To Make the Playoffs or Not to Make the Playoffs? That is the Question

Unless you've been living under the proverbial rock for the entire month of September or subscribe to 'Pink Hat Weekly' you know that your Boston Red Sox are now 2 games up on the Tampa Bay Rays (as I write this they are smoking the Yanks 12-0 with super phenom Matt Moore starting out with 7 K's in 3 IP) and 2.5 games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (dumb name how'd the Dodgers let them get LA in their name?). On September 1st the Sox were up 11 games in the AL Wild Card, actually they were 2 games up in the AL East on the rival Bronx Bombers but hey who's counting, over the Rays with roughly 30 to play. Throw on the cruise control and head into the playoffs right? Negative, ghostrider the Sox starting rotation has decided to complete wilt and the Rays finally realized that they have dynamite starting pitching 1-5 and Johnny Damon has proven that right now he's a better player than Carl Crawford for literally 25% of the money in 2011. As unthinkable as it seemed at the beginning of the month the Red Sox are in shambles, grasping for playoff straws and if they do end up invited it to the dance they'll be more than backing in which leads to the question: is it worth it to make the playoffs and get trounced in the first round a la 2005 (Matt Clement in game 1 gave up 8 runs. Awesome) or for them to spare us and get caught by the Rays?

If anybody reading this blog can honestly tell me that the Red Sox deserve to make the playoffs more than the Rays after this past month and the overall organizational philosophy of 'Oh, don't worry about that loss guys we tried hard and Lackey's stuff was great I don't know what happened out there' or 'Hey, you slept on the plane wrong and your neck hurts and we are collapsing but you want a few games off? Sure, go for it!' I'd love to hear your rationale. From May 1st thru September 1st the Red Sox were the best team in baseball and in the words of the old timers hot as a pistol yet before May 1st and after September 1st they have been far below average and seem disinterested on most nights. A glance at the team on paper and it wasn't far-fetched to pencil in this years ballclub for 100 wins and a trip to the World Series to face off with the Fightin' Phils. The talk radio arguments were centered not on if the Red Sox had the best offense in baseball (they are 2nd in runs and damn good) but whether they had the best pitching in baseball. The staff that some were comparing to that of the Phillies headed by Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt currently checks in with the 21st best ERA in baseball or if it's easier to digest the 10th worst in baseball.

Probably my favorite stat that I've heard recently about the Red Sox pitching staff centers around the one and only John Lackey. Since the Red Sox were founded in 1901 the worst ERA that any pitcher on their staff has accumulated while throwing at least 100 innings was 5.89....Lackey will set the record this year by chalking up a 6.49 ERA in 154 IP while leading the league in ER's given up at 111. This season will go down as the worst year a starter pitcher has EVER had in a Red Sox uniform. If the Red Sox make the playoffs this is probably the guy who's taking the ball in game 3 since Clay Buchholz won't be ready to go more than an inning or two, while typing this Erik Bedard just broke another toenail, and Alfredo Aceves (probably the teams most effective pitcher this year) hasn't been stretched out to go more than 4 or 5 innings. Are you sure you want the Red Sox to get into the playoffs so you can see them get torched by the Rangers or Tigers in 3...maybe 4 games?

The pitching is what has failed them over the past month more than anything else. The offense is still averaging close to 5.5 runs/game yet the teams record this month is 5-16. The Red Sox rotation currently looks like this: Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Tim Wakefield, Kyle Weiland or Andrew Miller - pick who you want to get lit up it doesn't really matter they both suck. Jon Lester hasn't picked like a 'Ace' in over a month and has done nothing to slow the teams steady free fall into 2nd maybe 3rd place in the AL Wild Card. Josh Beckett 'rolled' his ankle and missed 10 days or so came back last week and threw well against the Rays but when the Red Sox needed that game last night against the Orioles and he was handed a 4-1 lead going into the 6th he couldn't hold onto it. Big game pitchers win that game every day of the week whether they have to throw 100 pitches or 150 pitches they win that ballgame for their club. It pains me to say this but C.C. Sabathia wins that game for the Yankees without a doubt in my mind. Daniel Bard has also gone up into flames losing 5 games in this month alone while not being able to go an inning without giving up at least 2 walks and most nights a run. The truly only accountable pitcher on the staff lately has been Jonathan Papelbon.

The team is in disarray and the players faces show it every night before, during, and after the games. The attitude on the dugout sucks right now with everyone taking the whoa with me attitude that good teams who don't have the cahoonas to buck up and carry the team into the playoffs and beyond. If you've been watching any of the teams games this month you've seen just how unwatchable the games actually are. It's painful to watch most nights because before the game has even started the opposing team has been staked to a 2 or 3 run lead. Losing 3 out of 4 to the 2nd worst team in the majors Baltimore Orioles when you're in the middle of a dogfight is unacceptable and not what playoff teams do. Unless I see a dramatic change from the 2011 edition of the Boston Red Stockings I personally don't want to see them get into the playoffs and get hammered into the ground. It might do the organization some good to experience a collapse only eclipsed by the 1964 Phillies. Maybe then there will be more accountability in the locker room when players don't show up to the ballpark everyday ready to win and contribute. Maybe then players will play hurt and get the wins necessary to be an elite ballclub for 162 games, not 120 games but the full season.

The decisions all yours on what you want to see happen over the next week and a half of games leading up to the season finale but I know that right now from my perspective I'd rather not see the Red Sox get into the playoffs and by 1, 2, 3 and home playing golf. Ask yourselves this before making your decision though do the 2011 Boston Red Sox deserve to make the playoffs?

Until we cross paths again,
Geoff Jablonski