I’d been working on this article about chaos all week, long before Lou and OB began their ninth-inning meditation on the topic during Saturday’s game.
There were plenty of ups and downs all season: call-ups that panned out, call-ups that didn’t (at least for now), a shocking trade, disappointing injuries. But the team, and we fans, managed to ride out these waves and came to rest (or so we thought) at a place of optimism, largely due to Roman Anthony’s presence in our lineup and his prowess so early
in his MLB career. We began to feel confident again. Along with excitement and optimism, a certain serenity settled over Red Sox Nation—no more nail biting or blood pressure spikes for us this fall.
In previous Septembers, I’ve written about superstitions that I’d be willing to employ on behalf of our Sox. Last week, I went to a Mariners game and noticed fans wearing witch hats. They were embodying a spell purchased on Etsy by a fan named Stephen who desperately wants to see Seattle in the playoffs. I was momentarily jealous that I hadn’t thought of that (for the Sox, of course) but then relieved when I remembered that the Sox didn’t need to worry about superstition this year. [She said glibly.]
Anthony was injured on September 2 but even a week later, on September 9, the Red Sox playoff odds were 97.6% according to FanGraphs.
And yet, a scant thirty-six hours ago, heading into weekend play on September 19, the Sox were 5-5 in their last 10, and had lost the past two series (including to Oaklandamento, in the name of all that’s holy). Phrases like “clinging” to a Wild Card, “impending collapse,” and “quick turn for the worse” were being tossed around.
As of Friday morning, before any games were played, FanGraphs noted that the Sox odds of reaching the playoffs had dropped precipitously to 83.5%. CBS Sports (quoting SportsLine) went as low as 81.2%. Our team went from a near sure-thing at nearly 98% to a seeming freefall.
Then, on Saturday, by the end of the night, the Sox were back up to 89.3%.
What do we know after a weekend of baseball and scoreboard watching? Well, we know that chaos reigns.
- The Mariners won on Friday and reclaimed the AL west, then padded their lead against the Astros on Saturday.
- The Sox roared back to life and won on Friday against the Rays, then won again in exhilarating fashion on Saturday.
- The Guardians are still coming in hot, completely demolishing the Twins (and Joe Ryan), including outscoring them 14-0 across both games of Saturday’s doubleheader. (No matter what happens in the AL Central from here on out, this is one of the great comeback stories ever in MLB.)
- Detroit, on the other hand, is still faltering.
To say things are still TBD is an understatement.
We also saw plenty of chaos within the chaos. In Saturday’s game alone, we saw the Sox take the lead, lose the lead, regain the lead, pad the lead, lose the lead again, get it back in the ninth inning, and go on to win against the Rays. We witnessed Trevor Story (eventually) catch Jake Mangum in a rundown that looked like it was about to go really wrong. We saw Alex Bregman, of all people, unexpectedly take off for home, turn on the gas, scuttle out of the way of the tag, and score in the ninth inning to cap off the Sox offense for the night.
At some point that inning, as the Sox scored three runs to break the 3-3 tie, Lou Merloni shouted:
“Chaos is life!”
Yes, it is. We wax poetic about baseball as a metaphor in the spring, and at the close of the season. It’s easier to forget that baseball is just as emblematic in what can be a really messy part of the season, the part that’s a long way from the beginning but hopefully not too close to the end, either.
Cartoonist Jok Church and others have noted that chaos doesn’t only mean complete havoc or confusion. In fact, the Ancient Greeks used chaos to explain the beginning of the universe; it was a place or state outside of what was known. That’s all: the unknown, completely without form. Unusual creatures lived there, including the very first one, which was named Chaos. Chaos wasn’t a goddess, though it was part of Greek mythology and usually understood as feminine. From this shapeless area or state of being, the first three primordial gods and goddesses developed: Gaia (the Earth), Tartarus (both an underworld god and the pit where the underworld was located), and Eros (love). Everything else developed from there. So chaos is a creator; it’s where possibility is born.
With the Sox first back-to-back wins in eleven days, possibility feels…possible again. What will happen tomorrow?
There are still many moving parts this weekend, particularly in the American League, something we’ve noted for most of the season. Let’s not think that Cleveland is the only team that can profit from the chaos, or that Detroit is the only team that can lose.
Matchups will become clearer (maybe?) by Sunday night. Or, we might need to wait until next Sunday—the last day of the season.
What can the Sox do to find the opportunity in the chaos? Paraphrasing Alex Cora after Saturday’s win, the Sox can’t control what’s happening behind them in the standings (looking at you, Cleveland!); they have to look ahead. Presumably Cora means thinking only about tomorrow’s game against the Rays. Then the next game, the first in a series against Toronto. Then the next: a series against Detroit. Be ready to take advantage if Toronto sits some stars in order to rest them, or if Detroit shows up mentally demoralized and continues getting in its own way.
Sox players need to be ready to cause a little chaos—and Sox fans need to enjoy the ride.
