Wednesday’s 9-2 beat down and sweep of the 2020 American League champion Tampa Bay Rays will leave a lasting impression. It was the first time back at the ballpark for me since the mid-summer of 2019 and it was the first time in a very long time that the Red Sox had a series sweep of consequence.
While the 2021 season’s opening series versus Baltimore was defined by sluggishness, underwhelming results and a little depression, this most recent series versus a far superior Rays team, showed pure grit and it was a welcome sight to Sox fans.
Walking into the ballpark yesterday felt great on its own -- breaking through the chains of the pandemic to re-experience life for just a little while. That was nice. As soon as I crossed over the David Ortiz Bridge and drew closer to Fenway my spirits lifted. Happy but not yet satisfied as the suddenly reasonable idea of a series sweep of the once pesky and now seriously good Rays occurred to me not solely as an opportunity but as a must have.
The 2021 Alex Cora-led Sox needed this sweep of the Rays. It was within grasp, wrapped with a sense of urgency to accomplish the goal and kudos to the Sox for going out and getting it. It’s April 8, just six games in and feels somewhat shortsighted to say, but this one felt like it mattered.
After three straight losses to the ‘pathetic-until-I’m-proven-wrong’ Orioles, a series win over Tampa Bay with a loss on the backend wouldn’t have changed much in terms of the aura surrounding this team. Slamming the door on a series with an exclamation point against a real opponent however, that means something.
Grit holds that kind of power. The power to change hearts and minds and inject hope.
Tuesday night’s comeback displayed the late inning ‘want-to’ that’s been lacking since before the prolific 2018 record-breaking World Series Championship season. No, this was the stuff of the magical and upstart 2013 Red Sox World Series Championship team and it was just the right medicine for a weary, curious and increasingly skeptical local fan base. The combination of Tuesday night’s late comeback and yesterday’s no-doubter had me thinking about ‘grit and balls.’ Not of the Kevin Garnett variety, but of the 2013 Jonny Gomes flavor.
The Sox needed that Tuesday night comeback and as I strolled down a quiet but reawakening Lansdowne Street before the game, the sharp reality of the need for a sweep hit hard and credit to this Red Sox team for delivering on it. They needed it. I needed it and we of Red Sox Nation needed it. Comebacks take grit, will and focus. Coming back the following afternoon to finish the job requires a killer instinct and the Red Sox finally showed yesterday that they have some of that.
It felt good too.
As the Red Sox sit at 3-3 on the young 2021 season, we have seen the good, the bad and the ugly all on display. The last two days however we saw something else, grit. What a welcome sight. The grit that will be mandatory for this team to stay competitive finally brought its soul to the surface. Just in time to exact revenge on that Orioles team that embarrassed them on their home field last weekend. If grit’s on the menu this weekend, then thank you sir, I’ll have another.