And So The Season Ends.......

And it ends far too early. We must accept a year without any post season baseball. It's not easy. But we are where we are for many reasons. What it all came down to was this: The Boston Red Sox were, in the end, not a playoff caliber team. For whatever reasons, and I can think of plenty of them. 86-76. Thoroughly mediocre. Yesterday's season ender? A perfect example. How fitting was the weather? The game was delayed 3 plus hours, and when the raindrops were few and far enough between, 5 innings of baseball, good baseball, were played. But then the heavens opened up again as if to say, "That's enough for 2006, Red Sox. Get 'em next year." You see, the heavens sounded remarkably like Red Sox fans, at least in this case. Oh, and our starting pitcher, Devern Hansack, hadn't allowed a hit in those 5 innings. Be ready for next year, Devern. And our ex-boy wonder Theo Epstein came right out and said that Paps will be coming back next year as a member of the starting rotation. Good for the rotation....bad for the bullpen. The closer's role is one of many things that the front office needs to address. Finding someone who can do the same job that Paps did? Near impossible. The club is not going to go anywhere next year without an effective closer. Even with 5 Schillings in the rotation.
Enough for now. I'll be writing a more in depth "what's needed where" post later this week, or next. But to the 2006 Boston Red Sox, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Most of us, all but one, never gave up. And that's the way it should be. Every year. Every player. Not every player but one.