Well, that was a hell of a lot of traveling for two runs. After spending months trying to get themselves into October, the Red Sox arrived in New York and promptly gave us an offseason. No deciding game. No final afternoon spent checking the lineup and convincing ourselves that one good swing could change everything. Just two losses, an 18–2 combined score, and the familiar aggravation of watching the Yankees enjoy something at our expense. I could have done without tha

The Red Sox played their 162nd game Sunday against the Cubs in Tampa. Read that sentence again: Boston. Chicago. Tampa. A nor’easter chased the season finale out of Fenway and into Tropicana Field, which feels like an appropriate last bit of nonsense from a season that has refused to follow a normal route anywhere. The result didn’t change Boston’s next destination. I won't even mention what happened. Irrelevant. The Red Sox have the American League’s fifth seed, and

The Boston Red Sox are going to the playoffs. Go ahead and read that sentence again, because there were plenty of points this season when it looked about as likely as a relaxing drive through Boston during rush hour. They’re in. Officially. Somehow. Not because everything went according to plan. Almost nothing went according to plan. The manager was fired in April. Important players were injured. The offense vanished for long stretches. The pitching staff seemed to b

The Red Sox are almost there. Not mathematically. Not officially. There are still games to win and enough time remaining for something strange to happen, because this is baseball and because these are the Red Sox. Strange is sort of their thing. But October no longer feels like some distant possibility we are afraid to mention. After taking two of three from Kansas City, Boston is 82-68 and holding the second American League Wild Card spot. They have put themselves

A week ago, the message was pretty simple: forget what it looks like. Forget style points. Forget expecting the Red Sox to suddenly become a steady, predictable baseball team. Just get into the playoffs. Well, they appear to be taking that advice very seriously. Perhaps a little too seriously. These Red Sox are hurtling toward October in the least relaxing way possible. One night they look like a team nobody will want to face. The next afternoon they look like they a