The Boston Red Sox have endured an awful month, going 5-18 in September. Their lead in the wild card race, which was once nine, is down to one game over the Rays with three games left in the season. The fans have turned on the team, former players have turned on the team, and there is a lot of negativity surrounding the squad. But Yankees DH Jorge Posada has seen a similar situation, and he believes the Red Sox would be dangerous if they made the postseason.
Prior to Sunday’s doubleheader between the Yankees and Red Sox, Posada recalled his 2000 Yankees team that had a nine-game lead over the Blue Jays on September 13th. That team lost 15 of its last 18 games including seven in a row to end the season, but they went on to win the World Series. Using that team as a model, Posada can envision the Red Sox having success in the postseason should they make it.
“Just knowing that we got into the playoffs was a big relief,” Posada said. “And then we knew what kind of team we had. It really helped us to say, ‘OK, we’re in the playoffs. Now, let’s get the most out of it.’ I don’t really remember how much we lost, but once we were in, I know it was a sigh of relief.
“It’s probably the scariest team that struggles and gets in the postseason,” Posada said. “I think they’re a team that, if they get in, is going to be a team that is very dangerous.”
This is actually the opposite mentality of what many people think leads to success. We’ve seen several teams that fought to get into the playoffs end up having success in the postseason. Recall the 2007 Rockies who won 14 of their last 15 regular season games to make the playoffs — they ended up in the World Series.
Even though most people feel like the hottest teams entering the postseason tend to have the most success, the one area where Posada has it right is the randomness of the playoffs. With the divisional round being a best of five, all it takes is a team getting hot for one week to advance. That could easily become Boston.
