For the first time in a long time, I am content with the Sox not winning. Sure, it was Game 7, but by many accounts they shouldn't have even been there and been gone in 5 games. But they hung in there.
After we squandered bases loaded in the 8th I just had a sense that the magic for the Sox had run out. And I was fine with it. Does it make me any less of a Sox fan? No, and here is why:
- The Sox made me proud getting that far without Manny (always comes back to ManRam, doesn't it?). We got there with solid pitching, timely hitting, and that Dirt Dog mentality. We lost some close games, but at the same time Tampa won those close ones just as much as we lost them.
- No one said it would be easy. We got past the Angels and broke their hearts again and knew we were up against a wall against Tampa (funny to still hear that…), but my rally cap is off to them. They didn't want it more than the Sox, they just got the hits they needed when they needed them. Not to mention they had solid pitching overall.
- You can't win every time, right? That doesn't mean you don't want your team to win, but let's not become like Yankees fans and walk around like we have an air of "We should win every game, every time we suit up just because we are New York".
- The Sox gave everything they could. It's as simple as that. The fact that they kept themselves in games with amazing defense, with a less than healthy Beckett and Ortiz, and an offense that just couldn't push guys around the bases (we must have left 100 on base in the series), I'm content with their effort.
The offseason will be quite interesting: Will Schilling come back? Will Wake retire? Will 'Tek take his money and run? Will Theo get rid of Lugo (and how)? A lot of questions.
Great season, Sox. Thanks again.
