The Boston Red Sox: Down the Stretch in 2011

Wow, what a season! And good thing for my blood pressure, It’s not over yet! Going into the 2011 campaign, The Boston Red Sox were dubbed the best Red Sox team of all time. Everybody was expecting big things this year after signing franchise players like, Carl Crawford, and Adrian Gonzalez. But 12 games into the season, everything came crashing down.

The Red Sox started the 2011 season by going 2-10 in their first 12 games, and were the sole occupants of the AL East basement. Things were looking bleak, and skeptics were a’plently. When all of a sudden they broke out of their funk and started winning games. They won 8 of their next 9 and finished the month 11-15. They continued to roll winning 32 of their next 45 and climbed all the way up into first place in the division. Maybe this really was the team destined to restore greatness in beantown? Que the breakdown. Like the 5:45 to Union, the injury bug arrived right on time in Boston. And the surging Red Sox dropped 6 of the next 7, and found themselves in a battle for first with their biggest division rivals. They keep pace with the Yankees going 20-6 through the month of July despite the injuries. And while narrowly holding the top spot over New York in the beginning of August, the second wave of injuries hit. Suddenly their DL list looked like their starting line-up, and their starting line-up looked like a minor league team.

Things went from bad to worse, as Josh Beckett, the Red Sox best pitcher, joined the rest of his team on the injured list. And since his departure, The Red Sox have dropped faster than a Randy Johnson slider. They fell out of the division race by dropping 9 of 11 and 5 straight. And are currently holding on to the wild card spot by only 4 games over the surging Rays. They finally got a day off to try and stop the bleeding, before a 10 game home stand. And of their remaining 16 games, 4 of them are against the Rays…

Can the Red Sox pull it together and solidify a playoff spot?

Can they get healthy enough to make that postseason spot count?

Can they become that team of destiny Red Sox Nation was anticipating in pre-season?

My faith has been beaten, but not broken.

And this Red Sox fan thinks they can.

What do you think?

6 Comments

1. 

   Frank

   September 17, 2011 at 10:56 pm

   I agree with the fact Boston was considered the team to beat in the AL and I’m 70/30 on the Redsoxs making the playoffs. The big question I have for all Redsoxs fans is who will the Redsoxs fans gonna cheer for in the 6 games that have to be played between the Rays and there most hated rivial the NewYork Yankee’s? Witch in my opinion probly decied Boston fait, so what do Boston fan’s do keep hating on the Yankee’s and possibly miss the playoffs or go against everything they’ve always believed in and hope the Yankee’s help them make the playoffs

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2. 

   Mike

   September 18, 2011 at 9:26 am

   The Yankees season was definitely special. Their syarting rotation was not supppsed to be strong

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3. 

   Grant

   September 18, 2011 at 10:35 am

   Yes, cheering for the Yankees is hard to do, but for a post season birth, I’d do it wearing your Yankees jersey, Ryan! But hopefully it wont come to that. If we can beat the Rays today then we’ll be 4 up with 10 games left. Seven of those games are against the bottom dwelling Orioles, and 3 are against your prized Yankees, who we’ve owned 11-4 this year! Speaking of which shouldn’t your pocket be a little lighter right now? So in conclusion it would be easier for everybody if the Yankees just swept they Rays out of contention. But if the Rays sweep the Yankees, and the Red Sox handle the Orioles, it could be a three horse race for first, never mind the wild card!

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4. 

   Mike

   September 18, 2011 at 1:07 pm

   Hey, I thought this was a blog on sports and Major League Baseball…not the Boston Red Sox. With all due respect to you BRS fans there are a few more teams out there and some equally interesting stories. Like how Aaron Hill and Johnny Mac are doing with the DBacks since the trade. And how about those Jays? Lets not have another blog site that is one dimensonal. As Emeril Legacy says…lets kick this one up a notch…BAM!!! Anyway who cares about baseball now that the Hawks have started their next run a the cup.

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5. 

   Grant

   September 18, 2011 at 2:06 pm

   Really? You want me to write about the Jays, or sideline stories about former Jays players, when were 10 games away from the postseason! I love the Jays (actually watching the game right now), and I did write that “Probable Postseason Change” article with the Jays future in mind. But until the season ends you won’t see even 1 Jays article on this site, and thats a promise! So if thats what you want you better look somewhere else! On here your going to get; division races, playoff analysis, possible matchups and predictions. Side stories on Philly’s dominance, and Detroit clinching and breaking records. And yes, you guessed it, the Red Sox and Yankees. Two of the most storied franchises in baseball history, battling for first in the same division with another top team of the past few years. Three top teams, two spots, does it get any better? And is there a better rivalry in baseball then the Yankees and Red Sox?But don’t worry after the postseason I’ll bring sexy back, and you can comment on how much you love Bautista, and how you think he should win the MVP over Verlander…

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6. 

   Mike

   September 18, 2011 at 3:17 pm

   Yes, definitely this site will never be one-dimensional, hence we don’t have any blogs based on one team/player. That said, makes sense to run an article about the Red Sox or Yankees seeing as how these are huge storylines… the Yanks for how well they have done, to the BRS downhill slide.

   Reply