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It's over.
There's really nothing more to be said (but here I go anyway). It always sucks to lose and it sucks even more to lose the second straight game in a three-game playoff series. That the season-ending loss occurred in Yankee Fucking Stadium, the home of the you-know-who's, the site of so many previous Red Sox disappointments, makes it even worse. The fact that the Sox were just god awful - we didn't lose due to one missed play or a bad call or one unfortunate hop of the ball, but were publicly humiliated the entire series - is just the icing on the cake.
Quick autopsy of the season: the Red Sox started as one of the worst teams in MLB and ended as one of the worst teams. For a glorious six or so weeks there in the middle of the season, centered around the month of July, they played like gods. No one knows how or why the season turned around, so no one knew how to keep the streak going or reignite the spark after the hot streak fizzled out.
There were twin low points in last night's game. Chad Tracy pulled starter Sonny Gray, the Sox best pitcher this season, after only 70 pitches and the Yankees holding a narrow, 1-0 lead, for reliever Erik Miller, who gave up an RBI single on his third pitch. The next inning, Tracy put in pitcher Garrett Crochet, who had been out with an injury since last April and hadn't played in a single game since then. Did Crochet still have the stuff of last season? No, he have up another run - 3-1, Yankees - and then loaded the bases. Garrett Whitlock, normally a reliable reliever, took the mound and gave up two more runs before allowing a three-run homer. 8-1, Yankees.
It was difficult to watch. I turned the game off in the seventh inning.
Baseball's over for the year as far as I'm concerned. I'm totally uninterested to see how any other team fares this season, and I'm not about to wagon-hop my allegiance to someone else. We're already well into football season, the Bruins have played their first regular season game, the BU Terriers are already in Alaska for their season opener in Fairbanks, and basketball's just around the corner.
We might not even have a baseball season next year due to threats of a either a work stoppage or a lockout due to faltering negotiations on the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
So thanks for a glorious July, Red Sox. That was great. And thanks for the bitter ending to the season that will leave the foul taste of disappointment in my mouth as millionaire players argue with billionaire owners over future revenues.
It's over.