I\u2019d been working on this article about chaos all week, long before Lou and OB began their ninth-inning meditation on the topic during Saturday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
There were plenty of ups and downs all season: call-ups that panned out, call-ups that didn\u2019t (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\u2019s 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<\/a> Nation\u2014no more nail biting or blood pressure spikes for us this fall.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n In previous Septembers, I\u2019ve written about superstitions that I\u2019d be willing to employ on behalf of our Sox<\/a>. Last week, I went to a Mariners<\/a> game and noticed fans wearing witch hats. They were embodying a spell purchased on Etsy<\/a> by a fan named Stephen who desperately wants to see Seattle in the playoffs. I was momentarily jealous that I hadn\u2019t thought of that (for the Sox, of course) but then relieved when I remembered that the Sox didn\u2019t need to worry about superstition this year. [She said glibly.]<\/p>\n Anthony was injured on September 2 but even a week later, on September 9, the Red Sox<\/a> playoff odds were 97.6% according to FanGraphs<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s holy). Phrases like \u201cclinging<\/a>\u201d to a Wild Card, \u201cimpending collapse<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cquick turn for the worse<\/a>\u201d were being tossed around.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Then, on Saturday, by the end of the night, the Sox were back up to 89.3%.<\/p>\n What do we know after a weekend of baseball and scoreboard watching? Well, we know that chaos reigns.<\/p>\n The Mariners<\/a> won on Friday and reclaimed the AL west, then padded their lead against the Astros<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n The Sox roared back to life and won on Friday against the Rays, then won again in exhilarating fashion on Saturday.<\/p>\n