The day we all knew was coming has finally arrived.
But before diving into that, let’s rewind a bit. Not very far, only to this past Sunday. Having just completed a doubleheader sweep of the Twins to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, Alex Cora made a promise on behalf of his sinking Red Sox team.
“We’re going to keep playing. We’re going to keep playing all the way ’til the end,” he said.
Four days later, that inevitable end has come. But Cora’s team never stopped playing, never stopped fighting.
Tanner Houck battled with one-hit, shutout innings and the Sox’s bats manufactured four runs to earn a 4-1 victory at Toronto on Monday.
On Tuesday, it took everybody — and I mean, everybody — to scrap out a 6-5 win in 10 innings. Cora’s club ran through a whopping eight pitchers and 14 position players before coming through with three runs in extras to again postpone the inevitable.
On Wednesday, you could say that their luck finally ran out. A rookie pitcher on an incredible run finally cracked, as the Blue Jays got to Richard Fitts for four runs on six hits in a commendable five-inning effort.
The bats, as they’ve done at the most inopportune times most of the season, fell silent again.
When the dust had settled, Toronto’s 6-1 victory had driven the final nail in the coffin of the 2024 Red Sox.
“At one point we felt like we were a playoff-caliber team and in the end, we missed the opportunity,” Cora told reporters postgame. ”You look around, you look at the teams that are fighting, we had it right there and we blew it.”
Indeed, Cora’s team did “blow it.” After finishing the first half 10 games over .500, Boston sat in possession of the third AL wild card on July 15th. The Sox were trending upward and in control of their own fate.
In the second half, they were never able to get off the mat — beginning with seven losses in nine games out of the break. Losses became more common than the wins, and a 27-36 record through the completion of Wednesday’s series in Toronto is the result.
"There was high points and low ones,” Triston Casas told reporters. “Overall, we got to find a way to weather those storms a little bit more, keep those hot streaks going. That's what good teams do and we weren't able to (do) that as many times as the other ones this year.”
Winning more games than you lose, and sustaining that winning, is definitely what good teams do. But that begs the question, were these Red Sox indeed a “good” team? They certainly seemed to think so…
"We had high hopes going into the season,” Casas said. “We were optimistic about our chances making the playoffs.”
I was asked in this week’s Q&A if this season is considered a letdown or an overachievement.
“Could it be both?” faithful reader and BSJ member “bob muliero” asked.
Indeed, it can be.
“I think it's an organization letdown, but a roster overachievement,” I answered. “Does that make sense? The organization should have done more to support this team. The roster seemed to have squeezed out every last bit of potential, though.”
At the outset of the season, I predicted the Sox would go 82-80 and “miss the playoffs by nine games.” My reasoning was, despite a disappointing offseason and expectations of another lost season, there was still some talent on this team. They weren’t the Oakland A’s (who have won 37 games), after all.
I may have been right on the money with their record, but they’re going to wind up being much closer to the playoff picture than even I thought. That is a testament to their will power and fight.
True, as I recently contended, a loser is a loser… the Red Sox, A’s and even the historically inept White Sox will all be sitting on the couch as of October 1st. But pride is still a factor, and you don’t wind up missing the postseason by only a few games (barring a 2011-esqe collapse and fall from grace, but that was a different situation...) if you aren’t playing for pride.
I’d imagine we’ll see the same this weekend as the Sox wrap up their season against the also-ran Rays at Fenway Park. Some teams might pack it in and call it a season, but I don’t think that will be the case.
I can already hear Cora rallying the troops and saying something to the effect of “We have a chance to finish strong and finish above .500. Let’s leave it out there and end this season with our heads held high.”
Ending the year with a “winning” record — winning two of three against Tampa would secure the Sox their first winning campaign since going 92-70 in 2021 — isn’t something that will be remembered by most, but it would hammer home the point that winning does matter within the walls of that clubhouse.
At the very least, that’s a start…
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter.
