With a 5-4 victory over Cleveland Indians last night the Sox have sealed a berth in the American League playoffs. Although they still have an outside shot at the AL East title (if the Sox win their final 5 they would need the Rays to go 2-4 or worse) they are likely heading to the post-season as the A.L. Wild Card winner. Since they won it all in '04 as the Wild Card entrant this should certainly not cripple their chances of repeating. Although some may think making the playoffs was a foregone conclusion, Red Sox history has taught us that nothing is ever foregone with this franchise. They have now made the playoffs 5 of the last 6 years so it’s easy to take this for granted to some degree, but it is an important, and necessary, first step toward the ultimate goal of defending their World Series title. And there can be no talk of “of course they made it, look at their payroll” because the Sox clinching a playoff berth also eliminated the highest paid team in all of baseball, the New York Yankees (who extended their championship-less drought to 8 years). There are 4 steps a team needs to take in order to get to where they want to be: 1.Qualify for the playoffs; 2.Advance to the ALCS; 3.Win the American League pennant; and 4.Win the World Series. The Sox have achieved Step #1 with 3 still to go. They are now in a place where, as Josh Beckett put it after last night’s game, it's “the first team to 11”. Congratulations to the Sox (again)…now let’s hope they can complete the 4-step program.Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Step 1 Complete: Sox Clinch Playoff Berth
With a 5-4 victory over Cleveland Indians last night the Sox have sealed a berth in the American League playoffs. Although they still have an outside shot at the AL East title (if the Sox win their final 5 they would need the Rays to go 2-4 or worse) they are likely heading to the post-season as the A.L. Wild Card winner. Since they won it all in '04 as the Wild Card entrant this should certainly not cripple their chances of repeating. Although some may think making the playoffs was a foregone conclusion, Red Sox history has taught us that nothing is ever foregone with this franchise. They have now made the playoffs 5 of the last 6 years so it’s easy to take this for granted to some degree, but it is an important, and necessary, first step toward the ultimate goal of defending their World Series title. And there can be no talk of “of course they made it, look at their payroll” because the Sox clinching a playoff berth also eliminated the highest paid team in all of baseball, the New York Yankees (who extended their championship-less drought to 8 years). There are 4 steps a team needs to take in order to get to where they want to be: 1.Qualify for the playoffs; 2.Advance to the ALCS; 3.Win the American League pennant; and 4.Win the World Series. The Sox have achieved Step #1 with 3 still to go. They are now in a place where, as Josh Beckett put it after last night’s game, it's “the first team to 11”. Congratulations to the Sox (again)…now let’s hope they can complete the 4-step program.
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7 comments:
Do the Sox still try to win the rest of their games or just prepare themselves for the playoffs?
This might seem cliche, but I think they need to take it one game at a time. Try to win tonight, see how the rays do, and plan for tomorrow night. If the rays win, and there is basically no shot of them winning the division they should give all of their starters an additional 2 games rest over the final 3 or 4 games.
Their physical therapists, doctors, and trainers should be getting tons of OT trying to heal everyones aching muscles.
Give the guys a lil extra rest. But dont completely sign out until the playoffs because momentum (winning) is a great thing to carry into the post season.
Did anyone think the celebration was a lil excessive for just getting a playoff berth? I could see the Rays celbrating something like that since its a first for them. Maybe it was for Bay since its a first for him.
I saw them talking about it on ESPN but I don't think so. Even though it's routine for the franchise, as you point out guys like Bay (& Casey, Lowrie, Masterson, Byrd, Kotsay) are new to Boston and were psyched. And guys like Papelbon are going to over-celebrate no matter what.
As I said this is a 4-step program and reaching the first step is huge, even if routine. I'd rather they over-celebrated than were ho-hum about it. I think some guys were just so happy for guys like Bay that it rubbed off on them.
With the amount of injuries the Sox have had this year to be 11 wins away from the title is pretty sweet.
Definitely excessive celebration. That was obnoxious and embarrassing.
I definitely like the fact that they were celebrating the way they were. Maybe if the Pats would start playing with the passion the Sox have they wouldnt have gotten blown out by the Dolphins.
I do think Papelbon was excessive, especially with his drinking on air. But clearly Paps isn't the brightest bulb.
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