So there. For the 86th consecutive autumn, the Red Sox are not going to win the World Series. No baseball team in history has recovered from a 3-0 deficit and this most-promising Sox season in 18 years could be officially over tonight. Mercy.
Sox manager Terry Francona said, ''I can't bail. I won't bail on these guys. It was disappointing for everybody, but we're not done. I expect us to come out there tomorrow and play our [butts] off."
The first Fenway game of this much-hyped series could not have been more disastrous for Boston. The Sox embarrassed themselves with poor base running, inept pitching, and dubious managerial decisions. By any measure, it was an ignominious defeat as the locals succumbed without much trace of competition or honor. At least the 2003 team, the Grady Bunch, took the Yankees to the limit. That the Sox could play this poorly after the yearlong competition (on and off the field) between the century-old rivals, staggers the New England mind. "We've got to take our medicine like men," said Sox CEO Larry Lucchino.
Asked to comment on the level of disappointment, Lucchino said, "I'll reserve comment on that subject for internal discusion. It's a bitter pill for Red Sox Nation and the Red Sox organization."
Remember, this was really supposed to be the year. From the highest levels of management, a decision was made to fire all the guns at once. The Sox went out and got Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke, fired and hired a manager, waived Manny Ramirez, tried to trade for Alex Rodrigurez (who scored five runs for the Yankees last night), and traded the beloved Nomar Garciaparra. They beat the Yankees 11 times in 19 meetings and felt it was time to dethrone their New York nemeses.
It was all good in August, September, and into mid-October when the champagne flowed on the streets around Fenway after the sweep of the Angels in the Division Series. Sox fans had a lot of fun looking at that photo of Jason Varitek stuffing his catcher's mitt into the face of A-Rod in the July 24 brawl at Fenway.
