Evan Longoria's Walkoff HR Spells Doom for the Oakland Raiders

Evan Longoria’s walkoff homerun over the left field fence at Tropicana Field at five minutes past midnight on Thursday morning, capped one of the most amazing evenings of regular season finales that major league baseball has ever seen.

Longoria’s blast catapulted the Tampa Bay Rays into the ALDS, sent the New York Yankees into the postseason with a shocking come-from-ahead loss, and gave the Boston Red Sox yet another dose of the Curse of the Bambino. 

Oh, and one other thing—if history prevails, the Red Sox’s absurdly agonizing exit from the 2011 baseball season all but ensures that the Oakland Raiders are in for a world of hurt on Sunday, when they host Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Here’s why: during the Brady era, the Patriots are unbeatable in their games played following the Red Sox’s excruciating season-ending losses.

Let's start with Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS.

You know, the one where, with Boston up 5-2 in the eighth inning, manager Grady Little inexplicably allowed an obviously gassed Pedro Martinez to pitch to Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada, with predictable and disastrous results. Matsui and Posada hit run scoring doubles to tie the game, and the Yankees went on to win in extra innings.

Red Sox Nation, without a World Series title for 86 years, mourned, but the New England Patriots would have none of the gloom. The following Sunday, Tom Brady, then in his third year as the Patriots’ starting quarterback, threw for 283 yards and a pair of touchdowns, as the Patriots defeated the Dolphins, 19-13, in Miami. 

The Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, erasing 86 years of futility in a magical and memorable October. But the following year, in 2005, the Red Sox fell to the White Sox in the ALDS, losing the third and deciding game at Fenway Park on October 7, 2005. 

As if on cue, the Patriots again lifted New Englanders’ spirits just days later, with a 31-28 win over the Falcons in Atlanta. Tom Brady had another stellar game, completing 22 of 27 passes for 350 yards and three touchdowns.

The Red Sox, featuring rookies Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury, won their second World Series in 2007, to the delight of Red Sox Nation. But a year later, they lost a pulsating seven-game 2008 ALCS to the Tampa Bay Rays, falling 3-1 at Tropicana Field in Game 7. 

Seemingly unfazed by the Red Sox’s undoing, the Patriots went out the very next night on Monday Night Football and destroyed the Denver Broncos, 41-7. Brady, who had suffered a season-ending knee injury a month earlier, watched as his understudy, Matt Cassel, tossed three touchdown passes. 

The Red Sox again fell short in the 2009 postseason, losing the 2009 ALDS to the Angels. How did the Patriots respond? You guessed it, by walloping the Tennessee Titans 59-0 the following Sunday. Tom Brady enjoyed one of his best games ever, throwing a career-high six touchdown passes while completing 29 of 34 passes for 380 yards. 

Which brings us to this weekend.

The Red Sox have just suffered the latest in a seemingly endless succession of heartbreaking, season-ending losses. A loss already being described by some as the worst Red Sox disappointment of all time.

And that covers a lot of territory.

Those of us who were riveted to our televisions early Thursday morning saw the Red Sox players trudging off the field after Longoria’s homer, walking down the dugout stairs into the visitor’s clubhouse, where they flicked on the television…. hoping that the hated Yankees could beat the Rays…. Only to see Evan Longoria hit the screaming line drive that ended their season. 

All of which can only mean this:  based on what the Patriots have done to their opponents after similar unhappy Red Sox endings, in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2009, if I were an Oakland Raiders fan, I wouldn’t get my hopes up for a victory by the Silver-and-Black on Sunday at the O.co Coliseum.

Not one bit.