Canada could lift vaccine mandates before Red Sox play Blue Jays, but it will still be too late to save their season
The news that Canada is reportedly preparing to allow unvaccinated travelers over its borders when the policy expires on September 30 made a significant impact on the sports world, as athletes from several leagues were previously barred from entering the country.
Coincidentally, September 30 is also the day the Boston Red Sox will arrive for one last series against their division rivals before the regular season wraps up.
Life’s funny that way.
In an alternate reality of the 2022 season in which the Sox weren’t completely ravaged by injuries and actually had a shot at the playoffs, the news that they could bring any player they needed to face the formidable Jays might have seriously impacted the series and turned the tide in Boston’s favor. But by now, the Sox are mathematically incapable of winning the division and are nine games out of the Wild Card race.
The Sox already played two series in Toronto this season, and the depleted rosters were no match for the home team. The Sox went 1-3 at Rogers Centre in April and 1-2 when they returned at the end of June. At the time, several players drew criticism for missing the series due to their vaccination status, including outfielder Jarren Duran and Tanner Houck, who’d been one of their only reliable bullpen arms this year. The latter’s absence proved especially significant, as the Sox blew late-inning leads in the second and third games of the June matchup.
After the Sox dropped two of three in Toronto at the end of June, Duran actually promised he’d “be available” by the September series, not wanting to let his team down a third time had finally motivated him to get vaxxed. But what a difference a few months makes; he struggled so much that the Sox demoted him to Triple-A in late August. Despite seeing exactly how much his absence impacted his teammates, Houck made no such promises. Injuries took him out of the equation anyway; he underwent season-ending back surgery at the beginning of September.
Early on in the 162-game season, losing a game or two usually isn’t the end of the world, though every game counts. But when the games in question are 157-159, the epitome of crunch-time for hopeful contenders, one game can be the difference between postseason play and an early offseason. These games will certainly matter for the Jays, who currently hold the first of the three American League Wild Cards, with a 2 1/2 game lead on the Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners.
It’s neither fair nor accurate to blame the vaccine mandate for the Sox not contending this season. In addition to their many other issues, players who chose not to get vaccinated, and that “personal freedom” had consequences for people other than themselves. But the absolutely perfect timing of all of this only drives home how utterly frustrating this entire season was, and how avoidable some of it might have been.
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