Post Postseason | My Incredibly Biased Opinion

While I realize this blog is probably a week late, it took a little while for me to get to a point where I could write this.

It was tough to lose the ALCS, but losing it to a team like the Tampa Bay Rays made it a little bit easier just because of the type of team they are. For one thing I am a baseball fan before I'm a Red Sox fan, so seeing a team that plays the game right with pitching, defense, and timely hitting win it, I can't be upset about that.

Second off, and not taking anything away from the Rays, the Sox were depleted. No Mike Lowell, a very hurt Josh Beckett, whom I will get back to a little later, and a David Ortiz who was evidently not 100%.The Sox had to rely on the role players like Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, and Coco Crisp all year, and for the most part they stepped up in a huge way, and if not for those guys the Sox would have never even made it close to where they made it: Game 7 of the ALCS.

But one man I did not mention above, and was arguably the key contributer is Jason Bay. Bay had to deal with filling the big shoes of Manny Ramirez, and he filled them admirably. Bay is a true proffessional; he gets on base, he drives in runs, and occasionally he hits the home run. In addition to his playing ability, Bay is one very important thing that Ramirez is not: a good person. Jason Bay cares about more than just numero uno, he cares about how his teamates are doing, he cares about how the team is doing. While trading Manny Ramirez may have been the reason that the Red Sox did not win the World Series I'm alright with it because we got rid of a true thorn in our side that is Manny Ramirez. While I do, however, hope that someday number 24 is inbetween 9 and 27 up in right field, it will not be for Ramirez, but for one Dwight Evans.

One more thing I want to touch on is Josh Beckett's performance in Game 6 which was, as Theo Epstein said, "Borderline Heroic". Watching this game really opened my eyes that Beckett was truly hurt, but he found a way to pitch well enough to win the game. This just further adds to a man's, whose postseason lore doesn't need any addition, postseason lore. While this postseason wasn't Beckett's best his performance in Game 6 was probably his most important start.

Next year I look forward to the Sox adding to what they did this year, and making another run at a World Series title. A good year from Beckett, another solid year from Daisuke Matsuzaka, and another good year from Lester, and the Sox will be in prime position to do just that. So while we may have not won the series this year, we still made it a lot farther than those dreaded Yankees.

--Ryan Michaud