A Red Sox slideshow of historic team collapses
The Boston Red Sox have stumbled recently, so the worry beads are getting worn. Will this be an addition to Red Sox collapses of the past?
The collapse can come in two forms with the first being the swift demise that happens in a short span of time. A few days, a week or two weeks with a disastrous series tossed in. The second is similar to the suffering that a terminal illness brings about. The time span is greatly extended, but everyone knows the eventual results.
The Boston Red Sox have stumbled recently, so the worry beads are getting worn. Will this be an addition to Red Sox collapses of the past?
The Red Sox golden era of the 20th century was the founding year of the American League in 1901 until the end of the Dead Ball Era in 1919. The Red Sox controlled the board until they decided to trade and sell the core of the team to the New York Yankees that became the foundation for the Yankees championships. Is it too late for a special prosecutor?
This century the Red Sox have started out like last century and have three championships, but there have been some bumps even in this latest era of good feelings. Prior to that, the Red Sox were in a perpetual state of not how are we going to win, but how are we going to lose?
This season a sudden turnaround is happening and it is not a pleasant one. Are the Red Sox skidding for another entry into the misery index?
1978 and Bucky
In 1978 at the end of August, the Red Sox had a comfortable seven game lead in the American League. Then came September. The Yankees got hot and the Red Sox? One pathetic stretch saw the Sox go 1-9 and included a four game sweep by the Yankees at Fenway Park. If anything could go wrong, it did.
This Red Sox team was loaded with name talent. Offensively they finished second in the AL in home runs – just one behind the Brewers. The Sox were second in run production, first in ISO, posted a .336 OBP, fourth in average with .267 and had the offensive fire power to cover shoddy pitching.
Did I say shoddy? Not the 1978 team. Dennis Eckersley won 20 games, Mike Torrez added 16 more and even an aging Luis Tiant tossed in 13 wins. The Red Sox staff was ranked third in the AL. In the September failings, they were second in the AL., but the offense faded to 11th.
The Red Sox managed to regroup and finish off the season with eight straight wins to set up a one game playoff with the New York Yankees. Just say Bucky Dent and a 5-4 loss.
1948 and 1949
The 1948 season was one where they need to win against the Yankees and did it. A two game series at Fenway Park saw Boston capture both games easily and finish the season tied with the Cleveland Indians. The Boston Braves had already captured a National League title so a street car series was in the works.
The Indians and the Red Sox both had excellent offensive teams as the Tribe led the AL in hitting and Boston finished third. The Red Sox staff led the AL and all awaited Mel Parnell to win it all. Manager Joe McCarthy chose Denny Galehouse and another chapter in the Fellowship of the Miserable was written.
In 1949 the Red Sox had to face the Yankees again at season’s end to get an invite to the World Series. Boston had the top ranked staff in the AL and the Yankees staff a rare last. Offensively the Red Sox were also ranked first with the Yankees just a step behind.
During the season Boston trailed as much as 10 and ½ games, but started to chip away until on September 26th they took a one game lead. Boston had won 12 out of 13 games going into a two game set in New York. Just win one! But it was not one, but none.
1972 and Luis trips up
The 1972 Red Sox was a forgettable team. There were plenty of holes in this squad with defense being a very notable one as the Red Sox managed a -43 in Total Zone. An 11th ranked defense. The hitting wasn’t much better as the Bostonians finished sixth in hitting, but the pitching staff did some decent work by being fourth in the AL.
The Red Sox record for the season was 85-70 and some quick calculations show that the usual 162 game slate was not present. Baseball had a strike in 1972 and baseball decided to go with an unbalanced schedule. This proved costly for Boston.
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The last five weeks saw Boston either fall behind by a game or nudge ahead by a game. The Red Sox and Tigers were locked in a battle for the division title and eventually, it came down to a series in Detroit at the end of the season.
The Red Sox arrived for a three game set with a ½ game lead only to lose the first game and fall behind by ½ game. The next day the Red Sox could make a final game of the series a winner takes all. Boston behind Luis Tiant lost and the Sunday game became meaningless. The Tigers played one more game than Boston.
A negative footnote is Luis Aparicio – one of the all-time great baserunners – tripping over third base and contributing to a loss. Another Fellowship entry.
2011 – Beer and Chicken
On September 3rd, in 2011 the odds of the Red Sox going on to the post-season stood at 99.6%. With expanded playoffs, the Red Sox had a nine game lead on the Tampa Bay Rays for the Wild Card. The impossible soon became possible.
The Red Sox led the AL in hitting, but in September they finished 4th as the bats decided to go on vacation. That, however, was nothing compared to the pitching staff that simply vanished. The staff was dead last in September allowing 158 earned runs. Only Cleveland at 162 surpassed that.
The complete documented misery of the last day in Baltimore and the dramatic comeback by the Rays can be found in this article. No need to subject ourselves to revisit of any length. Later the migration of misery took another turn with the now infamous beer and chicken debacle.
The result of this ignominious collapse was the necessity to find an appropriate escape goat and that generally means a manager. Terry Francona was out and in case things could not possibly deteriorate any further they did. Enter Bobby Valentine.