The AL East delivered two memorable games last night: the Rays overcame a 7-0 deficit with two Evan Longoria homers to beat the Yankees and the Orioles had a dramatic comeback of their own against the Red Sox. The result: the Rays play the Rangers in the ALDS and the Red Sox start preparing for the offseason. Here are some links from the division…
- Rob Bradford of WEEI.com says manager Terry Francona deserved better than this, though his decisions didn't always work out. It's unclear if the Red Sox want Francona back next year; they now have ten days to decide whether to pick up two $4.25MM options for 2012 and 2013.
- GM Theo Epstein, who admits this month has been "one for the ages," tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that he and his staff were doing little things behind the scenes to stop the steady stream of losses (the Red Sox were 7-20 in September).
- It was because of Carl Crawford that the Rays initially installed low fences in the left field corner, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Crawford, who signed with the Red Sox for $142MM last offseason, missed a critical catch for Boston last night and it was Longoria who cleared the short wall with a game-winning home run.
- Orioles owner Peter Angelos, president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and manager Buck Showalter are scheduled to meet today, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. MacPhail is expected to step down, yet there's a sense that Angelos will want MacPhail around in some capacity. Showalter appears to be torn between his current role and the possibility of becoming the GM, according to Connolly.
I can see the intro video for MLB The Show 2012 now…
Oh the humanity!
Yea, they usually have a couple different ones. I see last nights epicness and a Justin Verlander mantage.
Just a phenomenal night for baseball. Too much fun.
That really was so much fun.
It was just awesome. Me and my roommate literally just sat in front of the tv all night switching between every game. Best final day of the regular season in history, i really feel sorry for anyone who missed it.
Both series were great! Triple play in the TB/NY game and so many clutch hits and homers, sacrifices, both up and down, strikeouts and timely grounders. Just amazing baseball. Amazing.
The worst part is that none of this would have happened if MLB had 2 wildcards….take note Bud
Maybe, it might not have happened last night, but it could just as easily happen with two wildcard spots.
I’m not a fan of the one wildcard, let alone two. But baseball’s still baseball, however it’s organized, and I’ll love it all the same.
I agree with you. Two wildcards trying to make it to a World Series in which home-field advantage is decided by the AS game and a DH is rotating in/out of their lineup… meh.
You mean to tell me having two one game play ins won’t be this exciting next season? Give me a break. Next year you’ll be saying how great the two wildcard team system is. Just wait. This gives the opportunity for more fans around the country to have their teams compete up until the final week of the season. Isn’t that what fans want?
I do agree though that the AS Homefield thing is a joke and needs to be changed
The two wild card system won’t take effect until 2013.
why not 3 wildcards per league?
Or 12
Everyone is a winner!
How was it fun? TB played Scranton/Wilkes-Barre & the Sox played Mother Nature & Spoiler Seekers. I’m not whining — the Sox didn’t deserve October anyway & even if they limped in, they would’ve been round 1 see-yas. But c’mon, the Rays got lucky & now we have to endure “fans” who only wear Rays’ blue in October — trust me, I’ve been to the Trop about 2 dozen times.
no matter the competition, the rays earned every inch with an amazingly improbable comeback, boston sunk its own ship at the very last second, and the phils-braves game was a wild extra innings ride all by itself
if you didn’t think last night was fun, this might be the wrong sport for you
What a night for Baseball and for the fans. Thank you MLB for giving the fans night full of thrills and chills.
*Sigh*
Yankees blow a 7 run lead. Lose to a walk off and the media is already making excuses. Thats like saying the Cardinals won last night because of the Crawford Boxes in Houston. haha
I heart Buck Showalter
xoxoxo
-Century
My dad has a saying. “What do you expect from a pig, but a grunt?”
even as die hard sox fan the games were great for baseball last night. the braves collapse the red sox collapse. i mean yeah do i wish the yankees pu in mo to close that game yesterday hell yeah but did i honestly expect joe to do that especially since there is that short turnaround to the playoffs starting on friday…. no but it would have been helpful to my cause plus one more game to watch this season before post season would have been great. But so be it i never get tired of watchinging baseball and last night proved why it is the greatest game. there is no time limit and it isnt over till the last out. you always have chance no matter how much your down or how bad your team might be. still takes 27 outs and you have a chance till the last one is recorded
another 85 years of futility? only hope so.
