The 2016 season was a promising one for Red Sox fans right from the start. In November, they signed David Price to a monstrosity of a deal, 7yr/$217mil and there was once again hope for a World Series title and another incomparable "worst to first part II" in David Ortiz's farewell season. Well, "worst to first part II" happened, and David Ortiz put up what will likely be the best farewell season of all time. But, the Red Sox were stunned in the ALDS as they ran into a brick wall, and were swept out of the postseason. That brick wall, was former friend, Terry Francona. Now, the Indians are just one win away from their first World Series title since 1948, a 68 year curse. Ironic that their manager also broke a certain Boston team's 86 years curse just twelve years ago.
Now, all that's left to do is sit back and say what if. What if john Farrell hadn't made so many boneheaded moves with the bullpen during the season? What if Mookie Betts doesn't go down for 2 weeks. What if Price didn't struggle in April and May? What if Farrell let Benintendi hit? What if Ortiz saw a pitch to hit in his last at-bat? The sad reality is, we can't go back and change it now. The other sad part is, every title the Red Sox win for the rest of time, will be without David Ortiz in a uniform with the number 34 on the back. Here is a look back at the Red Sox 2016 season, and what could have been. April: The first month of a baseball season is always rocky, you never can really get a good taste of what a team will be like come July because there's still some rust. That was clearly evident with newly acquired ace, David Price, who struggled right out of the gate with a 5.76 ERA by the end of the month. Boston as a team finished April 14-10 and just .5 GB of the Orioles in the division. May: May was another strong month for Boston, as they looked to take over control of the AL East, the offense was firing on all cylinders, putting up record numbers and easily the number one offense in baseball. The pitching staff got the run support they needed and that translated into wins and by the end of the month, the Red Sox had a 3 game lead over Baltimore and had a 1 game lead over Texas for the best record in the American League at 32-20. June: Arguably the worst month of baseball in quite some time by the Red Sox. Boston went ice cold and Baltimore heated up and took advantage. By the end of the month, Boston was now just 42-36, and had fallen 5 games back of the surging Orioles. It was now clear the bullpen would be the Achilles heel for Boston, as many feared it might be. Boston would need to regroup heading into July before the all-star break to find out what type of team they really were. July: July is the time of year where you find out a lot about your team. At the all-star break, teams really sit back and evaluate themselves and if they feel they can contend, and start thinking about the trade deadline. Some teams are playing at their best, some at their worst. It just so happened that Boston was right in the middle, fighting for a division title, or at the very least, a Wild Card berth. Boston gained ground on Baltimore in July, when they regained their composure, the offense was back to normal, led by David Ortiz and Mookie Betts, and David Price was finally pitching like the ace Boston paid for. But, there was just one problem. Boston did gain ground, but, the Blue Jays had found their stride, sneaking up behind Boston and stepping in front of them. By the end of July, Boston was 57-46, 1.5 games behind Baltimore, and 1 game behind Toronto, 3rd in the division. August: It was official, Boston was in the middle of a heated pennant race. But, as the summer heated up, so did the Sox, playing their best baseball since the end of May, matching Toronto stride for stride in the division race. Baltimore's weak pitching had finally caught up with them, as they fell to third in the East and 2 games behind Boston by the end of the month. The Sox were fighting night in and night out to beat out Toronto, and Rick Porcello was a huge part of that, emerging as a potential favorite for the Cy Young award. David Ortiz was also playing like an MVP in his final season at age 40, leading the Sox in homeruns, RBI, and OPS. However, Farrell was overworking the bullpen due to the starters inability to finish the middle innings. Boston finished up the summer at 74-59 and 2 games behind Toronto in the three team AL East clash. September: Boston would officially clinch the Al East despite losing on a walk-off homerun in New York thanks Brian McCann, with a Toronto loss. Boston clinched their first division title since 2013, when they went on to win the World Series. "Worst to First part II" was complete and Boston was looking hotter than ever going into October baseball, finishing the season with the best offense in baseball, the best clutch hitter of