Red Sox Wild Card win: Celebration deserved but ill-timed

Point 1: If you’re among those that think celebrating a Wild Card berth in the Major League Baseball playoffs is unwarranted, you’re wrong.

Eight out of 30 teams make the playoffs, just under 27%. When compared to the NHL or NBA where nearly half the league makes it in, it seems a lot more difficult by comparison. If you’re among those that still think it’s easy, you should be reading something else.

It’s an accomplishment to be amidst that 27%.

Baseball is longer and in a lot of ways, that much more intense than other sports. These guys start spring training in freakin’ March. For a club that doesn’t make the postseason, that’s still seven months. For a playoff club that makes it to the World Series, tack on another five weeks.

With 162 games, rainouts, road trips, stretches of days with no time off and all of the other b.s. that comes into play with being a pro athlete, no wonder why a harmonious clubhouse is an important one. These guys are tighter than family: they’re a baseball team.

When you spend this much time with a group of 25 guys plus coaches, you’re going to want to celebrate when you reach an achievement like this. It’s human nature…what do you expect or want them to do?

Wild card or not, a playoff berth is a playoff berth. Wild cards win the World Series quite frequently, so to act like it’s a sub-.500 team that made it in is foolish.

Finally, it’s Boston. The media scrutiny here is intense and every…single…thing is ripped apart, analyzed, put back together and then ripped apart again. Like it or not, but you’d be stressed too. These guys deserve to let off steam when becoming part of the Great Eight.

But…

Despite their fifth straight loss, the Red Sox ticket to the postseason was punched as the Texas Rangers lost yet again to Los Angeles later in the night. Once again, the Boston Red Sox were solidified to be among the eight competing for a World Series title, a win giving them their third title in the last six seasons.

Point 2: It was weak of the team to celebrate last night, but unfortunately, there wasn’t a good time to do it.

I didn’t feel much like celebrating when I heard the news. Did you?

Well, the Red Sox did, holding a private celebration in the locker room once they got the news. Players filtered out and gave interviews, soaked in the alcoholic suds of beer and champagne. It’s a scene we’ve seen play out many times, but this one was just for them. For once, they closed off their world to the outside which in a lot of ways, is refreshing.

We don’t need to see everything, even though we feel we’re justified in doing so.

But should the team have celebrated after not just one loss, but five straight? The accomplishment remains the same, but it feels weird to me. I read quotes like this from the Herald recap which baffled me and illustrated the mental disconnect between being a pro athlete and a normal schmoe like me:

“The second baseman acknowledged that this celebration was different
than most, especially since the team is in the midst of a five-game
losing streak and it took a loss by the Rangers to lock up this victory
party.

“The game tonight was pretty intense but it doesn’t matter how you do it,” said Pedroia.”

True, but it kinda does. If this team was to somehow lose their remaining five games, that’d be ok?

This one really got me though.

“Closer Jonathan Papelbon, who in past years has celebrated clinching moments by dancing a jig,
wearing a cardboard beer box on his head and cavorting in his jock
strap, was living up to party animal reputation, according to Bay and
Lowell.

“He’s probably in a thong right now, with goggles and drinking Budweiser,” said Mike Lowell.”

That just seems to be ignoring that this team doesn’t look good right now at all. This team does deserve to be in the postseason based on that hot streak in September and the consistent play throughout that put them in this position. I don’t think this can be debated.

But watching that Yankees series and this long-ball debacle against Toronto doesn’t put a skip in my baseball step. I guess I’m being too much of a in-the-now guy, but it bothers me that the team celebrated last night after their fifth loss in a row.

My ideal situation? Wait until you win and then go nuts. Make the decision internally to celebrate with your victory as a capper – not due to someone else’s collapse and especially not in the midst of your own tailspin. 

Point 3: The fans got screwed over and there’s nothing we can do about it.

We all knew this team was going to the playoffs for the past week or so, but there’s still that finality of ‘Yes…we’re going back!’ punctuated with a win and observation of a celebration.

As I’m assuming there will no on-field celebration following a win tonight, the fans essentially got robbed of their own moment – the one earned by countless hours watching, following and writing about the Red Sox.

Having Texas collapse like a tent without stakes? Great. Just do something to give us a reason to cheer this week…or in October. Please.

Josh Nason is the main writer for Small White Ball, a New England-based sports and media blog on the MVN Network. Reach him via Twitter or josh [at] smallwhiteball [dot-com].

*Photo credits to the Boston Herald