The Red Sox would not be playing in the American League Championship if they hadn’t seized the opportunity to eliminate the Tampa Bay Rays in Fenway Park in consecutive games on Sunday and Monday.
Some will point to the gift of the ground rule double in the thirteenth inning on Sunday, the one that bounced off Hunter Renfro and into the bullpen. But what really mattered was Fenway Park and the frenzied Red Sox fans in the bottom of the ninth on Monday, the 38,447 packed into a park with stipulated capacity of 37,731.
What you realize on your first visit to Fenway is how close to the field you are, regardless of the cost of your seat. The foul ground is exceedingly narrow, with the foul lines nearly touching the stands in both corners of the park. The park was designed for fans, not for pitchers who might wish that more foul balls were caught in a capacious foul territory.
When you watch the game on television, it feels like the fans are almost in play, able to reach out and change the flight of the ball or at least to yell directly in the ear of the batter or infielder as they try to concentrate. That is what Wander Franco and Yandi Diaz endured as they tried to throw out runners at first in the bottom of the ninth. Franco threw far wide as he attempted to field Christian Vazquez’s grounder in shallow left field, his throw ending up in shallow right. The next batter, Christian Arroyo, successfully sacrificed Vazquez to second. Then Shaw reached on a throw by the third baseman in the dirt that should have been a short pitch from Diaz. Instead it bounced with a short hop to Ji Man Choi, who also could have snared the ball more smoothly. First and third and only one out.
Because of home field scoring, both Vazquez and Shaw were awarded hits, but if you asked the Tampa infielders they would tell you they should have made those plays. But they were playing in the pressure cooker of Fenway Park. They were not throwing with optimal confidence, so they put the pitcher in the impossible position of keeping the next pitch in the infield. The table was set for Kike Hernandez, who delivered the winning sacrifice fly to left.
Boston fans have class. They will applaud anyone who makes an outstanding play and cheer the player who returns after a trade to another team. But in the bottom of the inning, when the Red Sox bat, they are loud and relentless, and it must feel like they lean over your shoulder as they cheer or jeer for their sacred cause. They are the reason the Red Sox are going on to the ALCS. God help the visiting team for that one.