DEATHRAYS: Killer of the '08 Red Sox Season or They're Still Devils to Me

As a Red Sox fan it would be wrong for me to blame '08 on the baseball gods seeing how we won the big one in '04 and again in '07, but I feel cheated. At midnight on the 16th the Sox were shutout 7-0 with two outs in the seventh inning. They looked doomed, fit to spend the off-season wondering what happenend in the ALCS, left to ponder how they, a 95 win team, could look like something out of Williamsport. Admittedly, even after the miraculous comebacks in '04 and '07, I gave up. As I laid in bed ready to pack in the '08 season, I casually watched the game flipping back to it every 10 minutes or so when, lo and behold, something out of this world. First a Pedoria RBI, then a dormant Big Papi erupting with a 3 run shot.

"Holy shit, it's a three run game!" I screamed.

Then Pap shut the young Rays' bats down. Bay walks. J.D. homers. Two more runs on, 7-6. You have got to be kidding me! Then, Kotsay doubles over Upton's head, the guy who previously looked like he had a teleporter out there because he grabbed everything in sight. Then the at bat to end all at bats, the unforgettable moment that made him a true Sox after two years of injuries and mediocrity, Coco hits the RBI single. Tie ball game.

Enter Masterson against their healthy Big Papi, the clutch Carlos Pena, which sent shivers down my spine. Double Play. No way! Then Youk goes to 2nd after a Longoria throwing error and J.D. comes through again with a ground rule double over Gabe Gross's head. Ball Game. Sox win! Sox win! Sox win! If the moon was made out of barbeque spareribs I would eat it.

Long story short, after all of that, after somehow winning game 5 and then game 6, how, how in the world could we lose game 7? It was ours. Fate's team seemed destined again to somehow overcome the odds, but, alas, it wasn't so. Certainly became cruel disbelief when Iwamura stepped on the second base bag. That was it. Fate had a new favorite now.

"Fuck," I murmured.

"Fuck," Chrissty's step-dad, Dana, echoed.

Him off to bed. Me back to my house to wallow in the post game show. That was it. See you in 2009.

I wish I could just be okay with what happened. I've said this all along: if you are not a fan of the Red Sox you should be rooting for the Rays to win it all. What they've done all season long is amazing. Last to first. Laughingstocks to future dynasty. Nobody expected it.

It's easy for me to say that to others but Red Sox Nation knows how I feel. I'm bitter. I see missed opportunities around every corner: Francona keeping Beckett in Game 2, even after Grady Little watching at home knew he was done, and Kotsay and Tek stranding about 100 runners in scoring position, just to name two examples. I wanted to pat the Rays on the back and say great job, no one expected you to make it this far, as WE hoisted the trophy. Is it selfishness or is it just vehement fandom that makes me, us, this way?

"You guys have two, let the Rays have one, especially after all they've done," Chrissty said trying to console me.

There is no consoling though. I love her for trying, but she doesn't understand. We're done. I'll watch the Series and root for the Rays to finish their storybook season with a happy ending, but I'll loathe every minute of it thinking Youk would have hit that or Pedoria would have gotten to that ball.
They'll say the silver lining is that the Sox put up a fight, that they did not go gentle into that good night, that they did not go out playing like beer bellied amateurs in an over 40 softball league. On that Thursday night, the ALCS turned from one of the more embarrassing moments in Sox history into one of the better and most competitive series that I have ever seen. In a series that goes the full seven, I'd like to believe the winner is truly the better of the two teams, but after the Pedro/Grady incident in '03, it's hard to say that.

It truly was an amazing season topped off with a magical ALCS. Either team could have won this thing. In the end, it's disapointing, but the Rays are doing something special. They're good for baseball. When A-Mac and I ventured down to the Trop to watch the Sox and Rays over the past few years we marveled at how good Tampa could be, at how with some above average pitching and quality veteran leadership they could be a force in the AL East. Well, this year they did it. They're proving that free agents and payroll aren't everything, that guts, fundamentals, chemistry, scouting, farm system and heart can push you through to October. They, like teams such as the Twins and Marlins, are showing that the gap between small and big market teams is much smaller than previously thought. They are making the unconventional conventional. For that I have to tip my hat and say "beat the hell out of the Phillies," as I murmur, "we'll get you bastards next year."

Photos taken from imdb.com, si.com, and espn.com