Boston Red Sox: Why Reports of September Collapse are Overblown

Exactly two weeks after the greatest regular season collapse in Major League Baseball history, the Boston Red Sox are dealing with a mountain of accusations surrounding the way that the team has been run over the last 12 months.

According to a report in the Boston Globe, the team and the locker room atmosphere were more insane than a three-ring circus.

Numerous sources inside the Red Sox organization told the newspaper that Terry Francona lost control of the team and his personal life, which affected his performance. John Lackey, Jon Lester and Josh Beckett went soft late in the season, thanks to drinking beer and eating chicken during games.

And, oh by the way, Theo Epstein and the rest of the front office had no idea what they were doing with anything. They were getting by, essentially, on a wing and a prayer. From the Globe:

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By all accounts, the 2011 Sox perished from a rash of relatively small indignities. For every player committed to the team’s conditioning program, there was a slacker. For every Sox regular who rose early on the road to take optional batting practice, there were others who never bothered. For every player who dedicated himself to the quest for a championship, there were too many distracted by petty personal issues.

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What are these employees and the Boston Globe trying to prove? Do they need some kind of validation for why the season fell apart? Where were these people when the team was 83-53 on September 1st?

Things couldn't have been that bad with the Red Sox, or else they wouldn't have been able to contend for as long as they did. They led the best division in baseball for the better part of four months. But they don't care about the game; they are a disaster.

Stop it. I don't begrudge the Boston Globe or Bob Hohler, the writer of the article, for telling the story because it is juicy gossip and gives Red Sox fans, who are the most arrogant in the world, someone to blame for missing out on the playoffs.

You want to know why Boston did not make the playoffs? Because they had a bad month. It happens; they are human. There are going to be times when humans struggle. 

Lester pitched well on the last day of the season, and the team was one out away from forcing a one-game playoff with Tampa Bay, but Jonathan Papelbon forgot that he is allowed to throw other pitches besides his fastball.

The offense finished first or second in the league in runs, average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

The team did not fall apart because they had so many problems in the locker room. They had one bad month.

All these vindictive allegations against Francona, Epstein, the front office and everyone else are illogical.

When the 2012 season starts and the team that runs out on the field is largely the same that started 2011, does anyone really think they aren't going to contend? That they are just the worst team in baseball and have no hope of rescue?

Red Sox fans and baseball analysts need to stop trying to assign blame and just accept that the team had a bad month. Life will be much easier if you do.