And the last one counts

So instead of talking about the Division winners and who matches up best against whom, we are talking about the Wild Card races, the squeeze bunt that beat the Cardinals and how the improbable Orioles are wrecking the Red Sox chances to hold on to a playoff berth. How weird.


How could this possibly be? How could two teams who had what seemed to be insurmountable leads both be in a flat footed tie on the last day of the season? The Atlanta Braves, who seemed a lock on the wild card a month ago, are now tied with the St. Louis Cardinals, a team any sane person counted out months ago. The Boston Red Sox have squandered a formidable lead and likewise are tied with Tampa Bay.

These, you may remember, are the same Red Sox who at the beginning of the season were thought to have an impeccable pitching staff, both starting and bullpen and a lineup filled with prodigious scoring threats. The offense, has, at times, produced. But the pitching has all but disappeared. Last night, the Red Sox managed to beat Baltimore, but only because a Yale-educated catcher, filling in for pretty much everybody, came through not only with timely hitting, but also cut down a runner at third with a terrific throw from behind the plate. Perhaps they can win today, making it two in a row. Something they haven’t managed in an entire month.

It is a game of momentum, of missed opportunities and unlikely stars. And so, after 161 games, as strange as it sounds, the last one counts.