A Red Sox slideshow of historic team collapses
By Rick McNair
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.