Dreams Deferred: Red Sox collapse

Anyone ever heard of that poem?

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over--

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

The instant I saw Evan Longoria hit a walk-off solo home run that barely squeaked over the fence, I thought of this. The "stink of rotten meat" is symbolizing the Red Sox' month of September. 7-20. The last 10 games of the season? 3-7. The Rays came back from nine games out on Sept. 4 to win the Wild Card, the most games ever overcome in September to get to the postseason in Major League history. 9 games, which sagged like a heavy load, and on game 162, it explodes. Honestly, I am extremely happy for the Rays. Boston sports fans have been extremely spoiled the last 10 years, and the Rays just made a huge statement to this city, much like the statement the Bruins sent to Vancouver. I really don't want to do this, but it's my job as a blog-writer to keep the viewers updated. I will probably cry as I type this recap, but everyone, including me, has to see this as reality, and that the Red Sox will be back next year. But, I think the team will have a new look. More on that later.
Last night was filled with drama. Here is how the last at bat of the regular season went down- I suddenly hear an eruption at the Trop. The camera panned toward the scoreboard to confirm what I had already known.-
Red Sox- 3
Orioles-4 F
The bells were clanging, the Rays faithful cheering. I saw three Rays fans holding a WE BELIEVE sign. Remind you of the 2004 ALCS when the Red Sox came from 3 games down to defeat the Yankees and make the World Series? It was 1-1 to Evan Longoria, with one out. And then, Longoria proceeded to swing and miss at the next pitch. It was 1-2 now. Proctor (Yankees pitcher) threw a ball low. 2-2. Longoria stepped out of the batter’s box, took a deep breath, and as he was waiting for Proctor's next pitch, he looked surprisingly calm for someone in his situation. He knew he was the superstar of the team, and that on one pitch he could send his team into the playoffs. Longoria fouled the next pitch off to keep it at two and two. As the camera zoomed, I saw that everyone one, ranging from 4 year olds to 80 year olds, were on their feet, yelling at the top of their lungs.
"Two-two, and a lined shot down the left field line! That ball is GONE! And the Rays win it. A line drive home run by Evan Longoria, and the Rays storm the field!"
I was in shock. Just totally dumbstruck. I thought the horn blaring from the game was a car horn outside. But in reality, it is what the Rays ballpark sounds whenever someone hits a home run. All I heard was bells clanging, fans screaming and hugging each other. Some were even hugging strangers. And it was all moments after the Orioles had came back to defeat the Red Sox. It was the second home run Longoria had hit in the game. And that brings me to what happened leading up to Longoria's game winning blast.
The Yankees had scored one run in the first inning, when Curtis Granderson had scored on Ben Zobrist's error. Then in the second inning, Yankee first baseman, Mark Teixeira hit a two out grand slam to make it 5-0. At this time, it seemed like the Yankees would have an easy victory. And it seemed even more likely when Teixeira hit his second home run of the night, making it 6-0. Rays hitting was shut down. Andruw Jones tacked one more insurance run to make it 7-0.
In the bottom of the 8th, all hell broke loose. Johnny Damon singled, then Zobrist doubled, and all of a sudden it was second and third with no outs. Then Casey Kotchman was hit by a pitch. It almost seemed the Yankees were trying to sabotage the Red Sox season, when they walked Sam Fuld to bring in the first run, and then hit Sean Rodriguez in the back to bring in another. The first out was recorded when B.J. Upton hit a sacrifice fly to bring in a run. Then Longoria was up. On the first pitch he saw from Luis Ayala, he crushed a ball over the left field fence to bring the Rays within one run. The Yankees got out of the inning, but the Rays were back in the race.
The Yankees went down in order in the top of the ninth. The Yankees were three outs away from winning. On a 0-2 pitch, Ben Zobrist flied out to left. One out in the 9th. Then Casey Kotchman grounded out, bringing up Sam Fuld, their last hope. But, Madden had one more trick up his sleeve. He had Dan Johnson hit for Sam Fuld. Here's the catch- Dan Johnson hadn't hit a home run since April 8th. And on the last day of the season, in the last inning, with two outs, that all changed. He kept his bat on his shoulder until it was a 2-2 count. The Rays were one strike away from losing. He fouled off the next pitch. When Cory Wade threw him a hanging change-up, he didn't miss his time to shine. He laced it into the right field stands, the ball barely staying fair and barely getting over the fence. There have been more impressive homers than that little squib shot, but it counted none the less. The rest is history- the Yankees or Rays couldn't score in the 10th or 11th, then in the bottom of the 12th, Longoria's home run, moments after the Red Sox lost, put the Rays into the playoffs for the second year in a row.
