Well, that ended just as it was getting fun.
After getting blasted the first two games in Houston, the Red Sox came home to Fenway and laid a 10-3 beatdown on the Astros in Game 3. Then, after Andrew Benintendi went deep with a two-run blast to right field to give the Sox a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning, and Chris Sale was moving down Astros as far as the eye could see, many were dreaming of a deciding Game 5 back in Houston with the Astros shaking in their cowboy boots.
And then, poof, it was over. Reality sets in. Winter is coming (eventually, as soon as I put my Speedo away when it dips below 70 degrees).
Little bit of a bummer, I've got to say. The 2017 Red Sox were like that dysfunctional wing of your family. They get into arguments with other relatives. They think they're always right and never see their own errors. They're always getting thrown out of places. The father (John Farrell) says does things that make no sense. And as a group they never, ever leave a party — they have to be asked every single time.
But, darn it, I'm going to miss that weirdo group. They were the Resilient Sox: they tied for third with 10 walk-off wins, and tied a franchise record with 15 extra-inning wins. Every time the Yankees got close in their rearview mirror, they kicked it into gear and extended the lead.
But, alas, they just weren't good enough. Not enough consistent starting pitching. Definitely not enough power. Too many outs on the bases (somewhere Theo Epstein and the rest of the Moneyball Youth are laughing). A few too many nagging injuries (Eduardo Nunez, Dustin Pedroia, David Price).
Now, the question is, where do they go from here?
Those questions and answers will be revealed in the coming days.
For now, though, we'll just say goodbye for now.
And one personal note: I just wanted to take a moment to thank Sean McAdam for all his terrific work since we opened. There's plenty more to come great work to come from Sean, but he really did a great job adjusting to me, the site and sort of a new way of doing the job for him. I asked him to work his tail off for our small company, and he did just that. No seven-person postseason staffs here, with help from news side and many others (not that you could really tell, in my opinion). Remember, this is just the beginning for all of us here, so what we learn now will be applied going forward. Onward and upward. But thanks again, Sean.
You can read all his great work here.
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