I am a Red Sox fan.  I’m one of those crazy people in Connecticut who made the decision, based on familial and historical factors, to support a team three hours away over the one in the city next door.  And, about ninety percent of the time, this is not a decision I regret in any way.  Since my family bought season tickets in 2004 (after an arduous process of sitting outside in the freezing cold waiting in line), we’ve seen the Red Sox take two world series and a number of nearly successful playoff runs.

But not this year.  This year, they blew it.  Despite having a team that could seriously contend in the playoffs, and holding the AL east lead for the end of summer after a rocky (0-6) start, the Sox ended the year with 90 wins and 72 losses- a .556 average.  Sadly, that put them only third in the AL East, and they lost out on the wild card to the Rays at the last minute.

I’m not mad, I’m not disappointed- I’m a Red Sox fan through and through and I can remember much worse moments than this- game seven of the ALCS in 2003, when a last minute hit shattered October dreams for fans the world over.  But I do wonder how this happened.  How a team that, while lacking in pitching (Daisuke Matsuzaka hasn’t quite panned out playing in the US  the same way he did in Japan, and ended his season early to have back surgery due to injuries), had one of the strongest offences in baseball, managed to blow their tremendous late-summer lead, is still beyond me.

Red Sox fans are used to failure.  Used to seeing the team either completely blow up at the last minute and drop from top contender to out of the running or suddenly jump back into the fight.  They’re a team that’s hard to follow because of this inconsistency, but that’s why I, and most of the fans I know, love it.  Because you can never count them out until it’s over- even after falling apart, they were in the race right down to the wire… yes, they lost in the end, but as a fan?  It was worth watching all the way.