After the final game of the season, Joe Castiglione recites this shortened version of a poem written by former Commissioner and diehard Red Sox fan, A. Bartlett Giamatti. Joe is carrying on the tradition started by the late Ken Coleman.

"The Green Fields of the Mind "
It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the 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. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.

Full version

So long, 2008 Boston Red Sox.

As I'm sure for everyone, this one hit hard. I just can't get past the 8th and that call. Not sure when I will.

Strange ride this year.

When I woke up this morning, I had a sense of bittersweet anticipation for this thread. Thanks Cheri.

And thank goodness there are a whole lot more like me!

I feel really good about this past season. No regrets or bitter disappointment when I woke up this morning. It sucks they aren't in the World Series, but they aren't going to get there every year. Knowing they went as far as they did (especially after the first 6 innings of Game 5 of the ALCS) will keep me happy this off-season.

Thanks for this thread!

I don't really feel too badly today. I'm dissapointed they aren't playing anymore, of course, but pretty proud of this team especially after the comeback in Game 5. You really have to credit the Rays; they were better than the Sox all season long and better this series. Many times during the year the Sox were in position to overtake the Rays, and the Rays never let them. The same thing really happened in this series.

No matter how it happens, the day after your team plays their last game of the season is always sad.

I'm thankful that the Sox extended the season by three weeks, but depressed that baseball is over. It always takes me a while to get used to the fact that we won't see another real Sox game until April.

At least we have the WBC this year.

I find myself happy that we got three extra days from this team. Although the end result was the same, it's funny how getting eliminated last night seems much more acceptable than getting eliminated on Thursday night.

Tough game to lose last night. Tough series to drop after the comeback. It upsets me to see the season come to an end, but if the Rays are going to make a run for it, I'm glad they had to go through the defending World Champions in order to do it. Doesn't take much of the sting away, but it puts things into perspective. Hats off to Tampa Bay. Now let's look ahead to 2009.

Is it spring yet?

I hate the offseason.

As in so many things, seemingly, Giamatti was wrong. Baseball has lost the ability to break my heart. Or perhaps my heart has lost the capacity to be broken by baseball.

I didn't watch much baseball this year, and a lot of what I saw of it wasn't very good.

I think a lot of us are at peace today, because nobody can say the Sox underachieved. They showed pride, put the fear of god into the Rays, and did not go quietly at all into that good night.

Had they lost to the Yankees, I would have been furious and humiliated. Had they lost to the Indians, I would have been furious at having lost despite being, I thought, a better team. Today, I think the sporting thing to do is tip the cap to the Rays and wish them well.

It's not their fault that the baseball season ends. Even when we win it all, bittersweet thoughts run through our head, about how Pedro might leave or Epstein's unhappy or there's a Manny situation to resolve... our baseball world never stops turning. But today, I'm OK letting it rest for a while... and I might even be able to watch the World Series without jealousy.

It was meant to break our heart so that our heart becomes stronger.

With all the bad blood between the teams that's erupted on the field the past years, it was refreshing to see this series played so cleanly. Then again, when the Rays are hitting five home runs a game there's not a lot for them to get cranky about.

The air feels a lot colder and the sun seems a lot lower in the sky today. Let's hurry it up, Spring.

I thought of the poem last night and even posted an excerpt on my own blog, knowing that I'd see it here this morning, as well. But, at first, it felt somehow inappropriate.

This is not 1999 or 2003, surely, just as it isn't 1977 or 1986. Losing Thursday night would have left bad feelings; it was if the team had checked out games 2-5. But they came back and won again and pushed it to a seventh game. A year after winning the World Series, fielding an injury-riddled squad against a very good opponent, I can't say I'm heartbroken. I'm proud of my team and, though frustrated with the loss, hopeful about the future.

But then I realized the future is just that: the future. It will be months before we see baseball again. Every season is precious and I'm just not ready to let this one go. Today just feels gray and empty.

Which, come to think of it, is exactly what Giamatti said.

So thanks, BoSoxLady, for posting.

How many weeks til pitchers and catchers report?

I suppose being a world-weary cynic has its appeal.

To me, Games 2 and 4 of the Angels series, and Games 2 and 5 of the ALCS, were all fantastic baseball games, exciting back-and-forth affairs with clutch hitting and pitching on both sides. They got the heart racing. We won 3, we lost 1, but I could tell from the game threads that everyone at least knew those nights, in the back of their minds, that they were watching great baseball games.

We watch all year to earn those extra-important, extra-dramatic games. I can't complain.

My sons played their last Fall ball little league games yesterday also. It really is the off season now.

I'm ready for Spring.

Honestly, this one didn't hit too hard or feel too bad...


