Rangers Lose! Rangers Lose!

And so the Red Sox, losers of five straight and seven of nine, including three against the Yankees, finally back their way into October.  

But amid the merriment, there did seem to be a desire to defend their right to party, with the oddity of the situation. It was, however, not unlike the clinching celebration of almost exactly two years ago, when the Sox officially reached the postseason on a Melvin Mora squeeze bunt that gave the Orioles the win over the Yankees on Sept. 28, 2007. Of course, the Sox had won on that night.

"It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you're in," Pedroia said. "Obviously the game was pretty intense, and we couldn't find a way to win, but it doesn't really matter how we do it, we're excited, and we can't wait for the playoffs.

"We like our chances. We have a great pitching staff, and our offense has been swinging the bat good. I know we've lost a few games in a row, but when playoff time comes, there's a lot of guys that have been through it. That's a positive."

Pedroia failed to mention, though, the Sox's continued problem against teams not named the Orioles. Nor did he bring up how the Sox are, at best, mediocre on the road. Not exactly a recipe for success in the postseason. But the Rangers lost. That alone is cause for celebration.  

BEN:

So much hate. How do you press on with so much hate in your heart?

Yes, various people have criticized the Sox for their plans to celebrate if and when they clinched a wild card spot. I know there is a certain act-like-you've-been-there-before austerity to this argument. Sure, I get that. But let me ask you something: who cares?

In some ways, last night's celebration was typical of the '09 season. The Sox lost, and many of their players went home to deal with other things. Dustin Pedroia said goodnight to his six-week-old son. Jason Bay went out for a drink with his agent, who is still working on Bay's deal for next season, probably with the Sox. Then everyone came back when the Rangers lost and the wild card was officially theirs.

The team has been through a lot this season. Daisuke Matsuzaka missed almost the entire season due to shoulder fatigue after the World Baseball Classic. The Smoltz and Penny experiments failed. Tim Wakefield's back gave out. At shortstop, we lost Jed Lowrie to injury, and Julio Lugo couldn't play well enough to earn back his own job. So we gave the reins to Nick Green, who filled in admirably (until he didn't) and then went down with a bulging disc. Jason Varitek underperformed behind the plate, and we had to sacrifice a key reliever, Justin Masterson, to help replace his missing offense. And David Ortiz went through the worst slump of his career, plus some nasty steroid talk. And, on one forgettable night in the Bronx, the Sox had so many injured outfielders that Kevin Youkilis had to start in left field.

Look--I'm not saying they're the Mets. Nobody has luck that rotten. But the Sox have been through a lot. And to still be standing at this stage of the season says a lot about Terry Francona, Theo Epstein, and the leaders in the clubhouse. Forgive the Sox if they cared more about Jon Lester's knee and Matsuzaka's performance than they did about winning the games last weekend.

Pedroia, although he will not contend for this year's AL MVP, (which, for the record, should go to Joe Mauer), has been a consistent clubhouse and lineup presence even while comforting his wife through a difficult pregnancy. Jacoby Ellsbury, after a rough start to the season, has emerged as an elite leadoff hitter. Matsuzaka, as messy as he always is, has pitched well since returning for the stretch run.

Epstein plugged the hole at catcher with Victor Martinez, who has been a consistent RBI man in the middle of the lineup. He plugged the whole at shortstop with Alex Gonzalez, who has stabilized the position and hit well in his short time in Boston. And he replaced Masterson with Billy Wagner, now a trusted late-inning presence for the team.

Francona has played musical chairs with Martinez, Varitek, Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis, and David Ortiz, and gotten good production from all of them. Which reminds me: Ortiz, who was batting .185 with 1 HR and 18 RBI June 1st, has had a blistering September and is now hitting .240 with 28 HR and 96 RBI. He's been streaky, and is not his old self, but even his softer side has outhomered everyone in the American League over the last 4 months. And the fact that he has a shot to be a 30-100 man again this year after that start is frankly astounding.

Am I saying the Sox are the odds-on favorites to win it all? No. I'm not even denying that it's the Yankees that have that distinction. But as Dane Cook reminds us, you can't script October. And the Sox, for all their struggles, have a lot going for them: two elite starters, two more good-looking ones (which is one more than the Yankees have), a deep bullpen, and a lineup that has scored the 3rd most runs in the league. I don't know if that's enough to win it all this year, but I like it when good things happen to my team.

Jeez.