That's Not the Spirit: Red Sox Sleepwalking Into Playoffs

The Boston Red Sox are going to make the playoffs.  They are only one game away from clinching the wild card with five left to play.  So you don't need to worry about telling the Red Sox not to panic.  In fact, you'd probably need to wake them up just to tell them anything at all.

Many Red Sox fans have voiced their concerns in the heart of "The Nation" this past week after they were soundly swept out of the stadium in the Bronx. But many sports writers and radio hosts have all taken turns dismissing these concerns, saying all of the Sox's remaining games are essentially "meaningless."

Well, it's alright for writers and fans to say that and it is alright for the Red Sox to realize they don't need to run the table the rest of the way in order for this season to be "meaningless."

You would be hard pressed to find a team that cared less about the games they were playing in the last two weeks than the Boston Red Sox.  Ever since the Rangers fell outside striking distance, the Red Sox have rested their starters, set up their rotation and repeatedly phoned in their on-field performances.  

The Yankees (who actually did clinch a playoff spot two weeks ago) have seemed to increase their sense of urgency this past week.  They wanted to lock up the division and they wanted to do it against Boston.  They knew not only what it meant for their fans, but what it meant for them.

Yesterday night, after the Red Sox lost 11-5 to the Toronto Blue Jays, and after they had lost their sixth game in 10 days, Victor Martinez actually said, "We're in a pretty good place."  He must have meant that in the standings because no player should ever feel like they're "in a pretty good place" after splitting a series to the Royals, getting swept by your team's arch-rivals, and just losing your fourth consecutive game to a team with a losing record.  

Martinez definitely could not have been talking about his team's confidence in throwing out base runners as the Red Sox have only caught 13 percent of base stealers as they prepare to face one of the fastest teams in baseball in the playoffs (Angels).

The Red Sox may be a lock for the playoffs, but the way they have been playing lately, they certainly aren't a lock for anything else.  They need to wake up and remember they're professionals.

I have no problem with a team easing off a little before the playoffs.  But I do have a problem with a team not playing hard and appearing to not care in the slightest if they win a single game the rest of the way.

This is a team that is far from perfect and they haven't earned the right to hot dog it down the stretch, even if they are playoff bound.  And If they are having a hard time finding something to play for, maybe they should take a minute and look in the stands.