I can’t wait to see all the moves the Sux make after their epic collapse. I wouldn’t be surprised if Pap and Papi decide to give other teams a shot at signing them.
Crawford has had a terrible year and I look at him as one of the main reasons the Sox are not going to be playing October.
The Sox had (if not the best) one of the best offenses in all of baseball. Sure having a good year from Crawford would have helped, but the way the season ended is on the pitching, not Crawford.
Yeah, Crawford has 6 more years to figure it out. Good luck with that.
ha! that’s funny!
Angels fan bashing another teams overpaid OF? Irony.
Wells trade is probably the worst in baseball history but we’re only stuck with him another 3 years compared to 6 possible dreadful years of Crawford in Boston. I actually believe Crawford would have been great with the Halos because there would have been less pressure. One of those “what if?”s of baseball.
you’re right about the contract lengths, but here’s the thing: with all of his talent, it would be amazing if carl crawford continued to suck
with all of his talent, it would be amazing if vernon wells didn’t continue to suck
I don’t need luck, Crawford didn’t turn into Vernon Wells over night; he’s still a talented outfielder (who happened to have the worst year of his career this year). Chances are very high that he isn’t this bad again, he may not be ’10 Crawford again either, but ’04-’09 Crawford is fairly likely.
no, Crawford only has three more years before we dump him onto your team
I’m just saying that Crawford could have bought the Red Sox a couple more wins if he had the typical CC year. I’m sure the Red Sox could have picked a couple more wins throughout the season if Crawford was on par with his expected numbers.
or buchholz could have pitched. eff it, dice-k would have been better than who we were running out there. crawford’s just a flashy target
Good point but I blame Lackey, Lester, and Beckett over Crawford this year. If those three had stepped up like they were counted on in September the Sox would be in the postseason. They needed 8 wins this month and got 7. Terrible.
good call. i’d like to see more fans blaming beckett and lester. you don’t depend on your 3-5 (or 6 or 7) starters in september – you depend on your aces. plenty of other things went wrong in 2011, but if they had stepped up even once in september (out of, what, 8 starts?), collapse is avoided
Give this man a prize. Couldn’t have said it better.
Well it kind of did end with Crawford. If he catches that ball, the game goes to extra innings
Not an easy catch though of course
sounds like someone is bitter
Possibly some young kids on this forum should learn how to use a little thing called google, look back to the AL pennant chases of the early 70’s, see Boston had this happen to detroit, Baltimore when there was no wild card.
Earl Weaver used to count on it every season.. Boston at the top until September, then collapse when his Orioles (with the best pitching in the game) would usually rule and take over. Then with that handle of yours.. Arrogance probably rules all else…
I wish I had saved every douchey comment from ahole sox fans during the middle of the season. If I was a sox fan I could not handle this. (i cried when the tigers lost game 163 in 09:)
Please dont lump us all together. Every team has those guys! This was one of the best nights in baseball i can remember, too bad it turned out to be one of the worst as well! Sox can only blame themselves. Very sad!
he’s still right that the douchey ones should be saved for posterity. i want to laugh at them and see them suffer too
Didnt I say “every douchey sox fan” if you dont think you are a “douchey sox fan” you shouldnt be offended by this.
You don’t understand quotes.
I was at the Metrodome, and it was amazing! Best baseball game I’ll ever see.
Theo and Co would be doing the team and fans a disservice by letting Francona go…..there would also be a ton of team who would try to snatch him up…
The last people the Sox are going to let go are Francona and Theo… They broke the curse for god sakes and repeated a few years later! They are the best thing Boston has see since Cheers.
Cheers is a tourist trap. At the VERY least, Curt Young (the pitching coach), should be let go. And I’d seriously consider letting Tito go as well. His managerial style doesn’t mesh well with the entitled attitude of this ballclub.
I can’t see the Red Sox firing or letting Terry Francona go.
If someone else other Theo Epstein pulled what he pulled with all that money he spent on the 2011 Red Sox, they would be fired.
