Well, the Boston Red Sox did something they haven't done this millennium. They beat the New York Yankees in the regular season. Also, they own the tie breaker over the Angels and are two games ahead of them with two to play, so they are guaranteed to have home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. But it's not over yet. Division titles are pretty worthless. Let's look at history.
1995- Red Sox win AL East to participate in the first ever MLB 8 team playoff. Back then, the MLB had a quirky rule where the first round matchups were played based on which division the wild card winner was part of. Therefore, although they had a better record than the wild card New York Yankees, the Red Sox had to play the best team in the AL in the first round, the Cleveland Indians while the Yankees got an easier draw of the Seattle Mariners (note how everything always favors the Yankees...). The Red Sox got swept in three games, though justice prevailed a bit as the Mariners beat the Yankees in five. Roger Clemens blew a 2 run lead in the sixth inning of game 1, which the Red Sox eventually lost in 15 innings or something ridiculous like that. Just wanted to point that out.
1990- I don't remember this year so well. I was five years old, but through stories and rumors and stuff, this is what I've pieced together. The Red Sox were trailing the Oakland A's 3 games to none in the ALCS on the verge of elimination. This was before the wild card so this was the first round. Ace Roger Clemens vowed to "pitch like a warrior" and came out wearing heavy eye black and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shoelaces (I'm not making that up...). He then got ejected in the second for arguing balls and strikes and the A's swept the Sox to go to their third consecutive World Series. Way to go Roger!
1988- I was three years old, so this is what I know: The Red Sox met up with the Oakland Athletics featuring Bash Brothers McGwire and Canseco. I don't know anything about the series aside from the fact that the Sox were swept 0-4. Oh, yeah. I'd be willing to bet Clemens probably had a meltdown of some sort. I looked it up on Wikipedia. I was right. Game two says the following:
"Trailing for the first time in the series, the A's deficit only lasted two batters. Henderson singled and Jose Canseco hit his second home run in two games to tie the score at two. Dave Parker singled but was forced at second by Lansford. Lansford got to go to second when Clemens balked and to third on a wild pitch. Lansford then scored on Mark McGwire's single to give the A's a 3-2 lead."
Way to hold that lead, Roger!
1986- This is what I know. I know from stories. I know from seeing it on classic sports. I know from countless hours spent researching. Bill Buckner caught the final out to clinch the division championship. It was a pop out to first base. And he caught it.
Then he gave an interview, and a question came up about being nervous. He said something along the lines of "Well, no one wants to have a ground ball go through their legs in the ninth inning of the World Series to let the winning run score, but you can't think about that."
Um. Yeah. The Sox should have lost in the ALCS to the California Angels. In fact, rumor has it several Angels had already opened up champaign to celebrate during game five up 3 games to 1. California was up 5-2 in the ninth. The Sox rallied to take the lead, capped off by Dave Henderson's 2 run homer off the Angels closer Donnie Moore. He eventually killed himself. I don't know if it was because he blew the game, but that couldn't have helped. The Sox blew the lead in the ninth, but eventually won it in the 11th. The Sox won the next 2 games to win the series and set up a date with the Mets.
Everyone knows what happened. The Red Sox lost 4-3. Buckner's interview fear came true during game six. The Sox had a 3 run lead the next day but still blew it and lost the Series. Say what you will about Buckner, but he hasn't killed himself and I pray he never does. Roger Clemens had a "blister" in Game 6 well before Buckner ever became a goat and came out of the ball game. The Bullpen blew it. Fights still break out to this day among members of the team as to whether Roger was forcibly pulled by manager John McNamera against Clemens wishes or else begged to come out. It's irrelevant. It started the Clemens post season meltdowns that plagued him as a Red Sox.
Anyway, what was the point of this trip down memory lane? The last game the Red Sox won in 1986 was Game 5 of the World Series. If you notice, it's also the last time the Red Sox won a playoff game as a division champion. Since Game 5 of the 1986 World Series, the Red Sox are 0-13 as division champions in post season games.
So yeah. Congratulations on finishing ahead of the Yankees. That really is awesome and well, I guess it's about time seeing as how it's been 12 years. But I guess what I'm trying to say is division championships are pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It doesn't matter if you go to the Prom in a Limo or on the MBTA (which I REALLY wanted to do my senior year, but no one else did...). Once your there, you still gotta dance.