Of course, I'd rather be calling my friends in Philly and starting 10 days of smack talk... but in the end, Rudy nails it... I knew it in August (the pitching wasn't quite deep enough), I knew it in September (the team wasn't quite healthy enough) and I knew, deep down inside that this wasn't a World Series Champion we were watching all summer, but a good, even a very good team.

Thanks for the ride, 2008 Red Sox... good run, fellas. Too many good days to single out - too many good plays to isolate. Just a simple satisfaction that Yankee Elimination Day came well before yesterday and that at the core, this franchise has a special future ahead of it.

Go Red Sox!
-TMiO-

While I can't help but feel that this was one of those, "What could have been?" seasons and that this last series shouldn't have slipped away, I'm not as disappointed as I often am at the end of a season. I think Thursday night's comeback has a lot to do with that.

There's a void in my life after the last game is played. I invest so much of my time on the Red Sox from spring training through the post-season, that it breaks my routine when there's no baseball. Now I'll have to keep the house clean.

Like many of you, I feel fairly serene this morning. The astonishing comeback in game 5 made my play-offs, and everything after that was gravy. Of course it would have been great to see the Sox in another World Series, but I have a lot of respect for the Rays organization this year, and I don't think there's any disputing that they were the better team.

There's no need for this team to become the 1990s Yankees to make me happy -- a team that's good enough and well managed enough to have shot at the WS (and occasionally wins it) will do.

Count me amongst the serene, or at least the not too pissed off.

Another ludicrous comeback in game 5. They beat the Angels, a team clearly better than the Sox (at least in the Angels' minds). They almost beat a better team that got homer happy for the series. And a possible silver lining-to the extent postseason performance has any bearing on the team makeup next year, there may be some needed turnover in certain spots. And maybe Coco has some trade value, and gets us a decent catching prospect!

Zupcic Fan and I can root for the Rays and Lafayette College alum Joe Maddon, too. So Zup and I can raise a deep fried hot dog in honor of a fellow Pard.

Like many of the posters in this thread, I'm disappointed, but the loss last night was not a tragic event like so many in the past.

The Sox almost stole this series, but ultimately, the better team won. The Rays bounced back from a crushing loss in game 5, they beat our ace not once but twice, and didn't succumb to the game 7 pressure that I was certain would get to them. Joe Maddon did a tremendous job with a young and talented team, and they earned it.

Congrats Rays. Now go build a real ballpark that isn't a fucking disgrace to the sport.

I have to say, I got pretty bummed as each Tampa Bay HR left the yard, both home and away, over the past week+. But last night was bearable. The better team won; we got three hits. Sheesh. . . . But I'm fine, I can live with it, the sun rose this morning, life continues. I kept thinking Kotsay was going to come through with one big hit. Nope. I kept waiting for a Coco triple down in the corner. Nope. I wish Drew and Pedroia had thrown Pena out at the plate, but they didn't. Oh, well. I'll watch the WS and root for the Phillies. But, no, I'm not ready for spring. I want/need a break from baseball.

I had that strange sense of calm when I woke up too. I knew I'd take some ribbing from buddies but it was nothing bad. Tampa was just a little bit better than the Sox all year long, just a little bit better in a best of 7 and a little bit better last night. I'm really proud of this team for coming back in Game 5 and winning Game 6. They showed alot of heart.

I tip my cap to the Rays and I'm already looking forward to getting to Spring Training in March.

It's stupid, but there's something about losing to a team that has absolutely no fan presence up here that makes it easier.

Like others here, I see that we root for a flawed team, who lost to the better team, and still took them to the very end. So I'm OK with that.

I just now have no more Red Sox baseball. and that's a loss.

A poem for a poem. This one is a haiku:

Rays in fall classic
Tek's noodle bat gone silent
Papi can heal now

I don't feel very bad about last night. Sure, it would have been awesome to get another World Series, but this was a pretty good year, and there were some great post-season moments. Tampa Bay is a great team, and pretty fun to watch.

After 2004 and 2007 I just can't get past the feeling that we're playing with house money. On the other hand, the opportunities to get so close are really rare, and it's disappointing to lose them.

But then I think back to how much 1986 hurt and 2003, and the rest, and I just can't feel bad anymore. It's been such a great time to be a fan of the Red Sox, and a pleasure to watch so much baseball that matters. It's different now.

Good year. Would have been great to win again, but it was a good year.

God works in strange and wonderful ways; He was on wonderful when we came back from 7-0, and He was on strange last night when we couldn't buy a clutch hit. It is said about the Western ("Wailing") Wall in Jerusalem, that folks either cry when they visit or cry that they can't cry. Once upon a time, before becoming a grandfather, I could be miserably unhappy at the end of a season. Or before 9/11 perhaps. Now, my primary unhappiness with the result of a game extends to ten minutes at most, and beyond that I cry that I can't cry anymore.

