OK, the Rays can win it all now… if they can

A few days ago Ross Douthat posted the following:  Rays fans are acquainted with regular-season losing, sure, but now it’s time for them to be acquainted with another form of baseball suffering: The postseason near-miss. In the long run, it’s for their own good: They’ll better appreciate final victory when it eventually arrives, and they’ll ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

A few days ago Ross Douthat posted the following:  Rays fans are acquainted with regular-season losing, sure, but now it's time for them to be acquainted with another form of baseball suffering: The postseason near-miss. In the long run, it's for their own good: They'll better appreciate final victory when it eventually arrives, and they'll avoid the dreaded "Florida Marlins syndrome," in which a premature World Series win (or two!) ruins a city for the normal ups and downs of baseball fandom. All of which is to say that the Red Sox won't just be taking another step toward repeating as World Champions if they stop drowning in two feet of water and come back from 2-1 down to knock Tampa out of the postseason; they'll be doing the Rays, and especially Rays fans, a big favor as well. Well, after last night, I think Rays fans have lost their postseason suffering virginity:    Unless Josh Beckett and Jon Lester manage to pitch back to form on Saturday and Sunday, the Rays will still go onto the World Series, and Game Five of this year's ALCS will be remembered in the same way as Albert Pujols' monster three-run blast of Brad Lidge in the 2005 NLCS -- a great moment that did not affect the final outcome.  The way I look at it, however, for the rest of this season the Red Sox are playing with the house's money.  And, no matter what, I'll be able to remind the New York Times' William C. Rhoden about how his "Manny Curse" trial balloon popped in the most satisfying possible manner. 

A few days ago Ross Douthat posted the following

Rays fans are acquainted with regular-season losing, sure, but now it’s time for them to be acquainted with another form of baseball suffering: The postseason near-miss. In the long run, it’s for their own good: They’ll better appreciate final victory when it eventually arrives, and they’ll avoid the dreaded “Florida Marlins syndrome,” in which a premature World Series win (or two!) ruins a city for the normal ups and downs of baseball fandom. All of which is to say that the Red Sox won’t just be taking another step toward repeating as World Champions if they stop drowning in two feet of water and come back from 2-1 down to knock Tampa out of the postseason; they’ll be doing the Rays, and especially Rays fans, a big favor as well.

Well, after last night, I think Rays fans have lost their postseason suffering virginity: 

 

Unless Josh Beckett and Jon Lester manage to pitch back to form on Saturday and Sunday, the Rays will still go onto the World Series, and Game Five of this year’s ALCS will be remembered in the same way as Albert Pujols’ monster three-run blast of Brad Lidge in the 2005 NLCS — a great moment that did not affect the final outcome.  The way I look at it, however, for the rest of this season the Red Sox are playing with the house’s money.  And, no matter what, I’ll be able to remind the New York Times’ William C. Rhoden about how his “Manny Curse” trial balloon popped in the most satisfying possible manner. 

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

Tag: Sports

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.