I’m glad the World Series is finally here because 1. I now know what I’ll play on the TV in the background while I read parts of articles at night and 2. it’s the last stretch of time we have to wait before the Red Sox can (officially) start their offseason. While it’s never not gratifying to see the Yankees lose a Game 7 after being up 3-2, it’s also annoying in the sense that now everyone has to wait another week before the team can officially introduce Cora as the next manager. A small price to pay, though.
Once the World Series ends, we’ll jump even deeper into offseason issues than we already have. There will be roster recaps and bold predictions and the beautifully bizarre season that was 2017 will got lost in the 800 word analyses of Blaine Boyer’s strikeout rate (it doubled this year!). So before that begins, let’s just take one look back on only the good parts of this year, because there will be plenty of talk about the bad parts in days and weeks to come.
Honorable Mention – Devers inside-the-park home run in Game 4 of the ALDS
This probably doesn’t crack my top five only because it happened at like, the lowest point of the Red Sox entire season. While everyone was still trying to figure out what the hell just happened, Devers roped a ball out to center field and HAULED. Being sandwiched between the the collapse and the end of a season means this won’t get the credit it’s due, but it was exceptional. Watch it!
5. Chris Sale’s first start.
The game got overshadowed by Sandy Leon hitting a walk off homer in the 12th inning, which in retrospect, should have been a sign for how weird the season was going to be. But Sale was excellent – going seven innings while striking out seven without allowing a run. While it wasn’t his most prolific start of the season, that sort of dominance was thrilling to watch Sale pitch in a Red Sox uniform at Fenway Park after an offseason of anticipation.
4. Mookie Betts haunts the Blue Jays dreams.
Not sure if you’ve heard, but Mookie Betts took a step back this season at the plate. He was only pretty good, as opposed to last year when he was really good. While he continued to put on a show both in right field and on the basepaths, offensive highlights were a little harder to come by. Unless you really love pop ups.
But we’ll always have that one afternoon in Toronto together. Just us, Mookie Betts, and all eight of his RBIs:
3. That 19-inning game.
Honestly, I slept through basically this entire game. Sometimes baseball makes me fall asleep. Especially 19 innings of baseball:
2. The 12-10 win over Cleveland.
This was the single most bizarre game of the 2017 Red Sox season (although I could hear arguments for the 15-1 win in Toronto or the 17-6 win against the Twins). This game featured:
- Poor starts from Carlos Carrasco (1.2/6/5/5/3/1) and Chris Sale (5/8/7/7/1/5)
- The ol’ blown save-win combo for Craig Kimbrel (1/3/2/2/1/1)
- Blown saves from Andrew Miller and Cody Allen
- The game staying alive on a dropped third strike
- Austin Jackson’s catch of the year
- And another three-run walk-off homer from their catcher, just for the hell of it:
It was such a good win, Boston media even wrote this after the game:
1. Devers’ Yankee Stadium homer.
For me, this was the best moment of the season. He’s 20 years old, a few weeks removed from Double-A, and batting in the ninth inning of a nationally broadcasted game in Yankee Stadium against one of baseball’s best closers. He’s 20 years old, it was the fastest pitch ever hit for a home run, and can you believe it, he’s 20 years old. I watched that Yankee fan reaction video four hundred times the next day:
Adios, 2017. You were weird.