No white flags after Labor Day

Doug:
I'm not going to let yestaday's aftahnoon loss dampen my post Labah Day enthusiasm one iota.

 

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Doug:
We've got a 5.5 game lead and coolstandings.com has the Sox at 91.4% for the division and 98.5% for the playoffs.

 

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Bill:
Um, for those of who are a bit long tooth, it's worth pointing out that in 1978 the Red Sox were 5.5 games ahead of the Yankees on September 2nd, but by September 12th were only half a game ahead.

 

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Bill:
So don't count your chickens before you finish your beer.

 

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Comments

[yazbread]

Prediction update. Officially out of the running since the last update are Steve in MD and James at 81 wins. Harwich Rich, RM, Sonomasox, Tim, and Vermonter all predicted 82 wins. Baring an epic collapse they are done as well. Meanwhile it looks like the Rays picked the wrong time to give up amphetamines.

[COD]

Nobody that lived through 1978 can relax now. I was 11. Bucky Fucking Dent crushed my soul that day.

[rm]

When I meet guys from the New England/Tri-State area, one of my questions is: Who was the shortstop for the 1978 yankees? If they answer Bucky (*&%^$# Dent, then I know I have met a friend and not a foe.

[Harwich Rich]

I feel like Marty McFly. ;D

[cmdrflake]

I tossed an empty beer glass at a TV that awful day, missed it and was roughly ejected from the bar to a chorus of Bronx cheers from MFY fans. The 1978 collapse was nothing compared to 2011's melt down, but losing 5.5 games while the MFYs won seemingly all of theirs made it all worse. To add to it, the MFY's seemingly disorganized managerial situation (See Billy Martin, George Steinbrenner on wiki!) and key injuries made it all the worse. The Sawx simply choked. (See also 1948, 49, 87,2003...(

[Bob]

19-1 what's-his-name tonight. Is it a gooch to call him 19-2? (Yes, Bob, it's a gooch. Unless it's a reverse gooch. Which it is.)

[James]

I don't think I've ever been happier to be wrong and or out of the running.

[cmdrflake]

I am satisfied with not seeing Verlander pitch against this team. He'd toss a 2727 at them...

[Past a Diving Jeter]

The 1978 Red Sox won 99 games. Just say'n.

[dustbunny44]

I'd like to buy Josh Beckett a couple Keystone beers and a bag full o' chicken McNuggets. Happy home stretch people.

[soxinsix]

Loving how the Rays keep helping out by losing. Big series looming this weekend.

[Steve in MD]

Regarding other perdictions, Lackey has pitched surprisingly well, certainly good enough to win 15 games, if only Sox would score some runs for him - six shutouts with him on the mound.

[ponch]

Ain't gonna be a collapse. Team is too solid. I'm laughing at the MFY fans around here scrambling to jump back on the bandwagon now that they're in the 7 team clusterfuck that is the wild card. I would LOVE to play this MFY team in the playoffs, their starting pitching is terrible.

[W8r]

Got fisted last night :(

[Harwich Rich]

TMI ;O

[louclinton]

History sucks.

love,
lc

[redsoxnumba1]

Was an 11yo in 1978,,,I remember it like it was yesterday....no relaxing, nothing is a done deal. ask the 2004 Yanks when we cam back from 3-0.... it aint over til its over!

[cmdrflake]

"History is bunk!"- Henry Ford

[soxdownunder]

History is an angel being blown backwards into the future
History is a pile of debris ...

Laurie Anderson

Also, I fly tomorrow and land at LAX some 5 hours fore I leave Sydney. It's some tricky shit that time.

[Harwich Rich]

I'm melting...melting!!

[LazloFreem]

I was 10 when Bob Gibson shredded us in the 1967 WS. That was my earliest baseball memory so I was weaned on heart wrenching disappointment. In 1975 at college where we lost in 7 again, I recall a frat boy hurling the TV through the 4th floor (closed) dorm window at the moment of collapse. In 1978 while in a distant 3rd world country where there was no information readily available apart from the International Herald Tribune, I learned of Bucky &^%$ing Dent in print well after the fact. The pain was all too familiar but the distance buffered it somewhat. 1986? One strike away? Not one run, or even one out, one goddamned strike! Most pain ever. 2003? Aaron %^&*ing Boone? By this time I'm inured to it and rather expect it due to ingrained impending doom paranoia. 2004 was liberating for sure, and 2007 made it seem less of a fluke. 2011 was a return to form and until my dying day, I'll never, ever, ever, feel a shred of confidence until the fat lady sings the Dropkick Murphys.