"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

Too Late?

Will the the Rays catch the Red Sox and win the AL wildcard. Don’t count on it writes Jonah Keri over at Grantland:

No team has ever squandered a lead of 7.5 games or more in September. Yes, the Sox have seen their 9.5-game cushion on Tampa Bay shrink to three games in just 12 days. But this isn’t horseshoes or nuclear war. No points are awarded for coming close. If the Sox merely play .500 ball the rest of the way, the Rays need to go 11-5 (.688) just to set up a tiebreaker.

The schedule says that won’t happen. Seven of Boston’s final 16 games come against the Orioles; the Rays have just two games left against them (and seven against the loaded Yankees). Baltimore owns the worst record in the American League, second-worst in the majors. Last night’s O’s lineup included Matt Angle, Kyle Hudson, and Robert Andino. The Red Sox could send a 51-year-old Oil Can Boyd out against the Orioles and they’d still win. Steamroll the O’s as expected, then win a handful of other games, and you force the Rays to play ostensibly perfect baseball for the next 2½ weeks.

Regression is coming. Everything that could have gone wrong for Boston has gone wrong. Dustin Pedroia, one of the best all-around players in the league, has gone ice-cold. He’s 3-for-34 in his past eight games, with nine strikeouts and one extra-base hit. He’s hitless in his past 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position. The recent RISP woes run deeper than that: The Sox are hitting just .228 in that situation over their past eight games, including a 1-for-15 stretch against the Rays.

These things don’t last.

[Photo Credit: N.Y. Daily News]

Categories:  1: Featured  Baseball  Bronx Banter  Games We Play

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42 comments

1 Yankee Mama   ~  Sep 13, 2011 2:44 pm

I guess, as they say, numbers don't lie. Would be a great story and it won't stop Michael Kay from talking about it ad nauseum.

2 Alex Belth   ~  Sep 13, 2011 2:49 pm

NOTHING CAN STOP Michael Kay from talking, NOTHING!

3 Chyll Will   ~  Sep 13, 2011 2:55 pm

[2] Not even a mouth full of ribs; Tony Roma or Jody Applegate >;)

4 RIYank   ~  Sep 13, 2011 3:00 pm

Kind of dumb.
The correct thing to say is that it's still quite unlikely that the Rays will catch the Sox. Regression is coming... probably.

5 kenboyer made me cry   ~  Sep 13, 2011 3:13 pm

There once was a team in Denver, CO that did make it.

And a team in Queens, NY, and a long time ago, one in Philadelphia, that lost it.

6 a.O   ~  Sep 13, 2011 3:16 pm

But it sure is fun to watch the Sux -- and their ridiculous fans -- "panic," right? Jon?

7 Just Fair   ~  Sep 13, 2011 3:22 pm

my little pony slumping? For shame. I knew the Universe didn't feel quite right.

8 Chyll Will   ~  Sep 13, 2011 3:58 pm

[4] Maybe at the end of the season, the regression is already happening and many have not recognized it except the ones experiencing it. When was the last time Ortiz came out of his mouth to say something akin to "De ship be sinkin'"?

9 Yankee Mama   ~  Sep 13, 2011 4:33 pm

[2] [3] too funny. One might say Kay gets paid handsomely to blather on. Pity on us.

I'd love for testy Showalter to get a copy of Keri's piece. "Waddya mean we can't even best Oil Can Boyd? I'll show them! Vladdy?"

10 Marek   ~  Sep 13, 2011 4:37 pm

I agree in principle, but I'm going to enjoy the growing line on the Tobin Bridge. Plus, the remaining games are also a small sample and anything can happen etc. etc.

11 vockins   ~  Sep 13, 2011 4:38 pm

[5] mets, philly, and the rockies ain't got nothing on these guys:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CAL/1995-schedule-scores.shtml

12 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 5:09 pm

[4] Well, to be fair to Jonah, the article covers the space from it's not going to happen to it probably won't happen to it might happen with several stops for historical perspective and analysis, in between.

13 a.O   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:30 pm

Hey, I heard Manny just got out of the joint -- maybe he can help the Sux... Oh, right.

14 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:32 pm

Jays make an error with the bases loaded, Boston up 2-0.

