Worst Season Ever?

If one play can sum up an entire season, then the sinking liner to left off of Red Sox killer and Oriole Robert Andino did just that. Carl Crawford, much maligned for his subpar play this season and failure to live up to his multi-million dollar contract, had an opportunity to snag the sinking rope and bring the season’s most important game to extra innings. As a symbol of collective failure and futility in the season’s final month, Crawford let the ball hit the webbing of his glove and bounce out. It was a hard play no doubt, but a play that championship and mentally tough teams make.


That was Wednesday. Two days later instead of fan’s gearing up for a matchup with the Texas Rangers, Red Sox fans are left to think of what went wrong and who will fill the void left by the franchise’s best manager of all time? Terry Francona was let go by the team, and General Manager Theo Epstein may be next.

Although Boston’s collective eyes are still hazy after a 7-20 finish in the month of September, it is somewhat easy to see how things went wrong when it mattered most. This was a team with a payroll for 2011 at $166 million and a team that had overspent on near useless free agents for the last five years. Worst, this was a team that felt entitled.

Their neighbors, the Boston Celtics, had high expectations in 2008 as Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen brought loads of talent and experience to a championship starved franchise. Despite being labeled “the big three”, the Celtics knew all of the hoopla meant little if they didn’t win the prize at the end. The Red Sox acted similar to the Miami Heat this past season; acting spoiled and entitled, but ultimately wilting under pressure when it mattered the most. They had turned into a New York Yankees team of overpriced and underperforming stars.

Josh Beckett was talking about what it would be like to win 100 games in a season, and talk show pundits were calling this the “best team ever” before the season even began. During the season, Jon Lackey routinely showed up his teammates with his on field demeanor, all the while sporting the league’s worst ERA. David Ortiz, one of the clubhouse glue guys, showed up his manager late in the year by suggesting that he start Alfredo Aceves, a key bullpen cog and friend of Ortiz.

J.D. Drew took his usual summer vacation, and actually managed to extend it, blaming his hiatus on a hurt finger of all things. Kevin Youkilis, whose edgy and blunt personality was always tolerated because of his hustle and love for the game, reportedly couldn’t keep his nose out of other people’s business. As you may recall, Youkilis was the one who openly questioned Jacoby Ellsbury to the media last year about his toughness.

This brings us back to Crawford. Crawford never said anything bad this year, never failed to run out a ground ball, and never bad-mouthed his teammates or his manager. The problem with Crawford and so many other crucial components to this so-called championship contender was that they didn’t do much of anything.

Crawford had his worst year since his rookie year in 2002. Lackey, thought to be at least a solid No. 4 starter heading into the year, gave up 24 earned runs in the month of September alone. Mike Cameron was released early in the season, and Daisuke Matsuzaka and his awful pitching were lost to Tommy John Surgery early on as well.

Even the relief pitchers didn’t work out. Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler disappointed; Wheeler with his ineffective pitching, and Jenks with his ever ballooning weight. In fact, according to Epstein in his end of the year press conference, weight and perhaps not being in the best of shape was prevalent with this team. Overpaid, entitled, and not even in shape.

Tito is gone, the easy scapegoat after a roller coaster of a season that ended with a crash. Epstein, who has been rumored to have been flirting with the idea of joining the Chicago Cubs, is left to fix this mess. The pieces are there. On paper this team is a championship caliber squad. The Red Sox, however, learned the hard way that championships are not won on paper.

Epstein, once revered as a boy genius after taking over as GM in 2002 as a 28 year old stats wiz, has slipped in his approach the past few years. Instead of hitting on smart acquisitions like Bill Mueller, David Ortiz, and Curt Schilling that helped win World Series, Epstein missed on too many big contracts like Daisuke Matsuzaka, J.D. Drew, and Edgar Renteria. Unfortunately for Epstein, the list goes on.

When constructing the 2011 team, Epstein failed to recognize the need for depth, both in the field and on the mound. Right field, shortstop, and third base were never solidified throughout the season. Josh Reddick and Jed Lowrie certainly filled in admirably, but neither is ready nor may never be ready to be full time players.

To begin the season, the rotation seemed to be overstocked with talent, yet by the month of September, the team was forced to start career minor leaguer Kyle Weiland. Injuries cost Clay Buckholz and Daisuke Matsuzaka the majority of their seasons. Tim Wakefield’s age was evident down the stretch, and Andrew Miller’s inconsistency was maddening. Important deadline acquisition Erik Bedard’s frailness followed him from Seattle to Boston. Down the stretch when supposed aces Jon Lester and Josh Beckett were called upon to stop the bleeding, they failed to do so.

By season’s end the bullpen had two guys it could rely on, Alfredo Aceves and Jonathan Paplebon. Young stud Daniel Bard lost his way in September, and the rest of the unit seemed to follow suit.

Francona tried his hardest turn the ship around, changing up the lineup, all the while protecting prima-donnas like Jon Lackey from the media. Dustin Pedroia kept imploring his battery mates to fight in the face of adversity. Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez, although quiet influences, played MVP-like throughout the entire season. And David Ortiz, one of the few members of both championship teams, looked as if someone had run over his dog during Wednesday’s waning moments.

The fact is, too many guys failed to step up, appealing to the next guy in line to make a play. From ineffective pitching, to untimely outs, to little league like errors, to just plain bad chemistry, the Red Sox season was lost from the get go, not from a sinking line drive in late September.