The Boston Red Sox were the surprise of the American League in the first half of the season. But now that has all come right back down to Earth. Following a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees, Boston now sits outside the playoff picture. As fans begin to point fingers, Boston’s general manager is ready to take that blame.
Rock Bottom?
Heading into their 3-game series against the Yankees, the Red Sox were just 2 games ahead of their rival. Not even a month before, the Red Sox were 10 games ahead of New York. But after some disastrous baseball, the Red Sox are now on the outside looking in. It really does appear as though the 2011 season is going to repeat itself.
Now technically though, the Red Sox have exceeded expectations for 2021. If a Red Sox fan in 2020 were to hear that the Red Sox have almost 70 wins in mid-August, they probably wouldn’t even believe it. But when a team was in first place by a solid margin, it is never ok to let that slip away. It’s even worse when a team lets even the playoffs slip away.
Brain O’Halloran Shoulders The Blame
Boston’s trade deadline decisions have been one of the main focuses of Boston fans’ ire in August. Many believe that a team in first place should have done much more than what the Red Sox did. Red Sox general manager, Brain O’Halloran seems to understand this sentiment.
In a phone call interview with WEEI’s Greg Hill, O’Halloran responded to a question of who would be to blame should Boston miss the playoffs with this: “First of all, hope that doesn’t happen. But in the end, it’s on us, t’s on the front office. It’s on the baseball operations. Whatever happens on the field, the results, good or bad — we’ve been given the opportunity to do this job and gotten nothing but support from ownership. We have no excuses.”
Certainly this stretch of play for Boston is not just on the front office. Most likely if you ask the players, they would say its on them, and Cora would then say its on him. But seeing the front office willing to accept the blame shows they trust their players. The Red Sox are still a solid ballclub, they’ve just have had a really bad month.
Is This The End, Or An Overreaction?
There is still a month and a half left of baseball. It may feel as though its all over because they’ve just hit rock bottom, but its not. The best part of rock bottom is that there is nowhere else to go but up. The Red Sox just sit barely outside the playoff picture, the team is absolutely not out of it. Who knows? With plenty of games left against Tampa Bay, the Red Sox could even potentially retake first place.
Thanks for reading about the Red Sox! O’Halloran quote via The Greg Hill Show, 93.7 WEEI. You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from great TGH writers like RJ!
‘From our Haus to yours’