Elegy for a season

SPORTING GOODS

While I'm probably not in the slough of despond that some people are, there's no question that the Sox' September might have been the worst late-season swoon in MLB history.

Ultimately, it was the injuries that did in the Sox: When they had to make a journeyman scofflaw like Eric Bedard (who never once went beyond the sixth inning in any of his starts) their 4-5 starter, they were pretty much toast. That they hung on as long as they did was a testament to the great start they had and the true potential of the healthy team.

I assume in the next few days, we'll start to hear about the 2012 Sox. I'd think that a few of the names we've become familiar with in the last four seasons won't be with the team: Papelbon, Matsuzaka, and Just Dreadful Drew I would think won't be around next season along with the Morales and Atchisons of MLB.

In a perverse sort of way, this kind of makes up for 2004—when the Sox had no business winning the AL pennant. This year, they probably should've won, but the baseball gods just weren't kind to them.