Red Sox Win and Lose as a Team: This Collapse Has No Innocents

Should the Red Sox complete this collapse and actually miss the playoffs, fans will place the bulk of the blame on the shoulders of a few specific people: Theo Epstein, Terry Francona, John Lackey, Matt Albers and Carl Crawford. Those guys are the men who have played the biggest role in the current September swoon that has seen the Sox lose 16 of 21 games so far in September.

It's not just them, though. This really has been a team effort and when it's all said and done, should the postseason begin without the Boston Red Sox as part of it, then every member of the team will need to look in the mirror and realize there was more to be done.

Whether it's poor fielding by Marco Scutaro, impatient and out-of-character at-bats by disciplined hitters such as Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez or pitchers such as Daniel Bard, Jon Lester and Josh Beckett falling behind in counts and then paying for it with runs being scored, this complete implosion has seen a real team effort and that's a real problem.

Teams need leaders. Men like David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia have certainly said the right things throughout this slump, but unless we're all missing something, no one has really stepped up and made things happen. Yes, the Sox have unloaded on a few pitchers this month, racking up 14 and 18 runs on the Blue Jays and then the Orioles, respectively, but this team just can't seem to come from behind this month, and every close lead has become an excruciating exercise in nerves for the fans as well as the team. 

A lead for the Red Sox of less than about five runs right now feels like a team with a bad defense trying to run out the clock against the Patriots as Brady just sits in the pocket and picks his spots. You know you're going to lose that game; you're just watching to see how it happens.

That's where the Red Sox now find themselves.

The past two Sundays, New England sports fans have had the pleasure of watching the Patriots continually score points against defenses, regardless of what those defenses do. Then for the rest of the week, we all get to feel like those very defenses we laughed at all week as the Red Sox play "prevent defense," which only seems to prevent them from winning.

It wasn't a shock when Matt Albers imploded earlier in the month, but Daniel Bard? And then this past Tuesday, Jonathan Papelbon, too? Last night, Josh Beckett—who is as steady a big-game presence as the Red Sox have on their roster—couldn't hold a lead at home against the Orioles. Who's going to step up for the Red Sox at this point?

Lost in the panic is that the Red Sox still have a two-and-a-half game lead with less than a week to go in the season. There are six road games left. Three in New York against a Yankee team that has already clinched the American League East and three in Baltimore against the same Orioles team that just took three of four from the Red Sox in Boston. Tampa finishes up with six games, all at home against the Blue Jays and then the Yankees.

The Red Sox don't have to play perfect baseball to win the wildcard.

They can win four of six, something that arguably no team in baseball is more due to accomplish, and probably win the wild card. They are all road games, but this is a good baseball team, everyone knows they are at this point. The big question is, do the Red Sox remember that?

You can't win tough games at the major league level without believing you can win them, so someone on that team needs to step up in the locker room and remind the whole team of that fact and then come through on the field as well. If not, then this whole team is going to end up being labeled "losers," something I doubt any of them felt was possible just one month ago. "Cowboy Up," anyone?