Sox trying to avoid largest September collapse in history

What a roller coaster season it’s been for the Red Sox, from a 2-10 start, to sweeping the Yankees in a four-game road series, to having the best record in the American League as well as the best lineup in the game. And now, at the worst possible time, the Sox have begun their descent again. With their loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, Boston is now only three games up on them for first place in the Wild Card race, with three more games left in the series. By Monday, it’s possible Boston could be out of the playoff standings.

If the Red Sox do fail to make the postseason, it will cap off one of the worst last-season collapses in history, as well as the largest ever in the month of September. At one point this month, the Sox held a 9-game lead over the Rays.

Would it be the greatest collapse in history? Maybe. There have been many notorious collapses over the years, such as the ‘78 Red Sox, who blew a 6.5 game lead to the Yankees, capped by the famous game-deciding home run from Bucky Dent on the last day of the year. Just four years ago, the New York Mets blew a 7-game lead to the Phillies. Jeremy Lundblad of ESPNBoston.com argues that a hypothetical Sox collapse wouldn’t even be worse than the 1995 Anaheim Angels, who squandered an 11-game wildcard lead that they had on Aug. 24.

What could separate this meltdown from the others, other than its statistical distinction as the largest September collapse in history, is the payroll. The 2007 Mets had a $115 million payroll, but that’s nothing compared to the $161 million the Red Sox roster costs. And when you consider that the Rays have a payroll roughly one-fourth the size of the Red Sox’, and that the Red Sox signed their top player, Carl Crawford, to a massive contract in the offseason, losing to the Rays would reek of an infamy that might live on in history -- regardless of the fact the Sox have won a pair of championships lately, and are no longer tied to a curse.

Of course, it’s still up to the Rays (or even the Angels, who aren’t too far behind the Red Sox either) to actually complete the comeback, otherwise it’s all hypothetical. After this series with the Rays, the Red Sox play seven games against the Orioles and three against the Yankees; the Rays, meanwhile, are on the opposite end of the spectrum, playing three games against the Blue Jays and save games against the Yankees; the Angels, who are just a game behind the Rays, also have 10 games left as of Monday: four against the Blue Jays, three against the A’, and three against the Rangers.