The 2008 Red Sox - defining moments

Another year, another baseball season in the books. This one didn't end the way we all would have liked, but like the old saying goes, you can't win 'em all. As they all are, this season was defined by some transcendent moments, some goofy moments, and some moments that made you question your sanity.

This is my attempt at making sense of the last 6 months of Red Sox baseball. Not always an easy thing to do, but this seems like as good a therapy as any.

The Good

1. The emergence of Dustin Pedroia. We knew he could play in this league. What we didn't expect was for him to become a legitimate MVP candidate. Come on - the guy is generously listed at 5'9 and 180 in the team's yearbook. If he's a hair over 5'6, Jason Varitek will win a batting title next year. But he was the best 2nd baseman in the league this year, finishing at the top of the league in hits, runs, and batting average. And he did all this while playing Gold-glove caliber defense. And at 25, he's only going to get better. His choice of "The Wash" as his at-bat music also strikes me as hilarious.

2. The performance of homegrown players. Jon Lester finally shed the "feel-good story" label to become a legitimate force in the starting rotation. In a year where Josh Beckett often looked like he was throwing batting practice fastballs, Lester was the difference between an October of playing baseball and one of watching baseball. Jacoby Ellsbury led the league in stolen bases, dazzled us with his diving catches in centerfield, and teased us with flashes of talent in a season where he struggled to stay consistent. Kevin Youkilis provided power, intensity, and consistency during a stretch where we were missing our biggest hitter. Justin Masterson and Manny Delcarmen headed up the youth movement in the bullpen, and Jonathan Papelbon submitted another dominant season as the anchor. Last but definitely not least, there was young Jed Lowrie, whose solid performance saved us from another year of watching a guy who couldn't hit a beach ball with a tennis racket.

3. J.D. Drew living up to the billing. One of the TBS guys mentioned during the ALDS that this guy had Mickey Mantle power, which is comically overstated, but for a stretch in June when Big Papi went down, J.D. Drew was as hot as two cats fighting in a wool sock. As is his trademark, he played much less than a full season. But at least he contributed this time around.

4. Lugo's injury. It's hard to remember a time when the Red Sox had a good shortstop - Orlando Cabrera's three months of service notwithstanding. Since 2002, we've had Nomar post-wrist injury when he entered what I like to call the 'high pop-up off of third base' phase of his career, Edgar "Rent-a-wreck" Renteria, Alex Gonzalez, and Julio Lugo. Now that we can all appreciate how much Lugo sucks, can Theo Epstein trade him for a bag of bats or something?

The Bad

1. Jason Varitek morphing into a National League catcher. You won't find a bigger Varitek apologist than me - the guy plays with a lot of heart, leads by example, and was instrumental in the success of a young pitching staff. But let's all face the stats - he's in the twilight of his career. I stand by my belief that he will make an excellent manager in this league in a couple years. 

2. The whole Manny Ramirez saga. This was the enormous elephant in the room after the Rays sent the Sox packing on Sunday night. Would they have won it all with Manny? Would they even be in the ALCS if he was still here? Jason Bay played admirably in both series, but he's not Manny Ramirez. Manny is a guy that can carry an offensively struggling team on his back. 

We rode the Manny rollercoaster since he arrived in the winter of 2000. Even this year, he showed up to camp early with a smile on his face, talking of finishing his career in Boston. Then he scuffled with Youk in the dugout, pushed an elderly ex-cop to the ground in a dispute over tickets, and spoke out very honestly and clearly to the front office of an organization that had been very tolerant of his antics up to this point. I could go either way on this one. History would say that Manny would finish up strong and turn in his usual big-hitting performance in the playoffs. But after watching his body language and listening to him talk about his time here, one wonders whether he would have given up on the team and sabotaged the season. Either way, whether we like it or not, this is a new era for the Sox.

3. Josh Beckett's performance. Only one word can be used to describe it - frustrating. We saw glimpses of 2007 Josh Beckett, but he was never able to put it together long enough to be the guy we needed him to be. Here's hoping this isn't a trend. 

The Ugly

The champagne celebrations - for personal reasons. I happened to get tickets for the game where the Sox would clinch the wild card. As luck would have it, the game was on a Tuesday night. After they won, I cheered and watched the boys of summer usher in the fall with a rowdy champagne celebration, and then slipped out to head to the train back to my house. As I'm walking down Lansdowne St, I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder and I hear deafening screams behind me. It was Big Papi himself, running faster than I've ever seen toward Bleacher Bar. Naturally, I follow him in there and proceed to get sprayed with champagne and beers. "Oh yeah" I'm thinking to myself, this is a cool story to tell my buddies. I've had a few beers at the game and I'm feeling pretty good. "What the hell, let's celebrate," I find myself thinking.

Five minutes later I'm taking shots at Game On! with some friends that I ran into from high school, and another that was on a major network reality show this past summer. Someone mentions something about more players showing up in a half hour. I decide to stay around to see who would show up.

Twenty minutes and approximately three beers later (I had pretty much lost count at this point), Coco Crisp, Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Dustin Pedroia, Manny Delcarmen, and Theo Epstein show up and jump behind the bar. Everyone is absolutely beside themselves. I asked Coco Crisp to pour me 7 jager bombs - 6 for my friends and me, and one for him. Josh Beckett sidles up for a fist-pound, proceeds to question my technique, and then calls Jon Lester over to show him the 'explode' technique (which I never would have done without the aid of 5 of Game On's 23 oz. beers). Theo Epstein raises his glass and everyone erupts. It was one of those nights that reminds you why being a Red Sox fan is so unique - baseball transcends everything in this town, and I think it would be safe to say that nothing else mattered at that moment but celebrating another playoff run for our favorite team.

Which brings me to why this is labeled under 'Ugly'. Try explaining to your boss when you roll in at 10:30 in the morning on a Wednesday that you were late because you were doing shots with Red Sox players. You think I was kidding when I said nothing else mattered at that moment?