Boston Red Sox: Top 10 memorable moments of 2016
By Sean Penney
Return to October
After a pair of miserable seasons locked in the basement of the AL East, the Red Sox returned to the postseason with their first division title since 2013.
The night that Boston clinched the division was a surreal setting. The team suffered an epic meltdown in New York that ended with Mark Teixeira‘s walk-off grand slam. A somber Red Sox roster retreated to the clubhouse, only to learn that Toronto had also lost that night, allowing Boston to back into the division title.
The players initially seemed uncertain of how to react to the news. They wanted to celebrate the accomplishment, yet were all still fuming from the gut wrenching loss moments ago. Until manager John Farrell stepped in with a rousing speech that convinced the team that the results of that night didn’t matter, it was the collective effort over the course of the season that earned them the right to call themselves division champs.
The champagne started spraying as teammates came together to bask in this achievement. That’s when it finally started to sink in – the Red Sox would be back on the postseason stage.