Well, although Saturday didn’t turn out exactly as I’d hoped, given that I attended the only game of the series that the good guys lost, the weekend on a whole was a positive. Some might claim that we backed into the playoffs, but the fact of the matter is that we finished with exactly the same record as the AL East winners, the Yankees. If you’re confused about how two teams with identical records can finish 1-2 in the standings, well I was too, but the Evil Empire won one more game in the head to head series than we did so that was the tie breaker. It seems dumb to me, but at least this isn’t thirty years ago when there was no Wild Card and our guys would be furiously making tee times.
Anyway, the net of it was that my day at the ballpark was worth the complete lack of sleep Thursday night – even though we didn’t pull out a win. But I expect most of you reading this don’t care about that. So instead, here’s what’s important for all of you:
In the middle of Sunday’s game, the crowd at Fenway went nuts when a 9 on the hand operated scoreboard at the base of the Green Monster became an F. This numeric to alpha transition signalled the end of the Cleveland / Chicago game, and booked a Wild Card birth for the Sox even if their big lead on the Yankees didn’t hold up (it did). It also meant that my postings here for the next little bit will be erratic in their timing, somewhat Sox-heavy, and slightly less rational than you’ve come to expect. As requested earlier, I beg your indulgence in this matter.
For the next few weeks, I’m going to be very busy cheering on two teams: my beloved Sox and whoever might be playing the Yankees that day. Hope you will too.