In fact, what Theo did reminded me of an old school “Tiny Toon Adventures” Cartoon from back in the day where Plucky Duck in diapers flush things down the toilet and declares every time he flushed, “Toilet Paper Down the Hole!” In Theo’s case, it would be John W. Henry’s “Hard Earned Money” going down the Hole!
What a waste of resources!
I can’t really even fault Theo, though. While I didn’t think Crawford was worth the money they paid, he’s still got a lot of talent and will likely rebound for them. Adrian Gonzalez was a good signing. Losing Youkilis hurt, and losing Buchholz hurt them and that’s just things neither the GM or manager can control.
I did love seeing the Red Sox lose, especially Papelbon. But as a Rangers fan, I was a little disappointed because I think the Rangers match up a little better against the Red Sox, especially since Shields beat the Rangers twice during their last two series.
Because guys got hurt and/or were ineffective? I don’t blame anyone but the players, Theo put together a team that should have won the division; the fact that they didn’t play to expectations isn’t Theo’s fault.
I disagree, I think Theo did a terrible job this year and it was his fault.
Frankly, I don’t care if you agree, or what you think is Theo’s fault. The fact is that unless Theo told Lackey and Crawford both to suck more than I thought humanly possibly, and unless he personally injured Buchholz’s back and Dice-K’s elbow there is no way you can reasonably blame this on Theo.
“Frankly”, I don’t care either!
All that money and exactly one more win than last season, not good.
I am rooting for the Tigers to win the World Series. So there!
Maybe you should too!
As long as it’s not the Yankees I don’t care who wins.
(nothing personal Yankees fans, it’s just kinda the way it has to be)
it was pitching, stupid!
Francona is not a leader. Nor is he a tactician. (for instance, playing Drew in RF last night). He also places loyalty to his “boys” and experience above talent. He should go.
To be truthful, as a lifelong RS fan (who grew up near Fenway Park) this current edition of the Red Sox reminds me a great deal of the Yawkey era teams, where certain privilaged players were on a first name basis with ownership, invited over for dinner, etc…, creating an atmosphere of jealousy and bitterness on the bench and in the clubhouse. The team was all about individuals back then..and it is that way again with this bunch. Underperforming prima donnas, including Tito, have to go, if this team is ever to become a championship caliber organization again. In professional sports it is all about winning and this team is made up of too many self serving, self promoting losers. They all have to go. Believe me, thay have to go.
Do you have any evidence that anything you just said is true? They all seemed to get along pretty well in my opinion, and I never heard any stories about players being invited anywhere for dinner, or that any player was jealous of another player; if anything they gelled better than last years team without Lowell being discontent on the bench and with Wake knowing his role, and (unfortunately) getting to start for most of the year anyway.
No he doesn’t….he is just a crying/lashing out Sawks fan…he is the epitome of what why all the NON Sawks fans are laughing about this collapse….
Congratulations! You have finally opened the door. Let the finger pointing begin…
During winter warmups everyone called Thoe brilliant for the moves and pick ups he made.
162 games later were talking about him getting fired? Ya right. Im sure if they let him go he would have the Cubs GM spot within the next 3 minutes… (Pun intended)
“Thoe”
That’s hilarious.
I don’t care for your frankness sir. It is clearly Theo’s fault that a 99 win paced team as of September 1st imploded.
This message was brought to you by sarcasm.
I hate you disqus
It’s nice not to have to read all the bombast of fans of Red Sox Nation. Now, if only the Yankees and Phillies would lose………….
I’m assuming your depressed that the Giants are not even in attendance to defend their crown. Get some offense and maybe you’ll be there next year.
frankly, you don’t know a thing about baseball.
and no, i do not care if you respond, i probably won’t even see it. so flame away
I’ll be laughing so hard if the Rays knockout the Yankees in the post-season and I really hope Girardi gets fired when that happens. How can you choose to play the Rays instead of the Red Sox and their shaky rotation? They probably would not get past the Rangers but still, you don’t make this bad decisions when your are only playing in the post-season.
so true, although the choice was not up to girardi. i still argue he pulled some serious bullshit last night.
it came down to the red sox crap pitching from lackey (and every starter in september) and giving way too many chances to wakefield.