But there is a secondary unhappiness I am experiencing, that some of our SoSH brethren will not be found in this thread of solace for a long while, if ever, because they still can cry. We are there to share their pain, even if the best thing we can do is not to be caught being cheerful or providing "sanctimonious loads of crap" (though our own SoSH idiom would be better phrased as "loads of sanctimonious crap").

Personally, I have a slight preference for the Rays to beat the Phillies, since it brings me some comfort to think that it took the team that won it all to beat us to get there, rather than our having been defeated by some lesser team not worthy of the championship. This ALCS will be remembered in many quarters much like the 1975 WS, that a shining game/moment for the Red Sox (be it coming back from 0-7 or having Fisk wave a ball fair) will be as memorable on the plus side as the eventual series outcome on the minus side of the ledger.

I feel empty simply because baseball is done.

We went farther than we deserved- so I don't feel too bad about that. It seems like Tampa and the Angels outplayed us.

But it still feels empty and sad to know that sports are done for me until Spring Training.

The boys got farther than I thought they would in the post season. Between key injuries and inconsistent performances of some players all year, I always thought our days were numbered.

Though, beating the Angels surprised me and injected some optimism for a week or two.

I for one don't want pitchers & catchers to report very soon. We need time to heal.

Phillies vs. Rays? <yawn>

The Red Sox finally ran out of miracles....

However, it's almost time for another Spring Training where we will bid a fond farewell to some old friends who helped mold the team we have today from a "loveable loser" to an expected contender every season. However we will also welcome some new faces. some young, some old who will be ready to compete for a world championship. Which we can, and hopefully will...WIN.

Well, to be fair, Giamatti was a Sox fan who wrote that in a pre-2004 world. I listened to Castiglione read that after they won the series last year and thought it ridiculous - cuz my heart sure wasn't broke. I didn't stay up to hear it last night - after Iwamura stepped on 2nd I just shut the radio off and went to bed - like I would after a game in June. I would've loved for 'em to win another - and I'm dissapointed they won't. But I'm not broken up about it at all. They got beat - congrats to the Rays. Maybe I'd feel differently if they lost in some mindnumbingly agonizing fashion like in '78, '86 and '03 - but I kinda doubt it - finally seeing them win a couple takes the edge off in a huge way.

Good season, nice run at the end as the team displayed a ton of heart. I am thankful that the Rays didn't get to celebrate at Fenway - it would have been hard to handle being swept at home. This end to the season was much more bearable.

Not enough talent to overcome the injuries, though they gave it a serious run and made no excuses. Proud to be a Red Sox fan this morning but I could do with a few less condolence phone calls from friends and family - not sure I really believe they are genuine.

The mfy were done well before us - always a good thing.

Thanks for the thread Cheri. Sadness for the end of the season but no painful kick to the gut to recover from this year.

The proud look on Tito's face at the end of Lester's no-hitter.

I didn't realize this thread was so similar to the thread I just started. I'll paste here and ask the dopes to close my thread. I had a lot of wonderful moments this season and while I'm disappointed that we're not going to the World Series, I'd consider 2008 a resounding success.

My favorite individual moment is probably Manny's 500th home run, though that's getting a bit of a boost because I was lucky enough to be there. If you include the post season it's easily game 5 of the ALCS, which I also got to see in person. I'll never forget the incredible energy at Fenway that night. While last night was not the ending any of us wanted, I think there were a lot of things to look back at and smile about.

Lester's no hitter
Lester emerging as a front line starter
Manny's 500th
Daisuke squeaking out 18 wins
Dustin Pedroia's entire season
Youk's emergeance as a power threat
Justin Masterson stepping in as an effective starter and solid late inning bullpen option
Michael Bowden being called up and winning his first career start
Jacoby Ellsbury breaking the record for steals by a Red Sox rookie
Jason Bay arriving and becoming a fan favorite within days
Another apparently strong draft

And there were so many individual moments and I'm probably forgetting several of the great stories we got to enjoy this season. Even with the loss of last night still stinging clear, I can look back and say this was a great season.

In addition to your list ....

Crisp's accepting (at least publically) of his role and not causing a Jay Payton like problem.
Okajima showing he is for real and not a 1 year wonder.

The embarrassing collapse of the New York Yankees.

We lost to the '69 Mets. It's hard to get too pissed about that, considering the success of 04 and 07 and how imperfect this team was. It's a shame, but I've already gotten over it.

