My friend Adam sent me an email tonight about some recent examples of teams having bad stretches in the final games of the regular season who went on to have success in the postseason.
So, Red Sox fans, take note:
In 2000, the MFY were 3-15 in their final 18 games. They won the WS. The team they beat in the ALDS, the Oakland A's. went 14-3 in their final 17 games.
The 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 games, and were hot going into the post-season. They won 20 of their final 27 games. The M's lost in the ALCS to the MFY, a team that won 21 fewer games in the regular season. Incidentally, New York was 7-8-1 (yes there was a suspended tie game) in their final 16 games. By the way, Seattle only won 1 game in the 2001 ALCS.
The 2002 Angels lost 8 of their final 13 games. The 2002 MFY won 10 of their final 13 games. The Angels bounced New York in 4 games, on their way to the championship.
The 2006 Tigers went 10-13 down the stretch, losing their division lead. They lost the last 5 games of the season. They lost the WS to the Cardinals, a team that had a losing record after August 1st and won 3 of their final 13 regular season games.
The 2007 Sox finished the season 7-8. The Cleveland Indians won 11 of their final 16. The Sox beat them in the ALCS.
Those are just a few examples. All that matters is making the playoffs. Once there, anything can happen. Let's not do a post-mortem until the Sox are dead.
Keep the Faith, y'all.