Boston Red Sox Can Collapse Again in 2012 but Not Pay the Price

Not even Atlanta Braves fans are more excited and relieved than the Boston Red Sox fans at the fact that baseball's commander along with the moguls he oversees, have added a second wild card to each league.

The Red Sox produced one of the greatest collapses in baseball history last season, which culminated when the Baltimore Orioles scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning to end the Red Sox season.

Some fans argue that the Red Sox 2011 debacle was worse than the New York Yankees travesty in the 2004 ALCS.

On Sept. 3, the Red Sox had a 99.6 percent chance of making the playoffs. They led the Tampa Bay Rays by nine games.

Nate Silver of the New York Times wrote that entering the last two days of the season, the Red Sox, now tied with Tampa, had the advantage because they would play the lowly Baltimore Orioles while Tampa hosted the Yankees.

We all know how that worked out.

Red Sox fans can take solace in knowing that last season's collapse ranks as only the second or third greatest ever.

Baseball Prospectus concluded that the 1995 California Angels produced the worst collapse in history.

The team known today as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim had two nine-game losing streaks down the stretch. They had an incredible 99.988 percent chance of making the playoffs after games of August 20th. 

The 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers played well down the stretch, but the surging New York Giants caught them to force a three-game playoff. The Dodgers chances of winning the pennant were 384-1.

Most (many?) Yankees fans rank the 2004 ALCS defeat as worse than the 2011 Boston collapse, but they are wrong.  Red Sox fans are forced to agree. Just follow the logic.

In 2011, the Red Sox collapse prevented post-season play.

In 2004, the Yankees collapse prevented World Series play.

A loss that prevents making the playoffs is worse than a loss that prevents getting to the World Series because at least the team has achieved a playoff berth.

Oh, what a difference a year makes. If there had been a second wild card in 2011, the Red Sox would have been in the playoffs.