Memorable Season

April 4, 2010—the Red Sox had their home opener against their biggest
rival and the defending World Series Champions, the New York Yankees.
They came out on top that day, winning 9-7. Dustin Pedroia (2-for-4,
2-run HR, 3 RBIs) and Kevin Youkilis (3-for-4, 2 RBIs) helped carry the
team to victory. Josh Beckett started that game, going 4.2 innings,
giving up five runs off of eight hits, striking out only one while
walking three. This outing for Beckett was just a preview of things to
come this season, while he was anything but dominant all year long.

On
October 3, 2010, we ended our regular season on a high note against
those awful pinstripes, salvaging a W (8-4) over our arch rivals, while
managing to play spoiler and preventing them from clinching the AL East
title. Jed Lowrie went 2-for-3, belting two homeruns with 3 RBIs. John
Lackey, surprising us all, ended his season the way we were hoping he
would have pitched all year. He went 7.2 innings, giving up three runs
on six hits, walking only two, while tying his career high for strike
outs with ten.

I wish I could say that those two wins summed up
our season of positivity and success. However, there were 160 games in
between which messed with our emotions, sent us on a roller coaster
ride, broke our heart, devastated us as Red Sox fans and left us with
little hope that we could make it into October this year. We managed to
stay in contention into the final week of the season, but,
unfortunately, we were right. We didn’t make it to the postseason, the
first time since 2006, and we were forced to start this lonely,
miserable off-season much earlier than we would have wanted. 

There’s
so many excuses that we could use, or so many people we could blame
this season on. But, what’s the point? There are multitude of reasons
for our struggles this year, and we’ve discussed them numerous times
throughout the season. I’ve decided to skip all that nonsense…because
as we all know, I’m all about optimism!

Daniel Bard has definitely proved
himself this year. In 74.2 IP, he finished strong with a 1.93 ERA.
He struck out 76, while producing a WHIP of 1.004. He’s been a great
set-up man, but could potentially take over our closer position.

Clay
Buchholz had an absolutely outstanding season, and has even been in the
discussion for the Cy Young Award. He went 17-7 this year with a 2.33
ERA in 173.2 IP.

David Ortiz, despite having a rough start to
the season, ended with a .270 AVG, .370 OBP, .529 SLG and a .899 OPS. He
had 32 homeruns, and 102 RBIs. While winning the Home Run Derby this
year, he is showing everyone that Big Papi still has what it takes to
produce for our team.

Adrian Beltre had his best season since
2004, finishing with a .321 AVG, 28 homeruns, and 102 RBIs. He had a
.365 OBP, .553 SLG and a .919 OPS. Even though he inflicted some major
pain on a few of his teammates, he deserves a nice head-rub (joking)
after an exceptional season. 

Jon Lester proved very dominant this season. With a 19-9 record, he ended the year with a 3.25 ERA in 208.0 IP, striking out 225 and walking 83. 

Rookies Daniel Nava, Ryan Kalish
and Darnell McDonald managed to step up when asked and really helped our
team get through one of our toughest seasons in history.

We were plagued with many injuries this season, so here’s a list of the players who spent time on the disabled list during the year:

Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Mike Lowell
Adrian Beltre
J.D. Drew
Marco Scutaro
Dustin Pedroia
Eric Patterson
Jacoby Ellsbury
Kevin Cash
Hideki Okajima
Jon Lester
Kevin Youkilis
Mike Cameron
Manny Delcarmen
Jason Varitek
Victor Martinez
Clay Buchholz
Jeremy Hermida
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Felipe Lopez
Josh Beckett
Junichi Tazawa
Boof Bonser
Jed Lowrie

Now, let’s look at our Opening Day starting lineup-
Ellsbury LF
Pedroia 2B
Martinez C
Youkilis 1B
Ortiz DH
Beltre 3B
Drew RF
Cameron CF
Scutaro SS

This is absolutely heart-breaking to look at. David Ortiz is the only player from our Opening Day lineup to not have spent any time on the DL. We were given some tough hands to work with, and we still managed to end our season just shy of 90 wins (89-73).

On October 2, 2010, the Red Sox recognized Mike Lowell for an outstanding career, and honored him with an on-field ceremony as this was his final season in a Major League Baseball uniform. The 2007 World Series MVP was not only an exceptional player throughout his 12 year career, but an incredible human being who was well respected by everyone in the baseball world. He is a Tony Conigliaro Award Winner (1999), Silver Slugger Award Winner (2003), Gold Glove Award Winner (2005), 4x All-Star Selection (2002, 2003, 2004, 2007) and a 2x World Series Champion (2003, 2007). He will forever be #25 in the hearts of Red Sox Nation and will truly be missed as a player and person. We love you, Mikey!

Honestly, this has been one of my favorite seasons so far as a Red Sox fan. I know that might sound odd, and as surprising as it might be, I’ve grown to love this team, and Red Sox Nation even more than I used to. The Red Sox have been an important part of my life since I first stepped inside Fenway Park at the age of twelve and I’ve met so many amazing people because of my love for this team, and this game. I’m excited to see what happens this off-season, and I absolutely cannot wait until Spring Training next year. I plan on making a trip to Ft. Myers, FL in 2011, along with a few trips to my favorite place in this world—Boston and Fenway Park!

This sure has been a memorable season, and I’m so ready to see what’s in store for next season…because like they say, there’s always next year!

“It
breaks your heart.  It is designed to break your heart.  The game
begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in
the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the
chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.” -A. Bartlett Giamatti

Jenn