of baseball. Baseball is a very long season and for the average fan or for those who don't enjoy or love the game, I can understand that you think it's too long, too boring and not exciting enough to stay up late and watch every last pitch until the 27th out is made. But on the flip side of that coin, for those of us who love this game and have a burning desire to live every moment of it, last night was the winning lotto ticket. Game 162, Boston and Tampa tied for the AL Wildcard. Tampa hosting New York and finding themselves down 7-0 to the mighty Yankees in the bottom of the 8th inning. Boston leading most of the game in Baltimore only to implode in most spectacular fashion. Bottom 9th two out and ESPN honks are already counting chickens, talking about how they are going to live another day. Papelbon was dealing and the Orioles looked dead. That's when it all went South. Papelbon proceeded to blow the save and then give up the winning run in what capped the biggest tank job in the history of MLB. Now they were Yankee fans, hoping that New York could beat Tampa in extra innings and give Boston their 10th second chance of the season and send them to Tampa for a one game playoff Thursday. Well, they didn't have to wait long because less than three minutes later in Tampa, Even Longoria hit a 315 foot homer over the short, 315 foot porch in the left field corner to walk off the Yanks and clinch the Wildcard birth for the Rays. It was yet another example of why hardcore baseball fans love the cliche of "27 outs" and it reminds us of Yogi Berra quotes like "it ain't over til it's over" because as silly as that all sounds, it's a fact of baseball life.
Now comes the fun part. We get to rip Boston to shreds for blowing a 9 game lead in September, with a payroll that's second to only the hated Yankees. Of course, that brings up a very important question that tends to go overlooked when a team like Boston shoots themselves in the face like they did in the month of September. Did Boston completely blow it or did Tampa rip it from them? I'd have to say yes. Yes to both and that's about as simple as I can put it. Tampa has a payroll of $40 million this year. They have maybe 5 or 6 guys that the average baseball fan would recognize if they bumped into them at Starbucks. Ok, that's a lie. They have two players that might be recognized in that situation. But Tampa has something that can't be bought and it can't be easily explained. They have "it" and that's more special than having 7 all stars on your roster. They have guys who were told they weren't good enough to play in the big leagues, they have guys who refuse to quit, they have guys like Dan Johnson batting .107 on the season who steps up in the bottom of the 9th with two outs and the season on the line, only to tie the game with a long homer after only hitting one homer the entire season. They also have a manager, Joe Madden, who was the bench coach for Mike Scioscia in Anaheim for many years. A baseball lifer who forces his way out of the spotlight by trusting his players and working his ass off each day to prepare his club to perform in this exact moment. Make no mistake about it, somebody will pay the price for this failure. It won't be the players who lost the games and choked it away because when you pay players that much money, they don't take the fall. It will likely fall on the nicest guy in baseball and one of the best managers in the game, Terry Francona. Hell, the ax might even fall on Theo Epstein, GM of the club who has been the rumored to join the Chicago Cubs and help break yet another 100 year old curse. But make no mistake, someone is getting hacked.
Baseball is one of the few games that takes it on the chin by countless pundits ripping the game for not having a salary cap and not giving the goldfish an opportunity to compete with the great white sharks. Just when that topic gets beaten over the head with a shovel, this happens. It happens because baseball is a game that nobody can predict despite everyone trying. I found myself captivated by those two games last night, screaming at the TV and jumping up and down when both games ended and that's a simple reminder, in that moment, that baseball is America's pastime.
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