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

Leaving On a Jet Plane: Manny Out, Bay In

(Above) One of about a million examples showing how Manny dogs it to first; this one just happened to get caught on camera. Trust me, its not like the guy shooting spotted a UFO or something. In this instance, a bad throw was still enough to get Manny because he took more than five seconds to reach the bag.

"I have never had any interest in owning a Manny Ramirez t-shirt jersey."

These are the words I uttered to Chrissty one humid night on our front porch when she asked which Red Sox players' t-shirt jersey I wanted to purchase next. My answer left her perplexed.

"How could you not want his jersey. He's one of your best players. Look at what he has done."

In my mind, the answer was simple. "He's not a dirt dog. He's never been a hustle, leave it all on the field kind of player."

This conversation was the first thing that popped up in my mind when I heard that Manny had been dealt to the Dodgers in a three team switch-a-roo that brought Jason Bay from Pittsburgh to Boston. Am I disappointed to see the dreadlocked wonder go? Sure. The guy is a lock for the Hall of Fame. He and Big Papi, David Ortiz, were the most feared 3 and 4 hitters since DiMaggio and Ruth. Just in a Red Sox uniform alone he hit around 250 homers, drove in countless runs, and provided many key hits on the way to two World Series championships for the former chronic losers. But, on the other hand, I'm not crying my eyes out. In fact, after years of Manny trade speculation, I'm smashing a bottle of Sutter Home on the private jet flying him to L.A. and saying bon voyage because I'll no longer have to dry heave at his shrugged shoulders approach to the game.

For non-Sox fans, trading Manny must seem insane. "So what if the guy is outrageous sometimes. He just likes to have fun, lighten up. Who are you, the Yankees?"

Sure, I get it...As long as he hits and plays decent in left who cares if he doesn't hustle. It's just Manny being Manny.

There isn't a saying in sports that I despise more. Sure, I'll admit it. I laughed my ass off when he took a piss in the Green Monster a few years back, and, earlier this year, when he caught a fly ball on the run, ran up the wall, high-fived a fan, and threw a guy out at second. But, these aren't the Manny moments I have a problem with. I have issues with the Manny being Manny moments that don't make it to SportsCenter: him constantly dogging it to first, him turning a ball off the wall from a triple into a single because he has to admire what he thinks is a homerun while he skips out of the box instead of RUNNING and him threatening every year to leave even though John Henry and company pay him a fortune and the fans love him.

On a team of guys who care a great deal, dirt dogs like El Capitan Jason Varitek, Curt Schilling, Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell, Big Papi, and Kevin Youkilis, the '08 Manny was a Steel Reserve in a bucket of Sam Adams Boston Ale. He made his individual goal, money, more important than the team goal, winning, so the Red Sox did the right thing showing that no player, no matter how Hall of Fame bound he may be, is greater than hoisting the World Championship trophy in October.

So long Manny. I'm sure you'll have much better luck in L.A. because it is a city that caters to people with egos and attitudes just like yours.

I'm looking forward to the Jason Bay chapter in Boston. This season the former All-Star and Manny are sharing similar stats, although Bay plays much better defense. Also, I see him becoming a much more consistent 30 homer 100 RBI type of player batting in front of the titanium plated protection of Big Papi, and he's from Canada so maybe he can help the Bruins out during the off-season.

However, while I'm optimistic, the one variable no one can predict is the pressure playing in Boston provides; We've seen Boston eat up All-Star caliber players before (Edgar Renteria to name the most recent). Plus, Bay has additional pressure in that he's never been in a playoff chase, and he's replacing one of the best hitters in the history of the game.

For now, as long as he hustles to first and runs out his round trippers, I'm happy.

Photos taken from bostondirtdogs.com (originally shot by Jim Davis of the Boston Globe), rotorob.com and cbc.ca