Rays Write Red Sox Eulogy

The words of the prophets were written on the subway wall.  Or in this case, the Green Monster.  Walking out to leftfield every inning, Jason Bay had to see it.  As did every somber Red Sox fan who visited Fenway over the past two nights.  A constant reminder that their newest nemesis, the Tampa Bay Rays, were two games better than them.

The Green Monster in historic Fenway Park not only features the manually changed scoreboard on its façade, it also shows the regular season standings.  Tampa Bay 97-65.  Boston 95-67.  Two games back.  This season, the Rays won their first American League East title in franchise history.  It shows, for the last two games in Fenway are ones that Red Sox nation would rather forget.

The wall, in conjunction with the Rays recent performance, serves as a reminder that the Rays are the better team, both over an 82-game season and a 7-game series.  The way it looks now, the Rays may not even need seven games.

Gorier than any Stephen King novel, Rays bats have terrorized Sox pitching and the ghost of Big Papi has been consp icuously absent.

Boston post-season legend David Ortiz has one hit in the series, that being a meaningless triple late in Game Four.  Meanwhile, the Rays have battered Sox pitching.  9 runs on 12 hits in Game Two.  9 runs on 13 hits in Game Three.  13 runs on 14 hits in Game Four.  DJ Format would say the Rays have more hits than Barry Bonds playing slow pitch in a disabled seniors league.  Tampa Bay becomes the first team ever to score nine runs in three consecutive playoff games.  Breaking baseball records is not that easy.  The sport’s been around for a while.

Blowouts like this do not happen in baseball, but the Rays have beaten the Sox soundly.  Red Sox manager Terry Francona looked like someone ran over his dog in the post-season press conference.  Knuckleballer turned gas can, Tim Wakefield, looked tremendously out of shape while scuffling off the mound to field a soft Carl Crawford ground ball, falling awkwardly onto the grass.  The good news for Wakefield is that was one of the few Rays hits that did not fly out of the park.  Wake allowed five earned runs in 2 2/3 innings, serving up more meatballs than a family outing at Buca di Beppo.  The Sox pen hasn’t been much better.  Manny Delcarmen allowed five earned runs in 1/3 of an inning, making Wakefield’s performance look Koufax-like by comparison.

Lay blame wherever you want.  Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett’s health.  Manny Ramirez’s departure.  Tim Wakefield’s horrific ineffectiveness.  An over-reliance on Jon Lester.  An inconsistent bullpen.  The bottom line is the Rays want it more.  They may be the better team.  They’re certainly playing like it.

While this series is not over… yet… the Rays have beaten the Sox in nearly every aspect of the game.  Clutch hits, starting pitching, bullpen work, base running, defense, coaching.  The Red Sox will have to work quickly to generate the magic they’ve had over the past few years to have any hopes of winning this series.  They still have Matsuzaka, Beckett and Lester to throw.  The Sox have been down before.  But this team does not seem to have that fire.  The Rays do.

The networks may complain that Tampa Bay’s appearance in the World Series will not be good for ratings, but the best team in the American League is about to play for a title for the first in its short history.  And that will be worth watching