15 RIYank   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:36 pm

[10] Yeah, I think the New Yorkers (and all non-New Englanders) can't really appreciate how exquisitely pleasurable this is. Even today, once the Adoration of the Brady was all done, the Nation ran the gamut from "Aw my gawd if this isn't panic time I don't know what is!" to "Panic, what panic? We just have to fact the fact that this team sucks, and the soonah Theo is gone to Chicago the soonah we can begin to rebuild."

Totally irrational, utterly delightful.

16 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:37 pm

Oops, so long for that, 3 run homer, Toronto up 3-2.

17 RIYank   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:39 pm

[16] Ladies and Gentlemen, Tim Wakefield.

Seriously, the stuff about W200 is now long behind us. The prattle today was about whether Wakey might recover the magic of old and deliver the Sox from disaster.

Too fucking awesome.

18 RIYank   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:41 pm

We had that little stretch of losses, but in September the Yankees are 8-4. The Rays are 8-3. The Red Sox are 2-9.

19 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:44 pm

I'm amusing myself by checking out the Red Sox game chatter over at BBTF, getting mighty crowded on the ledge over there:

[blockquote]
Phil Coorey Vs. the Greatest of All Time Posted: September 13, 2011 at 07:40 PM (#3923875)
Seriously - all the people who think we are a little too serious or over the top in chatter better stay the #### away - cause I am about to lose my ####

I ####### hate watching this guy pitch and have so since I logged on here in chatter in 2004 (check the ####### files if you want)

He ####### sux - he always has - he's a ####### novelty act in a game where you can't afford to have one. He has been taking the piss for years.

Every other team strikes pixie dust with pitchers while the Sox trot out this ####### joker year in year out

#### this
[/blockquote]

20 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:45 pm

Doh. HTML fail.

21 RIYank   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:49 pm

[19] Heh. Square, angle, whatevah.

I like dropping in on Red Sox Extra Bases. It's a low grade of fan on average, but the general tone is nice and panicky.

Papi left with some kind of back problem.

22 Chyll Will   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:51 pm

[19] Now isn't that just too ####### bad...

23 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:51 pm

3-3.

I have a feeling the scoring isn't done in this one ...

24 Mr OK Jazz Tokyo   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:52 pm

Boy, Jacoby&Myersbury is really having a great year. Let's hope Toronto can smash them though!

25 RIYank   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:53 pm

[23] Really, you think the game will not end in a 3-3 tie? Hmm.

26 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:53 pm

Nope.

27 Chyll Will   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:53 pm

[21] Yeah, he couldn't wait to sit the #### back down...

28 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:54 pm

See!

29 ms october   ~  Sep 13, 2011 7:57 pm

[15] that is one of the only things i miss about boston.
the panic or self-hating is just exquisite.

30 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:00 pm

Hip Hip, Jose!

5-4 Jays!

31 Mr OK Jazz Tokyo   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:05 pm

YOUUUUUUK with the nifty glove work!
Boston really a sinking ship? Can we get an AMEN?

32 RIYank   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:06 pm

[29] Oh, surely there are other things...

33 RIYank   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:06 pm

[31] Youk is suffering from bursitis and a hernia.

34 ms october   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:10 pm

[32] i do prefer ne clam chowder to manhattan clam chowder.

[33] ugly seems to be breaking down a lot. i don't see any way he can play 3rd much longer. i assume if they let papi walk next year ugly gets a lot of at-bats as the dh.

35 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:11 pm

Meanwhile, Rays not mustering much of anything against Simon and the Orioles.

1-0 Orioles, top of the 5th.

36 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:18 pm

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jesus Montero DH
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nune5 3B
Brett Gardner CF

37 RIYank   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:19 pm

[34] Hm. I'm pretty sure you can get both kinds of chowder in NY.

38 RIYank   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:21 pm

I am sooooooooo glad Cashman didn't try to sign Carl Crawford.

39 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:22 pm

Adam Loewen just reached over the wall to rob Cuba Gooding Crawford of a 2 run homer ... Oh, Canada!

40 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:23 pm

How sweet it is ...

Dan Posted: September 13, 2011 at 08:21 PM (#3923961)
And ####### Loewen comes through and robs Crawford. If I believed in a god, I'd be pretty sure he hates the Red Sox right now.

41 cult of basebaal   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:29 pm

New thread up ...

42 Chyll Will   ~  Sep 13, 2011 8:29 pm

[39] Heh. You get a hat tip for that...

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