The 2006 Red Sox wrapped their season at 86-76, good for third in the AL East, a single game behind the Toronto Blue Jays and a whopping 11.0 games back from the first-place Yankees. After making history in ’04 and pushing for the World Series in ’03, then getting bounced by the White Sox in ’05, expectations were high for this club, especially with guys like Coco Crisp, Mike Lowell, and Josh Beckett joining the lineup. They were tied with the Yankees atop the AL East as late as the first week of August. Man, what a season that turned out to be, right?
That Brutal August and a Slipping September
That August was absolutely brutal, a crushing 9-21 record that just sunk them. They tried to claw back in September with a 13-14 bounce, but it wasn’t enough. The division winners in the AL that year were the Yankees (97-65), the Twins (96-66), and the Athletics (93-69). The Detroit Tigers snagged the single Wild Card spot with a 95-67 record, boosted by Justin Verlander’s Rookie of the Year debut season. The Sox just weren’t even close to the Tigers. They needed something drastic, but what if the rules were different?
More Wild Cards, More Problems?
Imagine if we had two, even three, more Wild Card spots back then. Crazy to think about, right? The AL Central was stacked two decades ago. The next best record in the league after the division winners and the Tigers was the defending champion White Sox at 90-72. Then came the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at 89-73. The Toronto Blue Jays finished at 87-75, and finally, our guys, the Red Sox, at 86-76. Even with three hypothetical Wild Cards in 2006, both the Jays and the Red Sox would still have been on the outside looking in. Just imagine needing three or four more wins to sneak into that expanded field! Was that an impossible task, especially if you knew those Wild Cards were up for grabs?
Every Game Counts, Especially These
A couple of games really stick out. Like that 7-5 defeat against the Yankees. Randy Johnson gave up five runs, but somehow, starting pitcher Julián Tavárez allowed only four. Closer of the future Craig Hansen got tagged with a blown save, and then Craig Breslow came in and gave up two more runs in just 0.1 innings. This was tough, even if they took three of four games in that series.
Then there was the 3-4 loss to the Orioles on September 30th. Tim Wakefield allowed three runs in six innings. Lenny DiNardo and Bryan Corey pitched scoreless relief, but Mike Timlin was summoned for the save and gave up two runs while recording only two outs. This game wasn’t just thrown away; it was a gut punch. And on October 1st, the final day of the regular season, Devern Hansack threw a five-inning rain-shortened complete game “no-hit” outing that, tragically, wasn’t officially ruled a no-hitter. Would they have found another starter? Tried to move the game because of the downpour? Maybe the 2006 Sox simply weren’t ever going to pull it off, no matter how many Wild Cards were available. It just shows you how every single game, every single inning, every single out, can make the difference.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Over the Monster.
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