http://tinyurl.com/3u4hjms
I have tried to be the voice of reason. I have tried to calm the masses,
telling Red Sox Nation not to worry about the Sox making the playoffs this
year. A little slump in September was a mere speed bump en route to the
Division Series. It was all about who would be the Sox Game 3 starter, and
would you rather play the Rangers or the Tigers in the first round?
Now it is very different. It is the Fall of Saigon. It is potentially one of
those apocalyptic, cataclysmic falls that marked the eight-plus decades of
frustration and near-misses before the Red Sox finally threw off the
800-pound gorilla and won the World Series in 2004. It might be time to
panic; for the first time since the world changed when Johnny Damon and the
Idiots pulled off the biblical comeback of 2004.
The 2011 Red Sox have lost nine of 11 and 11 of 14. They have seen their
wild-card lead dwindle to a mere two games. Tampa Bay took three of four from
the Sox at Fenway over the weekend, and the Rays are closer than they've been
at any time since June 30.
Suddenly, there is fear and loathing again in Sox Nation. It feels a little
like 1948, 1974 and (gulp) 1978. We thought this would never happen again
after the ghosts were purged in 2004, but the 2011 Red Sox are on the
threshold of the greatest September collapse in baseball history.
That's right, boys and girls. This could be worst of the worst. The Red Sox
led the Rays by nine games on the morning of Sept. 3, and no team in baseball
history has failed to make the postseason after holding a nine-game lead in
September.
So this could be worse than the '51 Dodgers, worse than the '64 Phillies and
worse than the 1978 Red Sox.
Ah, the '78 Sox. Those were the guys who led the Yankees by 14 games on July
20, then wound up tied for first and lost a one-game playoff to the Bronx
Bombers when Bucky Dent hit a three-run homer over the Green Monster.
Those were the days when we expected the Sox to choke. The leaves would fall,
and the Sox would fall