Game Of Numbers by Jared Carrabis
Red Sox Nation Sets New Sellout Streak Record - Boston Claws Their Way Back To 0.5 Back

Baseball is a game of numbers. Stats are an addicting substance that baseball fans all over feed off of from April until October. Baseball at Fenway Park is a whole different game of numbers unfamiliar to teams anywhere else in the game. Sure we love our stats just as much as any other fanbase but here, we talk some numbers that won't be talked about anywhere else.


Here, the mark of greatness is the number 9. The big green wall known as the Green Monster is 37 feet high. In Boston, .406 isn't a channel on your digital cable, it's a legendary accomplishment that lives on forever through the voices of the fans. 2004 isn't just a year in Boston, it' has become a phrase that triggers a feeling of extacy throughout our bodies. These numbers are just a small sample of numbers that are significant in Red Sox Nation.


On September 8, 2008, the Red Sox added one more number to that magical list, 456. On May 15, 2003 in front of a crowd of 33,801, the Boston Red Sox pounded the Texas Rangers 12-3 at Fenway Park. From this game forward, Red Sox fans from all over filled the seats in Fenway Park for every single game until this very day. Five and a half years later, the Fenway Faithful came together for a game to be played between the Red Sox and the Rays and in doing so, set the record for most consecutive sellouts in the history of Major League Baseball.


Over those 456 games we have seen two no-hitters thrown by Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester. We have seen the emergence of Dustin Pedroia in his Rookie of the Year season and so on. We have seen two Gold Glove winners in Jason Varitek and Kevin Youkilis. In the past 456 games played, we have seen the likes of 28 All Star selections from our beloved team. Most importantly, the Red Sox have made the postseason four out of the five seasons along with one AL East Division Championship, and with our loyalty and support the Red Sox have won two World Series titles in that span of time.


So give yourself an old pat on the back you Red Sox fanatic, you. And to those that say this record was only reached due to the fact that Fenway is the smallest ballpark in baseball, by all means, add 20,000 more seats and Red Sox Nation would be more than happy to sell those out too.


Getting back to this being a game of numbers, I've got another number for you. How's 0.5 sound? A half game remains on the Tampa Bay Rays lead over the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. Down by five and a half games going into the month of September, the Red Sox have come storming back in the race for the division.


Thanks to a shaky first inning by Tampa Bay starter, Edwin Jackson, and a brilliant and masterful outing by Jon Lester, the Red Sox have narrowed the Rays lead down to the slimmest of possible margins. Erase that bottom of the first inning and this game may still be going on but fortunately for the Red Sox, a three-spot in the early going was enough to take game one of this series. An RBI double by David Ortiz, an RBI single by Kevin Youkilis and a solo blast by Jason Bay was all she wrote for the Red Sox offense and as for the Tampa Bay offense, she wrote nothing at all.


Jon Lester blanked the Rays for seven and two thirds innings in one of the biggest starts if not the biggest for Lester this season. Lester gave up just six hits and prevented any of the base runners from coming anywhere near home plate by dominating the strike zone and commanding all of his pitches. By the end of the night, Lester had racked up nine strikeouts and left the mound with two outs in the eighth to an enormous ovation.


Jonathan Papelbon came on for a four out save and slammed the door in the face of each and every player on the Tampa Bay Rays roster. Striking out the first batter he faced (Rocco Baldelli who was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts) to set the tone while finishing the job in the ninth to strikeout a total of three all together earning him his thirty-sixth save of the season.


With a win tomorrow the Red Sox can move into first place by a half game for the first time since before the All Star break. Tuesday night Boston will send Daisuke Matsuzaka to the mound. Matsuzaka is 5-0 in his last seven starts with an ERA of 2.54 and has struck out a total of 28 batters in his last 25 innings pitched. With intentions on sweeping the Rays to hold a lead in the division, the Red Sox realistically have hit Tampa Bay with their playoff rotation of Lester, Matsuzaka and Beckett. There is no relevance to what the order of the starting pitchers are. The fact is that all three of them could all be number one pitchers in a rotation anywhere else. AL East or bust.

Final Score: Rays 0, Red Sox 3

Published on September 08, 2008

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