I am content. The best thing that has happened to me after 2004 is that I can look at a whole season without that slightly insane obsession. I can feel after the end of 2008 that they did us proud in the series. Though somedays I miss that obsession.

Exactly. Nor was their an obvious goat, a blown call, a hideous managerial blunder or a crazy unlucky play. They scratched and clawed, played with heart through injuries and simply lost to a better team. It hurts but not in the same conversation as that night in 03.

I feel guilty I no longer have the burning desire to watch and hang on every pitch and microanalyze every game.

I'll put a more positive (rather than a less-negative) spin on how I feel: I'm basically happy with the Red Sox. It's a well-managed, cost-controlled team with a bunch of fun players to root for. The team isn't looking at any huge off-season holes (other than the inevitable pitching issues that every team has to deal with). OK, other than catcher.

I have a hard time rooting against the Rays, but I'm glad to see another team emerge as a serious competitor for the AL East, as the Yankees appear poised to fall off the cliff. As an imperfect analogy, following the AFC East for the last couple of years hasn't really been very interesting because of the lack of quality competition; how much more boring an entire baseball season if there weren't any legitimate contenders.

I think it was a great season and I am sad that it is over.

That said, they basically got to within a couple plays of going to the World Series and did it while giving significant playing time to the 26th-32nd men on their roster. I think that speaks well for the organization.

I don't think the team has anything to be ashamed of. It was a pretty successful season.

That being said, I think the team is currently in a transitional phase and I do not know what they will look like when they come out of it. There were a lot of old, slow, declining guys on the team this year and the FO is facing many difficult decisions about what to do with them. I was struck by the disparity in athleticism between the Rays and the Sox and I have to wonder if that's going to be an impediment going forward.

This is an important point. The Sox are reaching the point where they can't outshoot everybody else and the lineup is looking pretty creaky. They need to do some dumping.

I don't think the Sox should make any drastic decision based on how the team looks compared to the Rays. Any team is going to look slow and old compared to the Rays, a team that is almost entirely made up of pre-arb players, many of whom were acquired in the first few picks of the draft. To build a team that athletic, with that much youth and high upside, takes lots of time, losing, and luck too.

The Sox are in an interesting spot...there's a lot of clamor for them to get more youthful, but most don't want to let those young players struggle. If you go the FA route and sign the Angels 1Bman whose name I can't spell's and Sabathia's of the world, you are going to have to take those years when they are 35+ and potentially going to look old.

This echoes some of what I'm feeling today. Game five was about the ability to rise to the highest ("Sursum ad Summum"--my high school motto, I might add) and when that happens, it's about more than winning. In Game 5, the Sox surpassed most of our expectations because they became the team that could not be beat.

They were never "beat," but they were defeated. It is still more about what they won than what they lost. Injuries were overcome. Manny issues were handled. The team pulled together and they succeeded in spite of a loss (-- the 7th in a series where many on this board had imagined more crushing possibilities). They got about as far as they could go and then they went further.

I'm a little relieved this year that the season is over -- I need a break from life and death playoffs. I'm looking forward to curling up with Joe Posnanki's The Soul of Baseball.

I thought it was telling when Tito said in his post-game comments that these past two months managing these guys have been the most fun he's ever had as a manager. Think about that: more fun than the '04 squad? Than the '07 squad?

I think this comment says a lot about the young players this Red Sox organization will continue to build around over these next 3-5 years and beyond. I think Pedroia or Youk could be a future captain, and it's been great to see them further develop. It's also amazing that the Sox lost Ortiz, Manny, Lowell, Beckett, Drew, Lugo and Casey for very significant stretches (and others albeit for shorter clips) this season, yet they still found a way to advance to an ALCS Game 7. (Everyone talked about the Rays losing players to injury in the second half, but their list was about half as long as the Sox', and their guys were back in time for the playoffs and producing--that's what tipped the scale, I believe. The Yankees had serious injuries, but in the face of difficulty they folded like a very expensive house of cards.)

Also, as great as it is for young players to taste champagne and success early in their careers and all they gain from that, they get perspective from what it takes to bounce back from difficult defeats as well. In many ways, this Game 7 loss is this young squad's first time experiencing that feeling together in a big spot--the Pedroias, Lesters, Ellsburies, Papses, Lowries, etc. I think there will be a stronger bond between them because of it, and that next year, they'll be hungrier to claim their position atop the AL East and league. Not that they wouldn't have been hungry had they won this year, but I think this loss will make them even hungrier.

I really love where this organization is and where it's going, and I am really proud of it.

What changed in the last two months?

Someday the memoir will be written and we will know why Tito Francona was so offended and stressed out by the mere presence of Manny Ramirez.