You guys are Charlie Brown and this team is the football.
This team is still in it mathematically but its understandable if people want to quit them. What is weird is that some of these folks feel compelled to try to get us to buy into the future they can see when nothing has actually been decided yet.
*You* are right. They cannot make it even if the math says otherwise or because they have a hard cap on how many games over .500 they can go. Why not let those of us who are clinging to hope have that glimmer?
And I know its unfathomable but what if *you* - person who is good at predicting the future - are wrong?
Honestly I get both of these takes. For the last month or more I've been shaking my head at all these posts that say something to the effect of "the Sox absolutely have to win (or sweep) XYZ series or it's over." In every case the series in question is absolutely impactful, but no one game will determine the outcome until we get to the game that eliminates them from the postseason or clinches a berth.
At the same time, it's easy to see this team as Charlie Brown's football, and to see those fans who expect them to put their foot on the gas and keep it there as insane optimists in the way Charlie Brown is. The '23 Sox have shown flashes of brilliance only to fall on their faces over and over again. That sure does fit the pattern of Charlie Brown and the football. The difference is that Charlie Brown is making a choice to engage based on the belief that this time it
will be different. When Lucy pulls the ball away, he is genuinely surprised. So if any of you are sitting here feeling confident that the Sox are going to make the playoffs, then yeah I can see how the analogy is apt.
As for me, I sit in a place of comfortable uncertainty. I know that by far the most likely outcome for this team is missing the playoffs. Going into the season I thought that missing the playoffs was the most likely outcome too, but I still thought the team was competitive enough to make a run for it. I'm still going to hope up until they are mathematically eliminated. But am I expecting to "kick the football" this time so to speak? No. When the Sox win, I cheer. When they lose, I'm a bit sad. If they make the playoffs I'll be happy about that, and if they get eliminated I'll be unhappy. But I won't be
surprised at any outcome. I feel no need to decide the outcome in my mind before it happens.