The Red Sox game didn't feature a 7 run comeback, but it was dramatic nonetheless. The game featured some beautiful fielding plays- such as Marco Scutaro's glove flip to start the double play, or on the other end of the spectrum, Scutaro being thrown out at the plate. The Red Sox had a 3-2 lead, the Orioles' only runs coming off if J.J. Hardy's 2R HR, the 30th of his season. Then after the top of the seventh, the rain came pouring down, and fans got an extended 7th inning stretch. 1 hour and 26 minutes of a 7th inning stretch. During the rain delay, the Red Sox were unaware that the Rays had stormed back to tie the game. Alceves came in for the seventh, and hit the first batter he faced. Speaking of Alceves, he should get a big pay raise next year. He was the most dependable middle reliever and went 10-2 on the season. Great season for him. He got an out, and then hit the next batter. And he had only thrown 3 pitches. 2 hit batters and one fly out. Short and... I can't say sweet. Two hit batters is very sour. Alceves got out of the jam. Marco Scutaro started the eighth inning off with a single. Scutaro has been was a rare bright spot for the Red Sox this month. Crawford smashed a double to left-center, and Scutaro tried to score from second. But the Orioles executed the play perfectly, as Adam Jones threw a strike to J.J. Hardy, who got the relay home in time to get Scutaro. On the base path between second and third, Scutaro paused because he thought the ball had been caught. But it hadn't and third base coach Tim Bogard sent him to the plate. Not a good decision, as he was out by a mile. They couldn't capitalize. Bard sent the Orioles back to the dugout in the bottom of the 8th, and the Red Sox were three outs away from winning. At the Trop, the Yankees were threatening, but couldn't score. In the top of the ninth, Ellsbury reached on an error, and he stole second base. Pedroia singled, but Ellsbury was held up at third. Nine times out of ten, you score with runners on the corners and no outs. But this was no ordinary night. Ortiz couldn't get the job done, and he was replaced by the speedster Joey Gathright at first after the fielder’s choice. Adrian Gonzalez was intentionally walked, and that brought up Ryan Lavarnway, hero of Tuesday nights game. He proceeded to ground into an inning ending double play. The Rays didn't score in the bottom of the 11th.
Shutdown closer Jonathon Papelbon was brought in. He hadn't lost a game this season. But then again, 162 is no ordinary game. Papelbon looked great as he struck out the first two batters, Adam Jones and Mark Reynolds. But things unraveled in a hurry. On the first pitch, Chris Davis ripped a double. The first two pitches to Nolan Reimold were balls, but Reimold wildly swung and missed at the next two pitches. The red Sox were one strike away from winning. But then, on a fastball that had way too much of the plate, Reimold hit a ground rule double, and the save was blown.
The Rays had shut down the Yankees threat in the top of the twelfth as Robert Andino stepped up to the plate. The first pitch was a ball. Then a strike on a nice fastball. It was so quiet at Camden Yards on the 1-1 pitch.
"Here's the one- one delivery; That is in to right field… aaaaaaaand OH IT'S DROPPED! And the Orioles are coming to the plate, Reimold. THEY DID IT! MY GOD, THEY DID IT! THE ORIOLES, HAVE BEAT THE RED SOX! Two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning!"
Ok. Let me clear this up. The commentator messed up- the ball was hit to left field, not right field. And guess who dropped it? Mr. 142 Million Dollars, the .250 hitter, CARL CRAAAAAAAAAWFORD! On the slide, the ball squirted out of his glove, much like the ball squirted out of Ellsbury's glove when Andino hit his inside the park home run. But nevertheless, Papelbon and the Red Sox were one strike away from winning, and they utterly failed. A minute later, Evan Longoria sent them home with a walk off home run.
I'm very happy for the Rays, who showed the more heart than the Red Sox's 180 million dollar payroll. They deserve it. A 7-20 month for the Red Sox is not good enough to be a postseason team. Theo Epstein put it perfectly-
"This is one for the ages, isn't it?" said general manager Theo Epstein. "We can't sugarcoat this. This is awful. We did it to ourselves and put ourselves in a position for a crazy night like this to end our season. It shouldn't have been this way"...."When you have the kind of month that we have, as it develops, you worry that you're not going to accomplish your goals. We sure didn't," said Epstein. "If we go 9-18 in September, we're where we want to be, and 9-18 is, what, winning a third of your games? The worst teams in baseball win a third of their games. There's no excuse. we did this to ourselves."
And Theo is right. Expect many changes from the general manager this season. I don't even know if Theo will be staying. However, nothing will change game 162. For the second year in a row, the Red Sox failed to make the playoffs.


I'm going to add one more stanza to Langston Hughes' poem:

Last night was tough, but dusk brings a new day
Though the Red Sox' playoff dreams are blown away
Congrats to Tampa, they deserve the win
Boston let it go; we still have the Bruins :)

source- espn.com, nesn