It’s over. Done. Just like that.
From six outs away from a convincing 3-1 lead in the ALCS last Tuesday night to three consecutive losses and a ticket home for the holidays Friday night.
From 20 runs, 20 hits, 5 home runs and a 20-1 edge in runs in the first three innings of the first three games to 1 run, 5 hits, 1 home run and a 22-1 deficit in runs over the last 20 innings of the last three games.
From three grand slams in two games to fly balls to the warning track. From clutch hits to called third strikes. From inspired play to blank stares.
What happened to the Boston Red Sox? Where were the Back Bay Boomers in Games 4, 5 and 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros? How could two no-name Houston pitchers, Framber Valdez and Luis Garcia, befuddle Boston batters? Yes, Luis is the same Garcia the Sox knocked out in the second inning of Game 2. How could Houston’s bullpen, hammered in Games 2 and 3, turn into a bunch of Mariano Riveras overnight?
We shall ponder those questions all winter. While doing so, we must remember the 2021 Red Sox delivered far more than we expected. They were one of the best teams in baseball in the first half, a team that thrived on coming from behind to win. They struggled in the second half, weathered a rash of COVID-19 infections in August, secured the top spot in the Wild Card game, defeated the Yankees in the one-game playoff, and beat the Rays in the ALDS in four games.
Highlights for me included that 6-2 triumph over the Yankees on Oct. 5; Christian Vazquez’s game-winning two run homer in the bottom of the 13th in Game 3 of the ALDS, and the home run barrage against the Astros in the first three games of the ALCS. When Kyle Schwarber launched his slam into the right-field grandstand at Fenway Park in the second inning of Game 3, I stood in my den and laughed out loud. Three grand slams in two games? I had never seen that. Nobody had.
The lowlight was Boston’s complete collapse at the end. The Red Sox were so close to reaching the World Series. And then it was over. Done. Gone. Poof! Just like that.
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Bill Reynolds wrote about big-league stars and local schoolboys during his 40-year career with the Providence Journal. He wrote game stories and features. He wrote columns and until his retirement this year For What It’s Worth, his Saturday package of notes, opinions, musings, one-liners and thoughts on books, movies, music, and the annual invasion of South County beaches by Connecticut license plates..
He also wrote books about Rick Pitino, Bob Cousy, Chris Herren, the Red Sox and the Celtics. He wrote a little book about the season he spent with the Hope High School boys basketball team and a memoir about growing up in Barrington and playing basketball at Barrington High, Worcester Academy and Brown University. He played pickup basketball well into his 60s and joked that he logged more games in Brown’s long-gone Marvel Gym than anyone.
Bill received numerous awards over the years and picked up another Saturday night: induction into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, which recognizes Rhode Islanders who have distinguished themselves and brought honor to the Ocean State.
Congratulations, Bill. Nobody in Rhode Island did it better.
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Bill Russo played football at Brown during the lean 1960s, when the Bears hibernated at the bottom of the Ivy League. He was an All-Ivy linebacker, graduated in 1969 and returned in 1970 as an assistant football coach. He remained when John Anderson replaced Len Jardine after the 1972 season and helped Anderson revive Brown football and win the school’s first Ivy League championship in 1976.
Bill moved on to head coaching at Wagner and then settled in at Lafayette, where his teams won 103 games and three Patriot League titles from 1981 to 1999. He received several coach of the year awards and in is the Lafayette Hall of Fame.
Bill retired in 2002 and split his time between Asheville, N.C., and Port Saint Joe, Fla. He and his wife Susan celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last April. She died in May. Bill suffered a fatal heart attack on Sept. 29 in Black Mountain, N.C. He was 74. Survivors include his daughter Liz, two sisters and a brother. Condolences to the entire Russo family.
