Make this perfectly clear: This was just one day for a baseball team which has made a living off changing the minds of its naysayers.
The Red Sox get to the cliff, and routinely start putting it in reverse. That's been their way.
So when we talk about July 30, some might chalk it up to another round of reactionary bluster. It was one loss. It was one bit of roster-building. It was still a Friday that ended with the Red Sox in first-place.
But, that said, this was not a feather-in-their-cap moment for what has been a pretty remarkable 2021 Red Sox season.
It started with what was supposed to be the next wave of excitement, the trade deadline.
The build-up included a fairly significant addition in the form of All-Star Kyle Schwarber, murmurs of the Red Sox' ownership wanting to go hard after the deadline's biggest fish, and hints from Chaim Bloom that this team deserved some significant additions.
Then one name after another started coming off the board, and going to American League rivals, to boot. By the time 4 p.m. rolled around, the Red Sox were left with a couple of relievers who weren't likely to ever see the eighth or ninth innings while parting ways with former first-round pick Michael Chavis. This seller's market had the Red Sox on the outside looking in.
All of it was the ultimate sad trombone.
“I get it," the Red Sox chief baseball officer said. "Especially when things are flying left and right like they have been the last 48 hours, any fan would like to see their team right in the thick of it, and you love to see your team making big moves. We would, too. We just aren't going to do that when we think those moves are running counter to our goal.
“We know how high the expectations of our fans are, and if we do something for short-term gratification that has too high of a long-term price, we're going to end up letting them down more than we're going to help them. It might be fun today. You may or may not get what you're hoping for over the last two months, but you certainly are going to pay the price for years to come.
“There were some moves, including the ones that we made, where we did feel there was some price to be paid, and it was a price we were willing to pay. There were a lot of things that were put to us where we just felt we're not doing our jobs and ultimately we're going to let our fans down, whether it be tomorrow or whether it be next year or the year after or all of the above if we did some of things we could've done to make more of a splash.”
The discomfort didn't stop there.
The idea that the Red Sox were taking an enormous chance not adding to a pitching staff ripe with uncertainty had gained steam thanks to Eduardo Rodriguez' outing Thursday night. Then came Martin Perez's four innings against the Rays in the Sox' 7-3 loss to Tampa Bay, with the lefty allowing six runs and three homers.
In 24 hours, the Schwarber-induced optimism had officially left the building.
When the Red Sox woke up Saturday there certainly wasn't the internal vitriol that had built up throughout the fan base throughout Friday. When the Sox front office stayed put at the 2019 deadline, it resulted in an eight-game, season-killing losing streak. But this circle-the-wagons group most likely believe they can still take on all comers.
Chris Sale is coming back. So is Ryan Brasier. Schwarber will help. And the likes of Tanner Houck and Jarren Duran will be evolving into difference-makers.
After the loss to the Rays, the Red Sox' spokesman for the tone of team would be Perez.
“We’re fine. I think we’re good,” said Pérez. “Every time you ask me questions, I always tell you guys we’re going to be fine. We’ve been fighting the whole season and we’re in the same spot -- we’re in first place. Couple of bad games. That’s part of the game and that’s going to happen in the season.”
Now we find out if it was just another blip on the radar, or the kind of turning point we witnessed two years ago.