2006 RED SOX - THOUGHTS

The 2006 Boston Red Sox had an unsatisfactory season that left The Nation furious, finishing the campaign with an unacceptable 86-76. The club finished in third place, ending a streak of 9 straight seasons at no worse than second place.
On the road, the team had an abnormal 38-43 record that is uncharacteristic of recent Red Sox clubs. To put things into perspective, things looked well on the final day of July. The club sat in first place, where they had been for the majority of the season, with a gratifying 63-41 mark.
The month of August was malicious for the ball club. At month's end, the team fell out of first and was an astonishing 8 games back of the Yankees. The team went from being 3 games over .500 on the road to a horrid 6 games under .500 by the time the month ended. Instead of being 22 games over, they were now just 10. During the last few games of the season, Toronto, who in early August trailed the Sox by 8.5 games in the standings, passed the club to earn runner-up to the Yankees.
Things really hit rock bottom in late August. The dreaded Yankees came in and swept 5 games from the Sox, an unbelievable accomplishment that left the high price paying fans irate. After the sweep, a West Coast trek proved disastrous for the club, as the Mariners, Athletics and Angels feasted on the disenchanted Sox. The team stayed afloat until the season ended on the first of October with an 86-76 record. The club finished with a remarkable record versus the National League at 16-2, unfortunately that meant the club finished 4 games under under .500 in the American League. That may well be the most alarming stat of all.
Adding salt to the fresh wounds was seeing the success of former young Red Sox prospects Hanley Ramirex, Anabel Sanchez, Cla Merideth and Freddy Sanchez blossom with other clubs.
Despite all the misfortunes of the season, not all went for not. The team won a tremendous 12 straight games in late June. The team also broke a handful of records with solid defense, including an error less streak that went 17 games, breaking the MLB record!
Despite the disappointing seasons for players such as Keith Foulke, Trot Nixon, Jason Varitek, Coco Crisp, Matt Clement, Josh Beckett, Julian Tavarez and Rudy Seanez, some players had an exceptional season. Alex Gonzalez, Mark Loretta, Mike Lowell, John Lester, and Jonathan Papelbon all had solid campaigns. The team once again will have limitless finances to bolster a club poised for an enriched upcoming 2007 season.