Not Meant to Be

So that happened. A Mark Kotsay (questionable) strikeout, a Jason Varitek (horribly ugly) strikeout, and a Jed Lowrie sharp grounder to second marked the end of an ultimately doomed post-season run. Kinda fitting when you think about it too, because it was an unbelievably feeble lineup that marked the beginning of the end for them.

And its weird. I'm not that upset, I'm more just disappointed; I feel like my parents giving me the old high school lecture. "I expected more from you, and have realized maybe I just had too high expectations." The truth is these Red Sox hit their peak a few weeks ago, and sadly were not a championship club as currently comprised.

The biggest thing I can see looking at the team, from a step back now that the season is over, is that this team was worse than last year's team. The pitching might have been a wash, but the Sox lineup was a PG version of last year's R-Rated monster.

This watered down version was without Manny Ramirez, Mike Lowell, and one wrist of David Ortiz, or the Big Recession. Jason Varitek got worse, Jacoby Ellsbury ended up buried on the bench, and Jed Lowrie showed his cold feet. The weight of the team lay on the shoulders of just a few hitters and that doesn't cut it in crunch time. On the bright side, the playoffs gave me the idea for my Jason Varitek Roadkill Halloween costume.

It wasn't a sad ending, it wasn't a pitiful whimper into oblivion, it wasn't a heartbreak; all things it looked like it might be at one point. Goodbye is never a fun word and losing never get easy, even if you are a Clippers fan, but the Sox demise won't haunt me the way others have (2003!, 2005, 2006 recently). Plus now I have time to catch up on my Steve Harvey Show DVDs.

But when you look back at the season you can feel assured that Youkilis, Pedroia, Lester, Masterson, Dice-K, and Jason Bay all took the metaphorical next step. With them back and a hopefully re-tooled Buchholz and Lugo, a better fitting Kotsay, a healthier Lowell and Ortiz, and a maturer Ellsbury, this team can certainly wreak havoc. Lets just hope its not our our havoc that's wreaked.