all-time, and a Cy Young candidate on their side. At 93-69, Boston won the division by 4 games over both Baltimore and Toronto. Baltimore would lose the Wild Card game to Toronto and the Red Sox would face the Indians in the ALDS. October: The Red Sox had a remarkable season. Great timely pitching, consistent hitting, and unbelievable fielding. Going into October, many thought the Red Sox would be the favorites to get to the World Series against the NL favorites, the Cubs. However, things didn't go according to plan, and Terry Francona threw the Sox a huge curveball, and sent a message while doing so. That message was he was not playing around, he was here to win. After the Red Sox had scored 1 run already in the fifth inning and threatening for more, Francona made a move to the bullpen and brought in Andrew Miller. Miller hadn't thrown more than 40 pitches in a game since he had been a starter with Boston, but Francona leaned on him to pitch two scoreless innings and preserve the win. The Indians bats also showed up, crushing three solo shots off Rick Porcello, who had not given up more than two in a game all season. Game 2 was just a disaster from the start. Corey Kluber was masterful, pitching seven scoreless innings, and silencing the Red Sox bats for the second consecutive night. The Red Sox shot themselves in the foot in the field, making careless throws and making boneheaded errors, costing them runs. David Price struggled once again in a playoff start, lasting just 3 1/3 innings and allowing 5 ER including a 3-run shot to Lonnie Chisenhall. The pitcher that had gone 17-9 and had turned his season around in late June, had looked worse than he ever had in his career, falling to 0-8 as a starter in the postseason. In game 3, with Boston's season on line, and a legend's career as well, the Red Sox fought for their lives, holding their breath with each pitch. The crowd was tense the entire game, however, Clay Buchholz was looking like he'd pitch the game of his life through three innings, getting out of two second and third jams and hoping to prolong the Indians celebration just one more night at least. Then in the fourth, Tyler Naquin laced a 1-1 fastball into right field to give the Indians a 2-0 lead that they would never give back. Boston threatened in the eighth after Travis Shaw singled to right. Betts then grounded into a fielder's choice and Ortiz walked. Hanley Ramirez followed up with a single up the middle, scoring Betts and making it a 4-3 game, and once again giving the Fenway faithful life. What came next will forver be a part of Boston history. The crowd immediately fell silent when they saw Marco Hernandez grab a helmet and head towards second base. Hernandez was pinch-running for Ortiz. Red Sox fans knew this could be the last time we ever saw Ortiz on the field as a player. As Ortiz slowly jogged off the field, he started yelling "Let's GO!" and raising his arms up and down, obviously trying to fire up the crowd, despite the sadness of Ortiz being pulled. Xander Bogaerts lined out to second to end the inning, stranding runners at first and second. Craig Kimbrel would get the Indians 1-2-3 in the top half of the ninth, and the Red Sox came up to bat, needing one run to tie, and two to force a game 4. Chris Young pinch hit for Andrew Benintendi, one of the most questionable moves of the season, which did not pay off as Young flied out to left. Sandy Leon then struck out looking for the second out. That brought up Jackie Bradley Jr., who was 0-9 in the series at that point. Bradley got a 2-2 slider and socked it into right for a basehit, extending the game to give the top of the order one more chance. Dustin Pedroia drew a walk after a grueling 10 pitch at-bat after being stuck on 3-2 for four straight pitches. That brought up Travis Shaw once again, who had pinch hit for Aaron Hill. Red Sox nation stood as one, hearts beating through their chest wit the tying and winning runs standing on base. Shaw skied an easy pop-up into right field, and as the ball landed softly in Indians RF's glove, Fenway Park fell silent. The season, and a HOF career were over. Chants of "Pa-pi!" emerged from Red Sox nation, who refused to leave and let their beloved star go. Fans stuck around for another 10 minutes before Ortiz emerged from the Sox dugout and saluted the crowd for the last time. Ortiz stood out on the Red Sox mound, tipping his cap to the last crowd that would see him play for a good five minutes, swarmed by media and cameras the entire time, tears streaming down his face. As he walked off the field, he got the standing ovation for the ages, then he slowly walked down the steps of the first base dugout, and disappeared won the tunnel and towards the clubhouse. The Red Sox season has come to an end, now, all that's left to ask is; what if?
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